Timothy Alden (February 3, 1823 – December 4, 1858), was an American inventor, known for The Alden-type, a typesetting machine.
[2][3] When very young he was apprenticed to his brother, who was a printer, and at the age of seventeen began to plan a machine "for setting and distributing type".
[1] It took five years for his crude idea to develop into a practical reality, and then he produced a composing and distributing machine, the type arranged in cells around the circumference of a horizontal wheel, as the wheel revolves the receivers pick up the type as directed by the operator.
[1] He removed to New York City in 1846, and thenceforth applied himself sedulously to his favourite idea with such success, that a practical, though imperfect, machine was completed and patented in various countries in 1856; the English patent is No.
18175, on September 15, 1857, with classifications "details of, or accessories for, machines for mechanical composition using matrices for individual characters which are selected and assembled for type casting or moulding" and "arrangements or devices for distributing matrices or space bands after casting or moulding.