Type case

[1] Modern, factory-produced movable type was available in the late nineteenth century.

It was held in the printing shop in a job case, a drawer about two inches (5 cm) high, three feet (90 cm) wide, and about two feet (60 cm) deep, with many small compartments for the "sorts" (various letters and ligatures).

[2] These cases allowed type to be compactly transported.

[3] There were a great variety of cases, and also variations in the "lay", or the assignment of the sorts into the compartments.

[4] Different printers had different house layouts even for the same design of case.