1627-1700

British hydrographer, publisher, and instrument-maker who created and published the most comprehensive book on the practice of type-cutting, founding, and setting before the invention of the power press. Around 1660, Moxon was appointed hydrographer to King Charles II of England. From 1667 to 1679, he published 38 papers for the professional instruction of skilled artisans in the metal and woodworking trades. In 1683, Moxon combined 24 of these papers into his famous book entitled Mechanick Exercises on the Whole Art of Printing, the earliest practical manual of printing in any language.