Ged, WILLIAM

Ged, WILLIAM, inventor of the art of stereotyping, was an Edinburgh goldsmith, born in 1690, who from 1725 onwards bent his energies to the Stereotyping (q.v.) of books. He entered into partnership with a London capitalist, and was commissioned by the university of Cambridge to stereotype some prayer-books and bibles, though only two prayer-books were actually finished; for, owing to the unfair treatment of his partner and the injustice of his own workmen, Ged was compelled to abandon the enterprise. He returned to Edinburgh a disappointed man, and died there on 19th October 1749. His most noteworthy production after his return home was a stereotyped edition of Sallust (1739). See Memoir by Nichols (1781).