quoted from a reply to…http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_264.html
Dear Cecil:
I enjoy your column, but you made a mistake in suggesting that Marion E.'s explanation of the origin of “out of sorts” was wacko. Among my proudest possessions is a 1937 Webster’s Universal Unabridged Dictionary. Under “sort,” noun, first entry, definition number 6 reads: “In printing, a type or character, commonly one belonging to a font, … generally in the plural and in phrases; as, out of sorts, hard on sorts, etc.” I have been told by those “in the know” that the colloquial usage derived from the annoyance that one felt when typesetting came to a halt because the typesetter was “out of sorts.” Do I get an A? --Jay H., Stoughton, Wisconsin
In fact, I have the very same edition of Webster’s as Mr. H, and I find that if he’d looked a little farther on, after definition ('Lot, chance, fate, destiny. [obs.]) the entry gives some common phrases with the word ‘sort’ - among them:
‘after a sort, in a sort;’ to some extent.
‘out of sorts;’ see under Out, adv.
‘sort of;’ same as Kind of under Kind, n.
The referenced entry gives the standard etymology. So I offer nothing here except further evidence that if at first you think you have succeeded, it’s best to keep looking.