[NOTE: Right now the only links here which work are those near the bottom of the page to the Presses We Don't Have (CP Cylinder, Kelsey, Miller, Sigwalt.)]
The CircuitousRoot Typefoundry and Press has only a small collection of presses. All of them are entirely manual in operation. Three of them would be recognized as ordinary equipment in a traditional printing office.
Chandler & Price 10x15 (New Series)
[NOT ONLINE YET] This is a "Gordon-style" platen press which was one of the most popular general "job" presses of the 20th century. Mine is s/n C50291, from the first year of manufacture, 1911.
The Chandler & Price Galley Proof Press
[NOT ONLINE YET] "A Free-Roller" (my own term) Galley Proof Press. I did the first printing in my shop on this press. It's a lovely little machine, first marketed in 1889 and sold at least through 1923. Short of whacking the type with a block of wood (which is of course done - the traditional "planer proof"), this press is as simple as possible.
Anonymous Galley Proof Press
[NOT DONE] "A Free-Roller" Galley Proof Press of unknown manufacture - even simpler than the C&P.
The Nolan No. 1 Proof Press
[NOT DONE] This is what I'm calling a "Captive Roller" press. It was called a Proof Press by its manufacturer, and, further, is probably a Galley Proof Press (unless it was supplied with a special-height bed rather than the standard type + galley thickness bed - I haven't checked yet).
Platen Press Press Accessories
[NOT DONE] Treadles, Motors, and Drive Pulleys. Brakes. Platen Guards. Ink Fountains and Vibrating Rollers. Flywheel Guards. Impression Counters [get Redington patent, 1908-10-13].
A Survey of C & P Platen Presses
[NOT DONE] A brief photographic survey from advertisements of the overall lines of Chandler and Price Gordon-style platen presses. [Old series - FIND] [New Series - use 1953 WNU catalog], [Craftsman - use 1953 WNU catalog], [Model N Series, e.g., 1962, see BriarPress thread 18068] [CP Automatic Cylinder and CP Pilot for comparison, very briefly]
Platen Press Patent Literature
(Say that three times fast.) [NOT DONE] [The patents literature surrounding George Gordon, for both what became the "Gordon" press and other experiments.] [Chandler and Price Gordon-style press patent literature.] Nothing yet on other avenues of research, such as Golding, Kluge, Heidelberg, etc.
Proof Press and Brayer Combinations
[NOT DONE] A diverting historical dead end. [1887 Palmer and Rey specimen book, p. 302 djvu, "Proof Roller" - a brayer with side wheels to keep it galley-high.] [US patent 238,525. 1881-03-08 Wiliam Quail. Proof Press.]
The presses here are in fact relief printing machines (ok, the paper Vandercook isn't really a machine, but it is fun). They are all, however, specialized in one way or another.
The Multigraph
[NOT DONE] This is a small hand-powered rotary press (yes, rotary rather than cylinder - the type rotates, not the paper). It is intended primarily to use hand-set type of a special form which slips into grooves around the periphery of a cylinder, but can also employ curved metal and rubber plates. [NOT DONE - REPRINT: everything Multigraph (non-Multilith) that I have.] [ATF Newsletter No. 23 - photo of a machine for rounding the surface of a German-made Multigraph-like printing machine.] [System: The Magazine of Business, 1903, 1907 Gammeter Multigraph]
The Addressograph
This is a link "up and over" (out of the "CircuitousRoot Typefoundry and Press" to the Circuitous Root Graphotype and Addressograph Notebooks). The Addressograph is in fact a relief printing press, but it is a rather specialized one intended primarily for printing from cold-metal type-plates formed by the Graphotype machine. I've got Addressograph models 30 (hand operated), 930 (power operated), and 970B (power operated and integrated with a desk).
The Monarch Junior
[NOT DONE] This is a special-purpose "printing press," of sorts: a mechanical tag or label maker which uses hand-set metal type.
Toy Printing Presses
[NOT DONE] [The Elm City toy printing kit.] [The Fulton No. 80.] [The Ideal "Big Press"] [Audrey Happy Meal Oil Truck.] Kyle van Horn's paper Vandercook SP20: http://www.baltimoreprintstudios.com/2009/09/print-your-own-vandercook/ .
Chandler & Price Craftsman
The C&P Craftsman presses are like the "regular" C&P platen presses, but much heavier. I don't have one, but a friend does.
Chandler & Price Cylinder
I've scanned this only because these materials came my way with other borrowed material and the originals were in such bad shape that they required immediate digital preservation. Instructions for the No. 2 Cylinder Press (including Specifications, with size and weight). Miscellaneous prints. One ad.
Kelsey
We don't have any Kelsey presses, but I've scanned a 1946 copy of the Kelsey Printer's Supply Book. I was also able to borrow and scan copy of a 1950 mailing packet of sales literature (including Do Your Own Printing, price list 50B, and various smaller items).
Miller
A (very) little material on the Miller "Master-Speed" (platen) press and "High-Speed" (cylinder) press.
Sigwalt
We don't have any Sigwalt presses, either, but I was able to scan a borrowed copy of Sigwalt's Instruction Book and Catalog No. 21 for their "Chicago" and "Ideal" brand tabletop presses.
For Harold F. Smiths "Har-ma" press, a re-engineered handpress, see Levenson, Roger. "A Unique Handpress" ["Book Arts Reporter" column] in Fine Print. Vol. 11, No. 1 (January, 1985): 32-34.
All portions of this document not noted otherwise are Copyright © 2008-2010 by David M. MacMillan and Rollande Krandall.
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