The first all-iron printing press, the Stanhope was invented around 1803 in England by Charles, the third Earl Stanhope, who devoted his life to science and technology, and especially to attempts to improve the techniques of printing. He never patented his press, preferring to make it and its advances available to all. The earliest Stanhope presses were made by Robert Walker and the press on display with serial number No. 535 was built in1837 by Samuel James Spiers, son-in-law and successor of Robert & Sarah Walker in Soho in London. Later Stanhope presses were manufactured by at least 40 other press makers in England, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy & Sweden. The Stanhope is a screw press on which the the screw’s leverage is compounded many times over by a system of levers. Augmenting the power of thepress in this way improved upon the design of the wooden hand press, with its single lever used operate the screw. Stanhope’s improvement was in fact the first major change to the hand press in the roughly 350 years since Gutenberg first developed it. Very heavy and powerful, with a stout iron frame, the Stanhope was welcomed in Europe as a successor to the old wooden presses. Stanhopes were even imported into the United States, though rarely, before the appearance of the American iron presses of the 1820s, such as the Smith, Stansbury, Washington, and Wells. Erik Desmyter is researching the history of the Stanhope press and hopes to publish a book in the future. He invites questions and information about the press.

Peter Smith, brother-in-law and partner to the more famous Robert Hoe, introduced his press around 1821, positioning it to compete with the press invented by John Wells, the Wells. Wells in fact accused Smith of patent infringement, as the toggle mechanism of the latter’s press closely resembles that of the former’s, patented two years before. The first Smith presses had cast-iron acorn-shaped frames (like the one pictured). Though the Smith is often associated with such a frame, it is not the frame but that hotly debated toggle mechanismthat distinguishes it from other presses–with the notable exception of the Wells–some of which also had acorn frames. The mechanism in question, found on both presses, is a joint into which is forced a wedge when the bar of the press is pulled. The inclined members of the joint, both equal in length, are forced upright by this wedge, which in turn pushes the platen downward with a good deal of force. Smith died in 1823, just two years after the introduction of his press. In 1835, Hoe, still manufacturing the Smith press, acquired the rights to his strongest rival, the Washington press, and thereafter built the Smith toggle into the upright frame of the Washington. The Smith was still manufactured as later as 1880, although it was always a second-runner to the Washington. The Smith pictured was made in 1822 by the Cincinnati Type Foundry, which made various presses (see also the Stansbury). Pratt Wagon Works has made a faithful reproduction of a Smith, on view in the Museum.

Peter Smith introduced his press around 1821 with a toggle mechanism that distinguished it from other iron hand presses (some of which also have acorn frames). See the Cincinnati Type Foundry’s Smith (Cincinnati) press for more information. The press pictured is another of the exquisite replicas made by Steve Pratt of Pratt Wagon Works. Modeled after an 1825 Smith, it weighs 1400 pounds and is currently in an historic print shop (name unknown) in Palmyra, New York. See also Pratt’s Gutenberg interpretation on view in the Museum.

The Ramage, a wooden hand press with iron platen, was built in 1820 by Scottish-born Adam Ramage (1772-1850), who sought, in his own words, “to render the hand press efficient, simple in construction, and moderate in price.” He succeeded; S.O. Saxe writes that Ramage “became widely known as the maker of inexpensive, durable, well-made wooden presses that were ideally suited for smaller country newspaper offices.” Ramage immigrated in 1795 to Philadelphia, a center of printing and publishing at the time. He advertised himself as a printers’ joiner, a builder and repairer of wooden presses, and in five years was manufacturing his own common presses. His improvements on the wooden press eventually made it the most popular press in the early years of the 19th century. He built presses in 3 sizes, a full size common press, a mid-sized “screw press” (shown), and a table-top foolscap press (see the Ramage Foolscap on view in the Museum). With the emergence of the iron hand presses in the 1820s, Ramage began to incorporate iron into his designs, later making presses completely of iron, most notably the Ruthven in 1817, the Philadelphia in 1833, and the American in 1845, which was the invention of Sheldon Graves. By 1837 Ramage was reported to have manufactured over 1250 presses of all kinds. These presses were never able to compete with the emerging Stanhope and Columbian presses, but Ramage continued manufacturing them until his death at the age of 78. Some information courtesy On Adam Ramage, an online history of the Ramage, by Adam Sol.

Briar Press

Ramage Foolscap

The Ramage, a wooden hand press with iron platen, was built in 1820 by Scottish-born Adam Ramage (see Ramage Screw). The tabletop Ramage, at 38″ high, is the smallest of the three sizes of presses built by Ramage: a full-size common press; an intermediate free-standing press which Ramage called his “screw press” (see Ramage Screw); and the foolscap, so named for the size of sheet that it would print. Foolscap presses were sturdier than the larger screw presses and sold for around $65. After Ramage’s death in 1850, the Ramage foolscap presses were made for some years by Ramage’s successor, Frederick Bronstrup. The press shown is missing its tympan and frisket.