Category: Press and typeface identification
Later topic: Not quite Typo Script
Earlier topic: Does anyone know what these two typefaces are?

What kind of presses are these?

  • SageV
  • on 20 Oct 21 (15:10)

Hi everyone. This is my first post, so please excuse if this post breaks any etiquette or protocol.

I have a few presses and I am trying to identify them. My goal is to work on one or two of them as I adventure into the printing world and trade the rest. I got 6 presses of different sizes and I am trying to identify them. 3 of them are marked as Excelsior, and 2 of them are like Baltimore models. The third one I am unsure.

I am having a hard time identifying what kind press and model are all of them (minus what I think is a Baltimore 11 and what I think is an old Hand-Inked Excelsior).

I have read what seem to be the usual websites but I think I may need some help.

Thanks in advance!
Sage

image: letterpress_1.JPEG

letterpress_1.JPEG

image: letterpress_5.JPEG

letterpress_5.JPEG

image: letterpress_6.JPEG

letterpress_6.JPEG

image: letterpress_4.JPEG

letterpress_4.JPEG

image: letterpress_3.JPEG

letterpress_3.JPEG

image: letterpress_2.JPEG

letterpress_2.JPEG

Log in to reply   4 replies so far

Welcome to the fold. You seem to be on your way. Images 4 and 6 are what are called rail presses and enthusiasts of them should chime in soon. In case, you haven’t come across it yet, Elizabeth M. Harris wrote the books The Small Printing Press in Nineteenth-Century America https://godine.com/book/personal-impressions/

  • SageV
  • on 21 Oct 21 (10:31)

Thanks Paul! Both for the kind welcome as well as for the information. I just ordered Elizabeth’s book, which seems fantastic.

Sigwalt made a couple of rail presses.
https://archive.org/details/Sigwalt1908PrintingPressesTypeSupplies

  • SageV
  • on 31 Oct 21 (09:29)

Thanks, platenprinter! That was really useful. Also, thanks again, Paul Moxon. I got the book and I was able to identify some of the ones I have as toggle presses from the 1870’s. (That book is fantastic by the way!)

Anyhow, the presses I have are missing parts and as I learn about them I will be posting in other threads to see if I can find such pieces or find a home for the ones I cannot tackle. Thanks again!