Object Details
maker
R. Hoe & Company
Description
This large cylinder single-revolution flatbed press, No. 82, was made by R. Hoe & Company of New York in about 1879; it bed dimensions are 19 inches by 25 inches.
The first flatbed cylinder presses seen in the United States were English Napiers, imported in the 1820s. Robert Hoe copied a Napier in 1829 and produced a large cylinder press of his own design in 1830. Originally his press was to be manpowered, but a few years later it was converted to steam. The Single Large Cylinder proved to be the Hoe Company’s longest-lasting press.
The drum cylinder press was advertised for fine book and newspaper work. But cylinder presses had a reputation for breaking the brittle stereotype plates used in the publishing trade. So, until electrotyping was introduced in the mid-century, publishers preferred to protect their valuable stereotypes with the slower, safer, Adams bed-and-platen machine, and the cylinder press was left with job and newspaper work.
This model would print better than 1,000 impressions an hour. It cost about $1,500 in 1879, when it was purchased new by the Washington printers Judd & Detweiler.
Donated by Judd & Detweiler, 1968.
Citation: Elizabeth Harris, "Printing Presses in the Graphic Arts Collection," 1996.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1879
ID Number
GA.22944
accession number
281773
catalog number
GA*22944
Object Name
Press, printing
Other Terms
Press, printing; Printing; Relief; Flatbed Cylinder
Physical Description
metal (overall material)
wood (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 6 ft x 5 ft x 10 ft; 1.8288 m x 1.524 m x 3.048 m
place made
United States: New York, New York City
See more items in
Work and Industry: Graphic Arts
Communications
Printing Presses in the Graphic Arts Collection
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmah_1219989