Object Details
maker
Ramage, Adam
Description
This table-top wooden press was made by Adam Ramage of Philadelphia in about 1840. Its tympan is missing and frisket includes a modern table. The press is stamped on the original brass label: “A RAMAGE / PATENT / NO 189.” Its height (without table) measures 38 inches, its width, at cheeks, 20.5 inches, and its length 37 inches. The platen measures 12.5 inches by 16.5 inches.
Adam Ramage built wooden presses in three sizes: a full-size common press, an intermediate free-standing press which he called his “screw press,” and the smallest, the “foolscap,” named for the size of sheet (13.5 x 8.5 inches) that it would print. Foolscap presses, sturdier than the screw presses, were sold in good numbers for about $65. After Ramage’s death in 1850, foolscap presses were made for some years by his successor, Frederick Bronstrup.
Donated by Skip Barnhart, 1986.
Citation: Elizabeth Harris, "Printing Presses in the Graphic Arts Collection," 1996.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
circa 1840
date made
ca 1840
ID Number
1986.0890.01
accession number
1986.0890
catalog number
1986.0890.01
Object Name
Press, Printing
Physical Description
metal (overall material)
wood (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 38 in x 20 1/2 in x 37 in; 96.52 cm x 52.07 cm x 93.98 cm
place made
United States: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
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_829645