PRINTING PRESS 



PRINTING PRESS 



that the paper received a clear impression of 

 the type. This rough press produced one sheet 

 at a time, printed poorly, and only on one 

 side. At that time it was regarded as a mar- 

 velous triumph. 



Evolution of the Printing Press. Early in 

 the seventeenth century a number of impor- 

 tant changes were made in the style of the 

 printing press by William Blaen (1571-1638), a 

 famous Dutch printer. In Blaen's press the 



"WASHINGTON" HAND PRESS 

 Hundreds of country newspapers are yet print- 

 ed on this style of printing press. It Is capable 

 of doing a fair grade of work and Is an Inexpen- 

 sive machine. To it was due the rapid increase in 

 the number of newspapers In small villages. 



spindle of the screw was put through a square 

 block, which was guided or held in place by 

 the frame of the press. This block, from which 

 the platen was hung by cords or chains, gave a 

 more nearly rigid platen. An ingenious sliding 

 arrangement was added by which thetype form 

 on the bed was moved back and forth under 

 pl.itrn. Blaen also used a new kind of 

 lever to turn the screw which raised and low- 

 ered the platen. These improvements were 

 really matters of detail, not of principle. 



For nearly two centuries more these wooden 

 presses, essentially the same as those which 

 Gutenberg and the other early printers had 

 used, remained in general use. In 1804 Charles, 

 1 Earl of Stanhope (1753-1816), invented an 

 iron press which met with great favor and is 

 still used by a few printers. The chief advan- 

 tage of this press, aside from the material 

 used, was tha n obtained at 



less expenditure of labor by enlarging the screw 

 and changing the position and form of the 



lever. The Albion press, a development of 

 the Stanhope, was used by the Kelmscott Press 

 of William Morris, and is still used in England 

 for fine printing. A similar press used in the 

 rural districts of the United States and Canada 

 is the Washington (see illustration). The aver- 

 age output of these modern hand presses is 

 from 300 to 400 impressions per hour, and the 

 largest sheet printed by them is about thirty- 

 six by forty-eight inches. 



Power Presses. The first practical press not 

 operated by hand was invented by a German, 

 Friedrich Konig (1774-1833). His invention of 

 the cylinder press in 1806 marks a new era in 

 printing. The machine took its name from the 

 large cylinder which constituted the platen. As 

 the cylinder revolved it drew with it the paper, 

 which then received the impression of the type. 

 Two of these presses were purchased by the 

 London Times, and that newspaper was printed 

 by steam power at the rate of 1,100 impressions 

 an hour, to the amazement of Britons. Other 

 inventors, in all parts of the world, have ap- 

 plied their genius to the development of the 

 press, with the result that there are to-day per- 

 haps half a dozen distinct types of power 

 presses. 



The Job Press, or Small Platen Machine. A 

 typical and the most successful small press is 

 the Gordon, shown in the illustration. In this 

 form the old hand lever is displaced by a ro- 

 tary power wheel which can be driven by a 

 belt or by the 

 pressure o f t h e 

 operator's foot on 

 the treadle. The 

 only labor needed 

 is that of a boy 

 or girl to feed 

 the sheets and re- 

 move them. Ad- 

 justable pins on 

 the platen hold 

 the paper in 

 place. Such a 

 press is especially "GORDON" JOB PRINTING 

 economical for PRESS 



letterheads, cards, and small, single sheets of 

 any kind, up to twelve by nineteen inches in 

 size, and has a capacity of 750 to 1,000 impres- 

 sions an hour. 



Cylinder Presses. The simplest of these 

 prints on one side only, but it is a highly-satis- 

 factory machine. It makes one impression to 

 one revolution of its single cylinder. The type 

 bed moves forward and backward on rollers or 



