Small Brass Plates - F Ullmer

The box with the hinged lid seems to contain straight line brass rules which could be set with type in lines to form printed ruled lines in forms and other copy.

The boxes to the right, however, contain “swelled rules” and ornamental dashes used to separate blocks of copy in a printed piece. You will notice these used in newspapers and magazines in the late 19th and early 20th Century.

Hi JHenry,

Thank you for your assistance, much appreciated.

I wonder if they are of use to anyone these days, I geuss they are old and only fit certain types of machines. They are very heavy, and don’t look as if they have been alot, although the box condition would say otherwise.

No. These could not possibly be of any use to anyone. That is why you must send them to me immediately.

Bookbinders like these for blind or foil hot stamping because they take the heat and pressure better than lead.

eric!

Of course I’m kidding. The Frederick Ullmer Co. manufactured printing presses and supplies for a very long time. Assuming you are in the UK, you should have no problem selling them, or if you have a press or are considering getting one, this appears to be a very nice set of brass rules to be able to use. Any letterpress printer in his right mind would want them for a reasonable price; unless they already had a set this nice.

Eric, don’t send them to David, send them to me. If i were you i would keep them, brass rules will last a long time, you can use them over and over again. You can remove your ink rlooers and use one of these to score with. Good Luck Dick G.

Hi chaps,

Thanks for the info.

Yes I am in the UK and don’t really intend to do any book binding and/or printing, just wondered what they were, and if there was any interest in them. There is not too much info on the web about F Ullmer and that was only 1 of 2 clues along with the fact that my late Uncle was a book binder.

As mentioned they are really heavy and will cost a fortune to post anywhere. I geuss I could split them up into smaller lots.

Thanks again.

eBay auctions would be your best bet to my way of thinking….if you didn’t want to keep them. You might be surprised what they may bring at auction if broken up into smaller lots, or sold as a whole. There are many letterpress printers in the UK, and I’m surprised that some haven’t spoken up here seeing F. Ullmer in your title. Surely someone could put them to good use….and be happy to pay the post. They would sell quicker than printing type (unless it were wood type) and the bidding would be more fierce in my estimation….especially with the ornamental dashes….also, don’t assume that all them came from Ullmer’s which might very well be the case, but not necessarily.
Or maybe someone here could suggest a fair GBP value, and you could put them in the Classifieds here. Good Luck!
Stay tuned, and welcome to the forum!
Dave

Thanks again David. This site is great.

On closer inspection the rules in the Ullmer box have a profile and are not just flat. Looking end on they have a recess, so by the looks of it when used for printing, etc. giving a thick line and then a thin line underneath. The box in the top right has a number of tapered rules so at both ends the line would get thinner and thinner to a point.

If anyone is in the UK and interested please contact me through my profile link. Otherwise it sounds like ebay will be the best place for them.