Cast Iron Copy Press

Oak Knoll published a book on Copy Presses in 1999 - unfortunately it’s out of print, but you may be able to find it through a Library. Written by Barbara Rhodes and William Streeter

“Before Photocopying: The Art and History of Mechanical Copying 1780-1938”

Thanks Bill, I will follow this up

As practically all banks, law offices, big businesses, etc. all needed copying presses for their business a century or more ago, there were probably hundreds of manufacturers making them. There is a great variety of styles, although the basic format remains the same. Look on the museum size here to see some of the styles.

Most however were plain and utilitarian. Because they are a very simple mechanism it was relatively easy for many companies to produce them.

Rick

According to the book “Before Photocopying” this is probably an English copying press. On page 318 a very similar press is shown with the comment that “this generic style press has a metal ‘Patrick Ritchie, Oakfield Edinburgh’ label on the yoke.” If your press has a lion logo on the base as well as the “Quality D” then the same or similar is also shown on page 318, “one of a group of presses that have a common look but were made by different manufacturers.”

Your press probably could have been made any time from around the 1860s to the early 1900s. On American-made presses, the straight handle seems to have been generally phased out in favor of a wheel beginning in the 1860s, but it looks like English press makers kept the straight (or ball-end) handle rather than changing to a wheel.