James Maxwell Press ca. 1837

I am seeking information about a printing press manufactured in New York City in the late 1830s by James Maxwell, “Eagle” model. It is referred to by a famous (infamous?) Canadian William Lyon Mackenzie as the press that played a role in the ill-fated 1837 Rebellion in Upper Canada. In 1838 Mackenzie, in exile, was given a press by James Maxwell to help efforts in New York to support the cause of Canadian independence. Mackenzie, by then in Rochester, in 1840, advertised the press for sale as “1 of Maxwell’s Large Iron Presses, Eagle Patent” I would very much like to locate a picture - even a catalog picture - of such a press. Better yet, learn if one is still in existence. The press is referred to in Ralph Green, “Iron Hand Press in America” 1948. Any help would be most appreciated

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Chris, not much help here, but James Moran, (Printing Presses, History and Development from the 15th Century to Modern Times), Univ. of California Press, ISBN 0-520-02904-6) makes mention of the “Eagle” and James Maxwell in a paragraph on p.81.

In the North American Hand Press Database I have records of over 830 hand presses of all kinds, but not a single Eagle press identified as such. I think it was a kind of Washington hand press, though it could have used another kind of impression mechanism. I would very much like to learn of one still surviving. I have about 100 “Washington” type hand presses recorded without knowing either the actual model or the manufacturer. One of them could be an Eagle by Maxwell.