The Columbian Press

The first edition of The Border Watch was published on April 26, 1861 on a Columbian Eagle Press. The original press is on display at The Border Watch office in Mount Gambier today (pictured below).

According to the National Museum of American History, the Columbian iron hand press was invented in 1813 by George Clymer (1754–1834), a Philadelphia mechanic.

From about 1800 Clymer built wooden presses and then versions of the new iron presses from Europe. The extravagant design, incorporating levers and counterweights, was quite original, but Clymer did not find a ready market in the United States, perhaps because printers were not yet ready to give up their old wooden presses. He moved to England in 1818 and acquired a partner. By the 1840s their presses were being manufactured by several dozen firms across Europe, including Ritchie & Son of Edinburgh.

The Columbian press is covered with symbols, including its name as a reference to the United States. An American eagle in full relief serves as a counterweight at the top of the frame. He holds in his talons Jove’s thunderbolts combined with the olive branch of peace and the cornucopia of plenty. The press was adopted in 1819 as the emblem of Washington, D.C.’s Columbia Typographical Society, a local union of journeyman printers, and it represented their republican sentiments both in the larger political sense and as their expression of pride and independence in their craft. The Society met at the “Press and Eagle” Tavern, and members carried banners emblazoned with images of the Columbian press in their parades.

A Blog About Typography describes the Columbian as by far the most lavishly decorated of all iron hand presses.

The following description of the ornamentations on the Columbian Press is written by VCN Blight and taken from his publication entitled “The Columbian Press”, first published in 1962:

“At the time Clymer was perfecting his invention the United States was an infant nation and the very name Columbian was possibly a patriotic gesture. Even more so was the American eagle which perches defiantly with outstretched wings and open beak on the main counterbalance lever. The eagle is no mere ornament. It is the counterbalance weight, adjustable by sliding along the main counterbalance lever. For practical purposes a lump of lead would have sufficed, but to George Clymer’s way of thinking the job could be done properly only by the American eagle.

“In its talons the eagle clutches a flight of Jove’s thunderbolts, representing war, and the olive branch of peace and the cornucopia or Horn of Plenty, signifying prosperity.

“A similar alliance between utility and ornamentation pervades the whole Press. The main counterbalance lever becomes at one end an arrow which rests in the horns of the crescent moon; at the other end it is coiled into the form of a dolphin whose open jaws conveniently hold the hook of the bridle connecting it with the upper end of the great lever. Another heraldic dolphin (or similar sea creature) is extended along the upper front of the great lever.

“The two pillars of the staple are embellished with the caduceus, the winged staff and intertwined serpents of Hermes. The right-hand pillar also bears near the top a conventional ear of wheat.

“Around the nameplate on the face of the great lever on the original Columbian Clymer twined a rattlesnake, the emblem of the original thirteen colonies. After his migration to England he replaced this with a more elaborate but purely decorative design.

“In contrast with the Stanhope Press, the staple of which was merely bolted to a solid base, the Columbian stands on four iron legs terminating in moulded feet which can be accepted as the paws of a lion or the talons of an eagle, according to the taste of the observer.”

The ornamental features are striking, but serve a practical purpose.

The British Letterpress website reveals: “The pulling bar is elbowed, and there is a diagonal connecting rod. The rod changes the horizontal movement of the bar into a vertical one by a link connected with the head, which itself becomes a powerful lever. The platen is attached to this by a strong iron bar, the descent being made steady and regular by two iron girders, which project from the cheek. The Stanhope levers are adopted in principle, but their power is greatly increased by the mode in which the long arm is brought down by the rod. The eagle at the top is a weight to cause the platen to rise again after the impression has been effected.

“The broad heavy lever at the top is, by a piece of iron called a link, joined at one end to another lever of angular shape. From the other end of this angular lever proceeds a straight iron bar called a connecting rod, which is joined at the other end by a pin to the bar handle. This handle is fixed to the upright of the press, seen at the left in the engraving. When it is pulled toward the pressman, it pulls the connecting rod with the angular lever forward also, thereby making the lever turn downward on its bolt. In doing this the main lever at the top is depressed at the same time, and consequently the connected piston and platen descend also, causing the impression.

“When the handle is allowed to return, two heavy counterpoise levers, one at the head and the other behind the press, cause the heavy lever to ascend again.”

The Border Watch was printed on the Columbian press for 12 years until 1873.

It’s amazing to think this significant historical machine is sitting in the meeting room of the office where I work. I pass it every day without giving it any thought.

I’ll look at it differently now.