The Columbian Printing Press

The Columbian Press, pictured below, was invented around 1813 by George Clymer and patented in 1817. It was one of the first iron printing presses and had many advantages. As written in 1817:

First, the powers of said press is a combination of levers, which produce power almost ad infinitum. Secondly, it is composed entirely of cast and wrought iron … it will produce impressions far superior to that produced on the common Presses, with scarce any labor to the pressman; and a sheet of the largest size is printable at one movement.

The press was highly ornate: "It has perched on top a cast iron eagle with spreading wings; also, it is decorated with artistic dragons or griffins." But the ornamentation was not just for show, it was functional. The eagle for example, is the counterbalance weight, which can be adjusted by sliding it along the highly decorated counterbalance lever.

Clymer gave the manufacturing rights to Tomas Barnet of South Carolina in 1817 and moved to London to open a manufacturing operation. The business changed hands multiple times and the Columbian press was continued to be manufactured into the twentieth century.

Today, examples of the press can be found in the collections of many esteemed institutions such as the Smithsonian and the London Science Museum. The press pictured here is in the Albert Sperisen Library of the Book Club of California, in San Francisco. 

Columbian Press, 
Albert Sperisen Library.
Courtesy the Book Club of California.

This particular Columbian Printing Press was used in the offices of the Mountain Echo newspaper in Boulder Creek. It was manufactured by D. & J. Grieg, Edeinburg [Edinburgh], Scotland. We know that in 1934, it was owned by Frederick W. Sears who had a commercial printing operation at the corner of Pacific Avenue and Church Street, in Santa Cruz. The Santa Cruz Sentinel described it as a "blue eagle machine" and notes that it was brought to Boulder Creek by Mountain Echo editor Winfield Scott Rodgers from San Francisco, where it had been used in the offices of the weekly newspaper The Enterprise. 

Frederick Sears passed away in 1948, and in 1949 Book Club of California member John E. Jones of San Francisco discovered the press.  Mr. Jones along with Book Club members Ted Lilienthal, Bob Washbish, and Tom Weikel, acquired the press for the Book Club library.

The acquisition is documented in the Book Club's spring 1954 newsletter: 

Rare Handpress Given to the Club

Like other Columbians, this model is highly decorated. On the bearing support for the main counterbalance lever around the nameplate, is an ornamental design, emblematic of Productivity. Draconic serpents emblematic of Wisdom, adorn the large levers. Surmounting the press on the balancing lever is the American eagle, holding in its talons Jove's thunderbolts, the olive branch of Peace, and the cornucopia of Plenty, all of which suggest the Balance of Power.

In 1950 the Book Club of California published George Clymer and the Columbian Press by Jacob Kainen.

Mountain Echo's Columbian Press at the Book Club of California

Article from Jan 18, 1967 The San Francisco Examiner (San Francisco, California)

Excerpt from The Declaration in Script and Print, by John Bidwell, Penn State University Press:

Invented in 1813, the Columbian press was a patriotic allegory in itself. A cast iron American eagle counterweight, its talons grasping an olive branch and a cornucopia, helped raise the platen. The eagle took flight when the pressman pulled at the bar. Thus, at each impression, the Black Art took credit for the triumph of Columbia, the peace and prosperity of the nation, and the benefits of independence. The cheeks of the press displayed the caduceus emblem of the winged messenger Mercury, patron deity of the printing profession. 

You can see the International Printing Museum's Columbian Printing Press in action below.