The Columbian Press

Designed to command attention, and to proclaim the cultural power of print.

The press was devised in the early years of the nineteenth century by George E. Clymer, an American engineer and mechanic of Philadelphia, who sought to improve upon the limitations of the traditional wooden press. His ambition was not merely mechanical refinement, but transformation, a press cast entirely in iron, capable of delivering a stronger, more uniform impression through the ingenious use of compound levers and counterbalance. In this, the Columbian marked a decisive moment in the evolution of the hand press.

Though conceived in America, the Columbian found its most enthusiastic reception in Britain. Clymer relocated to London in 1817, where the press was manufactured and refined, and where its bold engineering and monumental presence appealed to printers accustomed to iron and industry. Here, the Columbian became not only a working tool, but an object of admiration - discussed, described, and even celebrated in the technical literature of the day.

The Columbian press in Hay Castle bears the name Thompson (Manchester), a reminder that these presses often lived long working lives, passing through different workshops for maintenance, modification, and repair. Built to endure, they moved between cities, engineers, and generations, accumulating marks of use and repair. This press is thought to date from the mid-nineteenth century, and carries with it a layered history of such a working life.

What most distinguishes the Columbian, however, is the extraordinary richness of its ornament. As Thomas Curson Hansard observed in Typographia (1825):

“If the merits of a machine were to be appreciated wholly by its ornamental appearance, certainly no other press could enter into competition with the Columbian. No British machinery was ever so lavishly embellished…”

Hansard’s eye is drawn, irresistibly, to the symbolic language of the press: the caduceus of Hermes upon the pillars; the dolphins and serpents upon the levers, emblematic of wisdom and communication, and above all, the American eagle, surmounting the press with outstretched wings, grasping thunderbolts, olive branch, and cornucopia - an emblem not only of power, but of balance, peace, and plenty. This eagle is no idle ornament as it serves as the counterweight by which the platen rises, uniting allegory and function in a single, emphatic gesture.

To print upon a Columbian is to work within this language of strength and symbolism. Each pull of the lever is deliberate; each impression bears the weight of iron, intention, and history. It is a press that declares.