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seridvena

01:01 pm - Columbian Printing Press.

The Columbian Printing Press was designed in 1813 by an American George E Clymer. The press was not a great success in the USA, so he brought his design to Britain where it proved more popular.



This model was made in Edinburgh by D&G Greig in about 1860, at a time when Edinburgh was a major centre of the publishing industry. It was bought by the Museum in 1865 and used to print labels until 1964.



The press was named after Columbia, the female personification of America and has a large counterweight in the shape of an American eagle. To demonstrate the links with newspaper production, it is decorated with dolphins which represent wisdom and the rod of Mercury, messenger of the Greek gods.



~S.A.-M.~