A Green Press

This was one of the first presses in my collection, and it's one of the most mysterious. There are no makers marks, or patent dates, and the color is pretty unusual for a press. Elizabeth Harris suggested that it may be related to some little presses put out by William Evans of Philadelphia in the 1870s-80s. Another visitor recognized it as the twin to a press he owns, of which he knows of two other examples, one in the collection of S. Saxe, and another in the collection of "a woman in Philadelphia." He suggested that the overall design, and color, pointed to the press being a salesman's sample of the Craftsman tabletop printing press.

(The rotating ink plate shown is a wood mockup).