Who is William Maxwell?

Maxwell was originally from either New York or New Jersey, and previously tried setting up a print shop in Lexington, Kentucky, without much success.

Maxwell moved to Cincinnati in 1793, and began printing a newspaper called The Centinel of the North-Western Territory that fall. (The first issue can be seen to the right.) He also worked closely with the government of the territory, and printed the book Laws of the territory of the United States north-west of the Ohio in 1796.

Maxwell sold his printing business around 1796 to focus on his political career.  In 1803, he became a Representative to the First General Assembly of the newly formed State of Ohio.

While we will never know exactly what Maxwell’s printing press looked like, it was likely similar to those imported from England at the time. Our project used photos of surviving English presses, as well as the 1978 schematics of the Smithsonian's "Franklin Press," as references to create our own design.

Project Summary

The goal of this project is to use traditional materials, coupled with modern engineering and manufacturing techniques, to produce a press that is as close as possible to the one used by Maxwell.

It is our hope that this press will become a centerpiece for the Cincinnati Type & Print Museum, and be used to tell the story of Cincinnati’s printing history for generations to come!