Common Press Project
Help us build a Wooden Common Press!
The Cincinnati Type & Print Museum is planning to build a full-scale replica of a mid-1700s English Common Press. This press will be as close as possible to the one that William Maxwell, the first printer in what is now Cincinnati, brought with him across the Ohio River in the 1790s. This has been a dream of Gary's since the museum started, and we would like to make that dream a reality!
The Project
William Maxwell is recognized as the first person to publish a newspaper in what is now Cincinnati. With his press, Maxwell helped shape the history of the Ohio Valley. He brought information to the Northwest Territory by printing the first weekly newspaper, The Centinel of the Northwest Territory in 1793. In the summer of 1795 (territorial) Governor Arthur St. Clair and two judges, John Cleves Symmes and George Turner, met in Cincinnati and voted to adopt a legal code for the Northwest Territory, and charged Maxwell with its printing. In 1796 Maxwell, with the help of his wife and an apprentice, set the type, printed, bound, and distributed 1,000 copies of the resulting 225-page book, Laws of the Territory of the United States Northwest Territory of the Ohio, that became known as the “Maxwell Code”.
While we will never know exactly what Maxwell's press looked like, it was likely a used model, imported from England. Our project will use the few known original presses from the mid-18th Century, as well as the 1978 schematics of the Smithsonian's "Benjamin Franklin Press," as references. Our hope is to create a replica press as close to the one Maxwell used as possible.
Project Goals
Develop a working design for a replica mid-18th Century English "Common" Printing Press, based on surviving examples and leading scholarship.
Work with local craftspeople to build a full size press that will become the center piece of the Museum.
Compile and maintain an archive of materials related to the history of William Maxwell, and his early efforts at printing in what is now Cincinnati.
Donate
We cannot do this without you! Our goal is to raise $35,000 to make this project a reality.
Anyone who contributes to the project (no matter the amount) will be listed below, and receive updates as we go along. Your name will also be listed on a plaque on the press itself! We hope to have a grand unveiling later this summer.
Thank you to our donors!
Jason Burgher
Sidney & Laura Juliani
Greg Gajus
Leslie Demoret
Adam & Tara Walton
Andrew Schall
Robert Brandsetter
Brenda Bencsik
James & Kelly Knapmeyer
Kristina Arwood
David Laurash
Bryan Hamilton
Meet our Project Team
Gary Walton, CT&PM Founder
Jacob Simpson, CT&PM Curator
Marshall Ivey, Project Lead
Clay Babcock, CAD Engineer