Antique Printing Press Catalogue Book Brochure parts 1800's Babcock Manufact Co 

vintage booklet titled "Parts of the Standard and Regular Presses" from the Babcock Printing Press Manufacturing Co.

Title: Parts of the Standard and Regular Presses

Manufacturer: The Babcock Printing Press Manufacturing Co.

Location: New London, Connecticut

New York Office: 38 Park Row

In 1855, Calvert B. Cottrell and Nathan Babcock entered into a formal business partnership creating the Cottrell & Babcock Manufacturing Company located in Stonington, CT. Their company was comprised of 50 artisans with diverse set of skills and the capability of manufacturing approximately 20 different types of machinery including mechanisms for processing cotton, woodworking equipment, printing presses, and certain types of armaments for the Union troops during the Civil War. In 1868, the owners of the company made a business decision to concentrate exclusively on the production of printing press machines.

A few years later, George Fenner, nephew of Nathan Babcock, joined the firm as an apprentice in the drafting department. Fenner’s hiring proved to be a pivotal moment in the history of the company. Early on in his career, he exhibited an intuitive sense for the mechanical design and construction of printing presses. In 1880, Nathan Babcock accepted the offer from Calvert Cottrell to purchase his share of the company. At the urging of his nephew George Fenner, just two years later, Babcock created a new printing press manufactory.  Fenner was not only a partner in the enterprise but also the day-to-day head supervisor and chief designer for the newly christened Babcock Printing Press Company.

The new company’s base of operations was set up inside a massive factory building recently constructed by Israel Brown to house his own business, the Brown Cotton Gin Company in New London. Brown, a New London native, had started his extremely successful manufacturing company in Columbus, Georgia in 1846 before relocating to New London in 1865. The factory’s location allowed the Babcock Printing Press manufacturers to take advantage of the shipping opportunities afforded by the nearby nexus of railroad routes and the city’s deep natural harbor which expedited commercial marine transportation.

The Babcock Company delivered its first newly designed and manufactured flatbed cylinder printing press to a newspaper publisher in upstate New York in January of 1883. The printing press known as the “Standard” model was available in 9 different sizes and featured innovations unmatched by the company’s competitors. These patented design innovations created by George Fenner, were the first of over 100 patents he would receive between 1882 and 1915. During the next decade, the company manufactured a wide range of different types of cylinder printing presses including the “Artifex” a special lithographic printing press. Sizes of the presses ranged from the smallest, weighing 2.5 tons to the largest press weighing 16 tons.

In 1893, Babcock introduced its new two-revolution “Optimus” press. The Optimus became the new industry standard for the production of high quality printing. Harper & Bros. of New York used the Optimus exclusively to print their popular and influential periodicals, Harpers Weekly and Harper’s Monthly magazine. By 1899, the company’s strong commercial success allowed for the expansion of the employee base to 250 men occupying 180,000 square feet of factory floor. During the period between 1883 and 1919, the company sold over 7,000 printing presses to businesses in every state of the Union with a global market that included Canada, Mexico, Europe and parts of Asia

. selling as pictured.

more than welcome to pick up at shop in Butler Pa & save shipping.