Copying machines
'Copying Machines' in the 'Cyclopaedia of Useful Arts'
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It is remarkable to discover that, although much copying of documents was still done by hand through the 19th century, various methods of copying documents by 'mechanical' means had been developed from the late 18th century onwards. It is also surprising to learn that the first equipment for copying documents to be commercially successful was created by James Watt, (1736-1819), known for his development of the steam engine.
“I have lately discovered a method of copying [letters] instantaneously, provided it has been written [____] or within 24 hours. I send you a specimen an[d I will]impart the secret if will be of any use to you.” [Gaps due to corner of letter missing.. Letter. James Watt to Joseph Black 24 July 1778.]
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Watt patented his machines in 1780, went into business selling them with his partner Matthew Boulton, and by the end of 1780 had sold 150 machines, and 630 presses in the first full year of business. 'James Watt & Company' sold the copying presses until 1840, two decades after Watt's death.
Copying Press/Machine
It seems clear that Jamaica was well accustomed to the use of the copying press in its various forms, and was kept reasonably up-to-date on advances in that technology, in the 19th century. Unfortunately I have not found any advertisements with illustrations in the local press, so the illustrations all come from the Internet.
Ritchie's copying press dated from the 1820s-30s, and was probably known in Jamaica from those decades.
Waterlow's Catalogue , 1850
'Copying presses were standard equipment in offices for nearly a century and a half.' Smithsonian.
an iron copying press - an item in an auction
a copying press - type unknown - listed for sale, alongside some other items of 1870s' technology -
An interesting piece of early office equipment, apparently available in Jamaica from the end of the 1870s at least; the ones in Jamaica may have been similar to that illustrated in the Canadian press in the 1870s.
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It is interesting to get the attitude of government officials to copying presses -
At a sitting of the Civil Service Commission on Monday, December 17, 1877, E N Walker, then assistant Colonial Secretary, was answering questions - one was -
How is your copying done?
By hand.
At a later session of the Commission, in January 1878, Mr Smeeton, of the Government Stationery Stores was asked, by the Chairman, -
Do you think a copying press is good?
He replied - No: it may be prejudice on my part, but I don't think the paper will last long.
Six or seven years later, in 1884, the Royal Commission on the Crown Colony institutions found some progress on the matter, but recommended more -
'In some offices a copying press has been successfully used, and there seems no reason why it should not be introduced into every office.'
At a sitting of the Civil Service Commission on Monday, December 17, 1877, E N Walker, then assistant Colonial Secretary, was answering questions - one was -
How is your copying done?
By hand.
At a later session of the Commission, in January 1878, Mr Smeeton, of the Government Stationery Stores was asked, by the Chairman, -
Do you think a copying press is good?
He replied - No: it may be prejudice on my part, but I don't think the paper will last long.
Six or seven years later, in 1884, the Royal Commission on the Crown Colony institutions found some progress on the matter, but recommended more -
'In some offices a copying press has been successfully used, and there seems no reason why it should not be introduced into every office.'
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other examples of copying technology in newspaper columns -
briefly, around 1879-80, a different kind of copying equipment arrived in the island, but, for whatever reasons, then disappeared -
copying press supplies -
The Edison Mimeograph Co. exhibited their copying machines, in the 'LASCELLES, DE MERCADO & COYS PAVILION' at the 1891 Exhibiton, where they were demonstrated to anyone wishing to see them in operation.
After the Exhibition closed many items were sold, including some copying presses; I note that 270 garden benches were up for sale - I was shown one of those benches, in a garden off Lady Musgrave Road, back in 1991, when I was working on a Centenary Exhibition - the bench had been purchased a hundred years before by my host's grandfather.
more copying presses , and accessories -
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An item about the dismissal of W. B. Hannan as Superintendant of the Fire Brigade, listing the office equipment he had held onto, indicates an 'iron press' and a 'copying book' as part of that equipment -
and some advertisements for auction sales seem to suggest fairly clearly that a copying press was a normal part of the equipment of an office, and even, may be, of a household -
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New names -
the Papyrograph, (1874 - )
The Papyrograph does not seem to have caught on in Jamaica, as, so far, I have found no further references to it here!
the Cyclostyle, (1884 - )
from the "Gleaner", April 21, 1896,
'The Cyclostyle which has been purchased by the [Teachers'] Association [meeting in Gordon Town] was shown to all the members, and they expressed pleasure at having secured such a useful auxiliary . . . .'
'The Cyclostyle which has been purchased by the [Teachers'] Association [meeting in Gordon Town] was shown to all the members, and they expressed pleasure at having secured such a useful auxiliary . . . .'
Daily Gleaner, April 15, 1897
PAROCHIAL BOARDS.
ST. THOMAS.
At the usual monthly meeting held at the Board's Boom on the 1st April, present:— J. Smicle, Esq., Chairman, Messrs. Humphrey, Quinlan, J. H, Cox, Dias, Williams, and Carr.
……………..
The Clerk asked permission to purchase an automatic cyclostyle for the use of this office.
Permission granted.
PAROCHIAL BOARDS.
ST. THOMAS.
At the usual monthly meeting held at the Board's Boom on the 1st April, present:— J. Smicle, Esq., Chairman, Messrs. Humphrey, Quinlan, J. H, Cox, Dias, Williams, and Carr.
……………..
The Clerk asked permission to purchase an automatic cyclostyle for the use of this office.
Permission granted.
Neo-Cyclostyle
Letter copying presses and their accessories were still in use at the end of the 19th century, having been in use for over a century - now they are an almost forgotten stage in the development of document copying technologies.
another use for a copying press?
- for masses of information on copying presses and other similar technologies, check out the Office Museum site -
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And there were also early writing machines/typewriters -