Columbian press

In the reception area of the printers I use is what I expect was their first machine, a Columbian press dated 1853. It was one of the first presses to be activated by a single lever pull which worked due to a heady counter weight on top in the shape of an Eagle (sorry I chopped him off in the photo).

Now the factory is massive and each "press" is the size of a small aircraft hanger but the principal is basically the same, make a metal copy of what you want to print, put ink on it and then squeeze this onto paper. Its all a bit faster now as they printed 2.5 million sides of A4 in about 8 hours but its still metal plate, ink and paper.