Communications

Tools of communication have transformed American society time and again over the past two centuries. The Museum has preserved many instruments of these changes, from printing presses to personal digital assistants.

The collections include hundreds of artifacts from the printing trade and related fields, including papermaking equipment, wood and metal type collections, bookbinding tools, and typesetting machines. Benjamin Franklin is said to have used one of the printing presses in the collection in 1726.

More than 7,000 objects chart the evolution of electronic communications, including the original telegraph of Samuel Morse and Alexander Graham Bell's early telephones. Radios, televisions, tape recorders, and the tools of the computer age are part of the collections, along with wireless phones and a satellite tracking system.

Thomas Sinclair (ca 1805-1881) of Philadelphia produced this chromolithographic print of "Phalacrocorax brasilianus [GM]" or Neotropic cormorant, from an original illustration by William Dreser (ca 1820, fl. 1849-1860).
Description (Brief)
Thomas Sinclair (ca 1805-1881) of Philadelphia produced this chromolithographic print of "Phalacrocorax brasilianus [GM]" or Neotropic cormorant, from an original illustration by William Dreser (ca 1820, fl. 1849-1860). The image was published as Plate XXVIII in Volume 2, following page 204 of Appendix F (Zoology-Birds) by John Cassin (1813-1869) in the report describing "The U.S. Naval Astronomical Expedition to the Southern Hemisphere during the Years 1849, 1850, 1851, and 1852" by James M. Gillis (1811-1865). The volume was printed in 1855 by A. O. P. Nicholson (1808-1876) of Washington, D.C.
Location
Currently not on view
date of book publication
1855
graphic artist
Sinclair, Thomas
original artist
Dreser, William
publisher
United States Navy
printer
Nicholson, A. O. P.
author
Cassin, John
Gilliss, James Melville
ID Number
2008.0175.02
accession number
2008.0175
catalog number
2008.0175.02
This table-top wooden press was made by Adam Ramage of Philadelphia in about 1840. Its tympan is missing and frisket includes a modern table.
Description (Brief)
This table-top wooden press was made by Adam Ramage of Philadelphia in about 1840. Its tympan is missing and frisket includes a modern table. The press is stamped on the original brass label: “A RAMAGE / PATENT / NO 189.” Its height (without table) measures 38 inches, its width, at cheeks, 20.5 inches, and its length 37 inches. The platen measures 12.5 inches by 16.5 inches.
Adam Ramage built wooden presses in three sizes: a full-size common press, an intermediate free-standing press which he called his “screw press,” and the smallest, the “foolscap,” named for the size of sheet (13.5 x 8.5 inches) that it would print. Foolscap presses, sturdier than the screw presses, were sold in good numbers for about $65. After Ramage’s death in 1850, foolscap presses were made for some years by his successor, Frederick Bronstrup.
Donated by Skip Barnhart, 1986.
Citation: Elizabeth Harris, "Printing Presses in the Graphic Arts Collection," 1996.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
circa 1840
date made
ca 1840
maker
Ramage, Adam
ID Number
1986.0890.01
accession number
1986.0890
catalog number
1986.0890.01
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1894
1910
about 1804
associated date
1890 - 1900
graphic artist
unknown
ID Number
2014.0037.23
catalog number
2014.0037.23
2014.0037.23
2014.0037.23
accession number
2014.0037
Book, leather over boards.Binding broken.A Journal or Historical Account of the Life, Travels, and Christian Experiences of ...Thomas Chalkley; bound with The Works of Thomas Chalkley, Part II only (no Part I). Both imprints Philadelphia: Printed by B. Franklin and D.
Description (Brief)
Book, leather over boards.Binding broken.
A Journal or Historical Account of the Life, Travels, and Christian Experiences of ...Thomas Chalkley; bound with The Works of Thomas Chalkley, Part II only (no Part I). Both imprints Philadelphia: Printed by B. Franklin and D. Hall, 1749
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1749
associated date
1749
printer
Franklin, Benjamin
ID Number
GA.16522
accession number
118225
catalog number
16522
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1773
associated date
1773 03 21
associated user
unknown
unknown
ID Number
1987.0006.04
accession number
1987.0006
catalog number
1987.0006.04
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1831
depicted (sitter)
Marshall, John
designer
Newsam, Albert
original artist
Inman, Henry
ID Number
2014.0250.45
accession number
2014.0250
catalog number
2014.0250.45
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1870s
graphic artist
Evert, Louis H.
ID Number
GA.69.181
catalog number
69.181
accession number
282174
Pamphlet, stitched. An Extract from a Treatise by William Law, M. A. called The Spirit of Prayer...Philadelphia: Printed by B. Franklin and D. Hall, 1760.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Pamphlet, stitched. An Extract from a Treatise by William Law, M. A. called The Spirit of Prayer...
Philadelphia: Printed by B. Franklin and D. Hall, 1760.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1760
associated date
1760
printer
Franklin, Benjamin
ID Number
GA.16523
catalog number
16523
accession number
118225
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1800
ID Number
1987.0006.11
accession number
1987.0006
catalog number
1987.0006.11
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1817
maker
unknown
ID Number
GA.317845.1
accession number
1975.317845
This table-top, flatbed platen proofing press dates from the late 19th century. The press chase measures 6.25 inches by 9.25 inches; its height is 8 inches and width 10.75 inches.The little Comit (or Comet) press was sold and perhaps made by Robert S.
Description (Brief)
This table-top, flatbed platen proofing press dates from the late 19th century. The press chase measures 6.25 inches by 9.25 inches; its height is 8 inches and width 10.75 inches.
The little Comit (or Comet) press was sold and perhaps made by Robert S. Menamin, of Philadelphia, a publisher and printing equipment dealer, as a quick proofing press for wood engravers. Its bed is pushed under the platen by hand, and the platen is lowered by a crank-operated eccentric shaft. This particular press is alleged to have been used by missionaries in China.
Found in the collections, 1948.
Citation: Elizabeth M. Harris, "Printing Presses in the Graphic Arts Collection," 1996. Elizabeth M. Harris, "Personal Impressions, The Small Printing Press in Nineteenth-Century America," 2004.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
late 19th century
ca 1900
maker
unknown
ID Number
GA.19991
accession number
1948.179703
catalog number
19991
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1800
maker
unknown
ID Number
1987.0006.07
accession number
1987.0006
catalog number
1987.0006.07
Sixteen-year-old Gerome Ferris etched this print in 1879 after his own painting of the dying Christopher Columbus, 1506 Last Days of C. Columbus at Vallodolid.
Description
Sixteen-year-old Gerome Ferris etched this print in 1879 after his own painting of the dying Christopher Columbus, 1506 Last Days of C. Columbus at Vallodolid. The current location of the painting is unknown, but the choice of topic anticipates Gerome’s future as a history painter, focusing on American narrative subjects.
After death, Christopher Columbus’s journeys were not over. His remains traveled from Vallodolid to Seville and in 1542 were taken to the island of Hispaniola, now Haiti and the Dominican Republic, colonized by Columbus after 1492. After a move to Havana, Cuba, they returned to Seville cathedral in 1898 where they are today.
The etching was printed on chine-collé, a very thin sheet of paper that accepts the image in passing through the press with a heavier sheet of backing paper to which is it glued during the printing.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1879
graphic artist
Ferris, Jean Leon Gerome
ID Number
GA.14450
accession number
94830
catalog number
14450
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
c. 1850
date made
ca 1800
graphic artist
Melish, John
ID Number
1985.0303.05
accession number
1985.0303
catalog number
1985.0303.05
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1870
ca 1870s
graphic artist
Evert, Louis H.
ID Number
GA.69.180
catalog number
69.180
accession number
282174
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1774
associated date
1774 01 14
associated user
unknown
unknown
ID Number
1987.0006.02
catalog number
1987.0006.02
accession number
1987.0006
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1870
1879
graphic artist
Ferris, Stephen James
ID Number
GA.14399.01
accession number
94830
catalog number
14399.01
This Philadelphia press was made by Frederick Bronstrup of Philadelphia after 1850. The top finial is missing.
Description (Brief)
This Philadelphia press was made by Frederick Bronstrup of Philadelphia after 1850. The top finial is missing. The press has a height of 72 inches a width, at cheeks, of 33 inches and a length of 74.5 inches; its platen measures 22.5 inches by 19 inches.
The Philadelphia press was designed and originally built by Adam Ramage of Philadelphia and, like Ramage’s better-known wooden presses, it was sternly utilitarian in looks. The A-shaped frame was made of a 1 inch by 3 inch wrought-iron band. The earliest Philadelphia presses had a simple elbow toggle lever, similar to that of the Wells press. After 1842 Ramage changed the toggles to a design closer to those of the Washington press. This was one of a group of presses deriving from Ramage’s patent of 1834, and sharing the A-frame.
After Ramage’s death in 1850, his business was taken over by
Frederick Bronstrup, a German blacksmith, who made this heftier
form of the Philadelphia press. Bronstrup sold the business in
1875.
Donated by Wallace J. Tomasini for the University of Iowa, 1984.
Citation: Elizabeth Harris, "Printing Presses in the Graphic Arts Collection," 1996.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
after 1850
maker
Ramage, Adam
ID Number
1984.0427.01
catalog number
1984.0427.01
accession number
1984.0427
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1797
associated date
1788 06 19
associated user
unknown
unknown
graphic artist
Krebs, Johann Jacob Friedrich
ID Number
1987.0006.10
accession number
1987.0006
catalog number
1987.0006.10
The signed ink drawing was made after Mariano Fortuny’s painting El Musico Arab.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
The signed ink drawing was made after Mariano Fortuny’s painting El Musico Arab.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1879
graphic artist
Ferris, Stephen James
original artist
Fortuny y Carbo, Mariano
ID Number
GA.16617
catalog number
16617
accession number
119780
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1870
date made
1879
graphic artist
Ferris, Jean Leon Gerome
original artist
Fortuny y Carbo, Mariano
ID Number
GA.14441.01
accession number
94830
catalog number
14441.01
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
last quarter 1800
graphic artist
Ferris, Jean Leon Gerome
original artist
Fortuny y Carbo, Mariano
maker
Ferris, Jean Leon Gerome
ID Number
GA.14429.01
accession number
94830
catalog number
14429.01
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1816
maker
unknown
ID Number
1984.0706.01
accession number
1984.0706
catalog number
1984.0706.01
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1774
associated date
1801 01 06
associated user
unknown
unknown
ID Number
1987.0006.01
accession number
1987.0006
catalog number
1987.0006.01

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