Oak Knoll

A Perfect Machine narrates the emergence, impact, and eventual decline of the most pivotal U.S. printing press of the nineteenth century. The Adams power press successfully transitioned printers from the limited production of fine letterpress printing on hand presses to mechanized, high-quality, high-volume production. From the 1830s through the 1870s, this machine printed the majority of American books, with a top speed of about 1,000 impressions an hour and flexibility for batch printing. Although prominent in book production, the Adams power press also facilitated the cross-production of books and newspapers, and even selected job printing.

Building on the first U.S. power press of Daniel Treadwell, Isaac Adams adapted innovations of his own and those of others into a new machine. He patented a double-feeder press in 1830 and an improved machine with a single feeding station in 1836, including a ground-breaking "fly" device to automate the stacking of printed sheets. In coordination with his younger brother Seth, whose expertise and business acumen advanced their mutual interests, Isaac designed the machines as transitions from manual to steam power. Strategic partnerships, patent extensions, and flexible power-sourcing enabled Adams to position his machine competitively within the U.S. printing market.

Publishers and printers profited from the machines accurate registration, beautiful impressions, carefully calibrated movements, and most of all, automated stacking that lessened labor costs while presenting sheets ready for perfecting printing the second side. Patent protection blocked competitors from legally incorporating the Adams fly device into their machines.

Isaac Adams relinquished his business in 1859, arguably at its market peak, extracting a fair price from R. Hoe & Co. Within a few years, publishers turned toward newer cylinder presses to print larger sheets of machine-made paper and illustrative wood blocks incompatible with production on an Adams power press.

A Perfect Machine presents a comprehensive study of the Adams power press, including an extensive bibliography, a compilation of published press sizes and costs, and a method for identifying works printed on the machine. This book is an essential reference for studying the transition of printing from hand presses to automated machines in the nineteenth century.