Jeremy Norman’sHistoryofInformation.com Exploring the History of Information and Media through Timelines
Jeremy Norman’s
Jeremy Norman Collection of Images - Creative Commons
A: Innenstadt I, Frankfurt am Main, Hessen, Germany
Jeremy Norman Collection of Images - Creative CommonsIn this frontispiece to the Andreaischen Buchhandlung type and ornament sample book we see this folk-art style depiction of their press room featuring three presses imported from Great Britiain: Ruthven, Stanhope, and a relatively short-lived style of hand press by Cogger. This facility could print a wide variety of projects including books.
At this time the primary printing press manufacturer in Germany may have been Koenig und Bauer; however, they were producing only printing machines for high volume printers. In the print shop depicted each press is operated by a man and a boy.
In 1834 a small printer and bookstore, Andreischen Buchhandlung in Frankfurt, issued a beautiful sample book of their fonts and printer's ornaments. It must be very rare as I have never seen a copy of the original edition on the market. The images reproduced here are from a facsimile edition published in 1984. What is most notable about this volume, I think, is the frontispiece that depicts the interior of their printing shop.