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Jeremy Norman Collection of Images - Creative CommonsThis very small and relatively crude woodcut is one of the most realistic images of a printing machine room powered by a table steam engine with the machines in operation. Be sure to click on the image to see it greatly enlarged.
A: London, England, United Kingdom
Jeremy Norman Collection of Images - Creative CommonsIn 1843 Chartist leader, printer and publisher John Cleave published Parley's Visit to the Printing office; with a Familiar Account of the Steam Engine, the Printing Machine, and the Arts of Composition, Engraving and Stereotyping. This small 12mo pamphlet of 36 pages including its self-wrappers, was "Presented Gratis, to all regular Subscribers, with No. 25 of 'Parley's Penny Library.' This is one of the scarcer ephemera of book production in the Industrial Revolution, with one of the very best illustrations of a printing machine room in operation powered by a table steam engine.
Cleave issued Parley's Penny Library; or, Treasury of Knowledge, Entertainment and Delight in 9 volumes in 108 numbers. It should not be confused with Parley's Illuminated Library or with the writing of the American author, Samuel Griswold Goodrich, who used the pen name, Peter Parley.