Pierre Ragueneau Produces a Popular "Autographic" Press and Runs Amiss of the French Authorities

In 1834 printer Pierre Ragueneau obtained a patent for a small, affordable copying press that allowed owners with little or no experience to print up to around 1000 copies of flyers and other brief documents. Ragueneau emphasized that the broadside advertisement for the press illustrated here was printed on his small press. 

After a decree of March 22, 1852 requiring press manufacturers and dealers in printing equipment and supplies to report to the French government any deliveries that they made, Ragueneau was found to have under-reported his sales, and on July 18, 1858 Ragueneau lost his permit to sell printing presses. He later made his living as a lithographer, printer and bookseller.