The North American Hand Press Database

The North American Hand Press Database, a project of the Ad Lib Press, was begun in 2000 through the merging of four lists of hand presses located in the United States and Canada, and organized in the form of three tables in Microsoft Access which record the location of the press, the type of frame and model of press, the date of manufacture and serial number, the platen and bed dimensions, and whether I have a photo of the press. Not all of this information has been available for all the current entries, but as additional information becomes available it can easily be added.

For the purpose of the database the working definition of a hand press is a flat bed press with a horizontal platen operated by manually pulling or pushing a lever to press the platen against the paper, which is in contact with the inked image resting on the bed of the press.

In 2021 I expanded the database to The Worldwide Hand Press Database, which presently records over 2300 hand presses at about 1570 locations worldwide, ranging from the oldest known iron hand press to recently-built reproductions of early iron hand presses. Information from the database is used for historical research, to assist press owners in restoration of their presses, and to help researchers locate examples of early presses for study. The Worldwide Hand Press Database is hosted online by the Association of European Printing Museums (www.aepm.eu); there is a link at the top of their home page to "Hand Press Database". 

Like the North American Hand Press Database before it the Worldwide Hand Press Database is a work in progress. Additional iron hand presses are added to it as they become known to me.