Midwestern State University, Moffett Library, 3410 Taft, Wichita Falls, TX 76308
In a catalogue Clara Latham mentions: “Nolan Moore purchased this Ramage press from Austin bookseller John Jenkins who found it in a storage barn in northern Mexico. The press suffered surface damage in a fire which cause decades of oil from printer’s ink to be brought to the surface by heat and flames. There are approximately 70 American Common presses currently intact, mostly in institutional settings.
According to Bob Oldham, from the North American Hand press Database and Ad Lib Press, Moore’s press is the only common press that survives with springs lifting the platen in stead of a hose as on all other Ramage and other manufacturer’s Common presses. In the late 1820s or early 1830s, Ramage began building a press he called a ‘Screw’ press, which had a simpler frame and use the springs, though the bolts from the platen were longer and passed all the way up through the head of the press. This press must have been either a prototype of that idea or a Common press built after he began the Screw press production. Its serial number is 733,”
