Issac Adams Revolutionizes Book Production, Especially in America, with the Adams Power Press

In 1827 to 1830 American inventor and politician Isaac Adams of Boston invented the Adams Power Press, a platen press operating under power which revolutionized the printing industry, especially book production in America. The machine, which was introduced in 1830, became by 1836 the leading machine used in book printing for much of the nineteenth century. With updates, it was sold by R. Hoe & Co. as late as 1881, and was distributed worldwide. The Adams Power Press substantially reduced the cost of book production, and made books more widely available. One Adams press could print 1000 impressions per hour- four times the speed of a hand press. It also handled sheets of paper twice as large as a hand press; however, it was a platen press operating under power, with all the limitations of platen printing.

"... it was the bed and platen machine that became the predominant press in American printing offices. With skilled handling, it could rival the best work of the hand press, with far greater speed and economy of labor. Between 1830, when Isaac Adams patented his first press, until about 1880 when the bed and platen press finally neared its end, an estimated ninety percent of American book printing was done on Adams presses." (Foreward by Stephen O. Saxe. Charles, Douglas W. Bed & Platen Book Printing Machines. American and British streams of ingenious regression in the quest for print quality. Plane Surface Press, 2017).