The tabletop La Typote Press sits in the main gallery of the museum next to the full-size Stanhope on which it is modeled. In the mid 1800s, press manufacturers like Holtzappfel & Co. began to make scaled down versions of existing iron hand presses that would be more accessible to hobby printers at the time. Although there’s no surviving examples, there are records that indicate one of these “toy” presses was a small Columbian for printing cards. There are only two surviving examples of the tabletop Stanhope. One is in Paris, in the bookstore Librairie Paul Jammes, and the other is on view at the Museum. Our founder, Ernie Lindner, acquired it from Muir Dawson who had been displaying it in his Los Angeles store, Dawson’s Book Shop. Prior to its arrival in California, the press also originated in France and was likely manufactured there.