Megan, a fellow letterpress printer and instructor, sent me a link about the intriguing “military map printing case” on the left, recently acquired at Princeton University (click on the photo to see an enlargement and the symbols on the brass stamps). The post didn’t offer many details:
This mapmaker’s printing case was designed to be used by a government sponsored cartographer when working in the field around the 1860s. The buckram-covered case holds 63 brass sorts with a selection of numbers and military symbols. There is an ink pad and twelve glass bottles of ink, some with the label of the Paris manufacturer Dagron & Compagnie.
So I poked around a bit, and found a shop specializing in antique maps in the UK selling pretty much the same case (for a mere £2200 or about $3200 US). There’s a bit more information there about how a mapmaker might have used the brass stamps:
We presume the brass printing blocks would have been set in a hand-held “form” and “stamped” onto pre-existing printed topographic maps so that military officials could more clearly trace and interpret manouevres and strategies.
This is so nifty. I would love to have it to play with. A mere 3 grand plus change…
Velma, that’s exactly how I felt, and why I was so glad there was such a big detailed photo so I could see what the stamps looked like.
How fascinating! I don’t think I should own something like that, though, because I wouldn’t be able to treat it with the care I should… I’d be too busy using it to make maps.