RIT: Top Bidder for Historic Albion Hand Printing Press

ROCHESTER, NY—The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) has added a historic piece of iron to its collection of antique printing machines after notching the winning bid of $233,000 at auction for a Kelmscott/Goudy Albion iron hand press, the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle reported.

RIT captured the Improved Albion Press No. 6551, which was used by William Morris to print the Works of Geoffrey Chaucer in London during the late 1890s. The nearly seven-foot high, more than 2000-lb. press was auctioned by Christie's in New York City.

"The Kelmscott/Goudy Press will have an active life at RIT, not simply as a museum artifact, but as a working press accessible to students, scholars and printers," Steven Galbraith, curator of RIT's Cary Collection—where the press will be added—told the newspaper.

The antique press purchase was made possible by the support of 1974 RIT graduate Brooks Bower, the chairman and CEO of Louisville, KY-based envelope manufacturer Papercone Corp.