This is a catalogue of printing presses, type, and other printing material sold by J. Cook and Company in Meriden, CT. 1877. This digital edition was scanned by Stephen O. Saxe from his copy, with additional image preparation by Dr. David M. MacMillan.

This catalogue shows several presses which are more commonly associated with other companies, so some notes are in order. Stephen O. Saxe explains the history of the Cook company:

"James Cook was part-owner of a block of buildings in Meriden, Connecticut, in 1875. One of his tenants was 24-year old William Kelsey, who was doing well in his mail-order press business. The following year Kelsey moved to other premises. Cook promptly went into business in competition with Kelsey, selling presses made by Daughaday (Model press), Golding (Pearl), and Curtis & Mitchell (Columbian), as well as his own Enterprise (similar to Kelsey's Excelsior) and Victor presses. Kelsey continued to expand his advertising in children's magazines like St. Nicholas and Youth's Companion.

"Cook was a serious competitor to Kelsey, but by September, 1883 he had to admit defeat. Kelsey bought him out (allegedly for $10,000). In his 1890 catalogue, Kelsey wrote:

"DEAD. Competitors of this establishment do not seem to prosper. We have bought out B. O. Woods & Co. Novelty presses, started in Boston in 1864. J. Cook & Co., after spending $20,000 in attempting to compete with our excellent press, have sold out to us at a great sacrifice. Our machines are too good to allow much chance for competition. We shall meet all rivals with cut prices!"

"Cook's Victor press was added to Kelsey's line in about 1891 and continued to appear in and out of his catalogues in future years."

This catalogue is a part of An Archive of Amateur Press Catalogues. For a page linking to other catalogues in this archive, go to: https://archive.org/details/AnArchiveOfAmateurPressCatalogues

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