Applegath, Augustus

SUBJECT AREA: Paper and printing

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fl. 1816–58 London, England

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English printer and manufacturer of printing machinery.

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After Koenig and Bauer had introduced the machine printing-press and returned to Germany, it fell to Applegath and his mechanic brother-in-law Edward Cooper to effect improvements. In particular, Applegath succeeded Koenig and Bauer as machine specialist to The Times newspaper, then in the vanguard of printing technology.

Applegath and Cooper first came into prominence when the Bank of England began to seek ways of reducing the number of forged banknotes. In 1816 Cooper patented a device for printing banknotes from curved stereotypes fixed to a cylinder. These were inked and printed by the rotary method. Although Applegath and Cooper were granted money to develop their invention, the Bank did not pursue it. The idea of rotary printing was interesting, but it was not followed up, possibly due to lack of demand.

Applegath and Cooper were then engaged by John Walter of The Times to remedy defects in Koenig and Bauer's presses; in 1818 Cooper patented an improved method of inking the forme and Applegath also took out patents for improvements. In 1821 Applegath had enough experience of these presses to set up as a manufacturer of printing machinery in premises in Duke Street, Blackfriars, in London. Increases in the size and circulation of The Times led Walter to ask Applegath to build a faster press. In 1827 he produced a machine with the capacity of four presses, his steam-driven four-feeder press.

Its flat form carrying the type passed under four impression cylinders in a row. It could make 4,200 impressions an hour and sufficed to print The Times for twenty years, until it was superseded by the rotary press devised by Hoe. By 1826, however, Applegath was in financial difficulties; he sold his Duke Street workshop to William Clowes, a book printer. In the following year he gave up being a full-time manufacturer of printing machinery and turned to silk printing. In 1830 he patented a machine for printing rolls of calico and silk from bent intaglio plates.

In 1848 Applegath was persuaded by The Times to return to newspaper printing. He tackled rotary printing without the benefit of curved printing plates and roll paper feed, and he devised a large "type revolving" machine which set the pattern for newspaper printing-presses for some twenty years.

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Further Reading

J.Moran, 1973, Printing Presses, London: Faber \& Faber.

LRD