hand pressmann.
/ˈhan(d) ˌprɛsmən/, U.S. /ˈhæn(d) ˌprɛsmən/ Chiefly (now only) historical.
A man who works a hand-operated printing press. Cf. hand press n.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > printer > [noun]
printer?1492
presser1545
imprinter1552
pressman1578
typographer1643
hog1732
typograph1737
pig1806
hand pressman1842
typographist1851
1842 Chambers's Information for People (new ed.) II. 637/2 Although, perhaps, fewer hand-pressmen are now employed than formerly, the increase of employment to compositors, engineers, bookbinders, booksellers, &c., must be very great.
1898 Westm. Gaz. 15 Mar. 10/1 My grandfather was a hand-pressman in Ballantyne's Printing Office at the time when demand for his books was at its height.
1958 Econ. Hist. Rev. 10 424 When John Walter introduced the Koenig printing machines into The Times office in 1814, he had to face hostility from the hand pressmen.
2010 W. S. Pretzer in R. A. Gross & M. Kelley Extensive Republic ii. 164 Changing the screw doubled the downward pressure exerted on the paper by a hand pressman's pull on the bar.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1842