L'Active typographic printing press

This type of printing press, first produced in the United States around 1860, was made by the Marinoni company from 1886 under the directorship of Jules Michaud. This pedal operated press, shown at the Universal Exposition in 1889, could also be motor-driven. It could be flat or cylindrically inked depending on the model, and has a mechanical sheet receiver. One of these presses was loaned to the Conservatoire in 1905, to be displayed ‘working’ in the Musée de la Prévention des Accidents du Travail, hence the ‘protective organs’, painted red, on the mechanical parts that can pose a threat to the operator. When the obsolete exhibit was dismantled in the late 1950s, the Marinoni company donated L’Active to the Musée des Arts et Métiers, which considered it was interesting to show it working.