I have had many examples of antique book presses over the years and find them fascinating items, designed to do a job, and do it very well.

These antique wooden book presses were also thought to be for pressing linen after washing, especially napkins, but I am not sure this is correct as I would think most are to small and if you were ironing tablecloths, why wouldn’t you iron the napkins.

I think the main purpose was to enable you to press flowers into books, which would have been highly popular during the 19th century.

These would have been used in the libraries and studies and can still look good there today and are still totally functional, so could make the ideal present for somebody who collects flowers and would like to press them. It certainly is better than using bricks!

If you can’t find the perfect antique book press on the website or in the Emsworth showroom, please let me know and I will try and locate one for you.