From Stadacona to the REM · Drawing 10 of 36
The Printing Press
1764
Ink goes on metal letters, then a sheet of paper is laid on top. When the printer pulls the big lever, the press squeezes the paper onto the letters. In 1764, a press like this printed the Quebec Gazette, Québec’s first newspaper!
Look together
What is the printer doing with the big lever?
An idea to try
Press a thumb on a washable ink pad (or in a little washable paint) and print the same thumbprint on three sheets. Compare with drawing a small picture three times by hand: which way is faster?
For the adult reading along
A little more to discover
On June 21, 1764, William Brown and Thomas Gilmore printed in Québec City the first issue of the Quebec Gazette: four pages in two columns, English on the left and French on the right, pulled on a hand press like the one in the drawing. It was Québec’s first newspaper and first printed work; the two printers had hoped for 300 subscribers and found 143. In Montréal, Fleury Mesplet set up the first press in 1776 and in 1778 launched the Gazette du commerce et littéraire, before publishing the Gazette de Montréal/The Montreal Gazette from 1785.
With your child, tell writing a message by hand apart from producing many copies. The stack of sheets is a starting point: why prepare several identical pages? The press is simplified and the sheets stay blank; the drawing does not show every step of printing.
Sources and illustration notes (4)
An interpreted old printing press, with a simplified mechanism and pages left without text.
These links lead to other websites. Explore them with an adult. References identify the institution and the related lesson; some linked pages are in French.
- Association of European Printing Museums — What is a hand press?Hand press: an upright frame, a horizontal platen worked by a long bar, and a bed that slides under the platen; the common wooden press.
- Répertoire du patrimoine culturel du Québec — Parution du premier imprimé québécois (in French)The Quebec Gazette, June 21, 1764, by William Brown and Thomas Gilmore; four bilingual pages; 143 subscribers.
- Répertoire du patrimoine culturel du Québec — Fleury Mesplet (in French)Montréal’s first printing press in 1776; the Gazette du commerce et littéraire in 1778.
- Science Museum Group — Wooden printing press, 1701-1734A wooden hand press from the early 18th century, worked by hand.
Page prepared on September 19, 2026. Illustrations simplify places and scenes; they are not historical documents.
This drawing is from the book Québec’s Great Moments to Colour
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