Descriptiond.1851 1. (1790) "The house of Henry Altemus is of long standing. It was established in 1790 by Schadrack Taylor who was succeeded in the business by his apprentice and nephew, Joseph T. Altemus.the father of the present proprietor." (Henry Altemus)  Joseph T. Altemus won a widespread reputation for the quality of his bindings and was specially noted for fine finishing and tooling. Many of the labor-saving devices now employed were introduced by him. He imported from England a coggle press, which he arranged so as to do certain classes of finishing on the sides of books that had been done previously by hand. This was practically the first introduction in the country of stamping on the sides of books. Afterward, under his personal supervision, he had made a large embossing press for heavy relief work, This effected a great revolution in bookbinding. Besides improvements made by him in many of the processes of bookbinding he originated many styles of binding, a number of which have since become standare, Among these are: Heavy panelled and bevelled boards, inlaid sides, embossed leather backs and cloth sides of school-books in place of the old style full-skiver binding."  He would be succeeded by his son Henry. Publishers' Weekly no. 752. June 26, 1886 pg. 804. 2. (1825) 24 Cherry. Philadelphia Directory and Strangers Guide.