I used one of those about 40+ years ago. I worked for a small town newspaper that had been in business since the late 1800's...
The table had grooves lightly etched into it, a grid, like graph paper, that was of great help in aligning paper on the table. That big handle would be back over to the right, out of the way, while doing that. Depicted just under the handle and in the center of that table is a small wheel. That controlled a piece of metal that was at the back of the table. Turning it one way moved that piece, that stop, toward the front, turning the other way moved it back. We'd put the paper on the table, move that little wheel to adjust the depth, then move that big wheel at the top which lowered this big piece of metal to hold the material in place. Once it was down so the paper couldn't move, then we'd work that big handle to the left as it is shown. My recollection is that they kept a piece of wood between the blade and tabletop when it wasn't in use, to preserve the blade. It would slice through paper like, as they used to say in the hills around here, like a hot knife through butter.
I agree, I think this would be what was used. It could cut with great precision with just a little bit of practice.
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