who's the guy on the causeway to the left?

It looks like one of the turbines. very strange place for it though. Methinks someone was going to remove it, and decided against it

It looks like someone was going to remove it. there is supposed to be a large (perhaps 6 foot) in diameter flywheel next to the large gear on the side. you place ink in the thing on the top. It's not in it's original location. The press operator stands on the side closest to the wall, and there isn't enough room.

they look like X-ray viewing boxes, damaged by fire

That's not a mimeograph. It's a duplicator. a very small Offset press that used oil-base ink and water with electrostatic plates. Almost every office building from 1920 to 1969 had a few of these in the basement. I ran one of these for almost fifteen years (this one looks like it might be made by Multi-graphic, AB-Dick, or American Type Foundry.) you put the ink in the tray that is close to the camera, with all the adjusting scews, paper in the other side, the plate on the large chrome cylinder

noisy and smelly, but a required element in a pre-xerographic office.

did you have a moment to find out what those books were? were they text books, or peices of fiction?