I'm always browsing Craigslist for stuff, never for anything in particular, and today I saw this posted and thought"when am I ever gonna see another one of these?" 

Eventually I'll look to replace the handle, but as it is right now it works, even with the welded handle that's a bit off center. Don't know anything about it other than what he told me- he said he got from an old house in what's now a run down part of the city demoing a house, and this was in the garage that looked like no one had been in it for 30 years, along with a wooden wagon

Looks like a version of a cole vise, my thought is good find I would of grabbed it!! Handle would be easy to fix.  

They open like a post vise but remember they are cast iron and will break under heavy hammering.  I have two Cole vises in my shop and use them all of the time, but not for a vise for heavy hammering.  The big advantage is that it will rotate.  They were used as a portable forge.  If you look at the underside there is probably a 1" diameter hole.  You could drive a 1" rod in the ground and then set the vise down over it.  For the Cole vise there was an accessory hand cranked drill that worked similar to a post drill in that as you cranked it it also advanced the bit.

I have one of those that was a gift to me by my grandpa several years ago that got this whole blacksmithing idea started for me.  Its turned out to be a very fun and learning experience so far.

Only pic I could find of it on my phone