a portable interchangeable letter stamp from france?

I purchased this interesting little gadget in France... a small box of little letter, number and symbol stamps that you place into the slots of the hand piece. I'm not sure if it would be used with an ink pad, or similar or if it would somehow emboss, but there is lots of gummy thick ink in the individual letters and numbers. There is no date on the label of the box so unfortunately, I don't know how old it is.