Hygra: Antique Boxes and Tea Caddies, High Resolution Images:Antique Rare small traveling Watt's patent copying machine circa 1790

A rare small size mahogany traveling box of dovetail construction, the compartmentalized interior with a Watt's patent copying machine circa 1790. The box retains many of the accessories including the crank handle and a special tool for adjusting the tension of the rollers. The roller mechanism of machined brass and steel is particularly interesting in that the pressure and alignment of the rollers can be adjusted and are connected to each other by cog-wheels.
Watts was granted a patent in 1780. The patent covered not only the roller press but also the ink which had to be semi soluble in water.

The original idea for the patent came from a discussion at the Lunar Society in Birmingham in1779. Up to that time a copy had to be made by a scribe.
Erasmus Darwin, a poet, a physiologist, grandfather of Charles and a fellow member of the Lunar society, described what he called the "Bigrapher, a duplex pen, a pen with two or more quills, by the help of which one may write two copies of anything; which will thus, in a single operation produce both the original and a transcript". Darwin's "bigrapher" seems to describe Mark Isambard Brunel's patent "Polygraph" patented in 1799. See: Hygra: Antique Hygra: Antique Brunell Patent "Polygraph" Circa 1803

Origin: UK ; Circa: 1790; Materials: mahogany, brass, steel.

Size: 39.3 cm wide by 31 cm by 20.3 cm: 15.5 inches wide by 12.2 inches by 8 inches.

Condition: good overall; working locks and keys; see images and detailed descriptions.

Keywords: Hygra.com, Antique box, James Watt, copying box, copying machine, Lunar Society, Mathew Bolton, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson,

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All text and images and linked images are © 1999-2015 Antigone Clarke and Joseph O'Kelly. If you require any further information on permitted use, or a licence to republish any material, email us at copyright@hygra.com

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