MAKING BOOK COVERS IN TORTOISESHELL, INLAID OR NOT WITH PEARL OR IVORY, AND FOR IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR EMBOSSING, CARVING, AND INLAYING BOOK COVERS WITH PEARL AND IVORY, AND FOR MAKING METAL JOINTS, BY WHICH SUCH BOOKS MAY BE WIDELY OPENED; THE SAID IMPROVE- MENTS TO BE APPLICABLE TO INLAYING PIANOFORTES
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Hartfield, of Prospect Row, Bermondsey,
in the County of Surrey, Tortoiseshell Worker, for the Invention of
"MAKING BOOK COVERS IN TORTOISESHELL, INLAID OR NOT WITH PEARL OR
IVORY, AND FOR IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR EMBOSSING, CARVING, AND
INLAYING BOOK COVERS WITH PEARL AND IVORY, AND FOR MAKING METAL
JOINTS, BY WHICH SUCH BOOKS MAY BE WIDELY OPENED; THE SAID IMPROVE-
MENTS TO BE APPLICABLE TO INLAYING PIANOFORTES."
Sealed the 3rd August 1855, and dated the 7th February 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Hartfield at tho
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 7th
February 1855.
I, WILLIAM HARTFIELD, of Prospect Row, Bermondsey, in the County of
Surrey, Tortoiseshell Worker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "MAKING BOOK COVERS IN TORTOISESHELL, INLAID OR NOT WITH PEARL
OR IVORY, AND FOR IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR EMBOSSING, CARVING, AND
INLAYING BOOK COVERS WITH PEARL AND IVORY, AND FOR MAKING METAL JOINTS,
BY WHICH SUCH BOOKS MAY BE WIDELY OPENED; THE SAID IMPROVEMENTS TO BE
APPLICABLE TO INLAYING PIANOFORTES," to be as follows:-
That books, such as the bible, common prayer, and any other books in
general use, may be bound up with tortoiseshell covers, either veneered on

page_text: wood, or in the solid shell, and be inlaid with pearl and ivory, in a similar
manner to that in which card cases now in use are inlaid; the backs of the
books to be of leather, velvet, or tortoiseshell, as may be desired, and fastened
to the sides by means of a metal joint having no bearer to it, which will enable
persons using such books to open them widely and freely. The improvement
in the machinery for embossing and inlaying is in using dies made in iron, of
various patterns, in connection with a press, which can be made available in
the inlaying of pianofortes, &c.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Hartfield in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
7th August 1855..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HARTFIELD, of Prospect Row, Bermondsey. in the County of Surrey, Tortoise-
shell Worker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Iler most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself. Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Hartfield, Eler special licence that . the said William
Hartfield, ny executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Hartfield, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland,, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"MAKING BOOK COVERS IN TORTOISESHELL, INLAID OR NOT WITH PEARL OR IVORY,
AND FOR IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR EMBOSSING, CARVING, AND INLAYING
BOOK COVERS WITH PEARL' AND IVORY, AND FOR MAKING METAL JOINTS, BY WHICH
BUCH BOOKS MAY BE WIDELY OPENED; THE SAID IMPROVEMENTS TO BE APPLICABLE
TO INLAYING PIANOFORTES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said William Hartfield, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said In-
vention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause
the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Hartfield, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, that is to say:-
My Invention consists in making book covers of tortoiseshell, or of wood
veneered with tortoiseshell, such tortoiseshell being plain or inlaid with pearls,
ivory, or other substances in use for inlaying.
The backs of these book covers when prepared may be of leather or velvet.
I make the joints of these covers of metal drawn through a draw plate, as is
well understood, whereby I attain greater strength and durability, and a joint
admitting the two leaves opening back one upon the other.
In stamping the tortoiseshell, so as to make it assume the required form, I
employ dies, worked by a press in the ordinary manner, shaped concave and
convex, so as to receive the tortoiseshell, and engraved with a suitable device,
so as to give the back any required form and inscription.
The inlaying herein-before described may be applied to pianofortes.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Hartfield, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventh day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
WILLIAM HARTFIELD. (L.B.)