CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF COVERING OR INCLOSING BOOKS, WHEREBY THEIR CONTENTS' WILL BE SECURED FROM THE OBSERVATION OF ANY PERSON BUT THE OWNER, AND WILL ALSO BE PRESERVED FROM INJURY
Year: 1806

page_text: "
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ANTHONY
GEORGE ECKHARDT, of Berwick Street, Golden Square, in the County of
Middlesex, Fellow of the Royal Society and Member of the Society of
Haerlem; in Holland; send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third did, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-second day of
December, in the forty-seventh year of His reign, give and grant unto me,
the said Anthony George Eckhardt, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, His
especial licence, that I, the said Anthony George Eckhardt, my exors, admors;
and assigns, during the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE
OF COVERING OR INCLOSING BOOKS, WHEREBY THEIR CONTENTS' WILL BE SECURED FROM
THE OBSERVATION OF ANY PERSON BUT THE OWNER, AND WILL ALSO BE PRESERVED
FROM INJURY;" in which said Letters Patent there is 'contained a proviso
obliging me, the said Anthony George Eckhardt, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, to cause a particular description of the nature of
my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed; tö
be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within one calendar.
month after the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same,
relation being thereunto had, may more fully and at large appear.¨¨*

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Anthony George Eckhardt, do hereby declare that my said Invention consists
in extending the idea and application of a principle invented by Messieurs
John and Joseph Williams, for which they obtained His Majesty's Royal
Letters Patent, in November, One thousand seven hundred and ninety-niuc,
which extended improvement has had the concurrence of and been purchased
by Mr. John Williams, Stationer in Cornhill, in the City of London, the sole
survivor in that Patent right. And whereas the Patent then obtained was for
the express purpose of producing freedom in the opening of all sorts of books
by means of a firm back, of whatever materials, applied to a book before it is
covered, in the manner therein specified.
Now this, my Invention, consists in producing the same effect upon all sorts
of books after they are covered, bound, or finished (provided they are suf-
ficiently pliant) by the same firm back applied externally, to which is attached,
by hinges of any kind, a flap or flaps made of the same or any other strong
materials, to which flap or flaps are connected, by hinges of any kind, ledges,
which completely enclose the book on all sides, resembling in appearance a
book; within side this firm box are placed stays, or pivotts, or indents, to hold
down the cover of the book, which, being confined upon the same principle as
in the former Patent, will cause the book so inclosed, when opened, to produce
a flat or level surface.
My Invention also consists in converting the ledges at the bottom, or on
either side, to supporters for the hand, when requisite, to write near the bottom
or edges of the book, which may be done by the ledges on that part of the
covering where the rest for the hand is required having a joint, which shall
extend across one or both sides of the book, so as to support the hand
wherever it may be necessary to write, and these rests possess an ability to
elevate or depress their position at pleasure, with a power of being rendered
stationary by means of a stop or stops, which are affixed to the flaps, or for
any other means by which these advantages can be procured. The whole to
be secured by a lock or other fastening.
This Invention, I think, will prove of great importance to every one using
books, whether for reading or writing in, as it will be a perfect and durable
covering from dust and injury; it will present a flat and level surface when
opened, and also be secure from inspection. It may be made very light and
portable, and of any materials, more or less expensive, applicable to any
number of book in succession, as one may be removed and another placed
instead in an instant, & always possessing the same advantages. It will,

page_text: likewise, become a preserver from fire or mischief, when made of proper
materials to resist them, and may also be made to contain papers and other
articles.
In witness whereof, I, the said Anthony George Eckhardt, have hereunto
set my hand and scal, this Twenty-first day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seven.
A. G. ECKHARDT. (L.B.)
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-first day of January, in
the year of our Lord 1807, the aforesaid Anthony George Eckhardt came
before our said Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Speci-
fication aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in
form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stampt according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Twenty-first day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seven.