AN IMPROVED TRAVELLERS' ALBUM AND GUIDE, FOR USE IN RAILWAY CARRIAGES
Year: 1877

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Charles de Grelle at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 22nd February 1877.
CHARLES DE GRELLE, of the Firm of Charles de Grelle & Co., of Basinghall Street,
in the City of London, Merchants. "AN IMPROVED TRAVELLERS' ALBUM AND GUIDE,
FOR USE IN RAILWAY CARRIAGES."
The object of this Invention is twofold, namely, to afford instruction and
information to railway travellers, and to give publicity by means of advertisements
to commercial and other matters, such as amusements and entertainments to which
it is desired to direct public attention. These objects are effected by means of guide
books specially prepared for each of the several main lines of railway of the United
Kingdom, and in which are arranged in a peculiar manner, (1), the information
illustrated or otherwise relating to a given line of railway for which a guide is
specially required; (2), amusing and entertaining notices of places or things in the
vicinity of the line; and (3), trade notices and advertisements relating to the
commercial affairs of the several localities and places through which the line passes.
In addition to this there may be added an almanack for the year, and a copious
index referring to the varied contents of the album guide, and by means of which
a reader can refer at once to that part of the guide he may require to consult.
The Invention consists in so arranging and grouping the various kinds of inforin-
ation above indicated, that the illustrated description of the localities will follow
the course of the line, and the advertisements which will be limited to the neighbour-
hood of the places traversed by the railway will be grouped according to the cities,
towns, or villages to which they belong, and placed in juxta position with the
description and illustration of such places. Thus the guide will contain a short
general account of the route through which the line passes, to which will be added
information as to the best modes of reaching the line and the cost of transit thereon.
The work will also enter into details of the several localities on the line, including
places or buildings of interest to be seen there, plans and views being given to
facilitate this latter object.
The trade notices and advertisments which will be limited to the commerce, trade,
and places of amusement of the locality, will with instructions as to the hire or
fares of public carriages or boats connected with the locality, the times of starting,
and fares of steamers or public carriages, complete by their juxta position the
information required by the travellers respecting each locality passed or visited. All
[Price 2d1

page_text: this valuable and useful information is bound up in a quarto volume, which is
strengthened at the edges by means of metal bars which are rivetted on the covers,
and are provided with rings or loops whereby the book may be suspended in a
railway carriage.
It is proposed to supply one or more of theso album guides to each compartment
of every passenger train on the line for the use of the passengers.
As part of the information in the guide book is permanent, and part is liable to
continual alteration, the latter (or changeable part) may be printed on separate
sheets, and attached to "guards" provided at the proper places in the album, so
that this part of the work may be renewed from time to time as alterations take
place.
It is not proposed to sell the work to the public, but merely to supply it to the
railway companies for the free use of the travellers on their lines, and no induce-
ment to purloin it will exist, as the possession of it by any one but the railway
companies would at once be known to be illegal. Should a demand for private use
arise for the information contained in the album guide the work may be prepared
and published in a form more convenient for private use.