CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PENHOLDERS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Francis Charles Vannet, of No. 10, Rue de la
Fidélité, Paris, in the Empire of France, Merchant, for the Invention of
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PENHOLDERS."
Sealed the 23rd June 1865, and dated the 13th February 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Francis Charles Vannet
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 18th February 1865.
I, FRANCIS CHARLES VANNET, of No. 10, Rue de la Fidélité, Paris, in the
Empire of France, Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PENHOLDERS,"
to be as follows, that is to say:-
My Invention consists in manufacturing penholders in such a manner that
children can learn to hold the pen in two or three lessons, and any bad writer
very much improve bis writing in a short time. By using this penholder.
the cramps in the fingers, which so frequently occur from the use of
round holders, are avoided, and every kind of pressure on the penholder is
prevented.
To carry out my Invention I take out on the length of the cylindrical stick
holding the pen 3 faces, which give it the appearance of an imperfect
pentagon or hexagon, or I only cut two of the faces, which give to the stick
the appearance of a four-sided penholder with two round faces. Again, I
take out on the length of the stick or penholder one side by a single cut,

page_text: which will make a figure of a round form with a flat side. The upper part of
the penholder called the handle must be made of a diameter smaller than that
of the diameter of the lower cylindrical stick. For metallic penholders an
elevation or pitch is made if required to receive the steel pen.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Francis Charles Vannet in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 9th August 1865,
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRANCIS
CHARLES VANNET, of No. 10, Rue de la Fidélité, Paris, in the Empire of
France, Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Francis Charles Vannet, Her special licence that I, the said
Francis Charles Vannet, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Francis Charles Vannet, 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PENHOLDERS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Francis Charles Vannet,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, 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,
or
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Francis Charles Vannet, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the. Drawing hereto annexed, and
to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say :-
My Invention consists of improvements in the manufacture of penholders
made of iron, steel, any metal or alloy, wood, ivory, india-rubber, or any other
suitable material.

page_text: The improved penholder is constructed as follows:-On a cylindrical or
conical rod, or on a polygonal rod approaching the round with more or less
small or flat sides, I cut out three sides or faces, as shewn in Figure 1. I cut
out two sides or faces, as shewn in Figures 2 and 3; these sides may be made
more or less equal and more or less plane. The upper part of the penholder,
commonly called stick, is made of a smaller diameter than that of the part left
between for the fingers, and may be round, fluted, flat, or pointed, as
desired.
Figures 1, 2, 3, shew the penholder made out of a cylindrical rod; a, a, a,
shew vertical sections of same when seen by the stick (handle) with the
thumb at left; a, a, a, a, a, under Figure 1, show five different shapes of the
The angles, shown sharp in the Figures, may be made smooth or
round when finished, as at b.
A shews a side view of the lower part of a metallic penholder with an
elevation or pitch for the pen; the same effect may be obtained without the
said pitch, as shewn in the other Figures.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine
myself to the precise details herein laid down; but what I claim is the
improved penholder herein-before described and represented in the Figures of
the Drawing hereto annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Francis Charles Vannet, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
H*. GILBEE,
10, Rue de la Fidélité,
Paris,
5th August, 1865.
F. C. VANNET. (L.S.).