CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS ON PEDAL HARPS
Year: 1822

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
DODD, of Saint Martin's Lane, in the Parish of Saint Martin, in the County of
Middlesex, Musical Instrument Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth did, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of that part of the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland called England, bearing date at Westminster,.the
Twenty-fourth day of April, 1822, in the third year of His reign, give and
grant unto me, the said Edward Dodd, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, His
especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said
Edward Dodd, my exors, adññors, 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 ON PEDAL HARPS;" in which said Letters Patent there
is contained a proviso, that if I, the said Edward Dodd, shall not particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, and cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court
of Chancery, within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent, that then the said Letters Patent, and all liber-
ties and advantages whatsoever thereby granted, shall utterly cease, determine,
and become void, as in and by the same (relation being thereunto had,) will
more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Edward Dodd, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained in the following description thereof, (that is to say):-
First, in order to make the neck of a harp, I glue slips of strong and tough
wood together, of a convenient width, and of any thickness I might think
proper, from one-eighth to one half an inch, more or less, or even each slip or
some of the said slips of a different thickness, and I do glue as many of these
slips together as necessary to the required width of the wooden part of the
neck of a harp, the thicknesses of the said slips together forming the width of
the said neck. In gluing these slips together I bend them, and screw them in
a cawl or frame made for that purpose, to give them the proper shape required
for the neck of a harp; let them dry till they are sufficiently so for being worked
up; see Figure 1 in the annexed Drawing. The cawl or frame I do not
describe, as every able workman is sufficiently acquainted with this kind of
work.. I do make the whole neck of a harp from front to back in the manner
just described; but the fore part of the neck in the bass being wider, and less
subject to splitting or breaking, could be left in the common way. And my
improvement for gluing slips together might be applied only in the treble or
bent part of the neck, where it is most subject to splitting or breaking.
Secondly, the slip under the bridge in the inside of the belly of the harp I
cause to be bevelled off on both its sides to edges sufficiently thin to follow the
concavity of the sounding board, formed in the said inside of the harp by the
tension of the strings, or I glue very narrow additional slips of wood to both
sides of the under slip of the belly, which answer the same purpose when
bevelled off. The elasticity of the edges of the said slip, obtained by these
means, will prevent the breaking or cutting of the sounding board, which is
created by the present mode of making the said slip; and I prefer of making
the slip one inch wider, more or less, than the usual width for this purpose;
sce Figure 2.
Thirdly, I place and frame the ribs of the body of a harp in such a position
as to act parallel or nearly so to the direction of the strings, & instead of
placing them in a right angle or nearly so to the sounding board, as usually
done; see Figure 3.
Fourthly, I drill, bore, or make the holes through the bridge, for receiving
the pegs and strings, in a parallel direction to the strings or nearly so, instead
of boring them through the bridge or nearly so in a right angle to the
sounding board, as it is commonly done; this will be found a great convenience
for getting the pegs in and out. The heads on the said pegs will require for

page_text: the better appearance to be turned or made in an angle equal or nearly so to
the angle which the strings form with the sounding board; by this contrivance
the heads of the pegs will lay flat on the bridge, and parallel to it, although
the pegs pass through the holes in the direction of the strings, and con-
sequently in an angle to the bridge and slip; see Figure 4.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Dodd, have hereunto set my hand
and scal, this Fifteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and twenty-two