A NEW AND IMPROVED SUPPORT FOR BOOKS
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Philip Syng Justice, of 14, Southampton Buildings, in
the County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of "A NEW AND
IMPROVED SUPPORT FOR BOOKS." A communication from abroad by Amasa
Mason, of New York City, in the United States of America.
Sealed the 19th November 1878, and dated the 29th May 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Philip Syng Justico at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 29th May 1878.
PHILIP SYNG JUSTICE, of 14, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, Engineer. "A NEW AND IMPROVED SUPPORT FOR BOOKS." [A communi-
cation from abroad by Amasa Mason, of New York City, in the United States of
America.]
This Invention relates to a support for books when standing upon their ends or
edges, and is designed to abate the annoyance and inconvenience caused by the
falling upon their sides of a row of books when two or three volumes have been
removed from the row.
The Invention consists of a thin base plate, from which rises at a point inter-
mediary to its extremities an upright supporting plate or sheet at right angles to
said base. When making these supports of metal the preferable manner of forming
this upright is to extend the sheet or plate of which it is formed down into the
base by bending said sheet at a right angle, and then securing the bent portion to
the base plate by means of rivets or solder. The highth of this upright I have
found should slightly exceed one half the height of the book, for the support of
which it is intended, while the width should approximately equal that of the
book
The base plate I prefer to extend far enough upon one side of the upright to
permit more than one book to rest upon it, while on the other side of said upright
it should extend sufficiently far to furnish a brace that will prevent the whole from
falling over in the direction of the said brace.

page_text: It is essential to the convenient use of this Invention that the base shall be
made of a thin sheet of the material employed. Iron is therefore the most suitable
material, as a thin sheet will have ample rigidity to furnish the required support
to the books, and at the same time permit the easy sliding of the books over the
base plate.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Philip Syng Justice in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 21st
... November 1878.
PHILIP SYNG JUSTICE, of 14, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Mid-
älesex, Engineer. "A. NEW AND IMPROVED SUPPORT FOR BOOKS." A communi-
cation from abroad by Amasa Mason, of New York City, in the United States of
America.
This Invention relates to a support for books when standing upon their ends or
edges, and is designed to abate the annoyance and inconvenience caused by the
falling upon their sides of a row of books when one or more volumes have been
removed from the row.
The Invention consists of a thin base plate, from which rises at a point inter-
mediary to its extremities an upright supporting plate or sheet at right angles to
said base. The heighth of this upright I have found should slightly exceed one
half the heighth of the book or books for the support of which it is intended,
while the width may vary according to the width of the book.
The base plate I prefer to extend far enough upon one side to permit more than
one book to rest upon it, while the base plate upon the other side of the aforesaid
support or upright should extend sufficiently far to furnish a brace, which will
prevent the whole falling over in its direction.
It is essential to the convenient use of this Invention that the base shall be
made of a thin sheet of the material employed. Iron is therefore the most suitable
material (although tin, brass, copper, or other substances may be used), as a thin
sheet will have ample rigidity to furnish the required support to the books, and at
the same time permit the easy sliding of the books over said base plate.
To better and more perfectly explain the Invention as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent, I refer to the annexed Drawings, in which the same
letters of reference represent corresponding portions of the Invention throughout
all the Figures thereof.
Fig. I. is illustrative of one form of the said support.
"A" represents the upright support, which in this case is bent at right angles
at the point "C," and the bent portion B is secured to the base plate B¹ by
soldering, riveting, or by any other desirable method.
It is obvious that the parts A and B may be formed of one piece, and B¹ of
another piece of the material employed; or that the entire support may be manu-

page_text: factured from a single sheet by bending at the point C, and again at the point D,
and securing B to B¹, as before described.
Fig. II. illustrates another form, in which this support may be made from a
single sheet or piece. In this case the sheet before being bent at C is "stamped "
or cut, A, A, being bent up to form the support, whilst B' and B are left as one
plane surface to form the base plate and brace respectively.
Fig. III. is another form cut or "stamped" before being bent at C, but this form
I do not consider so advantageous as those previously described, as the portions B, B,
and B' do not give the support the same rigidity and stiffness as do those forms
illustrated in Figs. I. and II.
Figs. IV. and V. give general views of the manner in which this Invention may
be utilized.
As one or more volumes are withdrawn from the row, the rests or supports
should be pressed towards each other until the sides of the books are in contact,
when the weight of the books resting on the base plate will, with the brace B,
prevent the books from falling over.
I find sheet iron of number 18 guage is stiff and rigid enough for the rests to
support octavo books,
For supports of this class, when made as shown in Fig. I., I find good results
will be attained; when "A" is about 5 inches high by 5 inches broad, B should
be 5 inches by 1 or 2 inches, while B' should be 5 inches square.
When manufacturing rests, as shown in Fig. II., I prefer to use a sheet, which,
before bending, is about 8 inches by 5 inches.
When rests or supports are desired for larger books the above sizes should of
course be increased in proportion, and the thickness of the iron or other material
also.
Various modifications of the rests or supports as illustrated may obviously be
made to meet the requirements of convenience or economy.
The rests or supports may also be cast in bronze, gun metal, or other suitable
materials, and may be used not only for the support of books, but also for papers,
parcels, or things of a similar nature.
Having described the nature of the Invention as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is, the
rest or support as herein-before described to be used as and for the purposes
specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Philip Syng Justice, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this 20th day of November, in the year of our Lord
1970
PHILIP SYNG JUSTICE. (LS)