A NEW OR IMPROVED DRAWING BOARD FOR THE PURPOSE OF STRETCHING DRAWING PAPER
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Harman, of No. 47, Portman Square,
London, Gentleman, for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED
DRAWING BOARD FOR THE PURPOSE OF STRETCHING DRAWING PAPER."
Sealed the 14th August 1868, and dated the 30th May 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Harman at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 30th May 1868.
I, JOHN HARMAN, of No. 47, Portman Square, London, Gentleman, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED
DRAWING BOARD FOR THE PURPOSE OF STRETCHING DRAWING PAPER," to be as
follows:-
This Invention, which I designate the "water colour painter's
drawing board," consists of a board clamped at two opposite ends
with a perfectly even surface on the front side or face. The reverse
side or face is surrounded at the margin by a narrow fillet con-
taining a frame composed of four separate and moveable pieces of
wood, each piece being furnished with a loop of leather or similar.
material for the purpose of withdrawing it. The frame when put
together is kept firmly in its place partly by lateral blocks which press

page_text: upon the pieces of the frame on the side opposite to that of the
enclosing fillet, and partly by buttons of metal affixed by screws to
the aforesaid blocks.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Harman in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 21st August 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HARMAN, of No. 47, Portman Square, London, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirtieth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Harman, Her special licence
that I, the said John Harman, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others, as I, the said John Harman, 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 "A NEW OR IMPROVED
DRAWING BOARD FOR THE PURPOSE OF STRETCHING DRAWING PAPER," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Harmän, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Harman, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement:-
This Invention is for a water color painter's drawing board, and to
consist of a board made of wood, papier maché, card, or other material

page_text: clamped at two opposite ends, see Drawing A, Fig. 1, a, b, with a
perfectly even surface on the front side or face. The reverse side or
face, sce Drawing Fig. 2, A is surrounded at the margin by a narrow
fillet (x, x, x, x,) containing a frame (a, b, c, d), composed of four
separate and moveable pieces of wood (a, b, c, d,) see Fig. 4,
each piece being furnished with a loop (y) of leather or similar
material for the purpose of withdrawing it. The frame when put
together within the fillet is kept firmly in its place partly by lateral
blocks o, o, o, o", which press upon the pieces of the frame a, b c, d,
on the side opposite to that of the enclosing fillet, and partly by
buttons of metal n, n, m, n, or any other material affixed by screws
to the blocks (upon which they turn). Attached by a hinge p¹ on
the side (a) (i.e. to the block o) is a piece of wood B which forms
a rest for the board when in use and placed on its side b. Similarly
a piece of wood C fixed by a hinge p" to a block acts as a rest
for the board when placed inclining on its shorter side (d) a, b, c, d,
on Drawing shew detached pieces of frame before mentioned. The
novelty of the water color painter's drawing board consists in the
frame a, b, c, d, which keeps the paper firmly stretched when drawn
over the edges of the fillet x, x, x, x.
Fig. 3 shew section of drawing board; Fig. 4 moveable pieces a, b, c, d,
with loops y, y, Y, Y.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Harman, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.