AN IMPROVED. 11 SYSTEM OF CONSTRUCTING DISSECTED MAPS OR CHARID." PROAL SP
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to François Auguste Laurecisque, of No. 39, Rue de
l'Echiquier, Paris, in the Empire of France, and of No. 4, South Street,
Finsbury, London, Gentleman, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED.
11
SYSTEM OF CONSTRUCTING DISSECTED MAPS OR CHARID."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said François Auguste
Laurecisque at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 2nd April 1857.
I, FRANÇOIS AUGUSTE LAURECISQUE, of No. 39, Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris,
in the Empire of France, and of No. 4, South Street, Finsbury, London,.
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of "AN
IMPROVED SYSTEM OF CONSTRUCTING DISSECTED MAPS OR CHARTS," to be as follows,
that is to say:
My Invention consists in an improved system of constructing dissected
maps or charts so as to demonstrate the geographical, geological, mineralogical,
historical, agricultural, industrial, and other features of each locality. I effect
this by means of superposed bodies containing an illustration of each local
characteristic, and adapted exactly to the primary form of each district. The
whole may be composed of wood, pasteboard, papier maché, or other suitable
material, the separate parts being secured, at option, by clasps or catches
of convenient form.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said François Auguste Laurecisque in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 2nd October 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRANÇOIS
AUGUSTE LAURECISQUE, of No. 39, Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris, in the Empire
of France, and of No. 4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
François Auguste Laurecisque, Her special license that I, the said François
Auguste Laurecisque, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said François Auguste Laurecisque, my executors, administra-
tors, 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 "AN IMPROVED SYSTEM OF CONSTRUCTING DISSECTED MAPS OR
CHARTS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said François
Auguste Laurecisque, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
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 François Auguste Laurecisque, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawing hereto
annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say :-
My Invention consists in forming dissected maps for demonstrating the
geographical, geological, mineralogical, historical, agricultural, industrial, and
other characteristics or features of a country or locality, by means of super-
posed layers of wood, cardboard, or other suitable material, which layers are
kept in their proper position by brackets or projecting edges, each layer
having representations upon it of the peculiar features of the country, locality,
or object to be shown.
Figure 1 of the annexed Drawing represents a plan of the first layer or

page_text: portion of a dissected map, in which are shown the railroads A, rivers B,
boundaries C, and other features of the country or locality. Figure 2 is a
section through A, B, on a larger scale.
Figure 3 is the second layer or portion, for representing the places and pro-
ducts of the said country or locality; Figure 4 is a section through C, D, of
the same.
Figure 5 shews the third layer, for representing or describing the geological
or other peculiar feature; Figure 6 is a section through E, F, of the same.
Figure 7 shows the same sections on a larger scale of the layers
superposed.
Each layer or portion has a slightly projecting edge or boundary D, Figure 7,
corresponding with it, which may be fixed to the base of the map, so that when
the different layers are removed the projecting edges surrounding them form a
network attached to the base. I, Figure 7, shews the mode in which the
different parts or layers are secured in their proper places by means of
brackets or catches.
In further carrying out my Invention, I employ distinet and moveable types,
representing geographical accessories, such as towns, rivers, canals, railways,
mountains, lakes, and other features. These moveable types or symbols are
represented in Figure 7. E indicates a capital of a country; F, a chief town;
G, a village; and H, a railroad, which I place on the first layer. The moveable
types or symbols may be further employed to represent the judicial, religious,
military, commercial, or scientific character of a town or city. When the
upper portion or top layer of the map, divided as above described, is removed,
the illustrated map is exhibited. This second layer contains drawings repre-
senting the agricultural characteristics of the country or locality, shown on
the layer detached, also the costumes of the inhabitants, the principal products
or lists of the chief towns, with their administrative or other peculiarities.
These drawings or lists may be replaced by notices of memorable occurrences,
or of the celebrities appertaining to the history of the locality represented by
the first layer. Supposing the map to represent the United Kingdom, it may
be made to shew the division of the territory into provinces and counties,
subdivisions into towns and districts, and also their public monuments. In
such cases the towns are indicated by types, which may be fixed to the map by
means of a pin or peg placed in a hole, as represented by E, F, G, in Figure 7.
To this arrangement may be added other accessories, representing the rank or
character of each town, chief town, an archbishopric, university, assize towns,
garrison town, naval port, or otherwise.
The rivers B, Figures 1, 5, and 7, are represented by moveable metallic strips,

page_text: having a special color, and formed according to the various sinuosities of the
river. The same method is adopted with regard to the canals and minor
watercourses.
The ordinary roads and railways of each country are also represented by
moveable metallic strips, whether as part of a general map or the essential
object of a special chart. The same arrangements may be adopted for the
study of geology, the different strata being divided so as to represent the
geological peculiarities of the locality, thus shewing the mineral and metal-
lurgical characteristics of each section.
By means of the projecting edges above described each dissected portion
may consist of three superposed parts: first, a geological chart; secondly, an
illustrated chart; thirdly, a geographical chart. According to circumstances,
these charts may be combined or separate.
Having thus fully described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner of putting it into execution, I would have it understood that I do
not confine myself to the precise details of construction above laid down, as
they may be varied without departing from the principle of my Invention;
but what I claim is, the construction and arrangement of dissected maps in
superposed layers, with suitable representations attached thereto, for demon-
strating the geological, geographical, and other general characteristics or
features of a country or locality, as herein-before described, and represented
in the annexed Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said François Auguste Laurecisque, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of September,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
LAURECISQUE. (L.S.)