IMPROVEMENTS IN RULING AND FOLDING THE LEAVES OF ACCOUNT BOOKS, OR OTHER BOOKS USED FOR MERCANTILE PURPOSES, AND IN MAKING ENTRIES THEREIN, AND DELIVERING VOUCHERS THEREFROM WITH ACCURACY AND DISPATCH
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Wilkins, of No. 60, Queen's Row,
Walworth, in the County of Surrey, Gentleman, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN RULING AND FOLDING THE LEAVES OF ACCOUNT
BOOKS, OR OTHER BOOKS USED FOR MERCANTILE PURPOSES, AND IN
MAKING ENTRIES THEREIN, AND DELIVERING VOUCHERS THEREFROM
WITH ACCURACY AND DISPATCH."
Sealed the 1st April 1853, and dated the 1st October 1852.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Wilkins
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 1st October 1852.
I, EDWARD WILKINS, of No. 60, Queen's Row, Walworth, Surrey,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN RULING AND FOLDING THE LEAVES OF ACCOUNT BOOKS,
OR OTHER BOOKS USED FOR MERCHANTILE PURPOSES, AND IN MAKING ENTRIES
THEREIN, AND DELIVERING VOUCHERS THEREFROM, WITH ACCURACY AND DIS-
PATCH," to be as follows:-

page_text: The accompanying examples will more fully indicate the nature of
my Invention.
The one marked (A) and (B) respectively. In example (A) du-
plicate entries are made in ink, and the right-hand half of the Icaf,
on which the name and address of the vendor has been first stamped,
is torn off for delivery to the purchaser.
In example (B) the leaf is folded in order to admit the insertion of
a piece of black coloured paper between the folds. Any entries made
upon the upper fold by a pencil or blunted point will be repeated upon
the portion of the leaf immediately beneath.
The upper fold, or some portion of it, is then stamped with the
name and address of the vendor, and delivered as a voucher to tlie
purchaser.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edward Wilkins in the Great Seal 'Patent
Office, on the 1st April 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
EDWARD WILKINS, of No. 60, Queen's Row, Walworth, in the County
of Surrey, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the sixteenth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself; Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Edward Wilkins, Her special licence that I,
the said Edward Wilkins, my executors; administrators, 'and' assigns,
or such others as I, the said Edward Wilkins, ny executors, admini-
strators; 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN RULING AND
FOLDING THE LEAVES OF ACCOUNT BOOKS, OR OTHER BOOKS USED FOR MERCAN-

page_text: TILE PURPOSES; AND IN-MAKING ENTRIES THEREIN, AND DELIVERING VOUCHERS:
THEREFROM WITH ACCURACY AND DISPATCH," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Edward Wilkins; by an instrument. in writing
under my hand-and seal, should particularly describe.ands ascertainỉ thè
nature of the said Invention, and it what manner the same was to be
performed, and 'cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal-Patent
Office within six calendar mouths next; and iimmediately after the date
of the said Letters Patento para el
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edward Wilkins, do hereby.
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner, the
sanie is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained:
in and by the following statement (that is to say);
.
e
My Invention consists in so ruling and folding the paper to form
an account or other book, that when carbonic or other marking-paper
is placed between the folds, any thing written upon the upper leaf or:
fold with a pencil or blunted point will make an impression of such
writing upon the: under leaf or fold, and the upper leaf (or a part
thereof) may then be torn off and delivered to as purchaser as a
voucher, and the under: léaf be left in the book. If the book be.
made of ordinary paper, the entries must be written with a pencil;
but if made with prepared paper, a blunt point may be used. I
form such a book by stitching, sheets of paper in the middle, as in the
usual mode of making account books. I then fold-over one, half of
each leaf (or half.sheet) on to the other half; and I have the paper so
ruled that the lines on the upper fold (or quarter sheet) shall corre-
spond with the lines on the under fold (or quarter sheet). The upper
fold may or may not be printed with the name, address, and business
of the vendor. I then place a piece of carbonic or other marking
paper between the folds, and provide a thin metallic or other hard plate
to place under the lower fold, in order to make a clear impression.
The book must be ruled with such lines and columns as will be best
suited to the particular business for which it is intended. By forming
a book in this manner, a voucher can be given to every purchaser by
tearing off the portion of the upper, fold on which the items of the
transaction are written,. and,'a' perfect fac-simile of every such voucher
will be left in a complete book for the use of the vendor. The vendor

page_text: should have a suitable stamp to impress upon each separate voucher
his name, address, and business (or any thing else he may desire);
and he should also mark (both on the voucher and on the duplicate in
the book) a number or device, so as to register the number of cach
transaction. I prefer to use numbers thus,,,,and so on up to
(say) 100.000, and then begin,,3,, and so on up to (say) 100000
and thus would the vendor not only have a perfect record of every
transaction remaining in his book, but a ready means of reference to
each.
,
I will now describe another mode of effecting the same object. I
take an account book of the ordinary kind, or any other book suitable
for the purpose, and place under the leaf on which it is intended to
make an entry a thin metallic or other hard plate. I then lay upon
such leaf a piece of marking paper, and upon this inarking paper I lay
an ordinary bill head, with the name, &c., of the vendor printed or
marked thereon. The items of a transaction being written, as before
described, on the bill head, and a similar mode of numbering being
adopted, will leave a record of each and every transaction in the ven-
dor's book, and the bill head can be handed to the purchaser as a
voucher.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Wilkins, have hereunto
set my hand and scal, this First day of April, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-three.
EDWARD WILKINS. (L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
above-named Edward Wilkins,
in the presence of
CHARLES WAINWRIGHT,
Clerk to Mr. Manning,
Builder,
251, High Holborn.