Con- SIDERABLE IMPROVEMENTS UPON THE SQUARE AND OTHER PIANO FORTES, WHICH WILL RENDER THOSE INSTRUMENTS MORE PERFECT THAN ANY HITHERTO MADE
Year: 1790

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE. PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
BALL, of Duke Street, Grosvenor Square, in the Parish of Saint George
Hanover Square, and County of Middlesex, Piano Forte Maker, send
greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third did, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Sixteenth day of November, in the thirty-first year of
His reigu, give and grant unto me, the said James Ball, His especial
licence that I, the said James Ball, during the term of years therein
mentioned, should and lawfully might use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "Con-
SIDERABLE IMPROVEMENTS UPON THE SQUARE AND OTHER PIANO FORTES, WHICH
WILL RENDER THOSE INSTRUMENTS MORE PERFECT THAN ANY HITHERTO MADE;"
in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso obliging me, the
said James Ball, under my hand and seal, to cause a particular descrip-
tion of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within one calendar month after the date of the said recited Letters Patent,
as in and same (relation being thereunto had) may more fully and at large
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
James Ball, do hereby declare that my said Invention of Considerable

page_text: Improvements upon the Squaro and other Piano Fortes is described in the
Plan and description thereof hereunto annexed.
In witness whereof, I, tho said James Ball, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Thirteenth day of December, One thousand seven
hundred and ninety

page_text: ad
the
A I represents the Key Frame.. B. the Key... C. the Name Board _ D. the Lever. E. a leather or wood Button. Fa Screw to regulate the Touch .
& the Jack. H. a Pin to keep the Lever steady. I. the Centre Pin of the Lever. I. the upright Damper
to stop the vibration of the string I. a socket or Guide for the upright. Damper .__
on the top of which is a piece of Cloth
O, the outer frame of the Desk P, the frame that slides within the other –
M, the Hammer _ N, the piece the Hammer is hung to ._
frame Q. to various heights _ S, the String ...
Q. the Frame that lifts up to hold the Book – R, the Horse that raises
The Improvements in the Square
First, the Dampers
or small Piano Forte are evident in the following particulars
are under the String on a Lever placed under or over the Key
String consequently the touch is perfectly light and free from the increasing heaviness arising from the Springs hitherto adapted to the Dampers and as there
most convenient by which the weight of the Key presses it to the
is not any friction the movement works in silence... Secondly, there is a Screw in each key whereby the touch may be made deeper or shallower at
pleasure with the greatest facility. Thirdly, there is a compleat Desk that slides in the Front board above the Strings of the Instrument which
may be drawn out or shut up at pleasure which is an Improvement that cannot fail of giving great satisfaction to the performer as a proper
Desk for holding the Book has been hitherto wanting the front edges of the Desk when shut down and slid in makes part of the upper edge of the
Fore Board and are veneerd to appear as the border therect
_
A, represents the Key of which there is the usual Number as in ether Instruments. B. the Key Frame_ C. the Name Board. D, the Jack
B, the piece that holds the Hammers_ F the regulating Screw.. G, the Tail piece of the Hammers. II, the Hammer. I, the Piece on which the
Hammer rests when down K, the rest piece. I, the Brass Screw in the bottom of which a piece of Wood is fixed or inserted.
M, the rest pin....
N. the Bridge O. the String. G. G, the Tail of the Hammer shewn by itself with its Brass Screw and the Wire it works upon which Wire runs
through the whole set of the Hammers in one piece... I..Io. the Brass Screw which
I. I. the Brass Screw which goes into the piece G. G. in the bottom of which a piece of
wood is fixed or inserted as at P, and which is to prevent the Hammer from ever sticking... The Improvements on the Grand Forte Piano
consist in the fixing the Hammer by means of the Screw that presses on the Wire which runs in one piece through the whole set of Hammers and by
means of such Screw every Hammer may be taken out singly, nor is any Leather or Cloth Ve necessary to keep the same from rattling as the
Hammers work intirely silent by an easy pressure against each other and the usual complaint of the Hammers sticking up is by this means entirely