IMPROVED APPARATUS TO FACILITATE SKETCHING AND DRAWING LANDSCAPES, BUILDINGS, MACHINERY, AND OTHER OBJECTS IN CORRECT PERSPECTIVE
Year: 1863

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Bernard Heyne, at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 10th August
1863.
I, BERNARD HEYNE, the younger, of Liscard, in the County of Chester,
Artist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED
APPARATUS TO FACILITATE SKETCHING AND DRAWING LANDSCAPES, BUILDINGS,
MACHINERY, AND OTHER OBJECTS IN CORRECT PERSPECTIVE," to be as follows
(that is to say):-
This Invention has for its object the construction of an apparatus, whereby
any person who has had a little experience in drawing from flat copies will
be enabled with great facility to sketch from nature landscapes, buildings,
machinery, and other objects in correct perspective by the aid of pen or pencil
and paper, or other surface upon which the sketch is to be drawn; and the
instrument is calculated to practise the eyes of the persons using it; so that in
a short time they will be enabled to sketch correctly from nature without other
help than the naked eye.
This improved apparatus may consist of any suitably shaped flat or inclined
topped table, for convenience supported on folding legs. To the front or
outer edge of the table (that is to say, on the opposite side to that at which
the operator sits or stands) is fitted a rigid vertical frame, constructed to hold
a sheet of glass, which can slide thereinto or be fixed therein in any other con-
venient way. This sheet of glass may be marked with lines horizontally,
vertically, or diagonally, or marked off in squares or divisions of any suitable

page_text: figure for the purpose of practising the eye to the relative proportions of the
objects seen through the glass. From the rear of the frame projecting back-
wards is fixed a suitable arm (or arms) carrying a small swivelling plate,
through which is formed a sight hole, which is placed so as to be at an angle
of, say, 45° to the surface of the glass plate. In some cases, to facilitate the
sketching, it is preferred that the paper or other surface upon which the
drawing is to be made should be marked off to correspond with the marks on
the glass when a plain glass is not used.
The mode of using the apparatus is as follows:-The paper or other
surface upon which the sketch is to be drawn is placed on the table; the
operator then applies one eye to the swivelling sight, and commences the
sketch. He may use a pair of compasses to measure off the relative pro-
portions and positions of the various objects composing the view, applying
them to the surface of the glass and then to the surface of the paper or other
material upon which the sketch is to be taken.
The vertical frame for carrying the sheet of plain or lined glass may be so
fitted to the top of the table that it can be folded thereon, and the arm, arms,
or supports which spring from the top or sides (or both) of the vertical frame
for carrying the swivelling sight plate may be so attached thereto that they
can be folded against or towards the frame to which they are attached, whereby
the whole may be conveniently packed up.