IMPROVE- MENTS IN PORTABLE WRITING OR DRAWING DESKS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jean Baptiste Jules Hyppolite d'Auvergne, of Blois,
in the Empire of France, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN PORTABLE WRITING OR DRAWING DESKS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jean Baptiste Jules
Hyppolite d'Auvergne at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with his Petition, on the 28th January 1856.
I, JEAN BAPTISTE JULES HYPPOLITE D'AUVERGNE, of Blois, in the Empire of
France, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of my IMPROVEMENTS IN
PORTABLE WRITING OR DRAWING DESHS, to be as follows:-
My improvement consists in applying a small board, of any suitable material,
to the upper part of the body of the person who wishes to make use of it.
On each side of the board I fix a small rod lengthways on the breast. These
two rods are hinged on a girding belt, and a string tied to each rod passes
round and behind the neck of the wearer, so that he may rise or lower it at
pleasure.
Wooden or pasteboard brackets and sides may be fixed at each side, so as
to give an inclination to a board which is placed over another, whereby a box
may be formed, divided in suitable compartments, for the inkstand, paper,
paints, pencils, and other drawing instruments or utensils of that nature.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Jean Baptiste Jules Hyppolite d'Auvergne in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 28th July 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JEAN
BAPTISTE JULES HYPPOLITE D'AUVERGNE, of Blois, in the Empire of France,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Jean Baptiste Jules Hyppolite d'Auvergne, Her special licence that I,
the said Jean Baptiste Jules Hyppolite d'Auvergne, my executors, administra-
tors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Jean Baptiste Jules Hyppolite
d'Auvergne, 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 IMPROVEMENTS IN PORTABLE
WRITING OR DRAWING DESKS, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Jean Baptiste Jules Hyppolite d'Auvergne, 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 Jean Baptiste Jules Hyppolite.
d'Auvergne, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement:―
My Invention of improvements in writing or drawing desks consists in the
peculiar construction of a light portable desk, adapted for writing, drawing,
or reading, by persons in a standing posture; for example, for out-door use,
and which I designate a cartograph. The simplest way of making this: port-
able desk is. to take a piece of thin board, and fit to each side a small rod,
secured to the board by hinges. The rods are connected together by a cord or
strap, which when in use is passed round the neck of the person, the: rods
lying against the breast. The desk being thus hung, it may be adjusted to
any required position by means of the hinges.

page_text: A modification of the foregoing method of making the cartograph consists
in constructing it like a portfolio. In this case, one of the sides rest against
the breast of the person using the cartograph, where it is affixed by buttons or
hooks, a string or cord being likewise passed round the neck, the other side of
the portfolio forming the desk. The writing board may be set to the required
angle, either by brackets or sliding wedges, and secured by screws or racks.
The cartograph may be fitted with an inkstand and small sliding cases for
pencils, pens, colours, scales, compasses, paper, &c. It may also be furnished
with clamps for holding the paper in windy weather, and with sockets or holes
for holding a candle when the desk is used at night, or for holding an umbrella
as a protection when using the desk in rainy weather. These portable desks
are particularly useful for military officers, students, painters, tourists, and
others who have occasion to write or draw in the open air or while standing.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of carrying
the same into practical effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine
myself to the precise constructions herein-before described, as the same may
be varied without departing from the Invention; but what I claim under the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the construction of a portable
writing or reading desk, or drawing board, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jean Baptiste Jules Hyppolite d'Auvergne,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of July,
in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
J. B. J. H. D'AUVERGN. (L.S.)
Signed and sealed in presence of
DE MONTENAY DU MINTRY.