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A stylograph or manifold writer
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A stylograph or manifold writer
Leather, paper and brass
Height: 265 mm
Width: 240mm
Width: 240mm
Museum number: X268
Not on display
Curatorial note
Letter Copy-book, leather covered case with brass clasp with lock. Patent referred to on rear marbled lining 'Nocto-Polygraph Stylographic Manifold Writer, Pat. 1815'. 'Manufactured by Ralph Wedgewood Junr. Wholesale & Retail, Rathbone Place, London'. The bill for its purchase is enclosed dated 31 August 1833 for £3.3s.0d.
The case is unused with the original interleaved blotting paper separating each sheet of carbonated paper. A writing frame is provided at the rear and a compartment at the front contains both Whatman paper and six folders with thin Manifold paper for making copies.
The RIBA Library Archives has a similar 'Patent Manifold Writer' supplied by Ralph Wedgewood of Oxford Street and Rathbone Place. Another example in the Sir Charles Barry Archive has been used by his office and contains consecutive letters from the period 1826-1853; all on the manifold paper issued in the six folders with the case.
The manifold writer is not not listed in the inventories of Soane's collection drawn up in 1837 because it was in the third of three 'sealed repositories' created by Soane with instructions that they should not be opened until later in the 19th century, on the anniversaries of his wife's death in 1866, 1886 and 1896. The third repository was Soane's bath on the second floor and was opened on 23 November 1896. 'A manifold writer (new)' was reported with the other contents to the Trustees: we do not know why Soane chose to place it in one of his repositories.
The case is unused with the original interleaved blotting paper separating each sheet of carbonated paper. A writing frame is provided at the rear and a compartment at the front contains both Whatman paper and six folders with thin Manifold paper for making copies.
The RIBA Library Archives has a similar 'Patent Manifold Writer' supplied by Ralph Wedgewood of Oxford Street and Rathbone Place. Another example in the Sir Charles Barry Archive has been used by his office and contains consecutive letters from the period 1826-1853; all on the manifold paper issued in the six folders with the case.
The manifold writer is not not listed in the inventories of Soane's collection drawn up in 1837 because it was in the third of three 'sealed repositories' created by Soane with instructions that they should not be opened until later in the 19th century, on the anniversaries of his wife's death in 1866, 1886 and 1896. The third repository was Soane's bath on the second floor and was opened on 23 November 1896. 'A manifold writer (new)' was reported with the other contents to the Trustees: we do not know why Soane chose to place it in one of his repositories.
Literature
Sue Palmer 'The Mystery of the Sealed Repositories' in Death and Memory: Sir John Soane and the Architecture of Legacy, Sir John Soane's Museum exhibition catalogue, 2015, p.43
For further details of manifold writers see Barbara L. Craig 'The Introduction of Copying Devices into the British Civil Service, 1877-1889' in ed. B.L. Craig The Archival Imagination. Essays in Honour of Hugh A. Taylor, 1992.
For further details of manifold writers see Barbara L. Craig 'The Introduction of Copying Devices into the British Civil Service, 1877-1889' in ed. B.L. Craig The Archival Imagination. Essays in Honour of Hugh A. Taylor, 1992.
Exhibition history
Death and Memory: Soane and the Architecture of Legacy, Sir John Soane's Museum, London, 23 October 2015 - 2 April 2016
Associated items
X250, Soane sealed repository contents
X255, Soane sealed repository contents
X257, Soane sealed repository contents
X271, Soane sealed repository contents
X302, Soane sealed repository contents
X255, Soane sealed repository contents
X257, Soane sealed repository contents
X271, Soane sealed repository contents
X302, Soane sealed repository contents
Soane collections online is being continually updated. If you wish to find out more or if you have any further information about this object please contact us: worksofart@soane.org.uk