World's First Patented Copying Press by James Watt (Large Model)

On February 14th, 1780, in England, 240 years ago, James Watt, inventor of the large steam engine, was granted a patent no. 1244 for his first duplicating machine. The machine was sold by James Watt & Company, Soho/Birmingham, England. His invention grew out of the needs of his own business as he had permanent correspondence with his partner Matthew Boulton while traveling – mostly to his steam engine projects in Cornwall. James Watt was too often frustrated when he received Boulton's answers to his own written questions after an absence of several weeks, because of course he had no copy of the original correspondence. The result was Watt's development of the world's first portable copying press! By the end of 1780, 150 machines had already been sold, rising to 630 by the conclusion of the first full business year. – It is reported that in the early 1780s Benjamin Franklin, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson used the James Watt copying machine. In 1785 Jefferson was using both the stationary and the portable presses by James Watt & Co. – The portable case opened on hinges, and its upper section contained a collapsible writing pad for preparing the documents. The typewriter had not yet been invented, and copies could be produced from handwritten letters, diagrams and drawings executed in a special copying ink! Underneath the writing pad was a compartment for used letters after the copying process was complete. The bottom part contained a special compartment (the "damping box") which was used for treating the copying paper. After 12 hours of preparation, the sheets were thoroughly moist, and thus treated and ready to be used for copying. The number of sheets required for immediate use could be removed, and the remainder left in the box for up to two weeks, ready to be used at any time. – The actual copying apparatus consists of two brass plates turned via the side handle, located in the bottom section of the case. The original document was placed in the copying plate in between the felt-covered swing-up cover plate; the moist copying paper was placed on top of it, and was then covered by oilpaper. The pressure, induced by slowly turning the plate, caused the special copying ink of the original to be taken up, and thus transferred, onto the moist sheet (mirror inverted). The copy was ready for use after 24 hours in a drying book of absorbent paper (as used for postage stamps). Because the ink was offset in this manner, the print of the copy could, of course, be read only on what was actually the reverse side of the page. The prerequisite for producing good copies was the special copying ink in which the original was written. A great deal of practice was also necessary to prepare sheets for use as copying paper, since they had to be uniformly moistened. The case also contained inkwells as well as containers of dry ink powder for making up ink when traveling. – This model is missing writing desk.

布雷克拍品等级是为了方便竞买人判断拍卖品的成色而设置的。布雷克等级用1到6级来标注外观和功能的成色，(从非常好到非常差)。 在目录图册里用括号里的2个数字来表示，前一个数字表示外观成色的级别，后一个数字表示功能成色的级别。如(3/2)表示外观成色是3(满意的)，功能成色2(好)。 成色 定义参照下列标准： 1 - 非常好 (未使用过，没有使用痕迹) 2 - 好 (新，极少的使用痕迹) 3 - 满意的 (普通的使用痕迹) 4 - 及格的 (明显的使用痕迹，某个非主要部件是后配的) 5 - 有缺陷的 (极明显的使用痕迹, 某个主要部件是后配的，功能上有缺陷，需要修理) 6 - 非常差 (严重破损, 缺少重要部件)