A Plan of a New Invented Patent-Piano-Forte.

Southwell (William)

A Plan of a New Invented Patent-Piano-Forte.

With Additional Keys &c. A New Royal Patent on additional Keys & Manufactur'd by Longman & Broderip No. 26, Cheapside & No. 13 Hay Market: London.

Description: engraved advertisement, half-sheet, fleur-de-lys watermark, slightly fraying top edge backed with conservation tape, also present at lower left corner behind small tear beside clipped right margin, three faint vertical fold marks, mounted, very good

Publication Details: 1794

Notes: An advertisement for the new pianofortes of Longman and Broderip, incorporating the inventions of William Southwell. Southwell moved from Dublin to London in 1794 and immediately submitted a patent application for two significant pianoforte innovations: a new wire-operated damper system and an extended range of over half an octave. James Longman and Francis Broderip were so impressed by the enhanced instrument which Southwell had brought over from Ireland, that, under exclusive contract, they offered to sell the improved instruments under their company name. The copper plate of Southwell's ori...moreAn advertisement for the new pianofortes of Longman and Broderip, incorporating the inventions of William Southwell. Southwell moved from Dublin to London in 1794 and immediately submitted a patent application for two significant pianoforte innovations: a new wire-operated damper system and an extended range of over half an octave. James Longman and Francis Broderip were so impressed by the enhanced instrument which Southwell had brought over from Ireland, that, under exclusive contract, they offered to sell the improved instruments under their company name. The copper plate of Southwell's original patent was altered for the subsequent advertisement, Longman & Broderip replacing the inventor's name, and the lion and crown of England replacing the Irish harp in the triangular fretwork behind the instrument's wrestplank. Longman and Broderip were declared bankrupt in 1795, but Broadwood (without permission or fee) immediately employed Southwell's system for extending the keyboard's range and, a decade later, his form of damper, creating, in effect, the earliest form of the piano that we know today. (Michael Cole, The Pianoforte in the Classical Era, 1998, pp. 104–5) HIDE

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Price: £1,500

Subject: Music

Published Date: 1794

Stock Number: 61497

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