Landmarks of Human Thought I - Catalog - Page 46
Preface
T
he history of science is inextricably linked with the development of patents. Patents are
printed documents designed to protect the intellectual property of an invention and to
protect the inventor from imitation and misuse of their idea.
Historically valuable patent documents play a crucial role in the history of science, as they not
only document advances in technology and innovation, but also offer insights into the cultural,
social, and economic conditions of their time.
Research and appreciation of patent speci昀椀cations are therefore of great importance in honoring
and utilizing the knowledge and innovations of past generations.
By researching these documents, we can better understand the past, manage the present, and
shape the future.
Patent speci昀椀cations are the 昀椀rst of昀椀cial reports describing and protecting an invention or technical innovation. Therefore, they are most 昀椀rst publications.
Multiple editions of American as well as European patents exist, but the American patent system didn’t mark later editions. The exact determination of a 昀椀rst edition and its distinction from
later editions was therefore a central concern for us.
The list we have compiled in this catalogue, hereafter referred to as the Key, makes this possible. For the 昀椀rst time in the history of science, we are able to distinguish 昀椀rst editions of historical U.S. patent speci昀椀cations from later reprints.
The catalogue begins with a chapter on the printing history of U.S. patents and the disastrous
昀椀re of 1877, which shows, why 昀椀rst editions of U.S. patents are extraordinarily rare.
The second part of the catalogue contains the Key, a time list of the imprints from the lithographers contracted by the USPTO at the time the patent was granted (昀椀rst edition), to identify 昀椀rst
editions and especially later editions of U.S. patents.
We hope you will enjoy this catalogue.
Josef Mitmannsgruber
