Noctograph

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The Noctograph is a device, patented in 1806 and sold by Ralph Wedgwood in London, that made it possible to write at night or when blind . The name is made up of “ nox, noctis ” = Latin for “ night ” and “ γράφειν ”, Greek for “to write”.

functionality

A sheet of paper was soaked in printing ink and, after drying, stretched in a box or frame in the middle between two white sheets of paper . The scribe only had to “write” (press better) on the upper white sheet with a stylus and the writing on the lower white sheet became visible through the carbon sheet underneath . So he didn't have to dip a quill into an inkwell to write, as was customary at the time.

use

The noctograph was mainly used in practice with blind people, for whom it made it easier to take notes and participate in correspondence. After all, they no longer had to worry about whether a quill had enough ink or whether it had to be dipped back into the inkwell . For example, the blind English adventurer and travel writer James Holman used such a device to take notes on his travels. These formed the basis of his detailed travel reports.

The use of the noctograph by the also blind US historian William Hickling Prescott , who wrote most of his books using such a device, also became known.

With the success of the fountain pen and the ballpoint pen , the noctograph became increasingly less important.

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