Improved Safety Bridle and Line

Manor Township, Lancaster County, PA, 1866. First edition. Matted and framed, size 22 x 17 1/2 inches. A near fine copy, a few minor spots and folds.. 1 sheet. Illus. with 1 engraving. 17 x 12 1/2 inches. Two facing pages, folded open. On the left side is a partially printed indenture form completed in manuscript providing a deed of rights to an improved safety bridle and line, signed by Stehman and Christ of H. H. Stehman & Co., on 24 August, 1866. They granted production and sale rights to Amos and Edward Reeder for Bucks County for $300. On the right side are the directions, illustrated with an engraving of a horse's head. Given the existence of a printed form, and the limitation of the sales area, this was no doubt a franchise intended to be granted to multiple producers. There is a revenue stamp affixed at the left margin. The original patent from the Commissioner's Report reads "No. 52,139. Amos B. Christ and Henry H. Stehman, Manor Township, Penn. Safety Bridle. January 23, 1866. This invention consists in the application to the bit of a check snap, which is brought over side pulleys in buckles, and carried through the ring of the bit, and in attaching short branches, on to the ring on said safety or check strap, and the other elastic attached to the ring of the bit in the ordinary manner, so that a single line can be used either in driving one or two horses, by the use of the branch attachments. Claim: First, the combination of a strap E and roller E, with a safety strap B, having one end affixed to the ring A of the bridle bit, and carried up over a roller and then down through the ring A of the bit to its connecting and retaining ring D, in the manner and for the purpose specified. Second, a short elastic branch L affixed to the ring A of the bridle bit, together with a branch F attached to the ring D on the safety strap B. When both branches are connected to the ends of an ordinary single line, in the manner and for the purpose specified." (1867, p. 348). (Inventory #: 41774)