US455817A - Marginal index - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.) 4

I. W. HEWES. MARGINAL INDEX.

No. 455,817. Patented July 14,1891.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FLETCHER IV. HElVES, OF BLOOMFIELD, NElV JERSEY.

MARGINAL IN DEX.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent No. 455,817, dated July 14, 1891.

Application filed October 23, 1890. Serial No. 369,109. (No model.) I

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FLETCHER \V. HEWES, of Bloomfield, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Marginal Indexes for Books, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to indexes arranged on the fronts or ends of the books by means of nicks therein and lettering such nicks to enable the user to open the book readily at certain selected points or divisions of the same.

It consists substantially of a book in which the marginalindexes are distributed uniformly throughout the book, indicating certain divisions by page or section or other progressive numerical division of the book, so as to divide the book. into divisions of substantially the same size, in combination with a tag or nick to indicate the general index of the book, and also in some cases another tag or nick to indicate the center of the book.

Its object is to make it practicable to index ordinary books of reference and study by means of marginal indexes.

In the accompanying drawings, in which the same characters indicate analogous parts, Figures 1 and 2 represent a book having my system of indexing applied thereto, Fig. 1 showing it closed and Fig. 2 showing it open, Fig. 1 also showing the table of contents and its indicating key-tag at the end of the book, and Fig. 2 showing the same at the center of the book. Fig. 3 represents the ordinary alphabetical system of marginal indexing as contrasted therewith.

I cut one or more series of nicks, dividing the book into uniform divisions, by cutting the first nick at page 25, the second at page 50, the third at page 75, &c. In the nicks thus cut I display the numbers 25, 50, 75, &c., for which the nicks were respectively out. Any other number of pages may be included within a single division,as may be convenient, according to the size of the book. So,

also, the nicks may be cut for sections, hymns,

&c., or any other progressive numbering contained within the book, instead of for pages. lVith the nicks thus cut I combine a device which I denominate a key-tag. This is shown at a, Fig. 1. This key-tag is made of any suitable material and attached to a leaf of the ordinary printed table of contents of the book.

The dotted line b 0 represents the front edge of the leaf. If two or more series of nicks facing each other are out, I provide a hey-tag for the middle division of the bookthat is, placing it at some point between the last left-hand nick and the first right-hand nick. Such key-tag is shown at d in Fig. 1. In some cases a supplementary nick may take the place of this key-tag.

In consulting a book indexed by this page or numerical system the user, by means of the index key-tag, opens instantly to the index of the book. Having learned from the index the page to which he Wishes to turn, he selects the page readily by means of the pagenumbers on the respective nicks. In case the book has both left and right hand nicks, the user, by means of the key-tag of the middle division, opens the book by a single motion at the leaf to which that is attached. This opens all the left-hand nicks to the left and all the right-hand nicks to the right, as shown at Fig. 2, thus exposing all the characters in the several nicks to view at once.

By means of this page or numerical sys tem of indexing all books of reference may have their facility of reference greatly increased and marginal indexing maybe applied to agreat many differentkinds of books to which it is not practicable to apply the ordinary alphabetical marginal indexing-such, for instance, as all books of .science, lawbooks, medical works, theological works, school and college text-books, trade-lists, catalogues, &c.

The key-tag of the middle division, as already explained, enables the user of the book to bring into view all the index-characters of the book by a single motion. Without it the book is likely to be opened as shown at Fig. 3, thus making it necessary in many cases to open the book again and again to find the desired nick. It is evident that the advantages arising from the use of the key-tag of the middle division are as applicable to alpha betical marginal nicks as to this page or numerical system. All the advantages of the index key-tag and the key-tag of the middle division are combined by locating the printed contents or index'of the book in the middle division, thus enabling the user by the device of a single key-tag to open the book at one motion at the printed index and at the same time expose to view all the index-characters.

The search for any particular thing desired is reduced in this page or numerical system to a minimum, because the divisions of the book are uniform in the number of pages, sections, 850., included. pages to some divisions and many pages to other divisions, which makes the search in the thicker divisions laborious and at the same time causes most of the searching to fall within those thicker. divisions. Thus suppose a dictionary having six hundred pages, eighty of which are included under the letter S. If indexed alphabetically, which is the usual way, one will have to search in this thick eighty-page division for any word beginning with S; but if indexed by the numerical system, with divisions of twenty-five pages each, any particular search will be confined to twenty-five pages. This numerical system is particularly applicable to encyclopedias and like works, in which so many of the articles are long, perhaps covering several pages, while others are so brief as to entirely escape ordinary search.

Afurther advantage of the numerical or page system is that the number of nicks may be suited to the size of the book or to the limit of expense desired. Some alphabetical Other systems give few nicks as are practicable for the size of the leaf, since the book may be indexed int-o divisions of ten, twenty, twenty-five, or any other suitable number of pages. A still further advantage is that the appearance ofthe book is greatly improved, inasmuch as the nicks are thus arranged uniformly in straight lines, instead of in the crooked lines shown in alphabetical indexing. (See Fig. 3.)

I claim as my invention 1. Abook having amarginal index arranged in two or more series which face each other, in combination with a key-tag attached to a leaf situated between the two series.

2. A book having a marginal index dividing the book into divisions of substantially uniform thickness and indicating, respectively, uniform and progressivenumericaldivisions, in combination with a key-tag attached to a leaf of the table of contents.

3. A book having a marginal index arranged in two or more series which face each other, and dividing the book into divisions of substantially uniform thickness, and indicating, respectively, uniform and progressive numerical divisions of the book, in combination with a key-tag attached to a leaf situated between the two series, and another key-tag attached to a leaf of the table of contents.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand, this 20th day of October, 1870, at the city of New York, in the presence of two witnesses.

FLETCHER \V. HE\VES.

Vfitnesses:

SALTER S. CLARK, HENRY W. BEAN.

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