Credit: Courtesy of the American Philosophical Society Library
Before the establishment of the nation patent system in 1790, the American Philosophical Society (APS) in Philadelphia had served for decades as a national repository for plans and models of new inventions and improvements of old devices. In 1786 Charles Willson Peale sent APS Councilor Benjamin Rush this drawing of a fan chair designed by Philadelphia instrument maker John Cram for inclusion in the APS collection. Rush presented Peale's letter and this drawing to a meeting of the Society on August 18, 1786.
