overall: 2.5 cm x 17.3 cm x 12.2 cm; 31/32 in x 6 13/16 in x 4 13/16 in
Object Name:
adding machine
Place made:
United States: New York, New York City
Place patented:
United States: New York, New York City
Date made:
1868-1889
Description:
This two-wheeled stylus-operated non-printing adding machine is in a wooden frame. The large brass wheel has a ring of holes and the numbers 00 to 99 stamped around the edge. The numbers 0 to 99 also are stamped around the window for the larger wheel. Numbers are added by rotation of the wheels. Answers are recorded on a pedometer-like dial that has separate windows for ones, tens, hundreds, and thousands. The frame is screwed to the cover plate. There is a stylus. The large wheel is marked: C.H.WEBB. N.Y. It is also marked: “THE ADDER" PATD MARCH 10TH 1868. The back has the serial number: C1053. The dial is a modification of the instrument. It is marked on paper attached over the small wheel: N.Y.STANDARD WATCH COMPANY.
Charles Henry Webb (1834-1905) was a journalist, playwright, poet, and roamer. He patented a second version of this device in 1889. This example was owned by the Draper family of New York.
References:
C. H. Webb, “Improvement in Adding Machines,” U.S. Patent 75322, March 10, 1868.
“Machine for Addition,” <I>Journal of the Franklin Institute</I>, 60 (1870): pp. 8-9.
P. A. Kidwell, “The Webb Adder,” <I>Rittenhouse</I>, 1 (1986), pp. 12-18.
E. Martin, <I>The Calculating Machines (Die Rechenmaschinen)</I>, trans. P. A. Kidwell and M. R. Williams, Cambridge: MIT Press, 1992, p. 63.