This patent model demonstrates an invention for a portable and adjustable copy holder on which the reader could tilt the manuscript backwards or spin it sideways, "with reference to light, etc., to suit himself." The invention was granted patent number 155202. Nutting (1803-1887) was one of the first generation of American lithographers, working at the profession as early as 1826. Later in his life he was also an art teacher, and published a series of art teaching manuals.
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