42, The Printer's Dingbats

[rhr]

The Printer's Dingbats.

 

I found utility patent no. 69,126 quite early in my online patent research, and right away adopted one little part of it, the fingerpen, as my printer's device. I use it both as my publisher's symbol and as the initial dingbat, the little emblem I use as an ornament at the beginning of a chapter, or essay, or any other text, to signal the onset of writing.

 

There's another one that I use as a finial dingbat at the end of a text that shows a hand at rest after writing. I found design patent no. D8,382 way back in 2001, but since then the USPTO has seen it fit to update the illustration and to eliminate the most interesting part of the image, the resting hand. As you can see from the version presently available online, Fig.2 in design no. D8,382 has been removed, all erased except for the buttons on the cuff of the shirt sleeve. Again, just as a curiosity, try searching the design number on the USPTO website for an image that's cleaned up even more. There is no trace at all of the hand. And on the EPO, there is no image at all. But you can see both of these dingbats in the two volumes of my book.

 

George Kovalenko.

 

Edited July 19, 2007 by rhr