Hipkins

Biography

Hipkins (A. J. Hipkins) is cited by Dolge as an authority on early piano mechanisms. Dolge attributes to him the observation that the upright piano action built by Friederici in 1745 resembles an old German clock movement, adding that it is quite possible Friederici copied the mechanism directly from a clock. No further biographical detail about Hipkins is given in this section. From Spillane (1890): Hipkins is cited by Spillane as the author of a detailed description of one of John Isaac Hawkins' original upright pianos, then in the possession of the Broadwood firm of London. In the quoted passage, Hipkins calls Hawkins 'the real inventor of the upright piano, in its modern and useful form' and catalogs the instrument's distinguishing features, including its iron frame, mechanical tuning screws, and suspended belly. Spillane characterizes the passage as an 'elaborate and very explicit diagnosis' from Hipkins' 'clever pen.' No other biographical detail about Hipkins is provided in this text. Hipkins is cited by the author as "the standard British authority" on pianoforte history. Writing in 1880 on Allen's 1831 cast-iron frame patent, Hipkins stated that Allen's proposal of a single casting had been anticipated in America by Alpheus Babcock of Boston, who patented a cast-iron frame for square pianos in 1825, and he also credited Conrad Meyer of Philadelphia with making a good square piano on the single-casting plan in 1833. Hipkins, a London historian, wrote in his earlier works that Hawkins had originally lived in Bordentown, New Jersey, before producing his "portable upright grand." Spillane notes that the source of this claim is unclear and states it is not accurate, since Hawkins in fact lived in Philadelphia from 1799-1800 onward and took out his patents while there.

Highlights

• Cited by Dolge as the source of the observation that Friederici's 1745 upright action resembles an old German clock movement
• Authored a detailed description of a surviving Hawkins upright piano owned by the Broadwood firm of London
• A London historian who wrote, in his earlier works, that Hawkins had originally lived in Bordentown, New Jersey, before producing his "portable upright grand" -- a claim Spillane disputes.
• Described as "the standard British authority" on piano history
• Writing in 1880, credited Alpheus Babcock's 1825 cast-iron frame as anticipating Allen's later one-casting patent

Sources

Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. I (1911), p. 91.

Daniel Spillane, History of the American Pianoforte (1890), pp. 82, 111, 120.

Public domain.