Wise
1838
inventor
Biography
Wise, of Baltimore, is credited by the author with anticipating several of Luther Phileo's ideas toward producing a self-escaping 'jack' movement in a piano action, doing so as far back as 1838—eight years before Phileo's own 1846 patent on a related self-adjusting escapement mechanism. The quest to perfect such a mechanism is described as a jealous point of contention between piano makers of the 1840s and afterward, generating numerous competing technical ideas and patents. No first name or further biographical detail is given for Wise in this portion of the text.
Highlights
- Anticipated Luther Phileo's self-adjusting escapement ideas with a self-escaping 'jack' movement as far back as 1838
Source
Daniel Spillane, History of the American Pianoforte (1890), p. 146.
Public domain.