The Cyclostyle duplicating process is a form of

stencil Stencilling produces an image or pattern on a surface, by applying pigment to a surface through an intermediate object, with designed holes in the intermediate object, to create a pattern or image on a surface, by allowing the pigment to reach ...

copying. A stencil is cut on wax or glazed paper by using a pen-like object with a small

rowel A spur is a metal tool designed to be worn in pairs on the heels of riding boots for the purpose of directing a horse or other animal to move forward or laterally while riding. It is usually used to refine the riding aids (commands) and to back ...

or spur-wheel on its tip. A large number of small short lines are cut out in the glazed paper, removing the glaze with the spur-wheel, then ink is applied. It was invented in the later 19th century by

David Gestetner David Gestetner (31 March 18548 March 1939) was the inventor of the Gestetner stencil duplicator, the first piece of office equipment that allowed production of numerous copies of documents quickly and inexpensively. He also invented the nail c ...

, who named it ''cyclostyle'' after a drawing tool he used. Its name incorporates ''

stylus A stylus (plural styli or styluses) is a writing utensil or a small tool for some other form of marking or shaping, for example, in pottery. It can also be a computer accessory that is used to assist in navigating or providing more precision w ...

'', Classical Latin for a pen. In year 1893

Francis Galton Sir Francis Galton, FRS FRAI (; 16 February 1822 – 17 January 1911), was an English Victorian era polymath: a statistician, sociologist, psychologist, anthropologist, tropical explorer, geographer, inventor, meteorologist, proto- ...

gave the following brief description of a cyclostyle: ::"The cyclostyle, which is an instrument used for multiple writing, makes about 140 dots to the inch. The style has a minute spur-wheel or roller, instead of a enpoint ; the writing is made on stencil paper, whose surface is covered with a brittle glaze. This is perforated by the teeth of the spur-wheel wherever they press against it. The half perforated sheet is then laid on writing paper, and an inked roller is worked over the glaze. The ink passes through the perforations and soaks through them on to the paper below; consequently the impression consists entirely of short and irregular cross bars or dots."Francis Galton's description of the cyclostyle is in
Proceedings of the Royal Institution of Great Britain, Volume XIV
', year 1893, pages 13–26, with cyclostyle on pages 20-22. In 1875

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventio ...

received a patent for the

electric pen Thomas Edison's electric pen, part of a complete outfit for duplicating handwritten documents and drawings, was the first relatively safe electric-motor-driven office appliance produced and sold in the United States. Development Edison recogniz ...

, which a decade later was superseded by the

mimeograph machine A mimeograph machine (often abbreviated to mimeo, sometimes called a stencil duplicator) is a low-cost duplicating machine that works by forcing ink through a stencil onto paper. The process is called mimeography, and a copy made by the pro ...

. The cyclostyle was a more automated type of mimeograph machine that produced reproductions faster. In 1893 Francis Galton described a system for sending

line drawings Line most often refers to: * Line (geometry), object with zero thickness and curvature that stretches to infinity * Telephone line, a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system Line, lines, The Line, or LINE may also refer to: Arts ...

through the widely established

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

system, using simple numeric codes, and printing out the line drawings at the other end from the codes. He referred to this printer as a "Cyclostyle". It contained elements of Gestetner's system, and also elements in common with modern computer graphics printing of line drawings.

References

{{Reflist Office equipment Printing devices

See also

References