[The Marx Brothers] Marx, Zeppo. (1901-1979) One of the Marx Brothers, the family of inventive film comedians who broke new ground beginning with the films Animal Crackers and Monkey Business (both 1932).
Invention Archive: Four Documents Patenting An Invention by Zeppo Marx. Fascinating lot of Four Documents Signed, each relating to an invention devised by Zeppo Marx to monitor blood pressure called the "Lifeguard Watch." Included are (1) the original Letters Patent, a Six page, Quarto, printed document from the US Patent Office, dated February 11, 1969, conferring a patent to Herbert Zeppo Marx for.
"Method and Watch Mechanism For Actuation By A Cardiac Pulse."
The Patent describes the invention as a "Means for driving a watch by means of a cardiac pulse at a rate that varies according to the frequency, strength and regularity of the pulse, and, by comparing the rate of operation thereof with a reference watch that operates at a constant and known rate, apprising the user by the deviant reading between the two watches of a corresponding variation in the functioning of the heart." The Letters Patent goes on to give an account of the Background of the Invention, calling attention to related prior patents, and a fascinating Summary of the Invention. Herbert Zeppo Marx is named with A.D. Herman as Inventors of the device. The document is bound by a purple ribbon and bears a pristine red seal of the US Patent Office.
Accompanying the Letters Patent are other related documents, the first (2) entitled "Abstract of the Disclosure," being a Twelve page, Legal Folio, with ornate printed diagrammatic illustrations on its Cover Page, Los Angeles, California, dated "1967," providing a detailed account of the invention. Signed on the last page, "Herbert Zeppo Marx." (3) The next document, entitled "Specifications," is Thirteen pages, Legal Folio, Los Angeles, California, September 1, 1966, and provides all the specifications for the invention prescribed by the Patent Office, and subsequently incorporated into its Letters Patent for the invention, signed on the last page by both inventors, Zeppo Marx and A.D. Herman. Finally (4) the By-Laws for the Company formed by Zeppo Marx to market and sell his invention, a corporation called "Lifeguard Watch." These By-Laws are a Multicopy Document Signed, Thirteen pages, Quarto, establishing the incorporation of Marx's company in eight brief Articles. The document is signed twice by Zeppo Marx on the last page.
Fine. Each document is in Fine condition. Also included are Xerox copies of contracts and minutes relating to the "Lifeguard Watch" Corporation.
Estimated Value $1,000-UP.
