These shifters allow each chord bar to produce more than one chord. The result was the addition of "shifters" to the chord bars.
However, it appears he was reluctant to totally abandon his horizontal approach to muting strings and that he had also experimented with incorporating the idea into the design of the German instrument as an improvement. In the years from 1882, when the first patent was granted, to about 1885, when production actually began, it seems likely that Zimmermann realized his patent instrument was a failure, that he experimented with trying to improve on it, but that he eventually gave up and began production of the German instrument in unaltered form before some other enterprising American did. It seems certain that the action of the instrument in Zimmermann’s patent would have been functionally inferior to that of the German instrument. Otherwise, we have to believe that two such instruments were invented independently of each other and within a couple of years apart in the course of all history. It appears that Zimmermann saw the German instrument before he applied for the 1882 patent. 1885), for which a British patent had been granted to a German inventor in 1883 or 1884?īoth the German instrument and the one featured in Zimmermann’s patent are small zither-type instruments which make chords by muting certain strings, and which do so by means of manipulating wooden bars with blocks of felt attached to them. So how do we get from Zimmermann being granted a patent for an instrument that is not the autoharp as we know it (1882) to Zimmermann beginning production of the autoharp as we know it (c. Grantee was German, the patent was British it seems likely that an earlier patent was granted in his home country, but as the article explains, it is very unlikely that any record of it will ever be found. * Zimmermann's 1882 patent did not represent the instrument now known as an autoharp. Though Zimmermann's patent predates this one, a couple of points need to be kept in mind: Though the date of British patent is not given in the article, it appears by two items within the text to have been granted in 1883 or 1884.
Vertically (see illustrations in article cited above).
The body shape is symmetrical, and the felt-bearingīars that silence certain strings move horizontally, rather than Significantly in form from the autoharp as we Instrument and more importantly the bar action pictured and described in the Zither-or harp-like instrument outfitted with this gizmo, was Patent for an attachment gizmo he proclaimed constituted "an Zimmermann, who in 1882 obtained an American Within the first three years of production, if not from theĤ-bar model with "shifter" bars, two 5-bar "shifter" models, and aĦ-bar "shifter" model. Whether this was anĪbbreviated catalog or if it represented the entire line is not One earlyĬatalog shows only these models. Styles, the 3-, 4-, and 5-bar models with plain bars. Of autoharps produced in America consisted of at least three Hats off to Ivan for doing the digging and to the Autoharp Quarterly site for making his findings available online. An incredible amount of effort lies behind the research that resulted in this concise article. The article cites the earliest known patent for the instrument now known as the autoharp, a British patent granted to a German inventor.
For a detailed account of the facts behind this statement, read "The True History of the Autoharp" by Ivan Stiles. It appears that the autoharp may have been invented not in America but in Germany. The Gallery features images of nearly every 19th century model produced, as well as stringing and configuration specs. Zimmermann's Philadelphia shop which date from the period 1885-88.Īnd for a broader look at the 19th century autoharp, visit the Autoharp Gallery Page. Besides offering a look at the details of early autoharp features, the page also contains images of the entire first line of autoharps produced in America by C.F. For a close-up look at the features of 19th century autoharps, consult the Features Page. In addition to this page, this site's coverage of the autoharp consists of two companion pages. Other American companies have at least sold autoharps throughout the time since Zimmermann began production, and perhaps some actually manufactured the instruments they sold. The coverage of the autoharp on this page (for that matter, at this site) follows only the direct manufacturing successors of the autoharp's first American producer, C.F. International Musical Corporation, Hoboken, NJ A brief history of 19th century autoharp manufacturers