PianoIn 1796, the first U.S. patent for a piano was issued to James Sylvanus McLean of New Jersey, for “an improvement in piano fortes.” The Patent Office fire (15 Dec 1836) destroyed the record. No detailed information remains except the patent title and patentee in a book listing patents, privately published earlier. The first known printed reference to a piano in America was in the Massachussetts Gazette (7 Mar 1771). Pianos had been imported, until the first one, a square, was made in America in 1775 by Johann Behrent, a German immigrant in Philadelphia. The first important maker was Charles Albrecht in the same city, who, from about 1790, made close copies of English designs. The first piano-like instrument known in the U.S. was a spinet built by John Harris, described in the Boston Gazette(18 Sep 1769).«[Image: Example of a 1796 English instrument, a Stodart grand piano.] |
