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John Royle & Sons sales book
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Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts [Contact Us] 3420 Walnut Street, 6th Floor (Monday-Friday, 10 am to 4:30 pm), Philadelphia, PA 19104-6206
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
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John Royle & Sons was founded by John Royle in 1855. In the late 19th century the company made table saws and routing machines and many of their machines were intended for the use of printers. It specialized in photoengraving machinery, but also produced textile machinery, Jacquard card-cutting machinery, and machinery for the extrusion and straining of rubbers and plastics.
The company, through John Royle Jr. and Vernon Royle, holds several machinery patents, including several improvements to routing machines for engravers' use (patent number 193,555), machines for repeating pattern cards (patent number 304,864), routing machines (patent numbers (374,707 and 442,826), beveling machines (patent number 598,257), a shoot plane (patent number 639,617), a cutter head for routing machines (patent number 729,896), a combined jig saw and drill (patent number 855,814), and a ruling machine (patent number 969,496). The Royle routing machines were awarded the silver medals at the London International Inventions exhibition in 1885.
John Royle was born in England on November 2, 1822 to Jeremiah and Lucretia Worthington Royle. In 1830, the family moved to Paterson, NJ. Jeremiah Royle worked at Rogers, Ketchum & Grosvenor machine shops, which later became the Rogers Locomotive Works where John Royle apprenticed in 1839. Following this apprenticeship, Royle worked for the Watson Company before founding John Royle & Sons in 1855.
Royle married Agnes Houston Royle and together they had three sons, Vernon (1846-1934), John (1850-1922), and Edwin Royle (1854-1896). Royle died in Paterson, NJ on October 31, 1908.
This sales book dates from 1927 to 1930 and contains 45 photographs of John Royle & Sons' photograph engraving machinery in addition to quote sheets and 10 samples of the machines' work.
The photographs of machinery include those of products for sale at the time in addition to heritage machinery, including early routing machines from 1860 and 1873 (p. 29, 31). Examples of other machines pictured include a combo router for flat and curved plates (p. 21), micro-edger (p. 55), 16-inch raised line beveler (p. 59), rotary planer (p. 65), ellipsograph (p. 71), and a Royle perfected ruling machine (p. 77).
The volume is bound in full leather with "John Royle & Sons Patterson, N.J." embossed in gold on the front cover. There are quote sheets (p. 1, 5, 7), photographs of machinery (p. 9-98), and samples of work produced by the Royle Lining Beveler (p. 99-117).
Sold by Charles Wood Bookseller (Cambridge, MA), 2025.
- Publisher
- University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts
- Finding Aid Author
- Kelin Baldridge Smallwood
- Finding Aid Date
- 2026 January 8
- Access Restrictions
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This collection is open for research use.
- Use Restrictions
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Copyright restrictions may exist. For most library holdings, the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania do not hold copyright. It is the responsibility of the requester to seek permission from the holder of the copyright to reproduce material from the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts.