In 1854 English textile manufacturer, inventor, and industrial archaeologist Bennet Woodcroft issued, as Superintendent of Specifications, Alphabetical Index of Patentees of Inventions, from March 2, 1617 (14 James I.) to October 1, 1852 (16 Victoriae). As the title page of the work stated, this was "Printed and Published by Order of the Honourable the Commissioners of Patents, under the Act of 15 & 16 Victoriae, Cap. 83. Sec. XXXII. This work, for the first time, brought order and potential accessibility to all patents that had been granted in England up to 1852.
Following up on the index, Woodcroft had all 14,359 patents issued prior to 1852 published, complete with full-size lithographed reproductions of their associated schematic drawings, within five years.
