walter Bishop asked about the octave coupler mentioned in Lehmann's
manual.  According to Martha Clinkscale, no Streicher instruments
survive with such a device (I realize now it was probably worth
mentioning in the relevant footnote), though it's possible that
no such instruments survive on which Streicher installed it.
 
THe device was registered as a patent: but who knows if one was
required to submit a model, or just the plans?  One could start
back with Rosamond Harding's book, where the patent is listed,
and see where following her sources would lead.
 
On uses of the octave coupler. I would suppose that instead of
having to move one's hand an octave higher to make an octave lead
(read: leap) or echo, one would leave one's hand on the same
note or chord and just depress the octave coupler pedal.
 
Since Lehmann does tout Streicher quite a bit, he either
had personal knowledge/experience of the pianos, or as Bishop
suggests, was just advertising.
 
tom mcgeary
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