Rena, I don't quite follow... So you are saying that his application was somewhat faulty and exposed to froud?
Also his invention was for holding books open and leaf turning rather then printing itself.
Adam, I made a mistake concerning the Patent. I jumped to the conclusion that it had something to do with the newspaper business when I read the response from the British Archive which you quoted:
You said:- "I have also received answer from British Library that might be interesting to some other genealogists:
The patent ‘file wrapper’ an electronic or paper folder"
I had been looking for a paper folder and not looking for a gadget that turned pages
I should have read the DEPATnet website which clearly states "
Tourneur pour feuilles de musique" (page turner for musicians)
I recognise that the gadget could be used by any person reading a book and it may be that some gadgets were sold to home owners with a library, but there weren't many public libraries in the very early 20th century. As there were many injured soldiers returning from the Boer War, the Crimean War and the war with Bismarck I think many injured people could have found it useful. I'm not saying his application was faulty or exposed to fraud. His invention might well have been manufactured, sold and used in his homeland of Germany (and France), but I couldn't find an advert in his name or for his product in a British newspaper.
You wondered why your ancestor chose to patent his invention in Britain and France. Considering how many thousands of orchestras, music academies and popular music halls, theatres, opera houses and dance halls there were, I can understand why your ancestor wished to protect his invention in Britain and France as well as his own country. There is a history of Hanoverian musicians travelling around Europe. Additionally (unlike today) many ordinary families in that era could play a musical instrument, for instance my father and his seven siblings learnt to play violin and piano and I can tell you that my mother's family owned a German Bechstein piano.
I have visited the British newspaper website again today and used several keywords but unfortunately I didn't find anything. Coincidentally, however, there was quite a famous man with the surnames "Page Turner".
In all my years, I have never seen a mechanical page turner used in any classical music concert I have attended or viewed on TV. Usually each musician turns their own pages, or an attendant stands by the musician and turns the pages.
Best Wishes,
Rena