⭕ The electric pen was developed as an offshoot of Edisons telegraphy research. Thomas Edison and Charles Batchelor noticed that as the stylus of their printing telegraph punctured the paper, the chemical solution left a mark underneath. This led Edison to conceive in June 1875 the idea of using a perforated sheet of paper as a stencil for making multiple copies, and to develop the electric pen as a perforating device. Later duplicating processes used a wax stencil, but the instruction manuals for Edisons Electric(al) Pen and Duplicating Press variously call for a stencil of common writing paper (in Charles Batchelors manual), and Cranes Bank Folio paper (in George Bliss later manual). US patent 1800,857 for autographic printing was issued to Thomas Edison in 1876, covering the pen, the duplication press, and accessories.