| Description | Includes correspondence with Waddingtons and the Patent Office.
-Handwritten letter from Waddingtons to Geoffrey Bull acknowledging a letter from him dated 12 January 1945. Says Norman Watson is very interested to know more about the new game he mentions and can he visit Leeds, 19 January 1945
-Letter from Waddingtons to Geoffrey Bull saying passed on his letter of 31 Jauary 1945 to Mr Watson and confirming they would like a meeting with Geoffrey and Anthony Pratt very shortly, 2 February 1945
-Handwritten copy of letter from Geoffrey Bull to Waddingtons proposing he and Anthony Pratt come to Leeds on 17 February at 10:00, 10 February 1945
-Letter from Waddingtons to Geoffrey Bull replying to his of 5 June 1945. Says they have given the "Murder!!" game extensive trials and the more they play it the more they like it and definitely likely [sic] to take it up and will be sending Mr Pratt suggestions for an agreement, 11 June 1945
-Letter from Waddingtons to Anthony Pratt acknowledging his of 13 June 1945 saying he can expect to hear from them very soon and mentioning some alterations which Anthony had suggested, 26 June 1945
-Set of notes, undated, handwritten by Geoffrey, preparing the form of wording for part of the Draft Specification. [These are written on the blank sides of used sheets - a copy of a technical invention - writing paper being extremely scarce during wartime. The handwriting is difficult to decipher.]
-Typed Draft Complete Specification (top copy and carbon, pages 1-6), hand dated to show when they were sent to the Patent Office in London. Titled "Improvements in Indoor Games and Apparatus Therefor", 11 August 1945
-Detailed letter from Waddingtons, Norman Watson, Joint Managing Director, to Anthony [mistakenly addressed to A S Pratt instead of AE] setting out the agreement for the game not yet named, but for now called "Murder". Will facilitate and fund patents being taken out in Britain, United States, and various parts of the British Empire. They have the right to design and market it as they see fit. Specify Royalty payments they will make to him - 5% on net wholesale price for sales in excess of 50,000 - payable quarterly, until such time in any country that the patent is no longer of interest to them, 31 August 1945
-Handwritten note by Anthony recording letter he sent accompanying the returned signed copy of the agreement, 2 September 1945
-Letter from Waddingtons, CR Stephens, Director and Secretary, acknowledging the returned agreement and saying they will be in touch about production but flagging up the dire scarcity of materials, 4 September 1945
-Handwritten copy of letter & attachments sent by Geoffrey Bull to printer "Mr James" thanking him for the proofs and asking him to send the filing drawings for Great Britain + 12 spares plus filing drawings for USA. [Printed drawings subsequently have reference numbers], 19 September 1945
-Several copies of printers' sheets showing the murder weapons and cards, cards for the characters and rooms, the male and female playing pieces and the board layout, all referenced, n.d.
-Letter from Goodall asking about the position with the Patent, 17 October 1945
-Handwritten copy of reply dated 18 October 1945 from Anthony Pratt to Goodall confirming he filed a provisional specification on 1 December 1944 and that ensures protection of the invention for a year. The complete specification, with drawings, had to be filed in London and also in the USA by 1 December 1945 at the latest.
-Letter from C R Stephens, wanting more evidence of patent protection, 18 October 1945. US Patent application is being dealt with by Agents Rayner & Co of 19 Green Land, Purley.
-Handwritten copy of letter from Anthony to Stephens enclosing the provisional specification and receipt for "Murder", 20 October 1945. Reminded them that the patent process is lengthy and it may be some months before the patent is granted.
-Carbon copy of letter from Rayners (Agents for US patent) to Waddingtons specifying process and enclosing papers, including a petition with power of attorney, Specification, and Oath, to be signed by Anthony Pratt before a US Consul or Notary Public, 3 December 1945.
- Acknowledgement from C R Stephens they received letter from Anthony dated 3 Nov about the US application, 5 November 1945
- Letter from Goodall - praising "Murder" and saying he is supervising the pre-production work - design of box, board, cards etc and editing the rules. Said he was struck by "an unnecessary lack of logic in the choice of the weapons" - ie the weapons are inconsistent in the way they cause injury and that it would be blatantly obvious when the body was found which weapon had been used, so it is unnecessary for it to be discovered as part of the game. Instead he suggests a list of weapons which could all, say, cause a blunt force injury ("poker, club, flat iron, rolling pin, candlestick, revolver butt, statuette, paper weight, hammer"). Also suggested dispensing with the Gun Room on the board and dispersing the weapons logically on the board at the start of play - poker in the lounge, club in billiard room, niblick in hall, rolling pin or iron in kitchen, candlestick in dining room, revolver in study, statuette in ballroom, paper weight in study, hammer in conservatory. Asks for reaction to suggestions as soon as possible. 18 January 1946
- Acknowledgement of letter from Anthony Pratt of 12 Oct, saying Mr Goodall on holiday, 15 October 1945
•25 Oct 46 - Letter from Patent Office to Anthony listing minor amendments and corrections required by the Patent Office Examiner.
•30 Nov 46 - Manuscript annotation by Geoffrey Bull to typed copy of Patent Specification saying "Complete Specification As Amended 30-11-46", together with m/s amendments to earlier text. Title now reads "Improvements in Board Games" (as it subsequently appears on the official published Patent). Nine pages, including an explanation of play. |