Exhibition label (Accessed: 15 February 2018)
Seth Boyden ranks among the great and versatile inventors of his day. His keen aptitude for mechanical engineering yielded a series of significant breakthroughs that led to improved production methods in several of the nation's burgeoning industries. Boyden's successes included perfecting a process for making varnished or "patent" leather; revolutionizing the American iron industry by developing a method for creating malleable cast iron; and improving the design of steam locomotives and stationary steam engines with his invention of a cutoff valve for regulating steam consumption. An early practitioner of the daguerreian process, Boyden also designed a unique camera for his own use.
