by Tim Lane Introduction A number of years ago I purchased an antique 1867 Carte system flute. I was curiousto know more about the 1867 system, to understand why so little about it is knowntoday and to know why it is no longer in use. Patented in 1866, Carte labeled the flute,“Carte and Boehm’s Combined (1867 Patent)” and he considered it to be animprovement over the two flute designs that he had combined in order to “create” it:his own 1851 flute system and Boehm’s flute system. Three Areas of Improvement Carte’s improvements over Boehm’s design fall into three broad categories: … Continue reading A case for reviving Richard Carte’s 1867 system flute model