NEW-INVENTED IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPARATUS FOR COPYING MANUSCRIPT OR OTHER WRITINGS, OR DESIGNS
Year: 1815

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BELL, of Edinburgh, in that part of the United Kingdom called Scotland,
Writer to His Majesty's Signet, do send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third, by His
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Fourteenth day of March, in the fifty-fifth year of His reign,
did give and grant unto me, the said William Bell, my exors, admors, and
assigns, His especial licence, full power, sole priviledge and authority, that I,
the said William Bell, my exors, admors, and assigns, during the term of
years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within England and Wales and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my
"NEW-INVENTED IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPARATUS FOR COPYING MANUSCRIPT
OR OTHER WRITINGS, OR DESIGNS;" in which Letters Patent there is con-
tained a proviso obliging me, the said William Bell, under my hand and seal,
to cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be enrolled in His Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within two calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same
(relation being thereunto had) may more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I the said
William Bell, do hereby declare that the said improvements which I have
invented consist in certain apparatus to be used in concert with the common
and known method of copying writing by pressure, which was invented
originally by Mr. James Watt, and for which His Majesty granted His
Letters Patent to him in the year One thousand seven hundred and eighty.
By means of my improved apparatus copies of manuscript writings, or
designs can be obtained upon the leaves of a book, instead of using separate
leaves or pieces of paper, as heretofore practised. To render this my Specifi-
cation more clear, it is necessary to describe briefly Mr. Watt's Invention,
which is now generally known and practised in the following manner :-
The writing or paper to be copied is covered with a damp leaf of thin
paper, which is made without gum or size; both are then submitted to a con-
siderable pressure in any kind of press or other similar machine, and in a few
seconds the water with which the thin paper is damped will absorb or take
off part off the ink from the writing, and the said paper being very thin the
ink will penetrate through it and can be read on the back or opposite side to
that which was pressed in contact with the original writing of which it presents
an exact fac simile. The ink with which the original writing is made must
have some admixture of gummy or mucilagenous matter, which will render it
more soluble and capable of being taken up in part by the damp of the paper;
a small quantity of sugar added to common vitriolic ink is known to make it
answer this purpose very well. Now, my improved apparatus is for the
purpose of communicating the requisite degree of dampness to the thin paper
when it is bound in the form of a book, and the original writing, being placed
between the leaves of the book, will communicate by pressure part of the ink
of the writing to the leaf which is in contact with it, and the copy is thus
obtained upon a leaf of the book. The said book is to be formed of any kind
of paper which is proper for receiving the copy by absorbing part of the ink
when damped, and which is sufficiently thin for the ink to penetrate its
substance, so that it can be read at the back. The book is to be bound in the
usual manner, without any other precaution than that the back and front are
made equally thick, so that it may be submitted to an equal pressure; also
that the pasteboard of the lids, if any are used, are of a parallel and even
thickness. The damping apparatus consists of thin metal plates cut to the
size of the book, and capable of being shut up therein. These plates are
covered with thin cloth, such as muslin, to receive the damp. Also pieces of
cloth, flannel, or felt, each a sufficient size to wrap up one damping plate and

page_text: cover both sides of it at once; a small tray or pan must be provided to contain
the flannels and plates when damped, which is done either by immersing the
sheets of flannel in water and wringing out the superfluous moisture, by
sprinkling them with water when they lay in the pan, or by spreading
water over them with a brush, or by any other similar means; the damping
plates are then folded in the wet flannel and put by in the pan; they
will be ready for use in a few minutes, when the thin cloth with which
the plates are covered has imbibed the moisture. The operation is thus
performed: The paper containing the writing to be copied is to be placed in
the book, so that each written surface from which a copy is intended to be
taken will lay opposite to the leaf of thin paper whereupon the copy of the
writing upon such surface is to be made; then upon the opposite side of each
thin leaf which is in contact with a written surface, place a damping plate
prepared as before described; now, by shutting the book and exposing it to a
pressure, the leaf of thin paper will be enclosed between the written surface
and the damping plate, and the pressure producing a contact the water con-
tained in the muslin with which the plate is covered will quickly penetrate
through the thin paper leaf of the book and dissolve part of the ink of the
writing, which part the thin paper will absorb, and thus present a copy of the
original writing. The process takes but a few seconds of time, and in this
interval the thin paper receives the dampness as well as the instead
copy,
of its being previously damped, as in the common process. To avoid
dispersing the dampness unnecessarily through the book, leaves of thick
blotting paper or other paper are to be applied to those surfaces of the
damping plates which have no writing opposed to them, and similar leaves
are to be shut up in the book after the operation is finished, in order to
dry the damp leaves. Leaves of pasteboard, waterproof leather, or other
similar substance which is capable of containing moisture in small quantities
may be used in lieu of the damping plates; but I have found by experience
that metal plates covered with thin cloth answer the purpose, being less
liable to grow musty from the dampness; any kind of metal may be used, but
that which is least liable to rust will be best, or the metal may be varnished,
japanned, or turned for this purpose. The plates may be damped by folding
them in wet flannel, as before described, or felt, or woollen, linen, or cotton,
or any other kind of cloth, may be used for the same purpose, as it is only
intended by means of them to communicate a regular and slight degree of
dampness to the plates or other substance used in lieu thereof. The appa-
ratus for producing the pressure may be a screw press, lever press, hydrostatic

page_text: press, or rolling press, or any other kind of press known or in use, as my
improvements do not extend to this part of the original apparatus.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Bell, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Second day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifteen.
Inrolled the Third day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and fifteen.