IMPROVEMENTS IN PHOTOGRAPHY
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Edwin Mayall, of 224 and 226, Regent Street,
in the County of Middlesex, Photographic Artist, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PHOTOGRAPHY."
Sealed the 8th January 1856, and dated the 24th October 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Edwin Mayall at
the Office. of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th October 1855.
I, JOHN EDWIN MAYALL, of 224 and 226, Regent Street, in the County of
Middlesex,: Photographic Artist, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PHOTOGRAPHY" to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the application of a new material for receiving
photographic pictures as a substitute for the ordinary metal or glass plates or
photographic paper, having all the properties and beautiful finish of ivory; any
subsequent tinting may be readily effected, and greater softness of semi-tints
obtained than can be effected by using the ordinary well-known materials.
The new material: which I propose to apply. to photographic purposes is
known in France as Penson's artificial ivory, or I use a composition consisting
of bone or ivory dust,. used either separately or combined, worked into a paste

page_text: with suitable glutinous or gelatinous material; and afterwards rolled out into
sheets by suitable rolling mechanism. The sheets are then allowed to
harden by exposure to the atmosphere, and are cut into slabs of the required
size. These slabs are then scraped carefully to give them a perfectly even
surface; they are then washed with alcohol to remove any impurity there-
from, and are prepared in the ordinary manner to receive positive pictures.
The picture having been printed, the entire slab may be immersed for a few
minutes in a weak solution of nitro-sulphuric acid or nitro-hydrochloric acid,
for the purpose of rendering the picture more clear and brilliant; it is then
fixed in the usual way with hypo-sulphate of soda, and is washed and dried on
a marble or other slab, or under pressure, to prevent it warping.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Edwin Mayall in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
"24th April 1856.".
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
EDWIN MAYALL, of 224 and 226, Regent Street, in the County of Middlesex,
Photographic Artist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Edwin Mayall, Her special license, that I, the said John Edwin
Mayall, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said John Edwin Mayall, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS, IN PHOTOGRAPHY," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said John Edwin Mayall, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the
same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months
'next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Edwin Mayall, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
per-
My said Invention relates to the application and use of a. new material in
photography, known as artificial ivory, for receiving the photographic pictures,
as a substitute for the metal or glass plates, or photographic paper ordinarily
employed for that purpose,.such new material having .all the properties and
beautiful finish of ivory; any. subsequent tinting of. the photographic image
may be readily effected, and greater softness of semi-tints obtained than can be
arrived at by using the ordinary well-known materials hitherto, employed for
that purpose in the art of photography.
The material which I employ for the reception of photographic pictures is
that known in France as Pinson's artificial ivory, consisting of gelatine and
alumina, and is prepared into tablets or slabs suitable for the photographer in
the following manner:-
The tablets or slabs are composed of gelatine or glue in its natural state,
and are immersed in a bath of alumina, which is held in solution by sulphuric
or acetic acid; by this means, a complete combination takes place. between the
alumina and the gelatine or glue. The tablets or slabs should remain in
the bath a sufficient time to become thick enough for the purpose for which
they are required, and to allow the alumina to entirely penetrate them and
incorporate itself therewith; they are then removed and allowed to dry or
harden, when they may be dressed and polished by any of the ordinary and
well-known processes for polishing ivory:
Artificial ivory tablets, capable of bearing a fine polish, may also be made
by mixing alumina directly with gelatine, or glue; but this process is not
so satisfactory as the process herein-before described, since the thickening
produced by the admixture of the alumina with the gelatine renders the
manufacture of the sheets both difficult and expensive.
Another composition of artificial ivory, which I also propose to employ,
consists of equal portions of bone or ivory dust, used either separately or
combined, and albumen or gelatine, the whole being worked into a paste, and
afterwards rolled out into sheets by suitable rolling or flattening mechanism.
The sheets are then 'allowed to harden by exposure to the atmosphere, and are
cut into slabs or tablets of the required size. The method, however, to which
I give the preference for preparing artificial ivory for photographic purposes
consists in using two parts of fine powdered baryta and one part of albumen,
well worked together, and rolled out into slabs, as above described. The best

page_text: method which I have up to the present time discovered for working the mate-
rials together, is that commonly used in the manufacture of Parian marble;
this composition may also be used spread upon paper, if desired. These slabs
or tablets are then carefully scraped, to give them a perfectly even surface.
They are then washed with alcohol,' to remove any impurity therefrom,
and are prepared in the ordinary manner, to receive positive pictures. The
pictures having been printed,' the entire slab or tablet may be immersed for a
few minutes in a weak solution of nitro-sulphuric acid or nitro-hydrochloric
acid, for the purpose of rendering the picture more clear and brilliant. It is
then fixed in the usual inanner with hypo-sulphite of soda, and is washed and
then dried on a marble or other slab, or under pressure to prevent it from
warping. I may here observe that I lay.no claim to the application and use of
slabs or tablets composed as herein-before described, excepting when they are
used in photography, as substitutes for the prepared metal or glass plates or
photographic paper at present employed for the reception of the photographic
picture.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict myself
to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to describe or
refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without deviating from the
principles or main features of my said Invention; but what I consider to be
novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
hérein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is, the application and use of slabs
or tablets composed and manufactured as herein-before described for receiving
photographic pictures.
In, witness whereof, I, the said John Edwin Máyall,, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Twenty-fourth day of April, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-six.