A NEW MODE OF PREPARING CERTAIN SURFACES FOR BEING CORRODED WITH ACIDS IN ORDER TO PRODUCE PATTERNS AND DESIGNS FOR THE PURPOSE OF CERTAIN KINDS OF PRINTING AND TRANSPARENCIES
Year: 1838

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
HULLMANDEL, of Great Marlborough Street, Westminster, Lithographic
Printer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-sixth day of March, in the first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and graut unto me,
the said Charles Hullmandell, Her especial licence, that I, the said Charles
Hullmandel; my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Charles Hullmandel, my executors, administrators, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend,, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations
abroad, my Invention of A NEW MODE OF PREPARING CERTAIN SURFACES FOR
BEING CORRODED WITH ACIDS IN ORDER TO PRODUCE PATTERNS AND DESIGNS FOR
THE PURPOSE OF CERTAIN KINDS OF PRINTING AND TRANSPARENCIES;" in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Charles
Hullmandel, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly,
to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what

page_text: manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled
in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as
in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at
large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Charles Hullmandel, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention to
consist,―
First, in drawing narrow or broad lines (so as to produce figures or patterns
directly on the surfaces of copper, steel, or other metallic or glass plates
or rollers, and, without the previous intervention of any resinous or other
ground or covering) with a composition or mixture soluble in water, and which
mixture, when the plate has been subsequently covered with varnish and
steeped in water, will dissolve and rub off with the varnish which is over it,
thus exposing the surfaces which were under the mixture to the action of any
acid which may be used to corrode the same. And,
Secondly, in the application of grease to such surfaces as aforesaid, for the
purpose of obtaining a reticulated or irregularly exposed portion of the same
for the action of such acids as aforesaid, for the purpose of producing shaded
figures or patterns, as herein-after explained.
And in further compliance with the said proviso, I, the said Charles
Hullmandel, do hereby further describe the manner in which my said Inven-
tion is to be performed by the following statement thereof, reference being
had to the specimen, figures, and patterns shewn in the accompanying Sheet
of Parchment marked A, by way of illustration.
DESCRIPTION OF THE NEW METHOD.
First, I mix seven parts of a thick solution of gum arabic (say about the
thickness of cream) with about one part of treacle, and a small quantity of
the best lamp black to give it a color, and grind them well together; or, to
speak more accurately, take of treacle nine grains, gum arabic in powder
eighteen grains, best lamp black nine grains, mix with water to the con-
sistency of cream, and grind well. The object of the treacle is to hinder the
gum from chipping off, which it would otherwise be apt to do from the surface
of the metal or glass. With this colour and a camel's hair pencil I draw on
the naked surface of the metal or glass whatever subject, figure, or pattern is
intended, a sketch or tracing of the same having been previously transferred to
the surface of the metal or glass by the usual means of tracing paper or other-
wise; if, however, straight lines only are required to be produced, the common

page_text: mathematical pen, and a rule or a common quill or steel pen, may be used,
according to the nature of the subject.
The specimens, Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4, in Sheet A, represent the sort of patterns
or figures that may be so drawn as aforesaid, No. 1 being drawn with a camel's
hair pencil or brush, and Nos. 2 and 3 with both a common quill and mathe-
matical steel pen, No. 4 being drawn with both a camel's hair brush and mathe-
matical pen. The pattern or design being thus completed in outline a várnish
must either be poured on the plate, or else spread on with a flat brush, so as to
lay perfectly even on the surface. If the pattern or design has been executed
on a cylinder or roller, an axis or spindle must be fitted to the roller, and
the whole fixed on to a stand, so as to turn by means of a handle. or otherwise;
and the varnish being laid on with a flat brush over the whole surface of the
roller or cylinder, it should be turned round on its axis with a slow and
even motion until the varnish has spread evenly over its whole surface and
is set.
I lay no claim to any peculiar varnish, but I prefer for this part of the pro-
cess a mixture of four or five parts of what is called in Paris "petit vernis,"
and one part of what is commonly sold in London under the name of
Brunswick black. The surfaces of the metal or glass, with the designs upon them.
being thus coated, the varnish must be allowed to dry for twenty-four hours,
when the plate or cylinder, as the case may be, must be steeped in water for
two or three hours, and afterwards, by gently rubbing the surface with a soft
hair pencil or a sponge, the varnish will leave the metal wherever the mixture
above mentioned of gum and lamp black has been previously applied, as well
as the said mixture itself, and that part of the surface which is intended
to produce the pattern or design will be left completely uncovered, and pre-
pared for being bitten or corroded to the depth required by such acid as
is usually employed for biting or corroding, according as metal or glass has
been used, in which latter case fluoric will of course be the proper acid.
The parts thus exposed as aforesaid having been sufficiently corroded or bitten,
the varnish must be removed with spirits of turpentine in the usual manner,
and the surface well cleansed.
The second part of my said Invention is preparing the said surfaces for
biting in the shadows for the pattern or design obtained in outline, as before
described. For this purpose I take a very small quantity of tallow or grease of
any kind on a rag or a piece of wash leather on the tip of the finger, and rub the
surface of the plate or roller with it, so as to grease it all over slightly though
perceptibly; this done, the said surface must be rubbed with a dry soft cloth
or rag, and this operation of rubbing with a rag must be repeated two or three

page_text: times until the surface of the metal appears to be well wiped, and no visible
grease left, though, in fact, there must be a greasy coating over the whole
surface. A mixture of a solution of equal parts of gum arabic and gum
tragacanth must then be prepared, to which solution treacle must be added, in
the proportion of one part of treacle to five parts of the solution, and the
whole well ground with a small quantity of good lamp black, or any other
coloring material, merely to give it a color; or, to speak more correctly, take
of powdered gum arabic twelve grains, powdered gum tragacanth seven grains,
put these in solution in a little water for two days, and then add treacle nine
grains, best lamp black ten grains, and grind well all together. On applying
some of this colored solution with a camel's hair pencil to the surface prepared
with grease as aforesaid, the solution will retract or withdraw itself into reti-
culated or irregular forms, or a sort of network, as exhibited in Specimen
No. 5, which shews the effect produced by merely dabbing or drawing a
brush containing the mixture over the prepared greasy surface of the plate,
by which means, if laid on in an artist-like manner, forms and shading can be
produced with the greatest ease and rapidity, as shewn by the specimen or
shaded pattern Specimen No. 6, which is the same figure as Specimen No. 1,
with the shading added thereto. Specimens Nos. 7, 8, and 9, also shew the
effect produced by the novel kind of shading in different figures or designs.
Specimen No. 10 shews the same effect of shading, the design or pattern
being on a dark ground produced by dipping a small piece of soft sponge in
the ink or mixture, and dabbing it upon the prepared greasy surface. Or
the same effect may be produced by a dabber commonly used by engravers in
laying or etching ground, the dabber being covered with soft wash leather and
dipped in the ink and applied to the surface of the metal plate or cylinder.
The closeness or openness of this network or shading can be modified by using
the color thicker or thinner. By this second method of preparing the surfaces
it is evident that original figures, patterns, or designs may be executed, or else
it may be used to produce shadings to the patterns previously designed or cor-
roded by the first-mentioned process. In the case of designs and patterns
for printing on silk, cotton, or woollen fabrics, these may be either wholly pro-
duced by one or other or both of the methods before given, or part of the
patterns or designs may be executed by the methods already in use, and the
shading produced by the second part of my said Invention herein-before
described. The design or pattern being completed by shading as aforesaid,
the varnish is laid on as already explained for the first part of my said Inven-
tion, and the parts which are intended to be corroded or bitten uncovered by
again steeping the plates or rollers in water and gently rubbing, as before

page_text: mentioned. When the pattern is small and often repeated, as shewn in
Specimens Nos. 11, 12, and 13, it can be executed in wood in the ordinary
manner of block printing or in metal, and by charging the pattern thus
carved or engraved with the aforesaid gum and lamp black and fine sand,
which are to be mixed in about the following proportions:-gum arabic, in
powder, forty grains; best lamp black, six grains; very fine sifted sand, fifty-
grains: or else, gum arabic, forty grains; lamp black, six grains; powdered
pumice stone, sixty grains. This ink must be very slightly ground. . In the
first recipe the lamp black and gum in solution must be ground together, and
the sand added afterwards. The plates or blocks being charged with the
mixture in the same way that a wood block or engraving is charged for print-
ing on calico or paper, the small design may be repeated on the naked surface
of the metal or glass as often as is required; the whole being then covered
with varnish, afterwards soaked in water, and corroded with acid, as before
described.
Now, whereas it is evident that patterns and designs may be produced by the
use of either the first or second part of my said Invention, as well as by both
combined, and that clean, even, black lines may be.produced on the greased
surface by the addition of a little gall to the gum solution, as well as on the
bare surface of the metal or glass, the Nos. 11, 12, and 13, being specimens
of the several styles; and whereas I do not claim as my Invention the use of
any peculiar varnish, or of any peculiar solution or coloring-matter, for the
purposes aforesaid; but I do claim,-
First, the application of these materials mixed in manner aforesaid directly
on the bare surface of metal or glass plates or rollers, as herein-before
explained with reference to the first part of my said Invention, and then
varnishing and steeping the said plates or rollers in water, and rubbing off part
of the said materials as aforesaid, and thus preparing the said surfaces to be
corroded or bitten with acid, so as to produce patterns and designs, as afore-
said, for the purposes aforesaid; and,
Secondly, I claim the preparing of surfaces of metal or glass by greasing
them, as herein-before described, so as to produce a sort of network or irregular
marks, shading patterns, or designs for the purposes aforesaid, when drawn
upon in manner aforesaid, and afterwards varnished, steeped, and rubbed, as
explained in the second part of my said Invention :
And such my said Invention being, to the best of my knowledge and belief.
entirely new, and never before used within that part of Her said Majesty's
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, Her said
Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her

page_text: Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad: I do hereby declare this to be
my Specification of the same, and that I do verily believe this my said Speci-
fication doth comply in all respects fully, and without reserve or disguise, with
the proviso in the said herein-before in part recited Letters Patent contained;
wherefore I do hereby claim to maintain exclusive right and privilege to my
said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Hullmandel, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of September, in the
year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight.
CHARLES (L.S.) HULLMANDEL.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-first day of September,
in the second year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the said
Charles Hullmandel came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery,
and acknowledged the Instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein
contained and specified, in form above written. And also the Instrument
aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the
fifty-fifth year of the reign of His late Majesty King George the Third.
Iurolled the Twenty-sixth day of September, One thousand eight hundred
and thirty-eight.