IMPROVEMENTS IN TRANS- FERRING AND PRINTING
Year: 1852

page_text: FIELD, of Warneford Court, Throgmorton Street, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Fourteenth day of
October, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the sixteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Field, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, Her especial licence,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said John Field, my exors,
adiors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Field, my exors,
adñiors, 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, the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TRANS-
FERRING AND PRINTING," communicated to me from abroad; in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said John Field, shall
cause a particular description of the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in
part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto.
had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Field, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and the
manner of performing the same, are fully described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, that is to say: '
This Invention consists of employing bitumen, fatty or other matters which
ordinarily are soluble in a solvent, and are rendered insoluble in that solvent
by the action of light; such matter being dissolved is spread over the surface
on to which it is desired to obtain a picture or representation. The picture
or representation is to be obtained by means of light, the light being allowed
to act on parts of the surface and not on others. Those parts where the light
acts are rendered insoluble,, whilst the parts not acted on by light remain
soluble and may be removed by the solvent; then by acid or otherwise the
surface may be acted on at the unprotected parts, and from surfaces so pre-
pared impressions may be taken.
And in order that the said Invention may be more fully understood and
readily put into practice, I will proceed to describe the means pursued by
the Inventor.
A lithographic stone, or a plate of zinc or other suitable metál or
material, is to be coated over with bitumen dissolved in ether (or other
matter which is known to have the property of being soluble in any solvent,
and which on being spread out in a thin film and subjected to light is
rendered insoluble), is spread on in a thin film, taking care that daylight
or rays of light which are capable of changing the nature of the substanco
do not come on it till the process of transferring is to be performed: when
this thin film is set a photographie negative picture or representation is
placed thereon and covered with a glass, and then the light of the sun is
to be allowed to act, which will cause the parts of the prepared surface where
the light comes freely to be rendered insoluble in the solvent previously
used to dissolve the matter; and I would state that for this purpose it is
preferred to employ the bitumen of Indea dissolved in ether; I do not, how-
ever, confine myself thereto. The stone, plate, or surface thus treated is then
in a condition to have the parts not acted on by the light removed by
washing with the solvent; by which means those parts of the prepared sur-
face which were covered by the dark parts of the photographic negative
picture will still remain soluble, and they will wash off by the use of the
solvent, and thus leave the parts of the surface of the lithographic stone (or it
may be of metal) uncovered and unprotected, whilst those parts which were
covered by the light parts of the photographic picture will be rendered inso-
luble, and they will not be washed off by the use of the solvent. The uncovered

page_text: parts of the surface may then be bit in by acid or otherwise treated, as is well
understood by engravers; or the surface thus obtained may be used as a
printing surface, as when printing by the processes of lithography or zinco-
graphy. It should be remarked, that great care is required in carrying on this
new art of transfer and printing, and some practice and experience are required
before a person becomes well capable of performing the processes above
explained with success.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention as communicated to me,
I would have it understood that what I claim are the combined processes
herein described of transferring and printing.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Field, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
JOIN (L.S.) FIELD.
Signed, sealed, and delivered, by the
said John Field, in the presence of
ROBERT MACPHERSON,
British Artist, Rome.
LAURA COOPER.
Sixth day of April, 1853, before
me,
British
Consulate.
L.5.
JOIN WELBORN,
British Consular Agent, Rome,
Her Britannic Majesty's Consular Agent.
A.
This is the Specification referred to in the Affidavit of Samuel Carpmael,
Sworn before me, this 14th day of April, 1853.
D. DREW.
Samuel Carpmael, of Lincoln's Inn, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman,
maketh oath and saith, that he is acquainted with the manner and character
of the handwriting of John Field, of Warneford Court, Throgmorton Street, in
the City of London: And this Deponent further saith that the signature
"John Field," set, subscribed, or written at the foot of the Specification
hereunto annexed and marked with the letter A, and dated the Sixth day of
April now instant, and purporting to be executed by the said John Field,

page_text: and acknowledged by him before John Welborn, Esquire, Her Britannic
Majesty's Consular Agent at Rome, on the said Sixth day of April now
instant, is of the proper handwriting of the said John Field.
Enrolled the Fourteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.