AN IMPROVED PHOTO-ELECTROTYPING PROCESS
Year: 1865

page_text: 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "AN IMPROVED PHOTO-ELECTROTYPING PROCESS."-A communi-
cation from abroad by William Augustus Leggo and George Edward
Desbarats, both of Québec, Lower Canada.
Sealed the 20th October 1865, and dated the 5th June 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th June 1865.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED PHOTO-ELECTROTYPING PROCESS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention consists in an art or process by which, through a cheap,
rapid, and accurate operation, a plate or type may be obtained of any print,
drawing, or manuscript capable of yielding exact copies of the original, the
size being retained, increased, or diminished at will, and its position reversed,
if desired, by which plates or types may be produced of photographs from
nature, by which, in short, a type or plate may be made of any subject
imposed, by photography or otherwise, on any transparent medium..
The mode of proceeding is as follows:-Take, for instance, a photograph on
glass, varnish it, and allow it to dry in the usual manner, lay it upon a level
slab in a dark room, and brush over it a substance which upon exposure to
the light becomes insoluble in water; the coating must be made about one

page_text: thirty-second part of an inch thick, and let it stand until it be quite jellied.
The sensitive substance is thus prepared :-Dissolve five ounces of bichromate
of potash in warm water with six ounces of gelatine; preserve this compound
in the dark, and when about to use dissolve by heating. Expose the picture,
when coated, to the light, face downwards, for as long as the subject requires,
say, from fifteen to forty-five minutes; fine work requiring-less exposition, and
coarse work more, as practice will soon show; remove with warm water the
still soluble parts of the jelly, allow the plate to cool gradually with the
insoluble jelly adhering, taking care not to allow it to dry, then take a cast
from the mould thus made in plaster or other suitable material. From this
plaster cast a stereotype may be made in the ordinary way. To produce an
electrotype from it dip the cast into hot water to heat and moisten it thoroughly,
and lay it face upwards until all superfluous water disappears; then, while still
warm and damp, dip it edgewise into a vessel containing melted wax merely
hot enough to be quite liquid. After completely immersing the cast, draw it
out quickly, when it will be covered with a thin coating of wax; repeat the
dipping once or twice, allowing the wax to set each time, then, having poured
some hot wax upon a thin 'metal plate, lay the cast now coated with wax face
downwards in it and allow all to cool. The wax upon the plate uniting with
that upon the cast will form a solid mass, from which, the plaster may be
lifted away, leaving its exact impression in the wax, which coated with
plumbago will, by the usual process, yield an electrotype from which perfect
copies of the original may be printed. In a similar manner embossing plates
and various raised plates and ornamental designs may be produced at a
trifling cost.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions, of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward. Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 5th December 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex,.Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria; by Her Letters
Patent, bearing 'date the Fifth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Edward Newton, Her special licence that I, the said William

page_text: Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such: others
as I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors,. administrators, and
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 "AN IMPROVED PHOTO-ELECTROTYPING PROCESS," being a communication to
him from abroad,.upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Edward Newton, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
and ascertain. the nature of the said Invention, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same.
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement (that is to say):-
=
:
This Invention consists in an art or process by which, through a cheap,
rapid, and. accurate operation, a plate or type may obtained of any print,
drawing, or manuscript capable of yielding exact copies of the original, the
size being retained, increased, or diminished at will, and its position reversed,
if. desired, by which plates or types may be produced of photographs from
nature, by which, in short, a type or plate may be made of any subject
imposed, by photography or otherwise, on any transparent medium. . :
The mode. of proceeding is as follows:-Take, for instance, a photograph
on glass, varnish it, and allow it to dry in the usual manner, lay it upon a level
slab in a dark room and brush over it a substance which upon exposure to
the light becomes insoluble in water; the thickness of the coating must be
made about one thirty-second part of an inch thick, then let it stand until it
be quite jellied. The sensitive substance is thus prepared:-Dissolve five
ounces of bichromate of potash in twenty ounces of warm water and six ounces
of gelatine in eighty ounces of warm water, then mix the solutions thoroughly
together. Preserve this compound in the dark in a glass bottle or jar, and
when about to use it dissolve it, if jellied, by heating it. Expose the picture,
when coated, to the light face downwards (the finest effects being probably
produced by polarized light), and allow it to remain for as long as the subject
requires, say, from fifteen to forty-five minutes; fine work requires less
exposure, and coarse work more, as practice will soon show; remove with.

page_text: warm water the still soluble parts of the jelly and allow the plate to cool
gradually with the insoluble jelly adhering to it, taking care not to allow it to
dry, then take a cast from the mould thus made in plaster or other suitable
material. From this plaster cast a stereotype may be made in the ordinary.
way. To produce an electrotype from this cast the following method may be
employed:Dip the cast into hot water to heat and moisten it thoroughly,
and lay it face upwards until all superfluous water disappears; then, while still
warm and damp, dip it edgewise into a vessel containing melted wax merely
hot enough to be quite liquid. After completely immersing the cast draw it
out quickly, when it will be covered with a thin coating of wax, repeat the
dipping once or twice, allowing the wax to set each time, then, having poured
some hot war upon a thin metal plate, lay the cast now coated with wax face
downwards in it and allow all to cool. The wax upon the plate will unite
with that upon the cast and will form a solid mass, from which the plaster may
be lifted away, leaving its exact impression in the wax, which when coated with
plumbago will, by the usual process, field an electrotype from which perfect
copies of the original may be printed. In a similar manner embossing plates
and various raised plates and ornamental designs may be produced at a
trifling cost.
Having now described the Invention of an improved photo-electrotyping
process which has been communicated to me by my foreign correspondent,
and having explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I claim as
the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid, produciug directly
upon the surface of any transparent picture, drawing, or manuscript produced
by the action of light a mould capable, of yielding a cast in plaster or other
suitable material for the purposes and in the manner above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
sot my hand and seal, this Fifth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five...
'Witness,
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)
J.-W. MOFFATT,