AN IMPROVED METHOD OF OBTAINING SURFACES FOR PRINTING FROM STEREOTYPING AND. ELECTROTYPING
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Cheverton, of Elm Villa, Turnham Green, in
the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
METHOD OF OBTAINING SURFACES FOR PRINTING FROM STEREOTYPING AND.
ELECTROTYPING:"
Sealed the 13th November 1866, and dated the 15th May 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Cheverton at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th May 1866.
I, JAMES CHEVERTON, of Elm Villa, Turnham Green, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF OBTAINING SURFACES FOR PRINTING FROM STEREO-
TYPING AND ELECTROTYPING," to be as follows:-
I take a plate of the mineral variously called gypsum, alabaster, and
sulphate of lime, of a thickness suitable for printing from, and bake it in an
oven until all or nearly all the water of crystallization is expelled. I draw
on the friable and absorbent surface thus produced any design intended for a
print or for a stereotype, or for an electrotype, with a pen, brush, or other
convenient means, and with any liquid that will sufficiently penetrate the
said surface, either to harden the material or to render it tough to a slight

page_text: depth under the lines so drawn; such liquids for the first purpose may be
muriate of lime or liquid silica, commonly called water glass, and for the
second purpose brown hard varnish diluted with its own solvent, but it is
convenient to mix some coloring matter with these liquids in order to render
the drawing more visible. I then remove the friable material between the
lines by brushing or rubbing so as to leave the design in relief. I now
harden the plate by immersing it in hot or cold water for ten or twelve
hours, but which process can be hastened and the induration made more
perfect by dissolving in the water to saturation one or more of a variety of
salts, among which alum is one of the best. The plate is now ready for
printing from or to be stereotyped or electrotyped.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Cheverton in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
14th November 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
CHEVERTON, of Elm Villa, Turnham Green, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said James Cheverton, Her special licence that I, the said James Cheverton,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
James Cheverton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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
METHOD OF OBTAINING SURFACES FOR PRINTING FROM STEREOTYPING AND ELECTRO-
TYPING," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James
Cheverton, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Cheverton, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
I take a plate of the mineral variously called gypsum, alabaster, and
sulphate of lime, of a thickness suitable for printing from, and bake it in an
oven until all or nearly all the water of crystallization is expelled. I draw
on the friable and absorbent surface thus produced any design intended for
a print or for a stereotype, or for an electrotype, with a pen, brush, or other
convenient means, and with any liquid that will sufficiently penetrate the said
surface either to harden the material or to render it tough to a slight depth
under the lines so drawn ; such liquids for the first purpose may be muriate
of lime or liquid silica, commonly called water glass, and for the second
purpose brown hard varnish diluted with its own solvent, but it is convenient
to mix some colouring matter with these liquids in order to render the
drawing more visible. I then remove the friable material between the lines
by brushing or rubbing so as to leave the design in relief. I now harden the
plate by immersing it in hot or cold water for ten or twelve hours, but which
process can be hastened by dissolving in the water to saturation one or more
of a variety of mineral salts, among which alum is one of the best. The
plate is now ready for printing from or to be stereotyped or electrotyped.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Cheverton, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twelfth day of November, in the year of our
. Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
JAMES CHEVERTON. (L.S.)