IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFAC- PROALATION
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for
Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFAC-
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward
Newton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
his Petition, on the 22nd November 1852.
J, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER " to
be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the manufacture of that description of
paper which is to be employed with copying presses for copying
letters or writings.
It has long been a desideratum to obtain copying paper at once
flexible, tough, smooth, and delicately susceptible to impression, by
writing with common ink as well as that with copying ink, when
brought into contact with it under pressure.
To produce a paper having all these qualities, and thus to supply
the desideratum above mentioned, is the object of the present

page_text: Invention, which consists of a new combination or intermixture of
fibrous substances, to give to the paper the requisite mechanical
properties, while to give it the desired chemical properties it is
impregnated with a mordant or other matter, which some substance
in common ink will act upon chemically, so as to develope and fix
a color, and in this way dyeing a copy of the original writing upon
the copying paper, by using the original letters, as both types and
ink. Thus this process is analogous to that by which calico is
printed.
The fibrous ingredients of which the paper is composed are
manilla fibre, such as is commonly employed for making cordage
and cotton fibre. I, however, propose to substitute for these any
other fibrous substances that may be found to possess the saine
relative properties as constituents of copying paper. The chemical
ingredient or mordant I prefer to use is copperas or sulphate of
iron, which I dissolve in water and then mix with the paper pulp
during the process of making the paper. I have selected and used
copperas as the best among the many things I have tried, because
it has a strong affinity for and is turned black by tannin, which I
find present in all black inks that I have examined, and, while
every part of the mordanted paper when damped, that writing is
brought into contact with, will leave the counterpart of the writing
dyed upon it, those parts of the paper with which the writing is
not brought into contact are not discolored or otherwise injured
by impregnation with this salt, so far as I have been able to
discover. While, however, I have thus indicated a preference for
copperas for impregnating copying paper, I by no means desire to
confine myself to its use, or to the use of any other substance
among the many that could be used, the Invention consisting in
making a chemically prepared paper, upon which writing with
common ink will make an impression so as to reproduce a copy
itself, so to speak.
To manufacture the chemical paper, I prepare paper pulp of any
material suitable or used for making bibulous paper in the common
way; preferring however, pulp made of manilla and cotton; and I

page_text: then mix with the pulp a solution of any substance that will not
color the paper, and will at the same time be colored by the contact
of ink.
The quantity of chemical matter should be the least that can
produce the proper effect, which, of course, will depend upon the
kind of ink used, and the nature of the mordant and coloring
matter in the paper and ink respectively with which it is proposed
to reproduce or copy the writing.
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 21st May 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lanc, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of November,
in the year of our Lord 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 William Edward
Newton, Her special license that I, the said William Edward
Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Edward Newton, ny executors, adminis-
trators, 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER," being a communication from a
foreigner residing abroad, upon the condition (amongst others)
that T, the said William Edward Newton, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
sanic was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the

page_text: 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
imanner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement; that is to say:
This Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER" is
set forth by my foreign correspondent as follows: -
It is well known that a facsimile copy of any writing with ink
chemically prepared for the purpose, and known as copying ink,
can be produced by pressing such writing upon a damped sheet of
bibulous paper of the kind known as copying paper. Such copies,
heretofore, have been liable to many objections; first, the paper on
which they are made is so tender that it is liable to tear, so much
so that when damp it can only be handled by exercising great care;
and, secondly, the writing of the copy is more or less blurred, the
lines having indistinctly. defined edges like writing on blotting
paper. Moreover, it is a matter of great inconvenience to be
obliged to use a particular kind of ink for writing which requires
to be copied, because the ink usually employed for that purpose is
not suitable for writing in ledgers and other books, as writing
made with it on one page will mark the opposite one, and thus
produce confusion. And besides, when two kinds of black ink arc
on the desk the writer is apt occasionally to dip his pen inad-
vertently into the common ink, and as so much of his letter as
happens to be written therewith will not copy, this circumstance
often renders copies imperfect.
It has long been a desideratum to obtain copying paper at once
flexible, tough, smooth, and delicately susceptible to impression by
writing with common ink, as well as that with copying ink when
brought into contact with it under pressure.
To produce a paper having all these qualities, and thus to supply
the desideratum above mentioned, is the object of the present
Invention, which consists of a new combination or intermixture of
fibrous substances, to give to the paper the requisite mechanical

page_text: properties; while to give it the desired chemical properties it is
impregnated with a mordant or other matter, which some substance
in common ink will act upon chemically so as to develope and fix a
color, and in this way dyeing a copy of the original writing upon
the copying paper by using the original letters as both types and
ink. Thus this process is analogous to that by which calico is
printed.
The fibrous ingredients of which the paper is composed are
manilla fibre, such as is commonly employed for making cordage
and cotton fibre. I, however, propose to substitute for these any
other fibrous substances that may be found to possess the same
relative properties as constituents of copying paper. The chemical
ingredient or mordant which I propose to use is copperas or
sulphate of iron, which I dissolve in water, and then mix with the
paper pulp during the process of making the paper. I have
selected and used copperas as the best among the many things I
have tried, because it has a strong affinity for and is turned black
by tannin, which I find present in all black inks that I have
examined; and, while every part of the inordanted paper that writing
is brought into contact with, when this paper is damp, will leave
the counterpart of the writing dyed upon it, those parts of the
paper with which the writing is not brought into contact are not
discolored or otherwise injured by impregnation with this salt, so
far as I have been able to discover. While, however, I have thus
indicated a preference for copperas for impregnating copying paper,
1 by no means desire to confine myself to its use, or to the use of
any other substance among the many that could be used; the
object of the Invention being to make a chemically prepared paper
upon which writing with common ink will make an impression so
as to reproduce a copy itself, so to speak. In the manufacture of
this new quality or description of paper, the manilla and cotton
are to be used as substitutes for the fibrous materials hitherto
cinployed in the production of bibulous paper; and the process of
manufacture may be the same; but as the process is well understood,
I shall not here describe it. The relative proportions of the

page_text: manilla and cotton composing this paper may be varied according
to the quality of either material, or as other circumstances may
suggest: the general proportions, however, which I recommend are
equal parts of cach, as these substances, which when combined will
form a strong copying paper, somewhat resembling parchment in
strength and appearance, particularly adapted to the transference
of ink and other colored impressions by means of pressure, as is
now done by the ordinary copying press in transferring a copy of
writing from sized to unsized absorbent paper suitably moistened
or damped. The paper produced by the combination of manilla
and cotton possesses many advantages over the ordinary paper for
copying, inasmuch that a stronger paper may be employed, and a
fairer and more indelible impression produced thereon.
These results are derived from the natural properties of the
manilla and cotton, when combined, as the powerful bibulous pecu-
liarities of both these substances, when damped, serve effectually to
absorb or receive the ink or other impression, and the contractile
property of the manilla in drying serves to give a sharp outline to
the impression, and prevents the running or spreading, or blurring
of the ink, while the flexible nature of the cotton neutralizes the
hardening tendency of the manilla in drying, the peculiar property
of the fibre of the manilla grass being to shrink excessively in
drying and to stiffen or harden. Thus the highly bibulous cha-
racter of the manilla, when damp, from its expanded and spongy
texture in that state, causes it powerfully to absorb the ink in
copying, and its excessive contraction when drying condenses the
color and renders the impression sharp and well defined. As before
observed, the cotton neutralises the hardening tendency of the
manilla in drying, and thereby keeps the paper flexible, and prevents
it from cracking or breaking, which are the purposes the cotton is
intended to serve. This combination of manilla and cotton may be
made stout or thin as desired. Owing to the highly bibulous
character of the manilla, it will require less pressure to produce an
impression upon it than is necessary to produce one on ordinary
copying paper; and, as ink will not spread or run on this paper as

page_text: in the common copying paper, it can be written upon by the pen.
This property greatly increases the convenience and practical value
of the improved paper. Other fibres than manilla, as those of the
cocoa-nut husk, for example, have the peculiar properties of the
manilla fibre to a greater or less extent, and may be used as a
substitute for it in the manufacture of the parchment copying
paper; but I prefer the manilla, although I do not restrict myself to
its use, as the novelty of this discovery consists in using two kinds
of fibre of, to some extent, antagonistic properties, and tempering
the one by the other, so as to produce a new quality of copying
paper. The manilla-cotton or parchment paper, as I call it, even if
nade without a mordant, is far superior to the common copying
paper for copying in the usual manner, and I propose to use it as a
substitute for the kinds of copying paper heretofore in use, under
all circunstances in which it may be preferred to the chemical
paper.
the
To manufacture the chemical paper, I prepare paper pulp, of any
material suitable or used for making bibulous paper in the common
way, preferring, however, pulp made of manilla and cotton, and I
then mix with the pulp a solution of any substance that will not
color the paper, and will at the same time be colored by the contact
of ink. The quantity of chemical inatter should be the least that
can produce the proper effect, which, of course, will depend upon
kind of ink used, and the nature of the mordant and coloring
matter in the paper and ink respectively with which it is proposed
to reproduce or copy the writing. I have found one pound of
copperas sufficient to impregnate one hundred pounds of paper
pulp for copying writing with Maynard's ink; but it is too little for
copying writing with some inks, and more than is required for
copying writing with others. The proportion of the chemical to
the fibrous inatter must to a certain extent be left to the judgment
of the manufacturer of the paper, as he will of necessity have to
vary then, to adapt paper to the different kinds of ink in use in
different places where his paper is sold.
Having thus set forth the nature and mode of carrying out the

page_text: Invention communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, I
wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited
Letters Patent, I claim the manufacture of copying paper as herein
described, composed of manilla fibre or the equivalent thereof,
tempered with cotton, substantially as herein set forth. And I
likewise claim impregnating bibulous paper in any convenient way
with some one of the substances above indicated, upon which
common writing ink will act chemically, as described for the purpose
above set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have
hereunto set my hand and seal this Twenty-first day of
May, in the year of our Lord One thousand cight hundred
and fifty-three.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)