CERTAIN IMPROVE- MENTS IN PHOTOGRAPHY
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Rollason, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Photographic Artist, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN PHOTOGRAPHY."
Sealed the 25th September 1855, and dated the 7th April 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Rollason at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th April 1855.
I, ALEXANDER ROLLASON, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Photographic Artist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN PHOTOGRAPHY" to be as follows, that is to say:-.
These improvements consist in certain modes of transferring impressions
produced on a film of collodion or other similar filmy material deposited. on
a sheet of glass or silver, and attaching the film to a sheet of paper, cloth,
linen, or any other suitable medium. Having produced the picture on a base
of collodion or other suitable film, such, for instance, as one formed by coating
glass with albumen, or a solution of gutta percha and certain other gums, the
back is varnished. as usual, and I afterwards subject the picture to a slight
washing of dilute nitric acid, or other equivalent acid or alkali, which has the
effect of detaching it from the glass or silver. The sheet of paper or other

page_text: transferring medium is then gummed to the back, honey being mixed with the
gum to render it less brittle and more tenacious. When the gum is nearly
hard, I strip off the paper or cloth, and the picture is brought away with it
from the glass. Should the gum get quite hard, I moisten one edge of the
picture with distilled water, which effectually liberates the picture.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alexander Rollason in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
6th October 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
ROLLASON, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Photographic Artist,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Royal
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of April, in the year of our Lord
"One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Alexander Rollason, Her special licence that I, the said Alexander
Rollason, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Alexander Rollason, 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 "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN PHOTOGRAPHY," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Alexander Rollason, 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 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 Alexander Rollason, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say):-
My Invention consists of improvements in transferring to paper, linen, card-
board, bone, ivory, wood, metal, or stone, the film of collodion or albumen used
in collodiotype or albumenized plates, by which I can either remove a photo-

page_text: graph from the glass or plate on which it may have been produced; or, by
transferring the plain film on to certain of the substances above named, I am
enabled to produce a new base or medium on which photographic pictures may
be taken. This I effect in the following manner; and in order that my Inven-
tion may be the more readily understood, I will commence by describing the
manner in which ordinary collodiotype photographs are produced:-Having
thoroughly cleansed the glass plate either with spirits of wine, naphtha, water,
or tripoli, and finally buffing it with a charcoal buff leather, which will have
a slightly greasy surface (and therefore is the better for my purpose), I cover the
glass with iodized collodion, or any other similar and suitable filmy material, on
which a photograph can be taken; after which it is submitted to any of the
well-known processes for rendering the film sensitive, such as immersion in a
bath of nitrate of silver; after which it is placed in the camera and a picture.
taken, which has then to be developed in the ordinary manner, viz, washing
with a solution of iron in nitric or glacial acetic acid, and afterwards fixed
with a solution of cyanide of potassium or hyposulphate of soda; having been
well washed, it is allowed to dry (if necessary applying a gentle artificial heat).
Should the collodion be of a very adhesive quality, it is sometimes essential
before drying the picture to immerse it for two or three seconds in a bath of
very dilute nitric acid.
Thus far I have described the material operations of taking an ordinary
photograph on collodion, or what is termed a collodiotype. I now subject
the picture thus taken to my improvements for removing or transferring the
film from the glass, and having first ascertained that it is perfectly dry
I proceed to colour it, if it is intended to colour it, at the back or on
the film itself, in the following manner, employing oil, or varnish, or well-
sised water colours :-I tint the picture according to taste, and when dry I
prefer to cover the whole with any coloured varnish, according to the general. "
tint I wish to produce. If it is not desired to colour the picture whilst on
the glass, I cover it at once with varnish, the components of which I prefer to
be asphaltum or Brunswick black dissolved in mineral naphtha to about the
consistency of cream. Many other kinds of varnish will answer well, but
this is the description I find best suited for the purpose, by its drying quickly,
and being more manageable than others. Its tone may be varied by the intro-
duction of warmer or cooler colour, according to taste, when the varnish is
sufficiently dry, which may be proved by drawing the finger across it. When
there should be no stickiness detected, it is not desirable to let it dry beyond
this point lest it should be liable to crack; but should I be unable to proceed
to the further operations at the time, to avoid cracking I coat the varnish with

page_text: a thin solution of shellac in wood naphtha, or any other suitable solvent, which
will prevent further hardening of the varnish. My next proceeding is to re-
move the film from. the glass, and having prepared a mucilage, which by pre-
ference I compose of gum arabic and honey, in the proportion of two-thirds of
the former to one-third of the latter, I cover the varnish with this mucilage;
and in case it be paper employed for the transfer, it may be necessary to
damp it first and then coat it with the same mucilage, after which attaching
the paper or other flexible material to the back of the picture. I effect an
even adhesion of the surfaces by clamping the edge between two pieces of
wood jointed together, and roll out the air bubbles with a simple apparatus,
consisting of a piece of thick india-rubber tubing slipped tightly over an ordi-
nary ruler.
When the transfer is to be taken upon wood, stone, or other
non-flexible substance, care must be taken that the surface be perfectly smooth,
and the air bubbles may be excluded by applying one end of the picture first
and gradually sliding it on. When the mucilage is dry enough, which may
be ascertained by raising or bending back one corner of the picture, upon
which if sufficiently dry the film should begin to separate itself from the
glass, the time has arrived for completing its removal, and I now introduce by
means of a feather between the edge of the picture and the glass a few drops
of water, spirits of wine, or other limpid fluid, which I allow to percolate
between the two, at the same time tenderly and gradually removing the one
from the other. It is possible even to remove the picture in some instances
without any fluid whatever, but I consider it the safest practice to use it, unless
wax, or oil, or some oleaginous substance shall have been introduced into the
varnish, or into the paint subsequently applied, in which case gentle heat will
loosen the picture sufficiently to enable the operator to remove it. Should
there be any traces of fluid perceptible upon the face of the picture, care must
be taken to use silk or material of a soft nature to wipe it off.
The transfer is now complete; and if I desire to colour it, or to get rid of
the irridescence that will be perceptible upon it, I take a pellet of cotton wool,
and with a little magilp, or varnish, or oil, or any other softening matter that
will not injure its delicate surface, I rub it over, leaving a slight stickiness, to
which the dry colours known as "mansions" and many other dry colours will
adhere; and in some instances onitting this last operation, water, oil, or varnish
colours may be employed. The picture is now complete.
So far I have specified the means I employ for transferring a collodion or
albumen picture. I can by the same means transfer from a plate or glass a
plain film of collodion or albumen on to any suitable base, such as a sheet of
paper, or linen, wood, or ivory. This will itself form a medium, which may

page_text: be placed in the camera and a picture taken upon it; but as this is simply
transferring the film before the picture is taken instead of after, no further
description is necessary.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I wish it to be clearly understood that I do not
confine myself to these precise details; but that which I claim is,―
Firstly, transferring the collodion or albumen film from the glass or plate
on which it may have been deposited to paper, linen, cardboard, or any of the
materials named to which it may be desired to attach it, either before a picture
has been produced upon the film, or after such picture has been developed, in
manner herein described.
Secondly, I claim the production of a new base or medium upon which to
take photographic pictures, by transferring a plain collodion or albumen film
to paper, cardboard, or any other of the substances before named that may
be suitable, in manner herein more fully set forth and specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Rollason, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
ALEXANDER (L.s.) ROLLASON.