Im- PROVEMENTS IN BLOCKS FOR BLOCK PRINTING
Year: 1853

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Charles White at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th September 1853.
(Void by reason of notice to proceed not having been given within the
time prescribed by the Act.)
I, CHARLES WHITE, of Pimlico, in the County of Middlesex, Paper
Stainer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN BLOCKS FOR BLOCK PRINTING" to be as follows:-
My Invention relates, first, to a peculiar construction of blocks
particularly applicable in printing certain descriptions of paper hangings
used for borderings and other like decorations; and, secondly, to a
mode of facilitating the operation of printing with blocks generally.
The blocks usually employed in paper staining or printing are of
variable size, but commonly twenty-one inches long by ten and a half
inches broad, or twenty-one inches square or thereabouts; and in the
event of having to print a complete pattern with, say, four colours,
it customarily requires one block of a size described for each colour..
Now supposing a pattern to require four blocks twenty-one inches
square to print a perfect pattern in four colours on the principle now

page_text: commonly adopted, by my Invention I could perform the same work
with one block twenty-one inches square, thereby saving the labour
and expense attending the carving of the three extra blocks.
I effect this improvement by composing my said single block of
twenty-one inches square out of four blocks, each five and a quarter
inches broad and twenty-one inches long, which being laid side by
side, and screwed or otherwise suitably fastened to a back board, form
one firm block. Each narrow block may be supposed to be of the full
width of any intended bordering or other requisite pattern: thus, No. 1,
may contain all the parts of the pattern requiring to be printed blue;
No. 2, all the red; No. 3, all the brown; and No. 4, all the yellow;
and so on in like manner for any other colours.
The workman proceeds in the use of this compound block the same
as if he were using the common single block, with the exception that
he prepares the compound block with four colours at once. When he
has printed as many pieces as desired with the block, as first arranged,
he next alters the block by taking out the top narrow block, and placing
it below the other three, and arranging his colours in the same order.
The result will now be that the impressions of the narrow block No. 2,
will fall on the previous impression made by No. 1, and so on through-
out; therefore the narrow blocks No. 1, 2, 3, and 4, will ultimately
effect all that would have been effected had four separately engraved or
carved large blocks been used; the saving here obtained being not in
the labour of printing, but in the first cost of the blocks, by making
four narrow blocks do the duty of four large blocks; and the order of
their changes will rank as follows:-
To prevent the warping of the large common blocks they are usually
strengthened by being backed with boards placed cross grained; but
by being made narrow I can employ a single piece of pear tree or
other suitable wood.

page_text: I recommend these long narrow slips of wood to have two metal
plates with internal screws countersunk in the block, one near each end,
placed equally distant on each, so as to correspond with holes in two flat
metal plates, in length equal to the breadth of the combined narrow
blocks, and to which plates they may be screwed by square-headed
screws, and the whole made to fit into a plain thick wood block, with
the usual strap at the back for the workman's hand.
Having thus described the construction of the blocks so far as refers
to the carving and arrangement thereof, I would here observe, that for
the greater facility in using such or any other blocks for block printing
I affix a bridge over the hand strap, to which I attach a cord or other
line, which I pass over a suitable pulley, and affix a weight to the other
end to balance the block, so as to assist the workman in raising, lower-
ing, and printing with such blocks.
I do not restrict myself to any particular dimensions, material, or
form of such blocks; but what I do claim as my improvements are,
namely:
First, the peculiar construction of compound printing blocks for
block printing, as described; and,
Second, the mode of facilitating the use of blocks in block printing,
as described.