IMPROVEMENTS IN PHOTOGRAPHY
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Boniface Sabatier, of Paris, and of the Office for
Patents, 4, Trafalgar Square, Charing Cross, in the County of Middlesex,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PHOTOGRAPHY."
Sealed the 3rd March 1857, and dated the 8th September 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Boniface Sabatier at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
8th September 1856.
I, BONIFACE SABATIEB, of Paris, and of the Office for Patents, 4, Trafalgar
Square, Charing Cross, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PHOTOGRAPHY," to be as
follows:-
This Invention consists in a system of instruments based upon a same
principle and having for its object improvements in photographic manipu-
lations.
Photography is generally divided into three principal parts; the chemical
part, the optical part, and the part referring to the instruments used in
the manipulations. This last part forms the object of of this system, and
comprises the instruments necessary to photographic operations. Although
each of these instruments has its particular functions to perform, they are
Bevertheless strongly-bound together in the same principle, and all conduce
to the same final end, namely, the improvements of photographic products by
rendering the manipulations-more-perfect.
In the Final Specification a description will be given of the instruments

page_text: which compose this system; and after having applied the same to the process
of Monsieur Taupenot, I shall be able to shew that they are perfectly well
adapted to the various branches of photography.
All photographic processes require a body to receive the operations necessary,
and these operations to be well performed require in their turn the body to
be fixed on instruments. This is done either by securing the body at its
angles, or by fastening it in rabbets, or by fixing it by means of adhesive
substances, or, finally, by pneumatic means. The first two means, in general
use have the serious inconvenience of always bringing into contact some part
of the instrument with the surface that receives the operation, which occasions
stains and defects of every kind. The other two means have been contrived
to avoid these defects; but as they are scarcely practicable, and limited to but
a few operations, they are only in use among amateurs. The principle of
adjustment that I have adopted, and which forms the basis of my system, has
no connexion with any of these means. It consists in giving to any body fit
for photographic operations an arrangement composed of tenons suitable to
its nature, and which I call the tenon principle. This arrangement allows
me to fix it on instruments in a very advantageous manner, both with regard
to the facility and the perfection of the operations. The substance thus
previously arranged I call the subjectile, and one of my instruments on which
the substance is almost always fixed I call the rest of the subjectile. I must
likewise observe that the arrangement made by me with the substance or
subjectile determines the construction of my instruments, and that my instru-
ments in their turn determine the previous arrangement, so that the subjectile
and my instruments make up an inseparable whole; and what proves it to
be so is, that a body arranged in this manner preserves this form, and can
be employed in photography with none of the four series of instruments con-
structed upon the four principles or means of adjustment above mentioned.
By the application of my principle to these instruments I have very con-
siderably reduced them in number, and by combining them with the rest of
my subjectile I have given them a character of unity, and reduced them
infinitely more suitable for their respective operations, as will be seen by the
description I am about to make of operations common to all processes, after
having previously observed that in all the manipulations about to be described
the subjectile always remains fixed to the rest of the subjectile.
Firstly, to clean the subjectile, I have preserved the board used in the
process of Daguerre, to which I adapt the rest of the subjectile. In this
situation the surface of the subjectile to be cleaned is entirely free, as in all
the following operations.

page_text: Secondly, to lay on the subjectile any coating whatever, as collodion,
albumen, &c. To accomplish that, the rest of the subjectile is sufficient, since
holding the rest in my hand I can place the subjectile at the angle requisite.
Thirdly, to sensitize the subjectile. For this very delicate operation the
rest of the subjectile is adjusted to the two smaller sides of the shallow tray.
In this state the subjectile bathes in the requisite dissolution without coming
into contact with any other body whatever.
Fourthly, to expose the subjectile to the action of the light. For this
operation the rest of the projectile is adapted to the two smaller sides of the
instrument used in similar cases, and the subjectile receives in that manner
the action of the light.
Fifthly, to develop and fix the drawing. The rest of the subjectile in my
hand suffices for these two operations, unless the subjectile have a large
srf ace, or be a thin body, as paper, &c. In these two cases two dishes, as
those of No. 3 above described, are necessary.
Sixthly, to dry the subjectile. To obtain this result the subjectile is intro-
duced into a common plate box, in which previous arrangements are taken
for its drying without any injurious contact. In case the subjectile should be
a thin substance, such as paper, tissue, &c., it would be dried between leaves.
of bibulous paper.
Seventhly, from a negative to obtain a positive proof. Final objects of all
processes except that of Daguerre. For this operation it is necessary to dis-
tinguish two cases. If the subjectile be a thin body, as paper, &c., or a hard
opaque body, the pressure frame I make use of is the same with the one in
general use; but if the subjectile is of glass, it is necessary to put in the place
of the thick glass forming the bottom a frame properly disposed to receive
the glass subjectile. The other operations are performed in the usual manner.
These operations suit all processes in which the subjectile is a hard body, as
glass, stone, wood, or metal of every kind, and which is to receive any pho-
togenic coating whatever, as collodion, albumen, varnish, bitumen. They
also suit those in which the subjectile is a thin body, as paper, tissue, &c.,
because the arrangement necessary in my system fits them for being stuck on
a hard subjectile if the damp process is adopted, or by collodion, as is the
custom with several artists, or by the dry process, in placing the subjectile
between two sheets of glass disposed according to my system.
With regard to the processes of Daguerre, as the subjectile is a hard body,
that is, a silvered plate, the instruments are the same with those for the
operations Nos. 1 & 4, above mentioned, for those of Nos. 2, 3, & 5, which
are performed by evaporation. I have for the first two, two shallow dishes

page_text: and a frame constructed to receive the rest of the subjectile, which I pass
from one dish to the other, which before and after the operation are closed
hermetically. For the 5th operation, I perform it by means of the common
mercury box, having, however, in the interior an arrangement proper to receive
the rest of the subjectile. To fix the drawing I make use of an instrument,
the basis of which is oval, surmounted with a rod, presenting a groove with
a thumb screw. It is in the groove that I place the obtuse angle of an iron
triangle, and on the opposite side I fix the subjectile. This instrument serves
me likewise for several uses in photography. Such are the instruments which
compose my system, and I reserve to myself the right of constructing them
in every kind of material, taking for rule their greatest utility and the tastes
of amateurs.
In all that precedes I have endeavoured to give general and particular
information of the nature and distinctive character of my system, as well as
of its intent. I have likewise shewn that in this system the subjectile is
inseparable from the instruments and the instruments from the subjectile,
and that they are two halves of one and the same whole. There only remains
now for me to make a few general observations on the advantages of my
system; that is, 1st, that a single frame of the camera instead of four is
sufficient for the operations of all the known processes. 2nd, that the surface
of the subjectile though entirely free is never exposed to any injurious contact
cither with the band or with any external object. 3rd, that the rest of the
subjectile, though determined for a particular size, yet can receive subjectiles
of any inferior size in all the operations. 4th, that with my system all pho-
tographic operations may be performed without wetting the fingers. 5th, that,
finally, it furnishes the least experienced photographer with the means of
performing with the greatest ease and perfection the manipulations necessary
in the processes of the different branches of photography.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Boniface Sabatier in the Great Seal Patent Office on a
the 7th March 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BONIFACE
SABATIER, of Paris, and of the Office for Patents, 4, Trafalgar Square, Charing
Cross, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of September, in the year of our Lord

page_text: One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Boniface Sabatier, Her special licence that I, the said Boniface Sabatier,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Boniface Sabatier, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PHOTOGRAPHY," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Boniface
Sabastier, 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 Boniface Sabatier, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
My Invention consists in a new system of certain instruments, all of which
are based upon the same new principle of construction and are designed for
performing or conducting the manipulations in photography with greater facility
and perfection than by the use of instruments of the ordinary construction
employed for similar purposes. It is well known that photography is generally
divided into three principal parts: first, the chemical part; second, the optical
part; and third, the part referring to the instruments used in the manipula-
tions; and it is to this last part that my Invention has reference.
In order to explain my said Invention as completely as possible, I now
proceed to describe the best means I am acquainted with for carrying the same
into practical effect, reference being had to the illustrative Drawing hereunto
annexed, and to the numeral figures and letters of reference marked thereon
respectively, as follows:-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.

page_text: or tenons, produced either by cutting the material (if of glass) in such shape
with a diamond or by casting it in that shape.
Figure 2 shews another and more simple method of producing the said
tenons, by affixing pieces of glass a, a, to an ordinary glass plate by the use of
marine glue.
Figures 3, 4, 5 shew the instruments which I attach to the glass for the
purpose of holding it by the wood spring pincers, exhibited at Figure 6. The
mode of attaching the above-mentioned instruments to the plates exhibited at
Figures 1 and 2 is as follows:-I first place the strip of glass shewn at
Figure 3 upon the tenons A, A, and afterwards secure it thereto by passing
pieces of silver or plated metal similar to that exhibited at Figure 4 over each
of the tenons A, A, and also over those parts of the aforesaid strips of glass
that are thereon; and I securely fix such said pieces thereto by the silver
wedges B, B, shewn at Figure 5, and for the sake of convenience I connect
these said wedges together by a piece of elastic material, as at b. As
regards the mode exhibited at Figure 2 of fixing the tenon pieces to the glass,
it will appear evident, that when the strip of glass at Figure 3 is placed thereon
such piece will not touch the surface of the glass plate. Should it be found
desirable to adopt this method to the glass exhibited at Figure 1, it will then
be necessary to affix tenon-shaped pieces of glass at or near the ends of one
side of the aforesaid strip of glass, so that when the same is applied to the
tenons of the glass plate it shall not touch any other part of such said
plate.
I now proceed to describe my improved instruments which I employ for
cleaning the glass plates upon. Figure 7 represents an instrument somewhat
similar to that known and distinguished as Baron Gros'. My improvement
consists in affixing metal tenons A, A, to the ends of the plate A*, and I
securely fix the glass plate thereto by the pieces d, d, and tightening screws e,
which pass through each of them. The part ƒ screws to a table, and thus
allows the plate to be well cleansed and polished. The above instrument is
more particularly intended for the rough cleaning of the glass; and I employ
the instrument exhibited at Figure 8 for giving the finishing polish to the
glass, said instrument being constructed as follows:-C is a piece of wood,
formed with raised parts g, g, g, which support a cross piece of wood D'
securely fixed thereto. E, E¹, are other pieces of wood, connected to the piece C
by a groove h formed at each side thereof, as at Figures 8 and 9, Figure 9
being a side elevation of said instrument as it would appear when out of use.
The screw 3 is for the purpose of tightening the parts D¹ and E¹ against the
before-mentioned strip of glass when placed between them, the surface of the

page_text: pieces D¹ and E' serving as a table for the tenoned glass plate to rest upon.
Figure 10 is a shallow wooden box, with portions removed as at i, i, such
portions being of the same width as the tenons A, A, shewn at Figures 1 and 2,
the use of this said box being to point out the exact position for said tenons to
be fixed upon the glass plate, which is placed in said box for that purpose.
Figure 11 exhibits a shutter and frame fitting into a camera in the ordinary
way, and Figure 11ª is a cover or lid for the same. In order to adapt this
said shutter for the reception of the glass plate with the before-mentioned strip
of glass attached thereto, I recess the said shutter at k, k, sufficiently deep to
bring the surface of the glass in the same position as the ordinary focussing
ground glass would occupy when placed in the camera. The back or cover G
I form of the same size as that of the outside of the frame or shutter H, and
I connect said back thereto by hooks 1, 1, and staples m, m, fixed in said
shutter or frame, as exhibited. I also form a recess or groove (not shewn) on
the inside of such said back to receive the aforesaid strip of glass, so that the
back G may fit close upon the frame for totally excluding the entrance of light
to the interior of the frame from the back thereof. In adapting this shutter or
frame for taking pictures on sensitized paper, I adapt projections at 2, 2,
thereto for the sides of a tenoned glass plate to rest against, so that when
placed in the said frame the paper may be held flat between it and another
glass plate placed behind the same, the width of the frame inside being such
as to prevent the side thereof from touching or in any way obstructing the free
passage of the rays of light which enter through the lenses of the camera to
the extreme edges of a coated and sensitized tenoned glass plate when placed
in said frame for obtaining a positive or negative picture thereon.
Figures 12 and 13 exhibit two instruments which I employ; the one at
Figure 12 is for holding the strip of glass whilst the glass plate is being
detached therefrom, and that at Figure 13 is for holding the said glass plate
whilst developing the picture or image. The instrument at Figure 13 is
formed of wood with a fixed projecting piece at s and a moveable piece at t,
which is capable of being secured in any desired position upon the part u of
the instrument by the screw v, the edges of the glass which it is desired to
operate upon being securely held between the notched parts of the pieces t
and u. The construction of the instrument at Figure 12 is as follows:―w is
a stand, to which is connected by screws the sliding parts 1, 2, from which
proceed forked-shaped pieces x, x, and to the upper edges of the prongs of said
forked pieces small pieces of bent wire y are securely fixed, and so placed as to
come between the cramp pieces at Figure 4 and the edge of the glass plate, to.

page_text: enable such said cramp pieces to be withdrawn from the strip of glass when
laid upon said wires.
Figure 14 exhibits a new form of construction of bath, made of glass,
porcelain, or other material for containing the solution of nitrate of silver,
commonly employed for sensitizing the collodion surface on the glass. The
principle feature of novelty in this bath consists in forming it with two pro-
jections n, n, of the same material as the bath (only one of which is shewn)
rising from the bottom of the bath at the ends thereof, and extending suf-
ficiently high to contain the necessary quantity of nitrate of silver solution, which
should never be above the surface of the projections n, n. In operating with
this bath the tenons of the glass plate rest upon the projecting parts n, n, of
the said bath, and thus allow the collodion surface of the glass to be immersed
and held suspended in the nitrate of silver solution, the operator using the
pincers at Figure 6 for placing and removing the plate.
At Figure 15, I exhibits a frame for holding a tenon-shaped glass plate, as I
have before described; said frame fits into a pressure frame of the ordinary
kind for printing negatives on sensitized paper, and is designed for dispensing
with the necessity for employing a very thick glass, as commonly used in pressure
frames used for photographic printing. I employ a thin strip of india-rubber
placed in the frame I for the edge of the glass to press upon, and by these
means I prevent the said glass from breaking when the glass containing the
negative picture is forcibly pressed down by the screws of the pressure frame,
which in other respects is the same as that ordinarily used in photographic
operations.
Figure 16 represents an instrument which I propose to employ in the
albumen and chloride of gold processes. This instrument is composed of a
stand K, into which fits and is adjusted by a screw o the lower part of a
triangular-shaped piece of metal L, L', the upper part of which, marked L',
I form of a flat piece of metal of the necessary width to hold a glass plate, and
I form slots or openings p, p, in said plate for the passage of the heat from a lamp
when placed beneath the same. q, q, are cramps for securing the plate to be
operated upon to the plate L' by the screws r, r. In order to leave as much as
possible of the under side of the plate L³ free, I connect the parts L, L, to the
extreme outer edge of the said plate, which enables me to place a lamp under
the centre of said plate."
Figure 17 exhibits a new description of frame for preventing evaporation of
the ingredients employed in albuminizing, bromidizing, and iodizing processes
practised in photography, and the novelty consists in adapting pieces of glass %, z,

page_text: over the joints of the frame to keep them air-tight where the glass plate fits
into, and I employ these two pieces to enable me to place the said glass plate
in the frame when the strip of glass is affixed thereto, and by these means I
form a perfectly air-tight joint around the edge of the glass, and prevent
evaporation at such parts.
In conclusion, I would remark, that the above instruments can all be used
with the other ordinary instruments used in photographic operations, and which
have not herein been mentioned, which renders my system applicable to all
photographic operations.
Having now fully described the nature and object of my said Invention of
improvements in photography, together with the best means I am acquainted
with for carrying the same into practical effect, I desire it to be understood that
although I bave referred more particularly to the above instruments as being
applicable to photographic manipulations, these instruments may also be
employed with advantage for daguerreotype and such like processes; and I
hereby declare my said Invention to consist in, and I claim,―
Firstly, the attaching to or forming the tenon-shaped pieces marked A upon
plates of glass, silvered plates, or other material for the purpose of enabling the
entire coated surface of such material to be independent of the frame which
holds it, whilst in the camera, and for the previous and subsequent operations
and processes of cleaning, coating, sensitizing, and developing, as above set
forth and described.
Secondly, and as regards the several other instruments exhibited by the
Drawing, I claim as my Invention the parts colored with red color.
In witness whereof, I, the said Boniface Sabatier have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Seventh day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
ALEX PRINCE, Agent for Patents,
4, Trafalgar Square, Charing Cross.
BCE. SABATIER. (L.S.)