A NEW PROCESS OF ODTAINING PRINTING SURFACES,S, AND SUBSTITUTES FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC NEGATIVES
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "A NEW PROCESS OF ODTAINING PRINTING
Sealed the 11th March 1863, and dated the 5th November 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th November 1862.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW PROCESS OF OBTAINING PRINTING
SURFACES, DIES, AND SUBSTITUTES FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC NEGATIVES," to be as
follows.
+
The objects of this Invention are, first; to procure a cheap substitute for
wood engraving, from which. to obtain by the electrotype process surfaces
which can be printed from in the same manner as electrotypes obtained from
wood engravings. To this end a drawing is made on a suitable plate, whether
of glass or metal, in ink soluble in water, a ground formed of a solution of
shellac being first applied to the plate. When glass plates are used, they
require to be prepared with a grain by grinding. The soluble ink may be
made of a solution of gum arabic or weak glue and ivory black, or other suit.
[Price 8d.]

page_text: able coloring matter, with a little sugar to prevent the ink cracking when
dry. When the drawing is completed, say, after the manner of drawing on
stone, it is covered with thin varnish. The plate is next to be immersed in
water, and afterwards submitted to a stream of water which will wash away
the ink of the drawing. If the coating on the plate is sufficiently high to
enable a good electrotype to be produced therefrom, it may now be handed
to the electrotyper to obtain a copy therefrom in the usual way, a coating of
alcohol, varnish, or linseed oil being poured over it to insure the adhesion of
plumbago used by the electroty per; when a greater depth of line is required,
lycopodium is dusted over the plate, and uniting with the coating will give the
increased height desired. Broad surfaces between the lines of drawing may
be raised by applying varnish with a brush, waterproof paper may, if desired,
be used to receive the drawing, its flatness being ensured by attachment to a
plate previously to being submitted to the electrotype process.
Second, to enable the process of etching metal surfaces to be performed
more easily than by the mode heretofore produced.
For metal etching the Drawing is made in soluble ink, and the plate is
then coated with an etching ground. The soaking and washing processes as
above described are then employed, and the plate is ready for receiving the
acid.
Third, to obtain an easy mode of making dies for seals, or for stamps of
a similar character.
For making dies for seals, or stamps of similar character, a drawing is
made as at first described, and subjected to the same treatment up to the
filling in of the broad spaces between the lines with bees'-wax or asphaltum
when it can be used, as the mould from which to obtain a die in which to
produce a seal by casting.
Fourth, to obtain by drawing without the aid of a camera, or the agency of
light,substitutes for photographic negatives which may be printed from inthe
same.
To obtain a substitute for photographic negatives,a drawing is made in the
manner herein-before described on a plate of finely ground glass, and a thin
coating of black varnish is applied. The plate is then subjected to the soaking
and washing operations to remove the ink, and when it has dried, it is dusted
over with lampblack by means of a fine brush to make the ground still less
transparent, after which the whole surface has applied toita coat of alcoholic
varnish.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 5th May 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON of the Office for Patents,66,Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of November, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of Her reign
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license, that I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, my executors,administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I; the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 "A NEW PROCESS OF OBTAINING PRINTING SURFACES, DIES, AND SUBSTITUTES
FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC NEGATIVES," being a communication from abroad, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred Vincent 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 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 Alfred Vincent Newton, 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) :-
The object of this Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign
correspondent are, first, to procure a cheap substitute for wood engraving,
from which to obtain by the electrotype process surfaces which can be printed
from in the same manner as electrotypes obtained from wood engravings.
Second, to enable the process of etching metal surfaces to be performed
more easily than by the mode heretofore produced.
Third, to obtain an easy mode of making dies for seals or for stamps of a
similar character.
Fourth, to obtain by drawing, without the aid of a camera, or the agency of

page_text: light, substitutes for photographic negatives, which may be printed from in
the same manner as those negatives by the action of light acting through
them upon sensitive paper.
The principal feature of the Invention consists in first making a drawing in
ink, which is soluble in water upon the surface of a plate of glass or any
other hard substance which has been previously coated with an alcoholic
solution of shellac ; then covering the whole surface with a coating of bees-
wax, or of a composition of beeswax, asphaltum, and linseed oil, or other
menstruum; next immersing the plate in water for some time, and afterwards
exposing its face to the action of a stream of water, by which the latter
coating is washed off only from the lines of the drawing, and the whole of the
among
drawing itself is washed away,leaving the latter coating between and
the lines of the drawing. The plate in this condition can be used in the same
manner as wood engraving to obtain an electrotype for printing, and with
very little subsequent preparation for the other purposes herein above
specified, as will be presently described.
any
colored
In order to obtain the substitute for wood engraving, the plate of glass or
other hard substance intended to receive the drawing should be made even,
and have a fine grain given it by grinding with fine sand, rottenstone, or
other suitable material. The first coating or ground of shellac solution may
be applied either by pouring it over the surface, or by rubbing it on with a
piece of cloth, and when it is dryit is ready for the drawing. The ink with
which the drawing is made may be composed of a solution of gum arabic
in water, with enough sugar to prevent it from cracking off or separating from
the plate when dry, and a suitable quantity of ivory black,lamp black,or any
other coloring matter to make the drawing appear; or it may be composed of
a weak solution of glue water, with any coloring matter, or of
pasty substance soluble in water. The drawing may be made with a pen
brush, or pencil dipped in such ink. When the drawing has been completed
the second coating can be applied. It is preferred to use for this coating a
composition of four parts by weight of beeswax, one part asphaltum, and one
part rosin, with as much thin varnish, such as is used by printers for thinning
their ink, or linseed oil as will render the composition applicable with a
lithographic inking roller or engravers' daub. The same end can be obtained
with a coating of beeswax softened with spirits of turpentine, but with lessshar
and clear lines. The necessary thickness of the coating will depend upon th
character of the drawing,a thinner coating being sufficient for close fine work
After the application of this coating the plate is to be immersed in water
If the coating is thin fifteen minutes immersion will be sufficient, but a pro

page_text: portionally longer time will be necessary for a thicker coating. On the plate
being removed from the water bath a stream of water is to be directed upon
its face, and by that means the last coating is removed from the lines of the
drawing, and the ink of the drawing all washed out, leaving the coating
perfect between the lines of and around the drawing. In most cases the
coating will remain sufficiently high to enable a good electrotype for printing
to be taken from it; but when a higher ground is needed it can be produced
by dusting lycopodium on the surface with a soft brush. Where the com-
position remains on the plate the lycopodium will unite with it, and by
applying more of the composition over the surface with an inking roller, the
lycopodium will be removed from the lines of the drawing, and the surface of
the coating of composition will be further raised. Broad spaces between the
lines, where a higher ground is necessary, can be raised by applying bees-
wax in the same manner as electrotypers now apply it to the surfaces of wood
engravings or by applying asphaltum with a brush. Before the plate is put
into the hands of the electrotyper, a thin coat of alcoholic varnish or linseed
oil is poured on to it that the varnish or linseed oil in the ground may not
prevent the deposit of the copper, and this coat of varnish will ensure the
plumbago applied by the electrotyper being received and retained on every
portion of the surface of the plates. In this way a substitute for wood
engravings is obtained in a very short time at a small cost.
Instead of the drawing being made upon a plate, it may be made upon
paper which has been first thoroughly saturated with alcoholic varnish orany
other substance such as wax, that will make it perfectly waterproof; and
after the drawing has been made, the back of the paper should be cemented
to the surface of a perfectly flat plate, with beeswax or some other water-
proof cement and afterwards treated in the same manner as before described.
For metal etching the drawing is made with the soluble ink, in the manner
above described on the surface of the metal, and after it has been completed
the whole surface of the plate is coated either with the etching ground
commonly used by engravers, or with a ground of beeswax applied while
the plate is warm, instead of with the second coating, which is applied to
obtain the substitute for wood engraving, as herein-before described. The
plate is then immersed in water, and afterwards exposed to the action of a
stream of water directed upon its face to wash out the drawing, as herein-
before mentioned, and the plate is ready to receive the acid for etching.
For making dies for seals or stamps of similar character a drawing is
made as at first. described, and subjected to the same treatment up to the
filling in of the broad spaces between the lines with beeswax or asphaltum,

page_text: when it can be used as the mould from which to obtain a die in which to
produce a seal by casting.
Toobtain a substitute for photographic negatives,a drawing is made in the
manner herein-before described, on a plate of finely-ground glass, and after it
has been made, instead of being coated with the beeswax, or composition of
beeswax asphaltum, and rosin, herein-before specified, a thin coating of that
composition with which some fine lampblack has been mixed, is applied. The
plate is then subjected to the soaking and washing operations to remove the
ink, and when it has dried it is dusted over with lampblack, by means of a
fine brush, to make the ground still less transparent; after which the whole
surface has applied to it a coat of alcoholic varnish. When this varnish is
dry, the plate is used for printing upon prepared paper in the same manner as
a photographic negative obtained by the camera. The drawings for etching
seals and photographs have to be reversed, but for the first described purpose
they should not be reversed.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "A New Process of
Obtaining PrintingSurfaces, Dies, andSubstitutes for Photographic Negatives,"
as communicated to me from abroad, and explained the manner of carrying
the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part
recited Letters Patent, I claim the within-described process of drawing and
treating the drawing, and the application of such process to the several
purposes herein specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)