CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING MUSIC
Year: 1827

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
COWPER, of Clapham Road Place, in the Parish of Saint Mary Lambeth, in
the County of Surry, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Fifth day of April, One thousand eight hundred and
twenty-seven, in the eighth year of His reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Edward Cowper, His especial
licence that I, the said Edward Cowper, my exors, adñors, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Edward Cowper, my exors, admors, or assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING MUSIC;"
in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said
Edward Cowper, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, par-
ticularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled
in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next
and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Edward Cowper, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained in and by the Drawings hereunto annexed, and the following
description thereof, that is to say:-
My Invention consists of two parts:-
First, in the construction of a block or blocks for the purpose of printing
music typographically.
Secondly, in certain apparatus for printing from the said blocks.
In order to make my Invention easily understood, I will fully describe the
whole process, & then state what parts I claim as my Patent right. I form
the blocks of three layers of wood; for this purpose I take a piece of
mahogany, cedar, or other suitable wood, a little larger than the page of music
to be printed, and about half an inch in thickness. This forms the middle
layer of the block. On this I glue a veneer of pear-tree or holly, or other
appropriate wood, about three sixteenths of an inch in thickness, the grain of
the veneer crossing the grain of the middle layer. This veneer forms the face
of the block; when dry I cut or saw the middle layer in the direction of the
grain quite through to the vencer, at intervals of about one and a half inches.
I then glue on the middle layer a veneer of mahogany, cedar, or other appro-
priate wood, about one eighth of an inch in thickness. This forms the back
of the block, the grain of the back also crossing the grain of the middle layer.
The object of this peculiar construction of the blocks is to diminish their
liability to warp.
Fig. 1, in Drawing No. 1 hereunto annexed, represents the block. A, the
face; B, the middle layer, sawn through to the face at intervals; C, the
back. I then rule the stave lines on the block with a tool having five sharp
points, which tool indents or cuts the wood. The music is then written on the
block with a pen. I form the heads of the black notes with copper or brass
wire, and the stems or tails with slips of thin brass or copper, or the metal
used by calico printers in forming their blocks. The semibreves, part of the
flats, the sharps, part of the naturals, part of the rests, the slurs, the hooks
and ties of the quavers, &c., the staccato marks, the heads of the ledger notes,
the turns, &c., I form of copper or other wire, drawn by means of a common
drawbench or otherwise through appropriate tapering holes made in a steel
plate or in a pair of dies, in the usual manner of wire drawing. The holes
for the different parts or objects, and the manner of putting them together,
will be readily understood from Figs. 2 and 3. A, the steel plate; B, the
section of the same; C, the pair of dies in their stock; D, the manner of

page_text: forming the musical characters. After drawing the above objects in lengths
of several feet, they are cut into small pieces about five sixteenths of an inch
long, and driven into the block, leaving about 'one sixteenth of an inch above
its surface, properly-shaped holes having previously been made in the blocks
by small chisels, drills, punches, &c., to enable them to enter easily. The work
is then made level with a fine file and a pumicestone. Most of these
operations are familiar to the.block cutter in the calico trade. The words of
a song, &c. I compose in ordinary types, from which I cast a stereotype plate.
This I saw into slips, each slip containing one or more words, which I insert
in a groove or grooves in the block, fixing them down with small nails, a. little
glue, or other fit and proper cement. I sometimes put the cleffs and braces
and the signatures of the key in stereotype; but I prefer forming the cleffs of
copper with the stave lines, as described below. The grooves in the blocks I
make by means of a drill, placed vertically in a carriage, which slides on a bar
after the manner of a slide rest to a lathe, the motion being given to the drill
by a foot wheel or otherwise.
Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the drilling apparatus. A, a frame of iron,
fixed on the table B. C, the bar on which the carriage D slides, and on
which it is moved by means of a screw and its handle E. F'is the drill, which
is turned by the pulley G. The drill is made to slide vertically, and is moved
up and down by means of the lever H; and the depth of the cut is regulated
by I', a stop screw. K, K, K, are guide pullies, to convey the band from the
foot wheel to the drill. The block, after it is coppered, is placed under the
frame A, against which it is screwed or wedged moderately tight. The part
to be grooved being brought under the open space L, it is adviseable to cut the
grooves by the end of the drill rather than by its side or edges. I do not
insert the stave lines in. the same block which contains the notes, but I put
each stave in a separate block'; and I prefer making the cleffs, sharps, and
Bats of the signature of the key of copper, and putting them in the stave.
The stave blocks are constructed and used thus:-The block is a slip of
mahogany or other wood, about five eighths of an inch in thickness, and a
little longer and wider than the stave, having a veneer of pear-tree or
other proper wood, about half an inch thick, glued in its surface. The five
stave lines, with the cleffs and signatures, are driven into' this block: At
each end of the block is inserted a slip of iron, formed something like a
hook.
Figs. 9 and 10 represent the stave blocks. A, the slip of mahogany; B,
the veneer of pear-tree; C, the copper stave line; D, the hooks at the ends
of the blocks. These stave blocks I fix in a frame of iron, (called by letter-

page_text: press printers a chase) by means of a series of nuts on four long screws, which
extend from one side of the chase to the other. E, E, are two of these screws.
F, the nuts, between two of which each hook of the stave blocks is placed.
By means of these nuts and screws the stave lines can be adjusted, so as to
correspond with the ruled lines on the note blocks. I make the brace on a
piece of copper or brass. The lower part of the piece has a foot or projection
with a chased hole, through which a screw passes to fix it at the end of one of
the stave blocks. The height of the brace of course corresponds with the
height of the stave lines. G, G, in Figs. 9 and 10, show the form of the
brace,
Fig. 11 represents the table of the printing press, with the note blocks and
stave blocks upon it. A, the table; B, B, the note blocks; C, C, the stavo
blocks; D, D, D, D, the four adjusting screws and their nuts; E, E, the
chases; 1, a bar of iron screwed across the middle of the table, and against
which the chases are fixed by the usual quoins or wedges G, G, G, G.
bar a.
The second part of my Invention consists of certain apparatus attached to
the ordinary printing press, and may be called a revolving tympan. I make
the frame of the ordinary tympan, Fig. 4, (and which for distinction sake I will
still call the "ordinary tympan") rather longer than usual, & with a middle
In the direction of its length, near the middle of this bar, is a conical
hole B, in which the axis of the revolving tympan turns. This revolving
tympan is a square frame of iron, Figs. 5 and 6, with two cross bars at right
angles to its sides; in the centre of the cross bars is a conical plug, pin, or
axis A, A, fitting into the conical hole B, Fig. 4, made as above-mentioned, in
the middle bar of the ordinary tympan. These two tympans are held together
by means of a screw; this is shewn more distinctly in Fig. 7, which is a section
of the centres. A, the plug of the revolving tympan. B, the middle bar of
the ordinary tympan. C, a screwed pin, with its nut D, which holds the
tympans together. E, a small stud passing from the pin C into the plug A,
to prevent the pin from unscrewing. F, F, a section of the bars of the inner
tympans described below. The front B of the revolving tympan, Fig. 5, is
covered with parchment, and square pieces of woollen cloth are pasted at the
back of the parchment between the cross bars, so as to fall over each page
while printing. It is furnished with two friskets C, C, shutting towards the
centre, where they are confined by small buttons D, D. At two opposite
corners of the revolving tympan are angular gaps or notches E, E, which must
be adjusted so as to bring each notch and the centre of the revolving tympan
in a right line; this adjustment is facilitated by making one of the notches in a
moveable piece of steel, and fixing it by adjusting screws. F, F, are two small

page_text: projecting pins or handles to turn the tympan round. On the ordinary tympan
is a spring catch, shewn at C, Fig. 4, which falls alternately into these notches,
and keeps the revolving tympan steady in its place. Small bent pieces of
iron D, D, D, D, Fig. 4, are fixed on the ordinary tympan near the corners of
the revolving tympan; they project over the latter and support it when turned
down in the blocks in the act of printing. A groove is cut out of the platen
of the press to allow the middle bar of the ordinary tympan to pass under the
platen. The back of the ordinary tympan, Fig. 4, is provided on each side
the middle bar with "inner tympans," i. e. frames of iron E, E, covered with
parchment; the front of the ordinary tympan is also covered with parchment,
and between these the process of "making ready" is performed in the usual
imanner of letter-press printing.
In Drawing No. 2, Fig. 12 represents the printing press with the music
blocks, and the revolving tympan as in the act of turning; the operation is as
follows:-Two sheets of paper being placed on the revolving tympan; and the
friskets buttoned down upon them, the impression is taken when one sheet will
be printed with the notes only, and the other with the lines. The revolving.
tympan is then turned half round and another impression taken, when both
sheets will be perfected. In practice it is better to put on one white sheet
and take off one perfect sheet at every half turn of the revolving tympan; and
also to print the stave lines first; thus at every pull of the press one sheet will
be printed with the lines and the other sheet will be perfected.
In order to take a proof for the purpose of correcting errors, an impres-
sion of the notes only is taken on transparent paper, and then laid on a
sheet of paper on which the lines only are printed.
I do not claim the exclusive use of types or stereotype, nor of round copper
wire or slips of copper, in the construction of music blocks. But I claim
the use of drawn musical characters, i. e. copper or other wire, or slips of
copper or metal drawn through appropriate holes in a steel plate or pair of
dies, always excepting the round copper wire of which I form the black notes.
I do not claim the exclusive use of blocks made of three layers of wood,
but I only claim the making blocks for music of three layers, the middle
I do not
layer being divided into several pieces, as above described.
claim the making grooves in music blocks, except by means of the drilling
apparatus above described. I do not claim the exclusive right of printing
the notes and staves at two operations, except by means of the above-
described revolving tympan. I do not claim the exclusive use of several sets
of stave lines on one block. But I claim the making each stave on a separate

page_text: block, and the mode of adjusting the same, by means of nuts and screws in a
chase, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Cowper, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this First day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and twenty-seven.