IMPROVEMENTS IN TYPOGRAPHY FOR THE REPRODUCTION OF DESIGNS FOR DECORATING PURPOSES
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Auguste Durand, Merchant, of No. 82, Boulevard
Sébastopol, Paris, France, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
TYPOGRAPHY FOR THE REPRODUCTION OF DESIGNS FOR DECORATING PURPOSES."
Scaled the 19th January 1875, and dated the 30th July 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Auguste Durand at
1
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 30th July 1874.
.
I, AUGUSTE DURAND, Merchant, of No. 82, Boulevard Sébastopol,
Paris, France, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN TYPOGRAPHY FOR THE REPRODUCTION OF DESIGNS FOR DECO-
nating Purposes," to be as follows:-
:-
This Invention relates to oil printing for decorating walls of apart-
.ments, furniture, hangings, glass, china, porcelain, and other ware, and
for all decorative purposes, the features of novelty in the Invention being
in the mode of producing the printing blocks. The designs to be repro-
duced-on-the-blocks-are-engraved on copper plates in relief when small,

page_text: but when large they should be on wood (if simple) and on plaster if
complicated.
In making use of the copper plate engravings for producing the
requisite blocks for the oil printing I first heat the plate and cause it to
be pressed in a press on sheep skin so that the design is reproduced
thercon in a hollow form; this skin now forms a mould which I coat
with a layer of oil and a gelatinous composition consisting of a mixturo
of gelatine, and black liquorico in a liquid state is poured into the mould,
hardens, and reproduces an exact copy in relief of the design on the
plate; with this block the oil printing is effected in the usual manner,
and it possesses all the requisite suppleness and consistency for the
purpose to which it is to be applied, and is in every respect suited to
carry the oil colour for printing.
On the wooden or plaster blocks a coating of a mixture of linseed and
boiled oil is placed to prevent sticking, and then from these the hollow
moulds are cast, and from which latter again the relief blocks are
formed by the application of the liquorice and gelatine paste in the
manner already mentioned.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Auguste Durand in the Great Scal Patent Office 2
on the 27th January 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, AUGUSTE
DURAND, Merchant, of No. 82, Boulevard Sébastopol, Paris, France,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her 2
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the
thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Auguste Durand, Her special
licence that I, the said Auguste Durand, my executors, administrators, &
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Auguste Durand, 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 a

page_text: Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for “ Ix-
PROVEMENTS IN TYPOGRAPHY FOR THE REPRODUCTION OF DESIGNS FOR DECORATING
PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Augusto
Durand, 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 Auguste Durand, do hereby declarę
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 :—
This Invention relates to a new mode of decoration by typography, by
which means designs of all kinds are produced suitable to the purposes
to which they are to be applied, whether for decorating apartments or
movable objects, and being printed in oil colours the designs produced
aro strong and durable and well calculated to supersede paper staining,
wood decorating, glass, china, or porcelain painting; in a word the
system is applicable wherever colour printing or painting is resorted to
as a means of decoration. The features of novelty in the Invention
consist in the method employed and the composition of matter used in
the preparation and formation of the type models or blocks used for
printing the devices. In establishing these in a manner to effectually
and satisfactorily produce from them in their application the desired
result it is necessary to employ a composition of matter having the
requisite consistency and durability, so that once made there is no fear
of deterioration, whilst at the same time it is sufficiently pliable to
admit of the most minute detail of the design being reproduced, it being
urgent also that the matter employed should be a good recipient of the
colour required for the printing.
The composition I make use of as embracing these requisito
characteristics consists of a mixture of gelatine and black liquorice,
forming a paste which I term liquorice paste.
In constructing the type models or blocks the modus operandi is as
follows: I procure designs in relief on copper plates by nitric acid by

page_text: heated and pressed in a press on sheep skin so that the design is produced
thereon in a hollow form; a layer or coat of oil is passed over the skin
which now forms a mould, and into which the mixture of gelatine and
liquorice above mentioned is poured in a liquid state; this matter
penetrates all parts of the mould, hardens and reproduces an exact
facsimilio in relief of the design engraved on the copper plate, and with
this block the oil printing is effected in the usual manner. Thus it will
be remarked that thero must be as many blocks as there are devices to
reproduce. This mode of procedure is ordinarily employed for minuto
designs, and which require the greatest attention. Similar results may
be obtained by the employment of other matter in constructing the
blocks, especially those of large dimensions, by the use of material
known in commerce; this matter consists of a mixture of gelatine,
glycerine, and sea salt, in quantitics determined by the number of
blocks to be produced. Although this latter composition can be
employed as stated, still the task is more onerous than is the case if the
model is carved on wood if the design is complicated and intricate, or
simply in plaster if the device is simple; when the design is cut on
wood or plaster, its surface which is in relief is coated with a layer of a
liquid mixture consisting of linsced and boiled oil to prevent any
adhesion, a cast is then taken hollow, from which latter the block in
relief is made by the application of the liquorice paste, or of the glycerino
composition above named.
Having thus described my Invention, and the mode of carrying it into
effect, I claim the construction of the oil printing blocks of a gelatinous
composition of black liquorice and gelatine, or of gelatine, glycerine,
and sea salt, in the manner and for the purposes precisely as herein set
forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Augusto Durand, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of January. in the :