CERTAIN IMPROVED MEANS OF PRODUCING, FIGURED SURFACES, SUNK AND IN RELIEF, AND OF PRINTING THEREFROM, AND ALSO OF MOULDING, STAMPING, AND EMBOSSING
Year: 1838

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
HANCOCK, of Grosvenor Place, Hyde Park, in the County of Middlesex,
Animal Painter, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria; by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twenty-fifth day of January, in the first year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Charles Hancock, Her especial license, full power, sole privelege and authority,
that I, the said Charles IIancock, my exors, adiñiors, and assigns, or such
others as the said Charles Hancock, my exors, adññiors, 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, and also in all Her said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad,
my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVED MEANS OF PRODUCING, FIGURED SURFACES,
SUNK AND IN RELIEF, AND OF PRINTING THEREFROM, AND ALSO OF MOULDING,
STAMPING, AND EMBOSSING;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a pro-
viso, that I, the said Charles Hancock, shall cause a particular description of
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be inrolled in Her said 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, J, the said
Charles Hancock, do hereby declare that the nature of my Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following description thereof, that is to say:-
First, I take a block, cylinder, or other picce of metal, and I roughen the
surface whereon the design is to be made by any of the means in common
use, so as to obtain that peculiar tooth denominated by engravers mezzotinto
ground, and, after transferring the outline of the subject thereon by the usual
means, I proceed to scrape, etch, or otherwise remove the superfluous parts of
the surface, so as to obtain the required forms and variations of light and
shade; I then cut deeply with the graver all those parts which I desire to
appear as high lights. The plate being now in a completo state for printing
from, I take a sheet of india-rubber, from a quarter to half an inch thick, and
cut it to the shape and size of the plate; I then fluid india-rubber cement the
edges of the sheet to a piece of stout canvas or cloth, of size enough to leave
a margin round the sheet adequate to the strain, and fix this piece of canvas
or cloth firmly in the tympan frame of a common printing press, (dispensing
wholly with the blanket usually employed). To prevent the paper or other
material on which the impressions are to be taken from sticking to the india-
rubber sheet or substitute for the blanket I interpose a single sheet of very
thin paper between them.
The printing being then proceeded with the
impressions will be found to exhibit the reverse effects to those of ordinary
printing from mezzotinto plates, the usual light parts appearing in mine as
darks and the usual darks appearing as lights, while the general effect is much
heightened by the deep incisions of the graver and by the nice adaptability of
the india-rubber substitute for the ordinary blanket to all the varieties of the
engraved surface from which the impressions are taken; I do not, however,
confine this process to what is technically called mezzotinto ground, for it is
equally applicable to all other grounds possessing a similar roughness, whether
granular or hatched, or by whatever means produced. Any varieties of tint
required are obtained by the usual modes denominated by engravers stopping
out and biting in, but the effects produced are the reverse of those resulting
from the usual modes of aquatinto engraving and printing, namely, instead of
biting in deeply those parts which are intended to be dark I stop them out,
and instead of stopping out those parts which are intended to be light I bite
them in deeply or cut them out with a graver.
Second, when it is desired to produce certain parts of a subject in high or
bold relief, and such parts form but a small portion of the whole plate, it is the
usual practice of engravers to sink or cut away the remaining or large portion

page_text: of the plate, a mode of proceeding which absorbs much time and is attended
with considerable labor; instead of this, I cut out separate pieces of metal of the
shape of those parts of the subject which are designed to be in bold relief and
affix them in their proper places to the principal plate by some suitable solder
or cement. A simple illustration of this plan of superposition may be given
by supposing it to be desired to print the playing card denominated the
"ace of diamonds." I stamp or cut out or cast a piece of metal of the figure
of the ace and affix it in its proper place to the principal plate by some suitable
solder or cement; the parts thus stuck on may afterwards be etched or
engraved according to the views of the artist.
Third, I take a copper or steel plato prepared with an ordinary etching
ground, and over this ground I lay a piece of woven silk, or wire gauze, or
glass paper, or any other fabric of such a texture as will by pressure break up
uniformly the whole surface of the etching ground into minute projecting
particles resembling the aquatinta grounds. To the ground so obtained
I transfer my design in the usual way, and proceed to etch, engrave, stop out,
and otherwise treat the same, as before described, upon grounds so obtained.
I likewise draw my design with lithographic chalk, or paint with oil color or
sealing wax dissolved in spirits of wine, and afterwards etch in the other parts
of the ground; and I thus obtain by a combination of drawing, painting, and
engraving. in relief, a.figured surface in relief, from which impressions may be
taken by a common printing, press.
Fourth, I take a thin solution of caoutchouc (or india-rubber) mixed with
etching ground diluted to a suitable consistence, or any other composition
which will resist the action of acids, and with it cover the whole surface of the
plate, and then with an etching point or other suitable instrument remove all
the parts which are not intended to be in relief; or, with the same or any
suitable composition draw or paint upon plain, curved, or undulated metallic
surfaces the whole or that part of my design which I intend to be in relief,
and when the drawing is perfectly dry I place it in a dish or trough of adequate
dimensions, with its face downwards, immersed to a proper and uniform depth
in the acid. liquor, which I allow to operate until the desired effect is obtained.
Should any part require to be placed in higher relief, the plate, block, or
cylinder is to be washed clean with spirits of turpentine, and a ground laid on
in the manner..usually practised in "relaying" of grounds; it is then to be
submitted again to the action of the acid, or the part lowered with the graver.
And in working up my design I avail myself of any of the modes of practice
adopted in line engraving or etching. In some cases I lay a ground over the
whole surface in the same manner as for line engraving, then take red lead

page_text: cake, water colour, or other composition that will protect the ground, diluted
with water to a proper consistence for painting, and with ordinary instruments
draw or paint in the design. When this is dry I wash off the original ground
between the lines of the design with spirits of turpentine or linseed oil, and
when dry, lower the ground by acid, affording such assistance as may be
required by the graver.
Fifth, I practice in some cases the following mode of obtaining relief:-I
cover the entire surface of the plate or cylinder with a composition of white
lead and plaster of paris, mixed with water, or with a mixture of vermillion,
soap, and gum, sufficiently diluted, or with any similar composition that will
mix with water; if the composition does not lay, the metal should be washed
over with rosin dissolved in spirits of wine. I then with an etching needle or
point draw in the subject through the composition down to the surface of the
metal. All the parts of the composition that are too broad for the point I
scrape away with any convenient tool. The incisions and spaces so made I
then fill up by means of wax or etching ground diluted, or other composition
insoluble by acid, and when the whole has become hard I either submit the
plate or cylinder at once to the action of acid, or I first wash away with water
the composition of which the design was made, and afterwards apply the acid
and finish with the graver or other suitable instruments. If stereotype or
other soft compositions of metal is used, I employ tools for removing the
ground made of hard wood, bone, or horn; and in some cases I use metals
plated with gold. And after the first biting in, I sometimes gild the plate or
cylinder by the ordinary methods of plating or gilding metals. In this case I
relay a ground by varnishing the interstices as well as the surface, and then
re-enter the bottom of the line only. I use aqua regia or nitromuriatic for
biting away the gold from the bottom of the line. If all the varnish be
then cleaned off with spirits of turpentine, rebiting with the usual acids will
give consideral depth without the necessity of more relaying of etching
ground.
Sixth, for obtaining a very bold relief, I prefer the employment of litho-
graphic stones or stones of a similar description; and when I employ them I
use the same materials for drawing or painting in the design, and for obtaining
the relief, as I have before described under the fourth and fifth heads of this
Specification; and after the same manner, excepting only that the acid I use
for this purpose is the nitric diluted. But as lithographic stones are incon-
venient from their great thickness and weight, and are liable to be broken in
the press, I take sunk impressions from them in plaster, and then casts in relief
from the plaster moulds in stereotype metal and by the usual stereotype process.

page_text: The spaces between the lines I then deepen to the degree required by cutting
with a graver. This mode of obtaining figured surfaces in relief I find to be
peculiarly applicable to vignette subjects, as all the open and very deep parts
may be stopped out and deepened by the addition thereby of more plaster laid
on with a brush upon the high parts of the plaster mould.
Seventh, I draw or paint upon metallic surfaces, with such materials as
water cake color, treacle, and glue, &c. that dilute acids will operate upon, and
when the design is completed, I brush over the whole surface of plate with a
resinous varnish, or with wax, which dilute acids will not act upon. I then
plunge the plate into hot water to soften and loosen the treacle, &c., and after-
wards apply the diluted acid in the ordinary way, which removes the design
and acts upon the copper underneath it, producing thereby the required relief
in those parts which are coated with the resin or wax. This process, although
peculiarly applicable to the printing of silks, cotton, and paper-hangings, may
be advantageously employed in works of fine art, as the ordinary modes of
engraving may be combined with it on the same surface.
Eighth, I produce figured surfaces, sunk and in relief, upon thin plates of
silver, copper, zinc, brass, or other ductile metal, in the following manner :-Both
surfaces of the plate being render smooth, I indent with a hard point or other
suitable instrument the required design upon the same, or impress the design
by means of a die, stamp, or figured roller. The design is of course sunken
on the one surface, while on the other it appears in relief. The plates thus
prepared are then fixed to blocks or frames, with either surface upwards, and
prints taken from them.
Ninth, for the purpose of printing upon glass, porcelain, china, earthenware,
and other substances, I produce figured surfaces, both sunk and in relief,
upon blocks or stamps made of flexible substances, such as india-rubber or the
composition of glue and treacle used in making printers' balls and rollers; that
is to say, I take casts or impressions in such flexible substances from metal
plates or wooden blocks on which the design to be transferred has been pre-
viously engraved, or from castings in metal or plaster, of any figured surface
or surfaces form of printing type, for example); I take the india-rubber,
either in its original fluid state or artificially dissolved to a proper consistence,
and pour or spread it over the engraved plate, block, die, or stamp in suc-
cessive layers, (allowing one layer to dry before I put on the next), until I
obtain the required thickness; upon removal of these elastic blocks or stamps,
they will be found to have taken up fac-simile impressions of their original
dies or matrices, but in reverse. To transfer the design from these elastic
blocks or stamps to a surface of glass, or glazed porcelain, I charge the figured

page_text: parts of the block or stamp with a resinous varnish, and then apply with a slight
pressure to the glass or glazed porcelain. The parts of the glass or porcelain
in which the block or stamp leaves no impression are left unprotected. I then
etch in by means of fluoric acid, and thus produce on the glass or porcelain a
copy in relief of the original design. In embossing or engraving stone in
relief from such flexible stamps, I proceed in the same manner as for glass,
excepting that I use dilute nitric acid instead of the fluoric. To give the
flexible stamps greater firmness, I sometimes mix the india-rubber while in the
fluid state with whiting, plaster, or other substance in a state of powder that
will easily combine therewith. But in making my flexible stamps of the com-
position of glue and treacle, as before mentioned, I melt those substances in the
ordinary proportions used by printers in a glue pot, and cast the stamps of
their entire thickness at once upon the dies or matrices. These stamps will
readily take up the ink or coloring matter which it is desired to print with,
and by very slight pressure on the articlo that is to receive the design, com-
pletely transfer it thereon.
Tenth, I obtain figured surfaces from lace, net, gauze, wire gauze, hair cloth,
and various other figured fabrics, and print from the same by the following
process, which I find particularly applicable to the printing and ornamenting of
gloves and other fancy articles:-I take the lace or net, or other figured fabric,
and lay it down stretched over a plane surface or round a cylinder, preferring a
sheet of india-rubber to lay it upon, (in which case I fix it to the india-rubber
by any suitable cement). I then chargo the lace with color in the same
manner as type is charged, and take impressions from it by the common modes
or process of printing from surfaces in relief. In the caso just supposed, the
colored parts may be said to represent the lace, but the process may be re-
versed, so that the lace shall appear to be white or without color, while tho
interstices between the threads which form the net work are colored. For this
purpose I distend the lace or other fabric over the surface of a plate, block, or
cylinder covered with india-rubber, and by means of another plate, block, or
cylinder (made of similar elastic materials) charged with coloring matter, I
deliver the coloring matter through the interstices of the lace or other fabric
on to the substance or fabric to be printed (which is conducted between the
two cylinders), the interposition of the threads of the lace preventing any
color from getting underneath those lines or figures which constitute the
pattern of the lace or other figured fabric.
Eleventh, for the purpose of printing in a variety of colors, I adopt the
following method:-The subject or design is first transferred in outline to as
many pieces of cambric, paper, cloth or, leather, as there are different colors

page_text: to be printed. All those parts of each of these outline impressions which are
not desired to be of one and the same color are then stopped out with sealing
wax dissolved in spirits of wine, or any other suitable composition. I then
take as many pieces of cambric, wash leather, or other material which will
absorb and deliver coloring matters readily, as there are different colors to
be printed, and saturate cach with one particular color. To obtain single
impressions in the different colors, I then proceed as follows:-I take a blank
piece of paper, cloth, or other material fit for printing on, and place upon it
one of those outline impressions before mentioned, in which all the parts not
meant to be of one color are stopped out, taking care to keep the varnished
side uppermost; I then lay upon this partially varnished surface a piece of
cloth or other material saturated as before directed with the particular color
intended to be given to the unprotected parts of the design, and by applying
pressure to the back of this saturated piece the color is forced through the
unvarnished parts and delivered upon the corresponding parts of the blank
piece of paper or cloth at the bottom. I go through the same process with
each of the remaining outline impressions, till the whole of the subject or
design has been transferred to the blank piece of cloth or other material in
the desired diversity of colors. The pressure may be applied in any convenient
way. When I make use of a press, I find the india-rubber blanket before
described; or a cylinder covered with india-rubber, peculiarly applicable.
The process of printing in colors which I have last described will be found
especially suitable to paper-hangings, calicoes, and other fabrics upon which
large masses of color are required to be delivered. In some cases, where
great delicacy of tint is required, I charge the plates with color in the same
manner that ordinary copper-plate engravings are, that is, I fill in the unvar-
nished parts of the surface, and wipe away the superfluous color from the
surrounding parts; or, instead of using the wash leather or other saturated
substance, the plates may be charged with color at the back of the cambric or
other fabric, with a brush, sponge, or other means.
I sometimes make my coloring surfaces upon the following plan:-After
producing the outline of the parts intended to carry color, I sink them, or the
surrounding parts, below the surface, by the modes before specified, of graving,
stopping out, and biting in; I then fill the sunken, or put upon the raised
parts, leather or any other suitable material that will absorb or receive
coloring matter, and fix it by cementing it to the sunk or relief surface with
diluted asphaltum or other suitable cement. I charge these leather surfaces
with color in the usual way, or by the modes above specified, and print from
them by the usual methods of surface printing.

page_text: And having now fully described my said invented improvements, I declare
that in all the processes herein-before specified, there are parts, which in
themselves, and separately regarded, are not new, and to which, therefore,
I lay, separately, no claim; but that each and every one of these processes is,
in consequence of its embodying some new combinations of methods previously
known, or some original combination of methods partly old and partly new,
so new in the aggregate, as to produce effects which are either not to be
obtained from any process heretofore known and in general use, nor to be
obtained with equal facility and cheapness; and what I therefore claim as of
my Invention in each case is, the improved means by which the said new and
useful effects are produced. And such my Invention being to the best of
my knowledge and belief entirely new, and never before used within that part
of Her said Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called
England, Her said Dominion of Wales, or Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, or
in any of Her said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, I do hereby
declare this to be my Specification of the same, and that I do verily
believe this my said Specification, doth comply in all respects fully and
without reserve or disguise with the proviso in the said herein-before in part
recited Letters Patent contained; wherefore I do hereby claim to maintain
exclusive right and privilege to my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Hancock, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of July, One thousand eight
nd thirty oicht
CHARLES (Ls.) HANCOCK.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-fifth day of July, in the
year of our Lord 1838, the aforesaid Charles Hancock came before our said
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled tho Twenty-fifth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight.