IMPROVEMENTS IN ORNAMENTING BOOK COVERS AND SIMILAR ARTICLES, ALSO APPLICABLE TO THE ORNAMENTATION OF LEATHER, VELLUM, CLOTH, AND OTHER LIKE SURFACES
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Birdsall, of Northampton, in the
County of Northampton, Wholesale Bookbinder and Manufacturing
Stationer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ORNAMENTING
BOOK COVERS AND SIMILAR ARTICLES, ALSO APPLICABLE TO THE ORNAMENTATION
OF LEATHER, VELLUM, CLOTH, AND OTHER LIKE SURFACES."
Scaled the 26th July 1872, and dated the 6th February 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Birdsall at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 6th February 1872.
I, RICHARD BIRDSALL, of Northampton, in the County of Nor-
thampton, Wholesale Bookbinder and Manufacturing Stationer, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
ORNAMENTING BOOK COVERS AND SIMILAR ARTICLES, ALSO APPLICABLE TO THE
ORNAMENTATION OF LEATHER, VELLUM, CLOTH, AND OTHER LIKE SURFACES," to be
as follows:

page_text: covers and surfaces of a similar character by a combined process of
printing in colours from a plane stone or metal surface, and afterwards
by impressing "blind" or gilt designs upon the surface thus printed,
whether that surface consists of paper, cloth, vellum, leather, or any like
material, all as hereafter described.
First. I print upon the material forming the external portion of the
future book cover or other like surface the coloured portion of the
intended design from one or more metal plates or lithographic stones, and
in a lithographic press, and when this is dry I impress upon the surface
thus printed the remaining portion of the design, either in "blind" or
gold leaf, by means of a metal block or die and a bookbinder's blocking
press.
In order to ensure the extreme accuracy necessary to the successful
combination of the two processes upon a book cover, firstly, that of
colour printing from a plane stone or metal surface, and secondly, that
of the subsequent impression of a blind or gilt design from a metal
block or die, the latter registering with the former, I make use of
a sheet of paper, or cardboard, or other like substance, with which
I line the entire inner surface of the leather or other material
forming the external portion of the future book cover, and which sheet
of paper I prepare in the manner following: I take a sheet of tough
paper or tough cardboard, or other like substance, and also a sheet of
blotting or other soft paper, each about the size of the leather or other
material intended to be used for the external portion of the intended
book cover, and I stick the said two sheets together, making them when
thus combined of sufficient substance to receive and retain an impression
from a bookbinder's block or die; this sheet I cut true and square at the
edges, and I rule or otherwise print or mark on the tougher side the
angles or entire outlines of two parallelograms of the exact size and
shape of the future boards of the book cover, and in the precise position
they will occupy when it is completed. This sheet I now call a
stiffener," and herein afterwards refer to it as such. Then I cut out
the said two parallelograms with a punch of the required size and shape
by means of an envelope cutting or other similar machine, and the two
pieces thus punched out I call "board linings," and the remaining piece
of the "stiffener" from which they were punched I call a "frame," and
herein afterwards refer to them by those terms. In the next place I
take a piece of leather or other material of the size required for the cover

page_text: of the book, and glueing or otherwise making adhesive the inner surface
of it, I place the "frame" upon it with its soft side downwards, and with
two of its edges projecting beyond the edge of the leather or other
material. Then I replace the two "board linings" into the position they
occupied before they were punched out of the "frame," and thus affix them
with the frame to the adhesive inner surface of the leather or other
material. Then having previously drawn the coloured portion of the
intended design upon one or more stones or metal plates, I print it upon
the leather or other material thus prepared in one or more colours by
means of a lithographic or other like press; and to obtain perfect register
I in every case adjust the design to and work from the two previously
described projecting edges of the "frame." When this printing is dry I
prepare the surface by a wash of thin paste water, and a coat of varnish,
glaire, size, or other like substance ordinarily employed by bookbinders,
varying the application according to the nature of the leather or other
material upon which I am working, and after slightly oiling it I lay
upon it gold leaf, and impress the gilt portion of the design by means of
a heated metal block or die, and in a bookbinder's arming press; and
to ensure perfect register, I, as in the process of printing, adjust the
design to and work from the same two projecting edges of the "frame"
above described.
Having removed the surplus gold leaf, I next strip the "frame" from
the leather or other material (the soft paper employed in the manufacture
of the "stiffener " from which the "frame" was cut, enabling the latter
to be easily separated from the material to which it was affixed), then I
make adhesive the whole inner surface of the book cover thus far pre-
pared, including the "board linings" which were not removed with the
"frame," and having previously cut two pieces of millboard or other similar
material to the precise size of the "board linings," I place the said two.
pieces upon the "board linings," and adding between them if need be a
piece of paper or other like material to form the hollow of the back I
turn in the edges of the leather or other material and thus complete my
book cover.
As a modification of the above process, instead of cutting the "board
linings" completely out of the "frame," I in some instances perforate
along their outline by means of a perforating machine, and in the manner
cheques are perforated, so that without actually separating the "board
linings" from the "frame" before affixing both to the leather or other

page_text: material, I can, after so affixing them, tear the "frame" away along
the line of perforations.
Sometimes also I make my stiffener of the full thickness of the board of
the intended book cover, and after stripping away the "frame," I simply
turn the edges of the leather or other material in upon the "board liners."
In other instances where the leather or other material forming the
external surface of the book cover is sufficiently thick in itself to receive
and retain an impression from a metal block or die, I dispense with the
"stiffener," and in that case I cut the edges of the material itself true and
square, and print or otherwise mark on the inner side of it the angles or
entire outlines of the two parallelograms, and I then print in colours and
impress in gold as herein-before described. And in every printing and
impressing I adjust my design to and work from the same two true and
square edges of the leather or other material. After this I make the
inner side of the material adhesive, and adding the two millboards to
the positions indicated by the two parallelograms, I turn in the edges of
the material and complete the cover, as before described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said Richard Birdsall in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 5th August 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
BIRDSALL, of Northampton, in the County of Northampton, Wholesale
Bookbinder and Manufacturing Stationer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Richard Birdsall, Her special
licence that I, the said Richard Birdsall, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Richard Birdsall, 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

page_text: "
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN ORNAMENTING BOOK COVERS AND SIMILAR ARTICLES, ALSO
APPLICABLE TO THE ORNAMENTATION OF LEATHER, VELLUM, CLOTH, AND OTHER
LIKE SURFACES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Richard Birdsall, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 Richard Birdsall, 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, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings and to the letters of reference marked thereon, that is to
say:
-
My Invention 'consists of an improved method of working coloured
and gilt designs upon book covers and covers of a similar character by
a combined process of printing in colours from a plane stone or metal
surface, and afterwards by impressing "blind" or gilt designs upon the
surface thus printed, whether that, surface consists of paper, cloth,
vellum, leather, or any like material..
First then, I print upon the material forming the external portion of
the future book cover the coloured portion of the intended design from
one or more metal plates or lithographic stones, and in a lithographic
press, and when this is dry I impress upon the surface thus printed the
remaining portion of the design, either in blind or gold leaf, by means
of a metal block or die and a bookbinder's blocking press.
In order to ensure the extreme accuracy necessary to the successful
combination of the two processes upon a book cover, firstly, that of
colour printing from a plane stone or metal surface, and secondly, that
of the subsequent impression of a blind or gilt design from a metal
block or die, the latter "registering" with the former, I make use of a
sheet of paper, or cardboard, or other like substance, with which I
line the entire inner surface of the leather or other material forming
the external portion of the future book cover, and which sheet I

page_text: ;
prepare in the following manner :- -I take a sheet of tough paper, or
cardboard, or other like substance, of a thickness not exceeding that of
the boards of the future book cover, and also a sheet of blotting or other
comparatively soft paper, each of equal size, and one or more inches
larger each way than the leather, or other material intended to be used
for the external portion of the cover; these two sheets I stick together,
making them when thus combined of at least sufficient thickness to
receive and retain an impression from a bookbinder's block or die; this
combined sheet I roll heavily to smooth its surface and prevent its
stretching in the subsequent processes of colour printing, and I then cut
two of its edges perfectly true and square. In some instances I rule or
otherwise print or mark on the tougher side the angles or entire outlines
of two parallelograms of the exact size and shape of the future boards of
the book cover, and in the precise position they will occupy with respect
to each other when it is completed. This combined sheet I call a
stiffener, and herein afterwards refer to it as such. Then I cut out
two parallelograms of the size and shape and in the positions aforesaid,
with a rectangular knife of the required dimensions by means of an
arming press or envelope cutting machine, and the two pieces thus
punched or cut out I call "board linings," and the remaining piece of
the stiffener from which they were cut a "frame," and herein afterwards
refer to them by those terms. Next I cut a piece of thin hard paper of
the size required for the "hollow" of the back of the future book cover,
and slightly pasting its two ends, I attach it to the central portion of the
soft paper side of the "frame" midway between the apertures from
which the "board linings" have been cut, and then replacing the "board
linings "into the frame I hotpress the whole, thus bedding the "hollow"
into the "frame" and pressing smooth the burred edges made in cutting
out the "board linings." In the next place I take a piece of leather or
other material of the size required for the external portion of the book
cover (if leather I pare its edges), and glucing or otherwise making
adhesive its inner surface, I place the frame upon it with its soft side
downwards and with its two aforesaid true and square. edges projecting
beyond the edge of the leather or other material, then I replace the two
"board linings" into the position they occupied before they were punched
out of the "frame," and thus affix them with the "frame" to the adhesive
inner surface of the leather or other material, or I reverse this operation|
by laying the adhesive leather or other material down upon the soft
paper side of the "frame" and board linings. Whilst the leather or other

page_text: "
material is still moist I paste at the back of the "frame" and "board
linings a piece of thin paper to counteract the contraction in drying of
the said leather or other material. In many instances, particularly when.
vellum is employed for the cover, I find it advisable before cutting out the
"board linings" to back the hard or inner side of the "stiffener " with a
piece of strong cartridge paper which has been well soaked and stretched.
This contracts somewhat in drying and resists the like tendency of the
vellum or other material employed for the outer portion of the book.
cover. This tendency, unless thus counteracted, will curve the "frame":
and "board linings," and by rendering the surface of the said vellum or
other material concave, will make the subsequent processes more
difficult.
Having thus backed the "frame" and "board linings," I thoroughly dry
the whole, and if leather or vellum is the material employed I wash
them up with a solution of paste in water and warm size to stop the
pores of the material, and when again thoroughly dried I press them in
a hydraulic press. Upon the completeness of this drying process the
success of the future operations very much depends, for if in any degree
damp the "frame" and "board linings" will shrink more or less between
the succeding processes and destroy the accuracy of register; it is also
important that the processes of printing and gilding should be carried
on in rooms maintained as nearly as possible at an even temperature
and in the same hygrometical condition.
In order that the nature of my Invention and the manner in which
the same is effected, may be clearly described and ascertained, I append
hereunto two Drawings.
""
Figure 1 represents the "frame" and "board linings" prepared for the
affixing of the leather or other material upon them. A is the "frame"
with the softer side uppermost; B, B, the two board linings, which were
cut out of the frame and are replaced within it; C is the piece of hard
paper forming the "hollow " of the back, and which is slightly attached
at its two ends to the "frame."
Figure 2 shews the frame and board linings with the leather or other
material affixed to them ready for printing. D is the frame; E is the
leather or other material, and the dotted lines represent the position of
the board linings and hollow beneath it; ff, are the two edges of the
frame which I generally employ to obtain register and cut-true and

page_text: square, but the other two may be used for the same purpose. The book
cover thus far made being ready for printing, and having previously
drawn or transferred the coloured portions of the intended design upon
one or more lithographic stones or metal plates, I print the said coloured
portions upon the leather or other material thus prepared in a litho-
graphic or other like press, and to obtain perfect register I in every
instance adjust the design to and lay from the same two previously
described true and projecting edges of the frame. This printing I allow
to become perfectly dry.
If the surface of the leather or other material is to be grained, I next
emboss the said surface to the required grain by means of a metal
graining plate. I then proceed with the impressed portion of the design;
if it is to be in "blind," I simply impress it by means of a heated book-
binder's metal block and in an arming press. If, however, it is to be in
gold,' I first prepare the surface by a thin coat of varnish or size which
I allow to become dry, then I slightly oil it, and laying gold leaf on
those portions which are to be gilt I impress the gilt portions of the
design by means of a block and arming press as aforesaid. In either
process; whether "blind" or
gilt," I as in the colour printing adjust
any design to and work from the same true and projecting edges of
the "frame" above described.
"
Having removed the surplus gold leaf, I next strip away the frame
from the leather or other material, the soft paper employed in the manu-
facture of the stiffener from which the frame was cut enabling the
latter to be easily separated from the material to which it was affixed,
then I make adhesive the inner surface of the book cover thus far
prepared, including the board linings which were not removed with the
frame, and having previously cut two pieces of millboard or other similar
material to the precise size of the "board linings," I place the said two
pieces upon the board linings, and adding between them if need be a
piece of paper to stiffen the hollow, I turn in the edges of the leather or
other material and thus complete my book cover.
As a modification of the above process, instead of cutting the "board
linings" completely out of the "frame," I in some instances perforate
along their outline with a straight cut perforating machine, so that
without actually separating the "board linings " from the "frame" before
affixing both to the leather or other material, I can, after so affixing
them, tear the frame away along the line of perforations.

page_text: Sometimes also I make my stiffener of the full thickness of the board
of the intended book cover, and in those instances where the stiffener is
of considerable substance I place it in a bevelling machine with its soft
paper side downwards, and I bevel the aforesaid two true and square
edges down to about the substance of a six sheet card, thus giving a
better "sight" and making the frame subsequently cut out of the said
stiffener much easier to lay to a line in the colour printing. Also if the
boards of the book cover are to be bevelled, I bevel the edges of the two
picces herein-before called "board linings," and which in this case
constitute the actual boards of the book cover (being themselves of the full
thickness of the said boards), and replacing them in the frame as
aforesaid I proceed with the subsequent processes in the manner
herein-before described, except that after stripping away the frame I add
nothing to the thickness of the said board linings, but simply turn'in
the edges of the leather or other material upon them.
Having thus described my Invention, I do not restrict myself to the
precise details herein set forth, as the same may be modified, and the
sequence of some parts of the process inverted without departing from
the peculiar character of the Invention.
I am aware that pieces of paper have been printed in colours, and
then after the case has been made they have been affixed to the surface
of the cloth or other material forming the cover of the book, which cloth
and paper, or other like materials, when thus combined, have been
subsequently impressed in gold from a heated metal block, but in that
process the colour printing is upon a piece of material altogether distinct
from that which forms the actual cover of the book, and the register is
usually more or less imperfect. Now in my process the colour printing
is direct upon the surface of the material forming the cover of the book,
much greater accuracy of register is obtainable, together with greater
durability and the use of a coloured design restricted only in size by the
size of the book cover itself. I claim,-
Using the frame for the purpose of obtaining true working edges
whereby accurate register may be maintained throughout the com-
bined process of colour printing and impressing in gold or blind as
described, also for the purpose of securely retaining the two boards or
"board linings " in their precise relative position with respect to each
other, and to the hollow of the back during the said combined process,
and also for obtaining during the said combined process a uniform plane

page_text: surface of equal thickness throughout both the sides and the back of the
book cover, so that both the sides and the back of the said cover may be
printed or impressed at the same time.
Secondly. I claim the use of the frame, whether or not it is affixed to
the "board linings" or boards, and leather or other material, during the 5
said combined process of colour printing and impressing in gold or
blind, and whether the said frame is of the same material as the boards
or board linings or whether it differs thereform.
Thirdly. The combined process of printing from a plane stone or metal
surface, and then of embossing or impressing in blind or gold from 1
metal blocks or dies, substantially as herein-before described upon the
surface of the stiffened leather, vellum, cloth, or other material employed
for the outer portion of the book cover.
And Fourthly. Stiffening the whole of the aforesaid sheet of leather
or other material during the combined process of printing and impressing 1
as described, and afterwards removing part of the said stiffening so that
certain portions of the said sheet of leather or other material are again
rendered pliable and adapted for the completion of the book cover, all
substantially as herein-before set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Birdsall, have hereunto 2
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of July, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
two.
RICHARD BIRDSALL. (L.S.)