CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN COPPER AND OTHER PLATE PRINTING
Year: 1827

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CHRIST'S SPECIFICATION.
'
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,-JOHN
GEORGE CHRIST, of the Old City Chambers; Bishopsgate, within the City of
London, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS I, the said John George Christ, in consequence of a communi-
cation made to me by a certain foreigner residing abroad, am in possession of
an Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN COPPER AND OTHER PLATE PRINTING;"
and 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 Fourteenth day of February, in the eighth year of His
reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John George Christ, His especial licence that I, the said John George
Christ, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said 'John
George Christ, my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter 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 His said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, the said Invention of
"Certain Improvements in Copper and other Plate Printing" in which said
Letters Patent there is contained a proviso, obliging me, the said John George
Christ, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in His' said
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and

page_text: same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John George Christ, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention to
consist in putting a glazed or enamelled surface on paper to be used for copper
and other plate printing, by means of white lead and size, whereby the finer
lines of the engraving are better exhibited than heretofore, and also in a mode
of polishing the said enamel, and the impression after it has been drawn from
the plate. And in further compliance with the said proviso, I, the said John
George Christ, do hereby describe the manner in which the said Invention is
to be performed, as follows, that is to say :--
I first prepare a size made as follows:-I take one pound of clean parch-
ment cuttings, a quarter of a pound of isinglass cuttings, and a quarter of a
pound of gum arabic, and put these ingredients all together in twenty-four
quarts of clean spring or rain water, and boil the mixture in a common iron or
other pot till it is reduced in quantity to twelve quarts, which I then strain
through a flannel bag; the size being thus prepared, I divide it into three
portions of four quarts each, to one of the said portions, which I designate as
No. 1, I add, while the size is at or just under a boiling heat, ten pounds of
the finest and purest chemical white lead, previously ground fine, with a little
cold water, and stir the whole together, while warm, until it assumes the
appearance of an even coloured fluid, which, when milk warm and kept stirred,
will be fit for use. To another of the said portions, which I designate as
No. 2, I add eight pounds of the like white lead, in the same manner; and to
the other of the said portions, which I designate as No. 3, I add six pounds of
the like white lead in the same manner; and being thus prepared with these
three mixtures, I proceed to apply them to the paper, as follows; (that is to say,)
I lay a sheet of white letter or other paper smoothly on a board, and with a
common painter's brush I lay a thin coat of No. 1 evenly over the surface of
the paper, and set it aside to dry for twenty-four hours; at the end of this time
I lay a similar coat of No. 2 over the first coat, and in the same manner, and
set it aside again for twenty-four hours more to dry as before; I then lay a
similar coat of No. 3 over the other two coats, and again set it aside to dry as
before, when the paper will be fit for use; but if it receive two coats more of
No. 3 in the same way as before described, the paper will look the better. It
should here be stated, that the mixtures should be kept stirred and at a milk
warm heat while in use; and if it be required to give any tint to the mixture,
it should be done by grinding the colour with the white lead, as before described,
before it is mixed with the size. The surface. of the paper having been

page_text: glazed or enamelled, as before described, is ready to receive the printers' ink
or other material from the plate; and being placed on the press board, the
plate is applied and the impression drawn off in the usual manner; but it
should be stated that what is called the press board should for this purpose be
made of a plate of cast iron ground to a perfectly smooth and level surface.
The paper, with the impression so drawn off as aforesaid, should be then laid
by for twenty-four hours, and at the end of that time placed with the impression
downwards on a plate of finely polished steel, and passed several times through
the press with a strong pressure, which will give to the glazed or enamelled
surface of the paper, and also to the impression, its last and highest polish.
Now, whereas I claim as the said Invention the glazing or enamel, herein-
before described, applied to paper or card-board, in manner also herein-before
described, for the purpose of copper and other plate printing, and such said
Invention being to the best of my knowledge and belief entirely new and never
before used within that part of His said Majesty's United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland called England, His said Dominion of Wales, or Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in all His 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 hereby claim to maintain
exclusive right and privilege to the said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said John George Christ, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and twenty-seven.
J. G. CHRIST. (L.S.)
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fourteenth day of August,
in the year of our Lord 1897 the aforesaid John George Christ came before