CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPARATUS FOR AND PROCESS OF PRINTING
Year: 1846

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BARTHOLOMEW
BENIOWSKI, of Bow Street, Covent Gaiden, m the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting
WHEREAS Iler present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Iler
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, beaung date at
Westminster, the Seventeenth day of November, in the tenth year of Hei
reign, did, for Herself, er heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Bartholomew Beniowski, Hei especial licence, full power, sole pri-
vilege and authority, that I, the said Baitholomew Beniowski, my executors,
adminstrators, and assigns, and such others as I, the said Bartholomew
Beniowski, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agiee
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times duing the team of
years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within England, Wales, the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all
Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, and in the Islands of Jersey.
Guernsey, Alderney, Saik, and Man, my Invention of " CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE APPARATUS FOR AND PROCESS OF PRINTING," in which said Letters Patent
is contained a proviso obliging me. the said Baitholomew Beniowski, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and scal, particularly 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 Her Majesty's High Count
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
thesounto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Bartholomew Bemowski, do hereby declare that the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is parti-
cularly described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof,
reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and
figures maiked thereon, that is to say '—
My first improvement applying to letter-press or type-printing is designed
for the purpose of facilitating the usual operations of the compositor, that is,
distributing on ananging the types, blocks, spaces, &c, in cases, and composing
the types, &c. from the cases into words, sentences, and paragraphs, &c, and
correcting the composed matter after it has been thus brought together.
These advantages I attain by hist marking upon the four sides and lower
surface of the shank of each type the same letter or character as that which
is formed upon the upper surface of the same shank, technically called the
face of the type, with this difference, however, that the letter or figure I pro-
pose to mark upon the sides and lower surface of the shank of the type is not
to be reversed, but to have the direct form or appearance of the letter oi maik
as we read it in print This will be better understood by the following expla-
nation The usual appearance of a number of types (suppose the lower case
alphabet) in the composing stick, is inverted and reversed, as represented in the
accompanying Diawing at Figure 1 The appearance of the same line of types,
with their faces touching the bottom of the composing stick, their nicks being
towards the compositor and their lower surfaces upwards, marked with the
corresponding letters, will be as shewn at Figure 2, just as we are accustomed
to read them when punted. For the better illustration of my intention, I
have shewn at Figures 3 and 4, perspective views of one of my improved
types. Suppose letter (a) The first of these Figures shews the face of the type,
with the letter a formed theicon, ieversed as in ordinary printing types. The
second of these Figures shews the under part of the same type, with the same
lette a upon its under sui face. The sides of the type in both Figures are seen
likewise marked with the same letter in its duect position, so that whatever
pait of the type presents itself to the compositor, it will be readily recognized
These my additional letters on the lower surface and sides of the shanks of
the type inay be produced by a variety of means, (viz³), by writing, painting,
engraving, etching, &c. &c I prefer the simplest way; (viz,) I write these
letters with an ordinary pen and ink, or writing fluid of any color, and I
prevent those written letters from being obliterated by means to be hereafter
described. I propose to wite these additional letters upon the shank of the
types in different colors, so as to make a distinction between capitals, small

page_text: capitals, and small letters (technically called "lower case letters") Each
particular fount is to be marked in the nick with a particular sign at the option
of the type founder. Foreign alphabets (such as Gicek for instance) are
marked in like manner with the foreign letter, and they may be also with the
corresponding English letter
My second improvement is for the purpose of preventing the lead and anti-
mony, of which ordinary types are composed, acting injuriously upon the
health of the compositor by coming in contact with the most delicate portions
of his body, (vi) the organ of touch and the lungs This I effect by covering
the whole of the types, except their faces, with varnish. This my Invention,
answers at the same time the purpose above alluded to, of preventing the
obliteration of the letters witten or painted with simple color or writing
mk
My third improvement consists in manufacturing the spaces and quadrats
either of iron or of wood, or some of iron and some of wood My first object
under this feature of the improvements is to render the spaces cheaper and
lighter, and secondly, to facilitate the operation of separating such spaces and
quadiats from the other types or blocks, which I do by the use of a magnet
and by water, as will be hereafter more minutely described. These spaces and
quadrats may be painted of various colors, and are to be vainished to protect
them from the action of the water.
My fourth improvement is designed to facilitate both the distribution and
composition of types by ananging considerable numbers of types of one kind
in distinct tubes, each belonging to its particular letter or type. This feature
consists in an apparatus which I call the "type stoic," formed by a number of
vertical tubes of a square, round, or any other suitable form, about one foot
Jong, as shewn at Figure 5, aud several combined at Figure 6, the lower ends
of these tubes being closed The dimensions of the horizontal or clos>
sections of each of these tubes must be less than the usual height of types,
in order to prevent the types tumbling over in the tubes when they are
introduced therem The respective tubes are delivered from the hands of the
distributor each into its proper tube, the tubes being severally marked on the
outside with the letter indicating the "sort" it is to contain. For the better
understanding of this part of my Invention, I will describe mv manipulations
relating to "distributing" The page or form of composed types. blocks and
is unlocked and placed in a flat tray a few inches deep and of a conve
I then spread the types loosely, separating them and causing them
to lay upon then long surfaces or sides by pressing with the hand in such a
manner as that they shall form an even layer upon the tray, taking care, as fal
spaces,
nient size

page_text: possible, that none of the typos shall be heaped upon one another I then
pass either a permanent or temporary magnet of suitable power over the whole
surface of the types; all the iron spaces will of course be attracted by and
adhere to the magnet. I then remove them from the magnet and place them
in the respective tubes of the "type stores" above described. Next I pick
up out of the tray by hand all the logo-types and phraso-types (which I will
describe hereafter) and place them upon a board in alphabetical order in
vertical colums
I then pour water into the tray, to the surface of which the
wooden spaces and wooden quadrats will of course rise all at once These
wooden spaces I remove, and having died them in the usual manner of drying
types, I place them in their respective tubes of the "
type store The water
having been allowed to escape from the tray, and the types dued, I then select the
several types and place them with then faces upwards in the respective tubes
of the "type store." The types, as they are introduced into their respective
tubes, slide down and arrange themselves side by side, and as the tube fills
they stand one upon another, but always in the same erect position, for the
width of the tube will not admit of their falling over into cross positions
"
(Figure 7.) is to be turned
My fitth improvement consists of an apparatus for the purpose of facili
tating composition. This apparatus, which I shall now describe, I call the
"Authonton ' A number of square tubes equal to the number of sorts in
use, (one of which is shewn in Figure 7), are to be combined, the length of
ench tube is about one foot and a half, and in height and width about half an
inch (a little smaller than the usual length technically called "height of
types." The end of the tube marked with
towards the compositor; both ends are open
upper side of the tube must be removed for the
but this removed portion of the tube must be always shorter than the usual
licight of types At the other end of the tube a portion of the upper side is
also removed to the extent of about one inch and a half. A suitable number
of these tubes is aanged and combined, as shewn in perspective at Figure 8
These tubes are severally marked with a letter, indicating the letter each
tube is to contain
At the end a portion of the
distance of about half an inch,
Figures 9 and 10 are geometrical representations of the "authoniton,"
the former an elevation, the latter a horizontal view, and the tubes are there
shewn connected together by clamps Each of these respective tubes 1 fill
with a suitable number of types with then faces towards the compositor This I
accomplish by taking a conesponding tube from the type store, and holding
it an inclined direction towards the horizon, with its open end closed
over the back part of the tube of the authonton," the types will thereby

page_text: naturally lodgo themselves in this receiving tule with their faces all in
the same ducction toward the compositor Пlaving thus transferied a suitable
number of types, I place in the back part of each tube of the "authonton,"
a parallelipiped of wood about three inches long, (see Figure 11,) the cross
section of which is a trifle smaller than the cross section of the interior of the
tube, so that this parallelipiped may easily be pushed forwards along the
interior of the tube This parallelipiped, which I call the "pusher," serves
the purpose of pushing the types forward until then faces reach exactly the
front end of the tube. when the types visible at this portion of the tube are
exhausted by composition, a new supply is forwarded by pressing on the
pusher Now I pick up the required types (as indicated by the "copy") by
means of suitable tweezers of about the shape and dimensions shewn in
Figure 12, and place such types consecutively in the compartments of what I
call the " copying stick,"
," which I place before me on the table close to the
"authoritou."
Figure 13 is a horizontal view of the copying stick; Figure 14 is a
front elevation of the same, and Figure 15 represents its cross section.
The length of the copying stick is about ten inches, the width is equal to the
usual length, technically called the height of the types. There is a vertical
ledge round three sides of the bottom of this copying stick leaving the fiont
open Its height is equal to about two "m quadrats" of the kind of types in
which I am composing. Those are a series of vertical partitions made of some
pliant and elastic substance, as slicet india rubber, inserted into the bottom of
the copying stick; then height above the bottom is about one tenth of an inch;
then length p, 2, from the back is about half an mch; they are fixed in suitable
grooves cut in the bottom of the copying stick, the other three maigins of
these partitions are ficc, so that they will easily yield or incline either to the
night or left. The width or spaces between these compartments, thus foined,
are equal to about an m quadrat of the kind of types in which I am composing,
except the last at the right end, which is about an inch In placing the types
in this copying stick, I care not on which of their sides they happen to fall
from the tweezers, provided they lay with then faces towards me At the end
of each word I do not place any spaces, I merely leave one or more of the
compartments empty. Wherever double letters occur I pick up the two
letters together, and place them both in the same compartment. Whenever
logo-types and phraso-types occur, I place them upon the elastic partitions.
They will naturally cover several compartments, and so I continue to the end
of the stick. I put nothing into the large night-hand compartment, which is
merely for the purpose of allowing 100m in case of a logo-type or phraso-type

page_text: ending the stick. I proceed, filling one stick after another, which I place one
before another, the back of each stick touching the faces of the types in the
adjoining stick behind it
Figure 16 shews two sticks full of the composition of types, say the Lord's
Player Having filled a suitable number of these sticks and read them over,
I hand them to a Justifying boy, who puts one type after another into the
usual composing stick, and exactly in the usual manner, vidclicit, with the
feet touching the bottom of the composing stick, and the mucks upwards,
and he places spaces whenever he meets with an empty compartment of the
copying stick, which spaces are placed before him in a few ordinary boxes.
The further operations of carrying over the composed matter to the galley, the
chase, &c until the "locking up," inclusively, is performed in the ordinary
manre. Having taken a proof and marked the connections, I turn the locked-
up form upside down, (viz,) the faces of the types downwards, placing suitable
pieces of wood under the sides of the chase It is self evident that the
operation of conecting will be greatly facilitated by my letters marked on the
lower surfaces of the types, which I can read as easily as a punted page The
dawing out of the types I perform more easily than in the usual inanner, on
account of my handling the bodkin very boldly, as I care very little about scratch-
ing the lower surfaces of the type, whilst in the usual manner of correcting the
slipping of the bodkin very often produces painful scratches on the faces of the
types, and with regard to my spaces, I care very little how roughly I handle
them. they being very cheap Having made all the conections, I hand over
the form to the pressman, who goes on printing in the usual manner from the
inked faces of the types Ile will look to the first printed sheet, whether there
ate any spaces standing too high, which he can easily press down and tighten,
if requned by driving boldly a small sharp wedge into one or more of the
wooden spaces.
My sixth improvement I call "poly-composing," by which I understand a
process of making two, thice, or more compositions of the same copy with
greater expedition and less expense than this could possibly be done in the
usual manner. This I achieve by proceeding exactly as above described for
the production of a single composition, with this difference, that I transfer
from the "authonton" to the copying stick two, three, or more types of the
same character at the same time Suppose, for instance, I had to make
two, three, or more compositions of the word LONDON, I take two, three, or
more L's at once 1om the "authonton" and place them in one compartment
of the copying stick. next I do the same with the same numbers of O's, N's,
D's, O's, and N's The thus filled sucks pass successively from one justifying

page_text: boy to another, cach being instructed to take only one of the two, three, or
more letters lying in the same compartment, leaving the remaining types to
be operated upon by his next neighbour Every one will easily guess the
modihcations to be made in the dimensions of the copying stick and its
5 compartments, in compliance with the greater or less number of compositions
equned to be produced Should I wish to have one composition in one
kind of types (suppose diamond) and another composition of the same copy
in pica, I aange my "authonton" accordingly; I devote two consecutive tubes
to one and the same letter, one diamond and the other pica. Instead of
having one copying stick, I have two, placed one before the other, one for
diamond and the other for pica Suppose I have to compose the word
LONDON m diamond and in pica, I transfer diamond L to the diamond stick,
next pica
L to the pica stick, next diamond O, pica 0, &c. &c. The diamond
stick I give to one justifying boy, the pica to another, and both go on as above
described simultaneously. It is self evident that I may direct one boy to
Justify, ,page, and impose for 18mos, and another for 4tos, folios, &c. Any
particular duections the compositor may have to give to the justifying boys or
others he may mak down with a pencil on the bottom of the copying stick,
the bottom of the copying stick being always covered with the best white
drawing paper, which marks are rubbed out with india rubber after they have
served the purpose.
"
My seventh improvement is for the purpose of further facilitating the
processes of composition and distribution. This I eflect by means of what 1.
call logo-types and phiaso-types." By "logo-types" I mean a number of
letters united together, by "pluaso types" I mean a number of words united
togethe Notwithstanding their gicat utility in saving the time of the
compositor and distributor, they have never been attempted to be introduced
to any considerable extent, and are at present universally rejected for the
following reasons, (1) Fust, the difficulties and expence of casting them;
secondly, when one letter is spoilt the whole must be recast, thirdly, the
superficies of the ordinary "cases" is alicady too great, and with the addition
of a number of "logo-types' and 'phiaso-types" they would be obliged to be
made so large as to be extremely inconvenient; and, fourthly, the justifying
of the lines of type ending with a "logo-type" or "phiaso-type" would be
next to impossible. All these difficulties I overcome by means of this improve-
ment, which is as follows -I form my "logo-types" and "pluaso-types,"
not by casting but by uniting the types of which they consist by gum, glue,
paste, cement, or other summilu substance, by twisting 1ound them fine tluead,
cotton, silk, fine metallic wies, or other filaments, by surrounding them with

page_text: fine tapes, ibbons, ships of thin paper, metallic foils, or other similar sub-
stances. By these means I do not unite the letters permanently, as if they
were cast together, but I unite them sufficiently for my purpose, (viz,) the
overcoming of the above difficulties, thus -Fust, they are exceedingly cheap,
and manufactured at a moment's notice, as I will presently explain Secondly,
when one letter is injured I send that injured letter, and that letter only, to
the "waste box," the others continuing to serve Thudly, on account of the
smallness of the superficies over which my hand has to travel in composing
by means of the authoriton" above described. I can well afford to have an
additional space containing numerous logo-types and phraso-types Fourthly,
in case of not being able to justify by the usual means of getting in' or
"diving out" at the end of lines, I break away one or more letters of such
logo-type or phiaso-type, and transfer these letters to the next line, this could
not possibly be done if they were cast in one piece
.
I will now describe the manner in which I manufacture my "logo-types"
and "phraso-types." It is unnecessary to describe all the manipulations that
ought to be employed in compliance with the nature of each of the above
enumerated united substances Any printer's apprentice who has handled a
penknife, a pan of tweezers, a needle, or a small brush, will readily guess the
manipulations required in each individual case I shall, therefore. (lescibo
only the material and process which I prefer. The material for uniting those
types together is fine tin foil. Пaving determined upon a "logo-type" to be
manufactured, suppose the word "the," I put before a boy thicc heaps of
types The boy, who may be utterly illiterate, picks up successively the
types t. h, e, which he places between the thumb and first finger of his left
hand, with the faces upwards, and the meks next to lum then he takes a slip
of fine tin foil The lengths of the slips are made sufficient to go 1ound all
the four sides of the word "the," plus about one tenth of an inch The width
is to be about half the height of the types. The boy dips one end of the slip
into a solution of gum, about one tenth of an inch, and places thus end upon
the mcks, and carries the ship round the word until the other end overlaps the
one first gummed He then presses the whole slip on the surface of the types,
particularly into the nicks He must take care not to cover the letters that
were previously marked on the sides of the types
div, and they are alterwards varnished
bundied per hour
He then puts the whole to
He may thus easily make two
My eighth improvement is for the purpose of still further expediting the
processes of composing and distibuting, and at the same ture lessening the
expence of paper and the piessman's work; and further, literary productions,

page_text: pimted according to this method, will be more rapidly pei used than the
ordinary print. For this purpose, I omit the spaces between certam words, as
between the article "the" and any following word, between any preposition
and any following word, between any conjunction and any following word, and
between any pronoun and any following word I do this in imitation of the
Hebrew language.
My ninth improvement relates to the inking operation, and is for the pur-
pose of making the inhing balls or rollers lighter, cheaper, more durable, and
permanently elastic. To effect thus, I substitute for the usual composition
india rubber o gutta percha I make them also of some an-tight substance,
which I fill with compressed air Many substances may be used for this
purpose, such as gut, bladders, Macintosh's impervious cloth, or sheet india
ubber. I prefer this last.
Figure 17 represents an inking ball, the back is a disk of wood or any
other suitable material, having a hole in the centre, in which is fitted a tube
as a handle, furnished with a stopcock f. The lower part is a segment of a
sphere, formed of an au-tight substance, attached to the disc with an an-tight
joint. The air is then pumped into the interior of the ball, through the
handle, and it is retained there by turning the stopcock when filled
Figure 18 represents a cylindrical inking roller to be worked by hand To
the non axle two discs of wood are affixed. One end a of this axis is mado
tubular, as shewn by the curved dotted line, and furnished with a stopcock
An air-tight substance of skin, india rubber, or other suitable material, is
attached to the discs, and made an-tight at the joints by well-known means.
The au is then pumped in, and retained by turning the stopcock The roller
Is in all other respects similar to the ordinary ones, and is to be used in the
same manner. Cylindrical rollers, intended for punting machinery, are to be
made in a similar way to that just described
usual
My tenth improvement is for the purpose of printing for the blind ma
cheaper manner than has hitherto been effected. I print for the blind fiom
the ordinary types or blocks composed in the ordinary manner.
I lay upon
the form of types a well-wetted stout paper, and apply a greater pressure than
The columbian press answers my purpose best. A surface of raised
letters is produced exactly similar to the surface of the composition From
the surface thus produced the blind are taught to read, in the manner in
which compositors icad in metal, viz, from left to right, and from the bottom
upwards The sceing teacher of the blind puts a looking glass before the
book, and the reversed words will appear in the night position and shapes
By these simple means I put for the blind almost without any expence
A

page_text: A
composition of types, of a suitable size, is made in the usual manner
number of inked copies are printed off in the usual manner for the seeing,
suflicient to cover the expenses of the composition, then any number of copies
may be printed in the above-described way for the blind, the expense for them
being the paper and the piesswork only, whilst in all the hither to known
methods the casting of the types and the composition is fraught with difficulties
and expenses almost insuperable
In witness when cof, I, the said Bartholomew Beniowski, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of May, in the
Loid One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.
BARTHOLOMEW (Ls.) BENIOWSKI.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Seventeenth day of May,
in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid Bartholomew Beniowski came
before our Lady the Queen in He Chancery, and acknowledged the Speci-
fication aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to
the tenor of the Statute in that case made and provided.
Inrolled the same Seventeenth day of May, in the year above witten