AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING PRINTING SURFACES
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Hannibal Goodwin, of Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury,
"
in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of AN IMPROVED MODE OF
AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING PRINTING SURFACES."
Sealed the 14th February 1879, and dated the 16th August 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Hannibal Goodwin at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 16th August 1878.
HANNIBAL GOODWIN, of Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, in the County of
Middlesex. "AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING PRINTING
SURFACES."
The object of my Invention is to produce printing surfaces with greater facility
and at less cost than heretofore.
The Invention is particularly applicable for producing copies of musical compo-
sitions, but may also be employed for producing copies of other works.
In carrying out my Invention (say, for producing copies of a piece of music), "a
form" is set up with all the requisite characters in place, including the words, if in
the composition is a piece of vocal music. When the form is completed it is photo-
graphed, and a positive or negative copy (of course, on a reduced scale), is obtained
on glass or metal, such as zinc.
It is well known that by the use of certain chemical agents, such as some of the
chromic salts, those parts of the gelatine film which have been acted upon by light
will, when exposed under a photographic negative or positive, be thereby rendered
insoluble in water, so that when the film is subjected to the action of hot water, the
unchanged or soluble gelatine will be washed away, while the other or insoluble
parts will remain attached to the metallic or other surface. These parts, which have
thus become exposed by washing away the soluble gelatine, may then be bitten in
by acid in the usual way, and if a metal plate be used, an engraved printing surface
will thus be produced, and may be printed from direct, or an electrotype copy may
be obtained therefrom, and used as a printing surface. The character of printing

page_text: surface, whether in relief or in intaglio, obtained by the "biting in," will depend
upon whether the photograph copy of the "form" be a positive or negative.
A negative may be obtained in the usual manner from the positive, which I get
direct in the camera in the manner hereafter described.
To produce a negative direct, which will be most generally required, the ground-
work or foundation of the "form" should be made in sections of wood or other
suitable material, with a dead white surface, over which (in order to form the staff
or lines for the notes of the music), sets of dead black wire of suitable thickness
must be tightly strained. The staff being formed of these black strained wires, the
notes, words, clefs, signatures, brackets, bars, marks of expression, and all other
characters used in ordinary musical compositions, and being also of a black colour,
are placed on the white wooden foundation in their proper positions, and in order to
hold them in place, white wires are strained over the forms between the black lines
of the staff, and also over other parts of the form where they are required, so that
the black musical characters, which are provided at back with books or tongues,
may be hung thereon, and be thereby held in place. These musical characters are
by preference made of thin sheet zinc or other suitable metal, but may if desired be
made of celluloid, card board, papier machè, or other suitable material, and are
produced by stamping them out by means of a die or punch and matrix, or they
may be cast in type metal or other easily fusible metal or alloy.
It will be understood that as the form when photographed will be many times
smaller than the original, this latter and all the characters and letters employed in
its composition must be made many times larger than the usual music size, so that
the photographed copy will be of the size generally required for use.
From the above explanation it will be seen that by means of my Invention I am
enabled to produce from the same form (when set up) printing surfaces of different
dimensions, so that from the same form I can obtain an edition of full music size,
and also an edition of smaller size, such as octavo.
"
"
I have said that the form may be made in sections. For instance, the treble
and bass staffs may be on separate lengths of wood extending across the page, and
the space above, below, and between these staffs may be filled up with other sections
extending across the page, and provided where required with white line wires, for
supporting any characters that it may be necessary to place either above, below, or
-between the staves. Setting up the form in sections, as above explained, of course
gives greater facility for varying the distance between the staves of music, for the
introduction of words (as in vocal music), or for inserting marks of expression, or
for ledger lines or other purposes, but for cases when the character of the music will
not require these facilities, a single board of wood or other material provided with
the requisite number of staves to form a page of music may be used, and the
'characters may be set up in place thereon in the manner explained.
In the foregoing description it is stated that the lines of the staff and all the
musical and other characters are in black on a white ground, and that the wires for
As a
holding the characters in place are white, so as to be invisible at a distance.
modification of this, however, the lines of the musical staff and all the characters
and marks that are to appear on the printed sheet may be of a dead white, while
the wooden "form" (as a single board or in sections) on which they are placed may
"be of a dull black, which will not reflect light into the camera.
Between the white lines of the staff and on other parts of the black board which
constitutes the form, are made a series of fine grooves, which extend across the page.
The musical and other characters are in this case provided at back with projecting
tongues, which, when inserted in the grooves in the black board, will hold the
characters in place.
When the form is completed, by placing all the characters in their proper positions,
it may be photographed, as in the former instance, but as the photograph will be
exactly the opposite in character to the white grounded form, it must be treated
accordingly to obtain the printed surface.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Hannibal Goodwin in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 14th
February 1879.
HANNIBAL GOODWIN, of Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, in the County of
Middlesex. "AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING PRINTING
SURFACES."
The object of my Invention is to produce printing surfaces with greater facility
and at less cost than heretofore through the agency of photography.
The Invention is more particularly applicable for producing copies of musical
compositions, but may also be employed for producing copies of other works.
In carrying out my Invention (say, for producing copies of a piece of music) a
"form" is set up with all the requisite characters in place, including the words of
the composition as a piece of vocal music. When the "form" is completed it is
photographed, and a photographic negative or positive copy on glass (of course on a
reduced scale) is obtained.
If a negative is obtained it is employed in the following manner for producing a
printing plate in relief:-Under this glass negative is exposed a metal plate covered
with a dried film of organic matter, such as gelatine, sensitized in the well-known
manner with a chromic salt, and after the exposure the metal plate is covered with
a fatty ink.
It has long been known that by the use of certain chemical agents, such as the
chromic salts, those parts of the gelatine film which have been acted on by the
light while exposed under a photographic glass negative or positive will be thereby
rendered insoluble, even in boiling water, so that when the film is subjected to the
action of hot water the unchanged or soluble parts of the gelatine film on the
metallic plate will be washed away with the ink covering it, while the other or
insoluble parts will with their inky covering remain attached to the metallic
surface. Those parts of the metal plate which have thus become bare by washing
away the soluble gelatine may then be "bitten in" by acids in the usual way, and
a printing plate in relief will thus be produced, and may be printed from direct, or
an electrotype copy may be obtained therefrom, and used as a printing surface. If,
on the other hand, a photographic positive may be obtained in the camera it is
employed for producing a printing surface where the lines are incised or sunken,
after the manner of copper plate, a surface which is well known to give the best
prints.
The process for obtaining such a plate may be similar to that above described,
i.e., a similarly prepared plate is exposed under the photographic glass positive, and
after washing away the soluble gelatine the plate is treated by the same " biting-
in" process.
I will first describe the construction and working of my apparatus when the
object is to obtain a printing block in relief through the agency of a photographic
negative.
The "form" when fully set up from which the negative copy is obtained consists
of a background of, say, three feet in height, and two feet in width, to which are
attached in proper position letters, words, numerals, notes, cleffs, signatures,
brackets, bars, marks of expression, and any other characters used in typographical
and musical composition. The background, instead of being a single piece of plate
or board, is preferably made up of sections or narrow strips of board placed hori-
zontally and in succession one above the other till enough sections are thus arranged
to form one page of music of the required height. All the sections are then care-
fully secured, and the page thus formed is then attached by clamps or other device
to a suitable upright support placed behind. These sections or narrow boards are
of different widths, some between two and three inches, such a width being con-

page_text: venient to handle as well as suitable for carrying a musical staff of such dimensions
as are most proper for photographic copying. Other of these boards are made
narrower and of varying widths in order to make a varying width of space between
treble staff and bass staff, and also between one score and another whenever such
variation of space is required by the necessities of the musical composition. All
these narrow boards, of whatever width, are painted white, and coated with a very
hard enamel-like varnish to prevent adhesion of dust. Further, extending across
each end of all these boards there is fastened a shallow bridge, somewhat like the
bridge of a violin, the object of such bridges being to keep sufficiently raised above
the surface of the boards those wires or cords, which are stretched along the whole
length, as and for the purpose next to be described.
Wires about a thirty-second of an inch thick, and all, with the exception here-
after mentioned, painted white, are fastened at one end of each of the narroW
boards, and are separated from each other about a quarter of an inch, and are
stretched parallel with each other and with the length of the board, and are sus-
tained above the surface by means of the bridges at the ends of the boards. Then
by means of thumbscrews at the end of the board (opposite that where the wires
are first attached) the wires are drawn very tight in order to prevent sensible
vibration. These wires may also have additional support and freedom from
vibration by small metallic posts fastened at intervals in the board.
These highly-tensioned parallel wires are for a double purpose, all of them are
employed to receive and support the various typographical and musical characters
employed in setting up "the form," while some of them are used for the additional
purpose of constituting the lines of the musical staff. For this latter purpose
every alternate wire on the board to the number of five is painted dead black, and
not only can a single staff thus be formed upon each of the under boards, but there
will remain on the same board some space above and some below the staff. To join
the treble and the bass staffs two of these staff-bearing boards are permanently
united, and so are always handled together.
It will now be understood that the letters, notes, and other characters which are
to be suspended upon these wires, and thus assist in forming the sections which
when set up one above the other will complete the "form" which is to be copied by
the camera.
The characters may be cast like other type, or sawn from wood or
metal, or stamped from sheet zinc. They are all painted dead black on their
surface; and in order to attach them to the wires suspended across the background
they are each provided at its back with two projecting plates or flanges, preferably
of metal soldered on parallel to each other, and separated from each other far
enough to easily saddle or extend over the wires. In the case of alphabetical letters
these flanges are soldered at just such a position that all the letters suspended
upon the same wire will be in exact line, and in the case of the musical notes they
are soldered at such a position that when a note is suspended upon one of the
lines of the staff it shall properly cover that line, and when suspended on the wire
in the space between any two lines of the staff it just covers that space.
To set up a form (say of music) I place upon a suitable upright support such a
number of separate sections as will when put together make the "form" of the size
required, and I attach them by means of a bolt and nut at their back to the upright
support in the rear. Then having in front of me a "case" containing all the
characters usually found in a fount of music type, I act the part of the ordinary
compositor, by picking out and hanging up upon the wires in proper position all
the characters indicated by the manuscript, and having completed the "form"
I then proceed to photograph the saine by means of a camera, and so get the
negative which is afterwards to be used in securing a relief printing plate.
For securing a printing surface with incised or sunken lines, or for securing very
superior relief printing plates by some of the processes in practice a photographic
positive is necessary, and it is therefore important to obtain such positive direct in
the camera.

page_text: "
To do this I modify my apparatus and operations in the following manner :-)
:-The
above-described back ground of the "form is still preferably constituted of
sections, such sections being made of the same dimensions as before described. But
I give these sections (so forming the background) a heavy coating of dead black, in
place of the white surface which was employed to obtain a negative, and instead of
the suspending wires for sustaining in place all letters, notes, and other characters,
I make through the whole length of each of the sections a series of grooves, all
distant from each other about the eighth of an inch, and all parallel with the length
of the section, and cut to the depth of about a quarter of an inch. This can be
done by means of a gang of circular saws; and in order to form the lines of the
staffs instead of blackening alternate wires, as was done in the negative process,
I either paint five white lines midway; and through the whole length of every
alternate space included between two of the adjacent grooves just now described, or
in place of lines painted by hand I let down into the wood narrow strips of wood,
metal, or celluloid, their exposed edge having been previously painted white; and
instead of the black surface given to all the letters, notes, and other characters as
was done in the foregoing negative process I color them with the best white; and
instead of such notes and other characters being provided at their back with a
double flange, I provide them each in this positive process with a single flange, by
the insertion of which into a groove the character is held in proper position. And
with reference to the musical note it is especially to be observed, that whereas,
according to the above-named conditions, there are two grooves between every two
lines of a staff, each distant from the nearest adjoining line about one-eighth of
the whole space between the said two lines; so the flange is soldered to the back
in such a position, that if it be inserted into one of the two intermediate grooves
the note will fall on a line of the staff; and if inserted into the other intermediate
groove, the note will fall upon a space of the staff.
In setting up the "form" for this positive process, I put up a sufficient number
of the sections wider and narrower, according to the spaces required between the
staffs and between the scores, and according to the amount of words to be intro-
duced between the staffs or scores of the music to be reproduced, and I then
attach to the background thus made the letters, notes, borders, or other characters
by inserting the flanges at their backs into the appropriate groove.
It is to be observed that I may vary all the afore-mentioned dimensions,
making the background and all its attachable furniture larger or smaller, whenever
experience suggests the advisability of the change; but it is believed that the
described dimensions will generally best answer in view of the photographic
operations involved, as by means of the photographic process it will be evident
that printing surfaces of various dimensions may be obtained from the same
"form."
Having now described my said Invention and having explained the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above
in part recited Letters Patent I claim,―
Producing printing surfaces of various dimensions by the agency of photography
and the other processes herein set forth, in conjunction with a "form" arranged or
constructed substantially in either of the following manners, that is to say:-
(1.) A whitened board constituting a background composed of a number of
sections, with musical staves formed of black wires or cords suspended across the
whole width of the board, and a series of suspended white wires or cords arranged
parallel thereto, above, between, and below the staff in combination with letters,
musical types, and other characters, each having two projecting rear plates or
flanges for the purpose of attaching them to the board.
(2.) A blackened board constituting a background consisting of a number of
sections, with musical staves and a series of grooves made parallel thereto, above,
between, and below the staff in combination with letters, musical types, or other

page_text: characters, each having a single projecting rear plate or flange for insertion into
the grooves, and thereby attaching the same to the board.
In witness whereof, 1, the said Hannibal Goodwin, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-first day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-nine.
HANNIBAL GOODWIN. (L.S.)