IMPROVED PRINTERS' COPYING INK
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for
the Invention of "IMPROVED PRINTERS' COPYING INK."-A communi-
cation from abroad by Charles McIlvaine, William McClure Lloyd,
and Franklin Jones Firth, all of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United
States of America.
Scaled the 7th September 1871, and dated the 15th March 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 15th March 1871.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED PRINTERS' COPYING INK," a
communication, to be as follows :—
The nature of the said Invention consists in making printers' .ink
that will give a press copy similar to the ordinary copying ink used in
writing. This purpose is accomplished by using pigments or colouring
matter of different shades that are soluble in water, or that when mixed
with soluble gums can be conveyed by such gums.

page_text: To produce ink of a green colour I use four parts of mallori or aniline
green, five parts of rock candy or soluble gums, three parts of albumen,
six parts of printers' varnish, and molasses, glycerine, or other materials
to give it the proper consistency.
To produce a red ink I use three parts of carmine or aniline red, two 5
parts of albumen, four parts of rock candy or soluble gum, seven parts
of printers' varnish, and molasses, glycerine, or other materials to give
the proper consistency to it.
A purple ink is produced by using three parts of lake or aniline
purple, two parts of albumen, four parts of rock candy or soluble gum, 1
seven parts of printers' varnish, and molasses, glycerine, or other materials
to give proper consistency.
To make ink of a blue shade I use five parts of soluble Prussian bluc
or sulphate of indigo, twelve parts of rock candy or soluble gum, fifteen
parts printers' varnish and molasses, glycerine, or other materials to give ]
proper consistency, with a small proportion of cobalt or aniline blue to
give it the proper shade.
If a black ink is desired I use ten parts of logwood treated with
chromate of potassium, one and one-half parts of soluble Prussian bluc,
one and one-half parts of rock candy or soluble gum, one and one-half a
parts of printers' varnish, molasses, glycerine, or other materials to give
it the proper consistency, and a small proportion of lamp black with jet
black to give the proper shade.
For another black take six parts of solid extract of galls, five parts
of a sulphate of iron, and six parts of glycerine, one part sulphate of
indigo, four parts of rock candy, sugar, or other saccharine matter, two
parts of gum.
The addition of acids such as acetic, tartaric, boracic, oxalic, or others
in small quantities to the ink is desirable to give proper shade and
penetrability upon the impression paper to produce more than one copy
at a time.
Caustic potassa, alcohol, or other chemical substances, if required, may
be used with the water to assist in transferring or developing the colour
or impression copy.
It will be seen from the above that the proportions are varied according
to the shade required.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 13th September 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special licence
that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert Lake, 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, usc, cxcrcise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVED
PRINTERS' COPYING, INK," a communication to me from abroad by Charles
McIlvaine, William McClure Lloyd, and Franklin Jones Firth, all of
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America, upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said William Robert Lake, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly 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 William Robert Lake, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, that is to say :-
The nature of the said Invention consists in making printers' ink
that will give a press copy similar to the ordinary copying ink used in
5 writing. This purpose is accomplished by using pigments or colouring

page_text: matters of different shades that are soluble in water or that when mixed
with soluble gums can be conveyed by such gums.
To produce ink of a green colour I use four parts of mallori or aniline
green, five parts of rock candy or soluble gums, three parts of albumen,
six parts of printers' varnish, molasses, glycerine, or other materials to
give it the proper consistency.
To produce a red ink I use three parts of carmine or aniline red, two
parts of albumen, four parts of rock candy or soluble gum, seven parts
of printers' varnish, molasses, glycerine, or other materials to give the
proper consistency to it.
A purple ink is produced by using three parts of lake or aniline purple,
two parts of albumen, four parts of rock candy or soluble gum, seven
parts of printers' varnish, molasses, glycerine, or other materials to give
proper consistency..
To make ink of a blue shade I use five parts of soluble Prussian blue
or sulphate of indigo, twelve parts of rock candy or soluble gum, fifteen
parts printers' varnish, molasses, glycerine, or other materials to give
proper consistency, with a small proportion of cobalt or aniline blue to
give it the proper shade.
If a black ink is desired I use ten parts of logwood treated with a
chromate of potassium, onc-and-a-half parts of soluble Prussian blue,
one-and-a-half parts of rock candy or soluble gum, one and a half parts of
printers' varnish, molasses, glycerine, or other materials to give it the
proper consistency, with a small proportion of lamp black with jet black
to give the proper shade.
For another black I take six parts of solid extract of galls, five parts
of a sulphate of iron, and six parts of glycerine, one part sulphate of
indigo, four parts of rock candy, sugar, or other saccharine matter, two
parts of gum.
The addition of acids such as acetic, tartaric, boracic, oxalic, or others
in small quantities to the ink is desirable to give proper shade and
penetrability upon the impression paper to produce more than one copy
at a time.
Caustic potassa, alcohol, or other chemical substances, if required, may
he used with the water to assist in transferring or developing the colour

page_text: It will be seen from the above that the proportions are varied according
to the shade required.
Having thus fully described the said Invention, as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondents, and shown how the same may be
conveniently and advantageously carried into practice, I claim, the
manufacture of printers' ink (that will press copy) containing pigments
or colouring matters of different shades soluble in water, or which when
mixed with soluble gum can be conveyed by such gums, the ingredients
used therewith being in or about the proportions herein specified in
order that the compounds resulting therefrom may accomplish the
purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and scal, this Thirteenth day of September, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
one.
Witness,
EDWARD CLARK JACKSON.
WM. ROBT. LAKE. (L.S.)