A PROCESS OF SUPERSEDING WOOD ENGRAVING WHICH HE CALLS GALLITYPY
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Luigi Galli, of Milan, in Italy, now residing in Paris,
France, for the Invention of "A PROCESS OF SUPERSEDING WOOD ENGRAVING
WHICH HE CALLS GALLITYPY."
Sealed the 27th August 1858, and dated the 27th February 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Luigi Galli at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 27th February
1858.
I, LUIGI GALLI, of Milan, in Italy, now residing in Paris, France, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A PROCESS OF SUPERSEDING
WOOD ENGRAVING WHICH I CALL GALLITYPY," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in preparing wood or stone blocks of suitable
thickness, for the purpose of superseding the wood engravings at present used
in typographical printing. I prepare my plates with a soft or semi-fluid
material composed of very finely powdered chalk, or of calcareous or other white
earth, mixed with meal paste or freshly made size. This composition is evenly
spread over the surface of the block which is to be printed from; when the
first coat is dry, it is smoothed over with a painter's blade, then a second layer
is laid over the first one, and successive layers applied until the coating is
nearly an eighth of an inch thick. When the last layer is quite dry, it is.
polished over with sand paper, then a mastic varnish is lightly brushed over;
after this first layer of varnish is thoroughly imbibed, several successive layers

page_text: are spread over, these latter being composed of turpentine, oil, and bitumen
boiled together and mixed with the varnish before mentioned. These coats
are successively laid on until the surface has acquired a suitable hue, not too
dark, but so as to allow lithographic pencil marks to be seen on its surface.
The block is then lightly rubbed over with white oil, and it is ready to be
drawn and engraved upon, which is done at once by tracing and etching any
subject on it with a sharp steel point like a needle fitted in a small handle; the
darkest shades are first traced in, then, the lighter ones, and at last the white
parts are deepened with suitable cutting and carving tools. When the figures
are fully delineated and etched in, the block is ready for being printed from
under typographical presses in the same manner as a wood engraving, the
parts that have not been touched with the etching tool being inked as usual to
produce the dark lines, whilst the etched or excavated parts give the white
portions of the print or drawing-in- the usual manner. The blocks prepared
by my process resist very well the squeezing and crushing action of the press,
and may be used for printing-any kind of illustrated work.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed'
by the said Luigi Galli in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
27th August 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LUIGI
GALLI, of Milan, in Italy, now residing in Paris, France, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Luigi Galli, Her special, licence that I, the, said Luigi, Galli, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Luigi,
Galli, 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 Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "A PROCESS. OF SUPER-
SEDING WOOD ENGRAVING WHICH I CALL GALLITYPY," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Luigi Galli, 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,

page_text: 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 Luigi Galli, do hereby declare the
5. nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed,, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
The Invention consists of a novel mode of preparing plates made of wood,
stone, or any other suitable hard material of the required thickness, for printing
D. from typographical presses. These plates when prepared by this process are
drawn upon, and engraved, by a single graphical operation; they are then
harder than common printing types, and will resist pressure and crushing,
whilst on the other hand they are soft for engraving purposes, and are readily
cut down by a sharp pointed instrument for delineating and engraving, so as to
get the hollows and reliefs required for inking and printing. For preparing
my plates, if I choose wood, I then take two or three thicknesses, which are
glued together, taking care to lay the fibre of each thickness crossing the next
one in the same manner as for the plates used for printing cloth, so as to prevent
the wood warping; when perfectly dry I spread over the side which I choose
for that purpose a layer of a material composed of soft white chalk," "carbonate
of lime," finely powdered, and mixed with meal paste or size freshly made. The
mixture must have the consistency of thick oil paint, so as to lay it on with a
brush; when this first layer is nearly. dry, it is smoothed over with a painter's
knife or scapula; a second layer is then spread over the first one, then a third
one, and so on till the stratum reaches nearly one-eighth of an inch in thickness,
more or less, according to the kind of engraving to be obtained, and so thick that
the proofs may have large white places. I mix with the paste some powdered
mastic, or any other gum, or rosin, having the same properties. After the third
layer I add to the mixture a little Indian ink or other colouring substances,
so as to shade the next layer, and according to the skill or taste of the draughts-
man who is to make the design. I can apply thus several successive layers to
darken the shade of the surface where the design is to be sketched, so as to
induce the artist to cut deeper. down to find the white part of the stratum which
produces to his eyes the same effect of light and shades as will be produced by
printing. After the last layer is spread and smoothed, the plate is left to dry
slowly, and then the surface is rubbed over with glass, or sand paper of several
degrees of fineness, so as to have it very smooth; then some boiled oil is poured
over it and rubbed over with a soft cotton lump to spread it perfectly so as to
have that oil penetrating through the whole stratum: After this last operation

page_text: the drawing can be sketched with a lithographic pencil, and then one may pro-
ceed to draw with a sharp steel point the minute parts of the drawing, so as
to obtain the effects of shades and lights; it is better on commencing, to draw.
the half shaded parts and finish with the plain lighted parts. To cut them
down one may take either small bundles of needles bound together as a painter's
brush or any other sharp cutter, according to the fancy of the artist. The.
deeper the plate is cut down the whiter is the stratum, because the under layers
are not penetrated by the Indian ink, so that when cutting the drawing one
.may appreciate the darkness of the shades, the effect of which is the same as
when printed. For obtaining even half shades, the surface of the plate can be
wetted with some water, and then rubbed over with a piece of fine cloth to
carry off a thin part of the said surface. For producing even shades, graining,
and other appearances, several contrivances may be used, such as deepening
the surface by means of sand, or sand paper, &c., and other practical means
will be suggested to the artists by practice. When the drawing is completed,
the plate is brushed over either with a fine brush or hare's foot, in order to.
expel the dust from the hollow lines, where nothing must be left; then the
whole is covered with a layer of boiled oil, left on long enough to be absorbed,
and if any particles remain on the surface when the absorption is complete it is
rubbed away with a glove skin, then a layer of turpentine oil is laid on,
and the plate is ready either to work under the printing press, or to be
used for casting stereotyped metal plates (clichés). The plates prè-
pared and cut in hollow style, as here above described, are to be used for
composing forms and printing under typographical presses instead of wood
cuts; they can be used as well as the latter for casting stereotyped plates
(clichés). For preparing my printing plates, I claim to use any other
calcareous salts, such as sulphate or phosphate of lime, and even other
white earthy salts (sils á base terreuse), or white metallic oxides, such as
magnesia, alumina, tartar salt, white lead, or zinc, &c., &c., or even any
other mineral or organic white substances of similar properties, viz., all kinds
of feculas; as also to mix those substances with bone or fish glue instead of
paste; also I use any kind of gum, rosin, or bees'-wax for mixing with paste, and
white chalk or any other similar substance if I think it better; I also employ
any kind of oily or greasy substance for preventing adhesion in moulding the
stereotyped plates. This kind of engraving can be used for printing linear
drawings of all kinds, such as architectural plans, geographical maps, bank
notes, cards, &c., &c., by means of stereotyped plates moulded on the first
plates. Stereotyped plates can also be cast from plates on which patterns have
been drawn for stuff printing. This material is very good for moulding either

page_text: ith plaster or gutta percha for casting afterwards either common or coppered
ereotyped plates. The plates of the last kind are prepared either with metal
r glass plates, over which the layers of the mixture before described are
pplied, so that by drawing any figure or line the sharp point sinks as deep
own as the hard metallic or glass surface, and the deepest cuts give the darkest
ines when printing with the stereotyped plate, the lines of which have been
ngraved in hollow style, but are now in relievo by casting. In short the plates
repared by the process of my Invention just above described, and drawn over
with sharp points as mentioned, can be used for printing under typographical
presses either alone for picture prints, or with letter prints, or text, as
llustrations of scientific or literary works, travels, &c.; they can also be used
for printing music and works with strange characters, such as hieroglyphs, &c.,
for which there are no metallic types. Plates prepared in the same way over
metallic sheets, and delineated similarly with sharp steel points, can be used for
printing under copper-plate presses when the inking is delivered to the sheet
only by the hollow lines. I render my plates sensitive by the chemical agents
and processes now used for the purpose of obtaining photographical proofs or
images over my said plates, which being then delineated and cut with points
as aforesaid may be used for printing the said images.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and how the same
is to be performed, I claim as my Invention,-
First, the preparation of plates made either of wood, stone, or any other
hard suitable material, by laying over the said plates a stratum of a mixture
composed of soft white chalk and paste in the manner herein-before described,
and drawing and engraving the illustrated subject with sharp pointed instru-
ments on the said plates for superseding wood engravings used under
typographical printing presses.
Second, I claim using any other white calcareous or other salt or oxide in lieu
of white chalk for preparing the mixture herein-before described, and any other
fecula in lieu of wheat meal, for making the paste, and also mastic or any other
suitable gum, rosin, or bees'-wax, to mix with the material, and substituting
gluc for paste.
Third, I claim making negative plates in the same way by laying the same
mixture over metallic or glass plates, either for printing under copper-plate
5 presses or for casting stereotyped plates on the first surface, when they are
ingraved for printing with the said stereoptyped plates under typographical
presses.
Fourth, I claim preparing, engraving, and using my plates in the way before
described, and printing with the said plates either picture plates or illus

page_text: trated subjects of any kind in typographical works, as well as maps, music,
architectural plans, bank notes, cards, &c., with stereotyped plates cast on the
first surface.
In witness whereof, I, the said Luigi Galli, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Sixteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord 5
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Signed and sealed in the presence of
L. D'AUBREVILLE, C. E.,
Boulev. de Strasbg. 60.
LUIGI GALLI. (L.S.).