IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOKBINDERS' CLOTH AND IMITATION LEATHER
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Grosvenor, of No. 1, Bridgewater Square,
in the City of London, Wholesale and Export Stationer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOKBINDERS'
CLOTH AND IMITATION LEATHER."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Grosvenor at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 19th November 1872.
I, HENRY GROSVENOR, of No. 1, Bridgewater Square, in the City of
London, Wholesale and Export Stationer, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOK-
BINDERS' CLOTH AND IMITATION LEATHER," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object an improvement in the manufacture
of bookbinders' cloth and imitations of various kinds of leather, whereby
a greater degree of toughness and elasticity is obtained, and also a more
perfect imitation of natural leather.

page_text: In place of the usual woven cloth I take a waterproof felted fabric
made of cotton, wool, or other fabrics, seperate or combined, cemented
together with a solution of caoutchouc or gutta percha, or a combination
of both substances. The material may be dyed, stained, or colored to
any required shade, either after it is made into cloth, or the fibres and
cement may be colored seperately before making up. The cloth is
then sized, rolled, or calendered, and varnished or not as may be required,
and embossed in the usual manner.
For imitation of certain kinds of leather, instead of embossing, I
prefer to print by means of engraved rollers, or by any of the usual
methods, with ordinary printers' ink, gold size, varnish, or any combi-
nation of these three materials, lines, and checks in imitation of diced
skivers, Russia leather, &c.
The above-mentioned process of printing to be done either before or
after the final coating or finishing as may be preferred.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Grosvenor in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 10th May 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
GROSVENOR, of No. 1, Bridgewater Square, in the City of London,
Wholesale and Export Stationer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Henry Grosvenor, Her special licence
that I, the said Henry Grosvenor, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Grosvenor, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOKBINDERS' CLOTH AND IMITATION LEATHER," upon the

page_text: condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Grosvenor, 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 Henry Grosvenor, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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) :-
My Invention of "Improvements in the Manufacture of Bookbinders'
Cloth and Imitation Leather" has for its object an improvement in such
manufacture, whereby a greater degree of toughness and elasticity is
obtained, and also a more perfect imitation of natural leather than is
obtained by any of the usual processes of manufacture.
In place of the woven cloth generally used in making bookbinders'
cloth and imitation leather I take a waterproof felted fabric made of
cotton, wool, or other fibrous substances, separate or combined, the fibres
of which are cemented together with a solution of caoutchouc or of gutta
percha, or a combination of both substances. The said fabric is made
by preference of cotton, which is cleaned by any of the well-known
processes, and then passed through carding engines to form continuous
layers or sheets; three or more of these layers or sheets are afterwards
cemented together with the above-mentioned solution, the material then
dried and pressed and afterwards treated and ornamented according to the
kind of leather intended to be imitated; that is to say, it may be dyed,
stained, or coloured to any required shade, either after it has been made
into the felted fabric, or the fibrous material and cement may be coloured
separately in the first instance as may be preferred. The felted fabric is
or may be afterwards sized, rolled, or calendered and varnished,
japanned or enamelled, as may be required, and embossed to any required
pattern in the usual manner.
For the better imitation of certain kinds of leather, instead of em-
bossing, I prefer to print by means of engraved rollers, or by any of the
usual methods, with ordinary calico printers' ink, gold size, varnish, or
any combination of these materials, lines, patterns, or checks in

page_text: imitation of diced skivers, Russia and other kinds of fancy leather.
The above-mentioned process of printing is intended to be applied either
before or after the final coating or finishing as may be preferred.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I claim,--
Firstly. The production of bookbinders' cloth and imitation leather
from felted fabrics, the fibres of which are cemented together, and
finished afterwards by the process or processes substantially as
described;
Secondly. I claim the imitation of certain kinds of leather, such as
are known as diced skivers, Russia and other kinds of fancy leather,
by printing the lines, patterns, and dicings in the manner herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Grosvenor, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Eighth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
Witness,
WILLIAM SPENCE,
8, Quality Court,
Chancery Lane.
HENRY GROSVENOR. (L.S.)