Year: 1853

page_text: duction being made without distinction upon any of the metals usually
employed for engraving, and without reference to the distance of time
at which such printed impression may have been taken.
This Invention is, secondly, applicable to a like reproduction of any
illustrated work or periodical publication in which a combination of
engraving and letter-press exists, as well as for the reproduction of works
or periodicals consisting of letter-press only:
This Invention is, thirdly, applicable to the creation (for the purposes
of printing) of original plates or engravings in relief from prepared
pencil, crayon, or ink drawings, such plates being produced on any
metal usually employed for the purpose.
.
For the reproduction from an existing engraving, when access can
be had to such engraving, I take an impression of the same in transfer
ink, and while such impression is fresh I transfer..it to the surface of a
plate of zinc, copper, pewter, steel, or any other metal usually employed
for engraving. When this transfer has remained sufficiently long to
become set I float the surface of the plate with an etching liquid,
composed of nitric acid, distilled water, and alcohol or spirits of wine, by
means of which the surface of the plate becomes etched or "bitten in,"
with the exception of such parts as are covered by the transfer, which
resisting the action of the etching liquid remain in relief as though
they had been engraved.
When access cannot be had to an engraving for the purpose of
obtaining the transfer impression I take an ordinary impression
printed on paper, over the ink lines of which I pass a slight coating of
gum water, after the manner practised by lithographers to set or fix
drawings on stone, and by means of which I am enabled to re-ink with
transfer ink all the printed lines of the subject I desire to reproduce.
The paper impression thus, re-inked serves me as the medium of
obtaining my transfer on to a metal plate, which is afterwards etched
or "bitten in," as before described.
.
For the creation of original plates it is only necessary that the subject
to be produced should be drawn on paper with transfer ink or crayon.
The drawing when finished is transferred to a metal plate, and etched
by the same means as are employed in the foregoing processes.

page_text: The object of this Invention being to produce plates in relief for
surface printing, it is necessary that the etching or biting away of what
are technically termed the "whites" should be effected of various
-degrees of depth in proportion to their more or less isolated position.
This is accomplished by the repeated etching or biting away of such
parts, and by increasing the depth of the most considerable with scrapers
or gouges.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Thomas George Vizetelly in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 25th April 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
JAMES THOMAS GEORGE VIZETELLY, of Peterborough Court, in the
City of London, Engraver and Printer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the
seventeenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and succes-
sors, give and grant unto me, the said James Thomas George Vizetelly,
Her special license that I, the said James Thomas George Vizetelly,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
James Thomas George Vizetelly, my executors, administrators, or
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 PRODUCING PLATES
FOR PRINTING PURPOSES BY WHICH THE MANIPULATORY PROCESS OF ENGRAVING
IS SUPERSEDED," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
James Thomas George Vizetelly, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, 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

page_text: six calendar months next and immediately after. the date of the said
.Letters Patent..
NOW. KNOW YE, that. I, the said James Thomas George Vizetelly,
.do hereby declare the nature: of..my said: Invention, and in what man-
her the same is to be performed, to be particularly described audiascer-
tained in 'andsby the following statement; that is to say
My said Invention relates to improvements in the production of
printing surfaces by means of which printed impressions from engravings
and from lithogaphy are transferred upon metal plates, and afterwards
converted into substitutes for engravings in relief, which may be printed
from either by printing presses or by machines.
This Invention is applicable; firstly, to the reproduction of any pre-
existing engraving, whether sunk or in relief; whether produced by any
etching or machine process, or whether engraved by: hand, either on
metal or on wood, or produced by- the lithographic process; and, is
applicable, secondly, to the production of original plates. or engravings
in any style or combination of styles.
For the reproduction of an existing engraving on metal or on. wood,
or of a lithographic subject, when access can be had to the original
plate, block, or stone, I take an impression of the same on slightly damped
lithographic transfer paper in a transfer ink, composed. of one fourth
part of either stiff lithographic or typographic ink, mixed with three
parts of the composition. described hereafter as "Composition No. 1."
While such impression is fresh I transfer it, by means of a lithographic
or typographic press, on to the polished surface of a plate of zinc, copper,
steel, or any other metal used for engraving; but:I prefer the first-
named, from its being less expensive, and equally as well adapted for
the purpose as any other. As it may happen that parts of the transfer
are made-imperfect or fainter on the plate than the rest, I sponge the
surface of the plate with a weak solution of gum water; and then roll
such parts up stronger with a little of the same ink,.after the manner
practised by lithographers: I next dust the surface of the plate
over, with finely powdered, rosin, which firmly adhering only to those
parts covered by the transfer ink is. easily removed from the rest of the
surface by gently wiping or blowing off the superfluous particles. I
-

page_text: then take a camel's hair brush, and with the composition described
hereafter as "Composition No. 2 I cover or stop out the principal
"whites or blank places-on the surface of the plate: which are not
covered by the subject transferred. The plate being thus prepared and
ready for the first "biting in or. etching, I place it in a shallow oblong
trough of glazed earthenware, or of wood coated internally with pitch
or asphaltum, and, by rocking the trough to and fro I alternately expose
the surface of the plate, first to the atmosphere, and then: to the action
of an etching liquid composed of nitric acid, water, and alcohol; or spirits
of wine, which pour into the trough. The strength::of this liquid
depending, as in the ordinary process. of etching on the nature of the
subject to be etched, and on the metal employed, it is impossible to lay
down any fixed standard of strength; but as the process. of biting in'
takes place under the eye of the operator, a little.practice will readily
enable him to judge when the power of the setching. fluid should be
increased or decreased. For this part of the process other:acids, such
as muriatic and hydrocloric, may be used in lieu of nitric acid, and
when distilled water cannot readily be procured rain or river water
may be substituted;; nor is the addition of alcohol or spirits' of 'wine
absolutely essential to the process, although by its' employment the
biting in "is somewhat accelerated. The length of time occupied by
the first "biting independs,like,the strength of the etching liquid,
upon the nature of the subject under treatment; but as the power of
the liquid becomes, gradually weakened through its action upon the
metal plate, and by the concurrent evaporation, it is necessary. from
time to time to pour into the trough small quantities of fresh acid.in
order to keep the etching liquid: up. to the required strength. The
operator may at any point of the process readily test the depth of
"biting in he has arrived at by taking the plate out of the trough
and examining it with an engraver's eye-glass. Supposing the first
"biting in" to be completed, the coating of ink: forming the transfer
on the surface of the plate (and which, strengthened by the adherence
of the particles of rosin, has resisted the action of the etching fluid;) is
now removed by-brushing the plate over. with spirits of turpentine,
while the "Composition No. 2" is removed from the "whites "cor blank

page_text: places, either by scraping with a quill, tooth-pick, or brushing over
with 'alcohol or spirits of wine. The plate. is next re-inked with the
same ink or composition used in obtaining the transfer, and is again
"bitten in" with the etching liquid, as before described. When the
required depth is obtained the engraved parts of the plate are stopped
out by filling them with the " Composition No. 2;" the lesser blank
spaces or "whites" are bitten deeper by floating them with stronger
solutions of acid and water, and the larger ones lowered by scanpers or
gouges after the method adopted by wood engravers, or pierced out
entirely by means of fine saws. The plate is finally mounted either
on a wooden or metal stand with screws or points, and is then ready
for the printer.
When access cannot be had to the original plate, wood block, or
stone, I take an ordinary impression printed on paper, which, after
submitting to moderate heat, I sponge over with a weak solution of
gum water, and then, by rolling it with the transfer ink or Compo-
sition No. 1, as previously described, I obtain therefrom a fresh im-
pression on damped transfer paper at a lithographic press. This fresh
impression is then transferred to the surface of a metal plate, and is
engraved or etched by the means previously stated. A simpler and
in many cases a preferable method of obtaining the transfer from an
ordinary printed impression on to a metal plate, consists in saturating
the back of such impression with a strong solution of nitric, hydro-
chloric, or muriatic acid and water, and after laying it face downwards
upon a metal plate submitting it to great pressure either by means
of a lithographic or typographic press. When the subject thus re-
quired to be transferred is light or sketchy in character the metal plate
should be used of its natural temperature; but when the subject is
heavy or full of detail it will be found advantageous to warm the
plate slightly.
For the production of original plates it is requisite that the subject
to be produced should be drawn, first, either on lithographic transfer
paper. with transfer ink or crayon, or be made upon a lithographic stone.
When a drawing is made on transfer paper it may at once be con-
veyed to the surface of a metal plate, and then etched or engraved, as

page_text: before described in the paragraphs relating to the reproduction from
existing engravings; but as in an operation of this delicate character
accidental failure may unavoidably happen, it is advisable when a
drawing has been made on paper to transfer the same to a lithographic
stone or zincographic plate, and to take from such source (after the
method practised by lithographers) a re-transfer, by means of which the
metal plate to be etched or engraved in relief may be obtained with
less risk to the original drawing. I prefer, however, that the subject
required should be drawn upon a lithographic stone, because such a
combination of the chalk, ink, and etching styles may be arrived at,
and converted into relief engravings, as would be totally impracticable
in a drawing made on transfer paper.
P
In any case where it may be desirable type text or any other lettering
may be transferred and etched on the same plate with the engravings
or designs.
In the foregoing description of niy Invention when speaking of metal
plates I do not confine myself to the use of plain surfaces only, my
Invention being equally applicable, with slight and obvious modifications,
to the production of curved or cylindrical surfaces for printing textile
fabrics, etched either in relief or "sunk."
:
COMPOSITION No. 1.
This is made by thoroughly melting together in a pipkin over a
moderate fire one pound of weak lithographic varnish, a quarter of a
pound of white wax, and two ounces of powdered rosin. The mixture
should be stirred frequently until it becomes thoroughly amalgamated,
and then poured out into a jar to cool. Clarified mutton suct may be
substituted for the varnish, and bees wax for the white wax, when the
engravings to be reproduced are of a coarse nature.
COMPOSITION No. 2.
This is made by dissolving three quarters of a pound of gum lac in
a pint of alcohol or spirits of wine. Break the gum lac into small
pieces, which put into a glass stoppered bottle, and then pour in the
spirits of wine, shake the bottle from time to time until the lac becomes
thoroughly dissolved.

page_text: First, I claim the converting of "transfers" of all kinds of engravings
into printing surfaces, etched in relief or "sunk" on; metal plates,.
which are effective substitutes for relief or "sunk" engravings.pro-
duced by the usual manipulatory processes.
Second, I claim the production of such printing surfaces, either with
or without the accompaniment of type text or any other description of
lettering.
And, third, I further claim this production of these substitutés for
engravings on plane, curved, or cylindrical surfaces.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Thomas George Vizetelly,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, the Twenty-fourthi day
of April, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
JAMES THOMAS GEORGE VIZETELLY. (L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the said
James Thomas George Vizetelly. in.
the presence of
JOHN, B. HEBBERT,
Sol",
90, New Street, Birmingham,-
A Commissioner for taking Affidavits
in Chancery in England.