IMPROVEMENTS IN TRANSFERRING DRAWINGS OR DELINEATIONS IN LITHOGRAPHIC AND ZINCO- GRAPHIC PROCESSES
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Smith, of Edinburgh, in the County of Mid
Lothian, North Britain, Lithographer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN TRANSFERRING DRAWINGS OR DELINEATIONS IN LITHOGRAPHIC AND ZINCO-
GRAPHIC PROCESSES"
Sealed the 21st December 1858, and dated the 12th October 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Smith at tho
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
12th October 1858.
I, WILLIAM SMITH, of Edinburgh, in the County of Mid Lothian, North
Britain, Lithographer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TRANSFERRING DRAWINGS OR DELINEATIONS IN LITHOGRAPHIC
AND ZINCOGRAPHIC PROCESSES," to be as follows, that is to say:-
This Invention relates to a system or mode of effecting the transference of
drawings or delineations from the originals to the printing stones or plates in
such manner that whilst great economy is effected in the process, very
superior accuracy is also secured. According to these improvements the
operator proceeds by primarily preparing a sheet of tracing or translucent
paper, cloth, or other fabric with the transfer medium or material ordinarily
used by lithographers and zincographers.
and zincographers. The sheet thus prepared forms
what may be termed a composite tracing and transfer paper, as it serves both
purposes. This prepared sheet then answers as the medium for obtaining the

page_text: first and only tracing used in the operation from the original drawing or
delineation which is to be printed, the prepared sheet being laid down upon
the original drawing with its prepared face upwards. The drawing is then
traced through the prepared sheet with transfer ink, and it is then removed
and applied to the stone or plate, the traced delineation being pressed down
upon the face of the stone or plate. The removal of the sheet from the stone
is effected by treating the back of it with hot water, and then taking up the
sheet at one end and rapidly pulling it off backwards. This process leaves
the drawing upon the stone or plate ready for inking up and preparing for
printing in the ordinary manner. In this way whilst the original drawing is
in no way injured, the process of transferring is materially shortened, and in a
manner which allows of the reduction of the chances of errors.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Smith in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
11th April 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
SMITH, of Edinburgh, in the County of Mid Lothian, North Britain, Litho-
grapher, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Smith, Her special license that I, the said William
Smith, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, tho said
William Smith, 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
TRANSFERRING DRAWINGS OR DELINEATIONS IN LITHOGRAPHIC AND ZINCOGRAPHIC
PROCESSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Smith, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should par-
ticularly 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Smith, 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 said Invention relates to a system or mode of effecting the transference
of drawings or delineations from the originals to the printing stones or plates
in such manner that whilst great economy is effected in the process, very
superior accuracy is also secured. According to these improvements the
operator proceeds by primarily preparing a sheet of tracing or translucent
paper, cloth, or other fabric with the transfer medium or materials ordinarily
used in the preparation of transfer paper by lithographers and zincographers.
The sheet thus prepared forms what may be termed a composite tracing and
transfer paper, as it serves both purposes. This prepared sheet then answers
as the medium for obtaining the first and only tracing used in the operation
from the original drawing or delineation which is to be printed, the prepared
sheet being fastened down upon the original drawing with its prepared face
upwards. The drawing is then traced through and on the prepared sheet with
transfer ink, and it is then removed and applied to the stone or plate, the
traced delineation being pressed down upon the face of the stone or plate.
The removal of the sheet from the stone is effected by treating the back of it
with hot water, and then taking up the sheet at one end, and slowly pulling it
off backwards. This process leaves the drawing upon the stone or plate ready
for being inked up and prepared for printing in the ordinary manner. In this
way, whilst the original drawing is in no way injured, the process of trans-
ferring is materially shortened, and in a manner which allows of the reduction
of the chances of errors.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood and
readily carried out in practice, I shall now proceed to explain the mode of
procedure which I prefer in detailed language, that is to say:-
I first of all take a sheet or portion of ordinary tracing paper, as produced
in the paper mill or as it comes from the tracing paper maker, or I take other
translucent paper, cloth, or other conveniently suitable material, and I prepare
or coat this paper or translucent surface with the transfer medium ordinarily
used by lithographers and zincographers for transferring drawings, plans,
fac-similes, figures, or delineations to the stone or zinc printing surface. Or I
take any other suitable transfer matter or composition which may answer the
purpose, but I prefer to use the medium composed of equal parts in weight of
gelatine and flake white mixed in water, and slightly coloured with gamboge.
This composition when warm is about the consistency of cream, and I apply it

page_text: in that state with a flat brush to the surface of the sheet to be coated. The
sheet or surface thus prepared, and when well pressed or calendered, forms a
composite tracing and transfer paper, as it answers the purposes both of
tracing and transferring drawings or figures. This sheet or prepared surface
is then employed as the lithographer or zincographer's tracing and transfer
sheet combined. In proceeding to lithograph a drawing or figure by its means
it is fixed with its prepared face upwards upon the original drawing or figure to
be reproduced by the lithographic process, and as it is more or less transparent
or translucent the operator can easily trace the drawing through it. The
drawing is then traced through the prepared sheet with lithographer's transfer
ink, and when all such parts as require to be traced are finished, the transfer
tracing paper may be removed from the original, and the details completed.
The traced delineation is then damped in the usual way by moistening the
back of the sheet, or what is more effectual, by placing it in a damping book,
and then transferred to the stone or plate in the ordinary manner.
The
removal of the sheet from the stone is effected by treating the back of the
paper with a copious supply of hot water until the composition becomes soft,
when the sheet will be easily removed by raising it at one end, and slowly
drawing it backwards; the water should be constantly applied till all the
paper is removed. The tracing in transfer ink is thus left upon the stone or
plate, and it is then inked up and prepared for being printed from in the ordi-
nary manner. This system of lithographing or zincographing drawings allows
of the most accurate execution of the work without in any way injuring the
original. Only one tracing, and that the actual transfer one, is required;
so that the chances of error are most materially reduced; and, lastly, the
time occupied in multiplying drawings is by this process very greatly
reduced.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I may observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict myself
to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to describe or
refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without deviating fromi
the principles or main features of my Invention; but what I consider to be
novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First, the system or mode of transferring drawings or delineations in litlio-
graphic or zincographic processes, as herein-before described..
Second, the system or mode of forming tracing paper or other translucent

page_text: medium into a composite tracing and transfer medium, for the purpose of
transferring drawings or delineations in lithographic and zincographic processes.
Third, the system or mode of copying drawings or delineations in lithographic
or zincographic processes, wherein a composite tracing and transfer paper is
used, as herein-before described.
Fourth, the application and use in transferring and printing drawings or
delineations in lithographic and zincographic processes from tracing paper or
other translucent medium prepared or treated with a transferring medium, so
as to enable the operator to trace his drawing upon and transfer from the
same sheet or surface.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Smith, have hereunto set my
band and seal, this Sixth day of April, One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-nine
W. SMITH. (L.B.)