AN IMPROVED COMPOSITION FOR RENDERING BOOTS AND SHOES AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES WATERPROOF
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Gilbee, of No. 4, South Street, Finsbury;
London, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED COMPOSITION FOR RENDERING
BOOTS AND SHOES AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES WATERPROOF."-A commu-
nication from abroad by M. Louis Poncelet, Boot and Shoe Manufacturer,
of 10, Rue de la Fidélité, Paris.
Sealed the 5th April 1864; and dated the 19th October 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry
the said Henry Gilbee at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th October 1863.
I, HENRY GILBEE, of No. 4, South Street, Finsbury, London, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention of "AN IMPROVED COMPOSITION FOR
RENDERING BOOTS AND SHOES AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES WATERPROOF," to be
as follows, that is to say:-
The Invention communicated to me consists in the manufacture of an
improved composition for waterproofing boots and shoes and other similar
articles.
I put in a suitable vessel 2 pounds of common tallow, which is made
to boil, to this is added two ounces of yellow beeswax cut in small pieces,
the whole is then boiled and well stirred, after which two ounces of olive
oil is poured into the mixture, which is again made to boil, when four
ounces of tar is added to it. The whole is then made to boil, and well
agitated to insure a complete mixture. The composition is fit to be applied
when in a lukewarm state.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Gilbee in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
18th April 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
GILBEE, of No. 4, South Street, Finsbury, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of Octobre, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Henry Gilbee, Her special license that I, the said Henry Gilbee, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry
Gilbee, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and 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 "AN IMPROVED
COMPOSITION FOR RENDERING BOOTS AND SHOES AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES
WATERPROOF," (communicated to me from abroad by Mr. Louis Poncelet,
Boot and Shoc Manufacturer, of 10, Rue de la Fidélité, Paris,) upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Gilbee, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, or
under the hand and seal of one of them, 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 Gilbee, 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 Invention communicated to me consists in the manufacture of an
improved composition for waterproofing boots and shoes and other similar
articles.
To manufacture waterproof boots and shoes and other similar articles,
according to my Invention, I make use of a composition which I prepare as
follows I put in a suitable vessel two pounds of common tallow, which is
made to boil, to this is added two ounces of yellow beeswax cut in small
pieces, the whole is then boiled and well stirred, after which two ounces of

page_text: olive oil are poured into the mixture, which is again made to boil, when
finally four ounces of tar are added to it. The whole is then made to
boil, and well agitated to insure a complete mixture. The composition is fit
to be applied in a lukewarm state.
To employ the herein-before described composition and render the water-
proofing perfect and durable when applied to boots and shoes, and other
articles of a similar kind, I manufacture them nearly according to the usual
mode employed in the trade for making boots and shoes, using, however, some
special and particular modifications on the process generally employed, and
these modifications require to be carefully followed to insure perfect success,
and in order to make the application of my Invention better understood I will
proceed to describe my mode of manufacturing.
The first sole being fixed on the iron last I cut a deeper and wider groove
than usual in the sole, which serves to receive the composition, stitches, and
rivets. I welt the upper leather as usual, and I then lay a coat of the herein-
before described composition on the whole surface of the sole, on which I
superpose a cork sole to fill up the vacancy and level the middle of the first
sole. On the cork sole I also lay a coat of the composition, and on this I
place the last sole, on the outside surface of which I make a groove, into
which I insert brass rivets, and I complete the work in the usual manner. It
will be easily understood that the upper leather, heels, and any other parts, as
well as the stitches receive a coating of the composition.
And having fully described my Invention, and the best means with which I
am acquainted of putting it into execution, what I claim and wish to be pro-
tected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is, the composition
and mode of application herein-before described for rendering boots, shoes, and
other similar articles waterproof.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Gilbee, have hereunto set my hand
and scal, this Fifteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
H. GILBEE. (L.S.)