IMPROVEMENTS IN NATURE PRINTING FROM PLANTS, LEAVES, OR OTHER NATURAL OBJECTS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Craven Baildon, of Edinburgh, Scotland,
Chemist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN NATURE PRINTING
FROM PLANTS, LEAVES, OR OTHER NATURAL OBJECTS."
Sealed the 12th November 1867, and dated the 15th May 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Craven Baildon at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th May 1867.
I, HENRY CRAVEN BAILDON, of Edinburgh, Scotland, Chemist, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN NATURE
PRINTING FROM PLANTS, LEAVES, OR OTHER NATURAL OBJECTS," to be as
follows:-
My Invention has for its object the more perfect production of facsimile
copies of the fronds of ferns, leaves of plants, and other natural objects by
means of impressions taken with transfer ink directly from the plant or other
natural object itself, and transferred to a lithographic stone in the usual
manner; then from this transfer impressions can be taken with coloured
ink, and one, two, or more printings can be used to produce an exact copy of
the natural object, and such exact copies can be multiplied by printing in the
usual manner. For this purpose a smooth surface of metal, stone, or wood is
in the first instance covered with a thin layer or coating of transfer ink.. The
frond of fern, leaf of a plant, or other suitable object after having been,
when required, previously pressed and dried, is then laid carefully on the

page_text: inked, surface; this leaf or other natural object is then pressed or rubbed
equally all over, so as to cause the ink to become equally applied all over the
surface of the same. It is then placed on suitably damped transfer paper and
passed through or under a press. By this means a facsimile copy of the leaf
or other natural object is produced on the transfer paper, which copy is
transferred to the stone by the usual process of transferring, and is printed
therefrom in colours as required. In some cases the first printing is made
only in skeleton or outline, shewing the veins and fibres of the leaf, or corre-
sponding parts of other natural objects, and a second printing is used for
producing the flat tint of the colour required. A large number of impressions
may now be obtained from the stone, being all facsimile copies of the frond or
leaf, or other natural object.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Craven Baildon in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 13th November 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
CRAVEN BAILDON, of Edinburgh, Scotland, Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent. Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Henry Craven Baildon, Her special licence that I, the said Henry Craven
Baildon, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Henry Craven Baildon, 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN NATURE PRINTING FROM PLANTS, LEAVES, OR OTHER NATURAL OBJECTS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Craven Baildon,
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 per-
formed, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Craven Baildon, do hereby declare
the 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 (that is to say):-
My Invention of "Improvements in Nature Printing from Plants, Leaves,
or other Natural Objects," has for its object the more perfect production of
facsimile copies of the fronds of ferns, leaves of plants, and other natural
objects, by means of impressions taken with transfer ink directly from the
plant or other natural object itself; and transferred to a lithographic stone in
the usual manner; then from this transfer impressions can be taken with
colored ink, and one, two, or more printings can be used to produce an exact
copy of the natural object, and such exact copies can be multiplied by printing in
the usual manner. The transfer ink is applied either directly to the frond or
leaf or other natural object by means of a small printing roller, or through the
medium of a smooth stone or smooth surface of metal, or a piece of paper
previously inked with the roller. The frond of fern, leaf of a plant, or other
suitable object after having been when required pressed and dried, is then
carefully inked with the roller, or laid upon or under the inked surface of the
stone, metal, or paper, and then in the latter case pressed or rubbed equally
all over, so as to cause the ink to become equally applied to the surface of the
same. The frond, or leaf, or other natural object is then placed on suitably
damped transfer paper and passed through or under a press. By this means
a facsimile copy of the leaf or other natural object is produced on the transfer
paper, which copy is transferred to the stone by the usual process of trans-
ferring, and is printed therefrom in colors as required. In some cases the
first printing is made only in skeleton or outline, shewing the veins and fibres
of the leaf, or corresponding parts of other natural objects, and a second
printing is used for producing the flat tint of the colour required. In some
cases also when the stem of a leaf intended to be printed fromi is hard and
projecting, thereby preventing the entire detail of such leaf at its junction
with the stem from being obtained with the requisite clearness, any little
deficiency is made up as required by hand on the stone after the transfer has
been made. A large number of impressions may now be obtained from the
stone, being all facsimile copies of the frond or leaf, or other natural object.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I would remark that the mode of
applying the transfer ink to the object to be transferred to the stone may be
varied, and that I do not claim as of my Invention the process of transferring
from transfer paper or to lithographic stones and printing therefrom, except

page_text: as applied to nature printing; but what I do claim as of my Invention is,
the production of facsimile copies of fronds of ferns, leaves of plants, and other
suitable natural objects by taking impressions on transfer paper direct from a
frond, or leaf, or other natural object, and transferring the same on to litho-
graphic stones and printing therefrom, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Craven Baildon, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Ninth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
HENRY CRAVEN BAILDON. (L.S.)
Witness,
JAMES HURLEY,
9th November, 1867,
Druggist's Assistant.