IMPROVEMENTS IN PRODUCING PRINTING SURFACES AND PRINTING CHINA, POTTERY WARE, MUSIC MAPS, AND PORTRAITS
Year: 1841

page_text: PALMER, of Newgate Street, in the City of London, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twelfth day of June, in the fourth year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give aud grant unto me, the said Edward
Palmer, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I,.
the said Edward Palmer, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Edward Palmer, my exors, aditiors, or assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the term
of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my.
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRODUCING PRINTING SURFACES AND PRINTING
CHINA, POTTERY WARE, MUSIC MAPS, AND PORTRAITS; "in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said Edward Palmer, shall cause a
particular description of the nature of my said Invention,and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same,
reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Edward Palmer, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and

page_text: the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof (that is to say):-
My Invention consists,―
First, of a mode of obtaining printing surfaces by drawing and painting on
silver or copper or other metallic or conducting surface or surfaces, or by
painting or drawing on other surfaces made conducting after painting or draw-
ing thereon, in such manner as to enable me, bythe use of the known process
of electrotype or electrography, to obtain copper or other metallic plates or
other surfaces with sunken surfaces, from which prints may be taken as from
engraved copper or steel plates or rollers.
Secondly, my Invention consists in a mode of drawing or painting on
copper or other metallic or conducting surface or surfaces, or on surfaces
made conducting after painting or drawing thereon, so as to enable me, by
the use of the aforesaid process of electrotype or electrography, to produce or
obtain copper or other metallic plates with raised surfaces, from which prints
may be taken as from engraved wood blocks or stereotype plates.
I now proceed to describe the mode by which the first part of my Invention
is carried on. Having first obtained a silver, a German silver, or albata, a
copper or other metallic plate or surface made metallic for the process of
electrotyping of the required size, which will not be prejudicially acted on by
the solution used, with its face whitened if copper be used, either by a deposit
of silver by electric deposition, or a coating of silver placed on it by other
means, or by a coating of platinum, or any other white metallic or conducting
surface or surfaces made metallic or conducting for the process of electrotyp-
ing, and having soldered or otherwise suitably affixed a small strip of copper
to the back of the plate or surface, for the purpose of connection with a
voltaic battery, the artist can make his outline in any way considered the
most suitable, to which making an outline i make no claim. If the electro-
tint painting be made from the life, the composition hereafter tobe described
can be used with a fine sabel pencil, if slightly thinned with spirits of turpen-
tine; but if the artist be desirous of transferring the outline of a sketch already
made, it may be traced in the ordinary way and rendered more permanent by
slightly scratching the surface. When a satisfactory outline has been obtained,
the plate or surface is to be placed in such a position as to reflect the window
of the apartments, or a white surface of some kind, such as an engraver's
shade;in order to see more clearly the work as it is produced on the surface
of the plate. If the surface be a dull white or aqua-tint ground, this is not
absolutely necessary. The painting may then be proceeded with, the polished
or white surface of the plate being left uncovered in those parts where abso-

page_text: lute white is required, the composition laid on thickly and roughly in the dark
and black portions, and the intermediate shades rough and thick in proportion
to the degree of "color" or "tone" required. It is necessary to bear in
mind that a picture painted smoothly, especially in the dark parts, however
perfect it may appear on the plate, will not produce an impression capable of
receiving and transferring the printing ink in an equal degree, as the rubbing
which it undergoes to take off the superfluous ink renders all the smooth
portions of the plate nearly bare. To obtain a regular roughness sufficient to
retain the printing ink, and at the same time to produce an appropriate
"texture," various modes of "handling" may be employed; for instance, a flat
tint made bylspreading the composition over the plate, and striking a fitch or
hog-hair brush perpendicularly all over it, will give an impression in the electro-
tint plate that will retain the printing ink by numberless minute indentations.
Cut brushes of different sorts make a series of continuous lines on the plate
of different degrees of fineness which form corresponding indented lines inthe
voltaic deposit capable of receiving and transferring the ink, so as to produce
the same effect on paper or other material as had been previously obtained on
the plate. A mixture of the styles of handling already mentioned will be found
useful, that is, the texture produced by the cut brush being slightly softened
by dabbling the fitch brush perpendicularly on it. A "dragged " texture can
be produced by passing a soft brush held in a slanting position quickly over
the surface. After the brush has been well filled with the composition slightly
thinned with spirits of turpentine, this can be done over a tint already laid on,
if a little care be taken not to disturb the composition. The modes of hand-
ling may be varied so as to obtain the texture an artist may desire. The
composition to be used by artists in the electrotint paintings is made of the
under-mentioned ingredients. I do not, however, confine myself thereto, as
the same may be varied. One part, by weight, of white wax, two of lard,
and one of lamp black, melted together, and stirred till nearly cold. To
render this composition fit for use, it is to be ground with a small quantity of
olive oil. The consistence required depends, in some measure, on the nature
of the subject. It ought to be thin enough to work freely, and yet sufficiently
firm to retain the position it is placed in without spreading. This composi-
tion never dries, and consequently can be removed from the plate, or its posi-
tion altered at pleasure. The brushes requisite are those commonly used by
artists, sable, hog hair, fitch, and camel's hair, either in the common form or
cut in different ways to facilitate the production of the effect intended, as is
well-understood by artists. Points of wood, ivory, and metal will be occa-
sionally required, and also a dabble of silk or other material. The painting

page_text: being finished by the artist, it is to be slightly touched in the dark parts with
plumbago (in fine powder), or other suitable material for making the surface
conducting, with a small pencil, and submitted to the electrotype process,
which is well understood, by which means a metal plate is produced capable
of transferring to paper or other material a fac-simile of the original painting
If any of the tints should prove too dark, the burnisher, scraper, or other tool
may be used, and any portions not sufficiently dark may be touched with the
graver or etched the same as an ordinary copper plate. When it is desired
to produce a washy texture, I prefer a composition as follows:-Mix equal
parts of wax and ivory black, ground with olive oil, and made thin with
spirits of turpentine. This may be used with any of the brushes already
mentioned. A soft brush containing plumbago passed over the painting will
tend to harden the composition, and make the surface a conducting surface.
I will now describe the second part of my Invention. The required subject
is painted on a darkened or black copper or other plate with a white or light-
coloured material, so as to produce the effect intended by means of such
brushes or tools as will leave the composition in lines or dots capable of
making an impression in the electro-tint plate sufficient, so as not to come in
contact withthe printing roller, whilstthose parts of thedarkened copper which
are left visible, either in lines or dots, will, when electrotyped, receive the ink
from the roller, and when printed from, transfer an impression to paper or
other material. The composition used is made in the following manner:
Two parts, by weight, of sulphate of lead, two of lard, and one of wax, melted
together, and stirred till nearly cold. This composition is not likely to be too
thick. A little olive oil can, however, be used with it if it should prove so;
and if too thin, more of the sulphate may be added. The composition should
be well ground before it is used. The brushes recommended for this "sur-
face electrotint" are the cut brushes ofdifferent degrees of fineness mentioned
as being applicable to the first process, sable pencils in their common shape,
points of ivory, &c., and an instrument with several projecting points soine-
what resembling a comb. After the outline of the subject has been made in
any way, so as not easily to be obliterated, those parts of the plate which are
intended to be black are left bare; the-intermediate shades between black and
white which are obtained by painting with the cut brushes, which leave lines
or points of composition of considerable projection. Broad portions of light
are obtained by heaping on the composition to the thickness of one eighth of
an inch or more in proportion to the size of the masses of white. In those
instances where a white back ground or very large portion of white occurs, it
is only necessary to raise a wall of the composition about an eighth of an inch

page_text: thick round the edge of the subject, as the copper, &c. beyond the wall can
be protected by a sealing wax or other suitable varnish. Flat tints for flesh,
back grounds, &c. can be formed by striking a fitch or other brush perpen-
dicularly, so as to produce numberless projecting points which make corre-
sponding indentations on the deposit too deep to receive any ink from the
roller. A beautiful "dragged" texture is produced by using the composition
thinned a little with spirits of turpentine with a soft brush held in a slanting
direction, and passed quickly over the surface; this leaves the composition in
a series of raised dots on those parts of the surface over which the brush has
passed. In this manner may a suitable conducting surface be prepared for
obtaining an electrotype plate or surface, using plumbago or other suitable
material to make the surface conducting where the surface is covered with
composition as above explained. As it is sometimes necessary, in printing
from wood blocks, to lower the light parts, so also is it sometimes necessary
in electrotype surfaces according to this part of my Invention; I will therefore
describe the ineans I practise for lowering the light parts, though other means
may be used:-I take a sheet of millboard, and fold it in the middle, so that
the two flaps or sides may fold on each other without shifting. I then take
a number of sheets of paper, according to the depth I wish the plate to be
lowered, and affix them to one flap. I then trace on the upper sheet the
outline the parts to be lowered. I then with a penknife cut through all the
sheets where the plate is to be most lowered, and only through a portion of
them in other places according to the depth required, taking care that the
edges are cut on a bevil or slanting edge, and not a sudden one or vertical.
The portions which have been cut out must now be rubbed over with paste
or cement, and the other flap of millboard shut on them, to which they will
adhere. This is to be repeated until all the pieces cut out are taken from
the hollows, and thus the parts cut out will project on the surface of one part
of the millboard, and when shut will correctly fit into the hollows cut out from
the sheets of paper resting on the other surface of millboard. I then take a
polished soft copper plate, and place it between the flaps of millboard in such
manner that the plate will have the projecting surface produced by the cut-out
paper on one side, and the sheets of paper with the hollows on the other side,
and I submit the whole to pressure, by which means the plate will be undu-
lated in those places where the paper has been cut out, and, to a degree,
depending on the depth to which the paper has been cut out; and as such
lowering is according to the outline of the design which is to be painted or
produced on the plate, the lowering will be in the proper places for the
design. The artist will now proceed in painting and producing the picture or

page_text: design on the plate or surfaces; an electrotint surface is to be obtained as
before described. In some instances the Drawing can be made on a flat
ground, and the electrotype block entrusted to the wood-cut prover who would
prepare it for the ordinary printing press, or these effects may be produced by
other means.
.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I would remark that, in addition to these
electrotint surfaces (whether printing by the ink being received in the sunken
parts thereof, or when used for surface printing), producing impressions of a
novel kind on paper or other material of the original painting, such means of
producing printing surfaces will be found particularly applicable in the print-
ing of china, pottery ware, music, maps, and portraits; and it only remains to
be remarked, that in preparing the drawing or printed design on a suitable
surface, and with a convenient composition, that care is to be observed that
the surface of the composition should be made conducting by plumbago or
other suitable material, in order not to trust to the simple conducting pro-
perties of the surface on which the painting or drawing is executed (when it
is on conducting surfaces); for although fine lines or dots, at intervals apart,
made of various materials on a conducting surface, may have an electrotype
plate taken from the same, and which would have produced therein narrow
hollow lines or indents for the lines or dots of the original plate, owing to the
lines and dots being narrow and small, and surrounded by a conducting
material, yet, in executing a painting varying in dark and light parts, and of
shadows, and in the extent thereof, and the various parts of the drawing or
painting should be made conducting before taking what I have called electro-
tint printing surfaces; and although I have been particular in describing the
means pursued by me in carrying out my invention, I do not confine myself
thereto, provided the peculiar character of the Invention be retained. But
what I claim is, the mode herein described of producing printing surfaces by
painting or drawing with suitable composition, and obtaining electrotype plates
or other surfaces therefrom; and I do also claim (in addition to their appli-
cation to other purposes) their application to the purposes of printing china,
pottery ware, music, maps, and portraits.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Palmer, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eleventh day of December, One thousand eight
hundred and forty-one.
EDWARD (L.S.) PALMER.
EDWARD (L.S.)
(L.S.) PALMER.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that ou the Eleventh day of December, in
the year of our Lord 1841, the aforesaid Edward Palmer, Esquire, came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specifica-
tion aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Eleventh day of December, in the year of our Lord One