CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN TYPOGRAPHY
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to François Fortuné Benvenuti, of Paris, France, and
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Gentleman, for the Invention of
CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN TYPOGRAPHY.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said François Fortuné Ben-
venuti at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 2nd October 1855.
I, FRANÇOIS FORTUNE BENVENUTI, of Paris, France, and 4, South Street,
Finsbury, London, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention
of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN TYPOGRAPHY" to be as follows, that is to say:-
My Invention consists in economising the time & facilitating the process
of composing in printing by casting two letters together, so as to form one
type; also in improved apparatus for arranging & composing the said type.
The apparatus consist of three wooden frames or trestles, which are pro-
vided with a suitable number of small boxes or cases for containing the type,
composed, as before stated, of two letters cast in one piece; some of the boxes,
however, contain single or ordinary type. Each frame is made with drawers or
cases containing different forms of type, & are placed one over the other. The
three cases above mentioned are of the form of a segment of two-concentric
circles, & when placed together form nearly a complete circle. In the centre
is placed a circular case containing type for various forms of figures.

page_text: The compositor, by standing in the space between this table & the before-
mentioned composing frame, has all the various type, at his command. Each
small type box has a ticket or indicator, shewing its contents. In this manner,
by the peculiar arrangement of double letters, the compositor is able to com-
pose in any language using the Roman type.
My improvements consist further in a composing frame. or galley. It is
formed of four pieces of wood, connected together by suitable binding rods &
screws. Upon this is placed a metal frame; across this are soldered strips of
the same material, between which are placed the double types, as in the ordinary
manner. A border frame composed of wood is then placed upon the metallic
frame, the whole being fixed together by pegs. The galley is also furnished
with buttons at each end, to which are attached straps for the purpose of
suspending it to the shoulders of the workman. At one end of this frame
is fixed when required a visorium or reading stand, upon which is placed the
manuscript to be set up. It is furnished with a guide or indicator, easily
moved to shew which line is being composed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said François Fortuné Benvenuti in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 2nd April 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRANÇOIS
FORTUNE BENVENUTI, of Paris, France, and of 4, South Street, Finsbury,
London, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the. said
François Fortuné Benvenuti, Her special license that I, the said François
Fortuné Benvenuti, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said François Fortuné Benvenuti, 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
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN TYPOGRAPHY," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said François Fortuné Benvenuti, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature

page_text: 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 François Fortuné Benvenuti, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawing hereto
annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say :-
My Invention consists in economising the time, and facilitating the process
of composing in printing, by using two letters cast together so as to form one:
type; also an improved apparatus for arranging and composing the type.
The use of single type for the composition of words in printing renders the
work laborious and long. It is well known, for instance, that to compose
the word commerce the workman is obliged to have recourse eight times to
the cases.
But by this new system for the same word he will have to use but
four double characters, which he takes from cases ranged on circular trestles, as
shewn in the annexed Drawing, each of which may be recognized by projecting
characters denoting their contents. If the word to be printed is composed
of an uneven number of letters, abundance, for instance, after having used
the double type ab, un, da, nc, he will take out of the uneven type cases the
single character e, and the word will be completed with the same speed.
1
5
2
3
+
My system affords both even and uneven pairs of type for all the words of.
the English, French, and any other foreign language, written with Roman
characters, and contains all the accentuated letters, algebraic signs, punc-
tuations, and abbreviations, which are the most in use; and also letters
with an apostrophe, or cedilla, or an accent, such as l'homme, l', ho, mm, e,
façon, fa,
1
2
4
ç, on, apôtre, ap, ó, tr, e, or with vowels connected together, as
maurs, m, ce, ur, s.
1 2
3 +
4
The circular arrangement and classification by alphabetical letters of the type
contained in the cases, gives the compositor a greater command of the type,.
by merely turning on his right or left, according to the position of the case
on either side. The use of the composing stick causes a loss of time, as
the compositor is obliged to put the characters in this instrument before
making use of the galley, and by this double labour, besides the inconvenience
which it often presents, it is sometimes accompanied with great. irregularities
in-the-arrangement of the characters already disposed on the galley, and too
many repeated derangements. To obviate these defects I have invented a new

page_text: mechanism. For this purpose the compositor makes use of the galley (which
he bears before him at the height of his waist), fastened to him by means of
a large belt thrown over one of his shoulders, and held by four small straps
with button holes and buttons, suitably adapted and fixed on the upper and
lower part of the edges of the galley. The four small straps have buckles, so
as to be lengthened or shortened according to the size of the workman. This
galley is composed of a smooth plate rather larger than the sheet of paper
that is to be laid upon it. This plate must be provided with moveable blades
not so high as the characters for filling up the lines which are to be composed,
and between which the type is placed, so as to remain upright in the desired
order. The blades must be pierced at both ends, so as to enable the rods to
pass through them. By this means the rods are allowed to go forward or
backwards, according as required, and the same plate can be made use of for
all sizes of type. Each of the plates is provided with four moveable edges or
borders, one on each side, and pierced and fastened by the rods. Each galley
is provided with four screw rods, viz., two, one on each side to fix the edges and
blades, and two others, one at the upper part, the other at the lower part, to
keep the two edges steady. To the upper and lower edges of the galley a
metal or wooden knob is fixed, to which the small straps are adapted. The
extremity of one of the rods has a key and nut, and the other a knob. When
the workman is to compose, he must dispose the blades so as only to leave
between them the necessary space for the insertion of the characters. For
this purpose, he must introduce between the extremities of the blades two
wedges as thick as the type he has to make use of, after which he must turn
the nuts round, so as to keep the several pieces of which the galley is
composed immoveable, and dispose the type between the blades, as for the
composing stick. He again turns the screw in order to ascertain if the galley
is secure, and then the plate will be composed. To separate or shorten the
lines when it is necessary to make use of smaller or larger type than that
which is employed in the frame of the plate, it is necessary to make use of
the usual space lines or leads, but they must always be of the same height as
the blades which are already fixed in the galley.
The position hitherto assigned to the visorium, leading also to frequent
derangements, either on account of the distance which separates the workman
from it, or on account of the time that the latter is obliged to employ in
searching for the words, I have the instrument to follow the compositor, so as
to be constantly under his eyes. For this purpose the visorium must be placed
at the end of the galley on the upper edge, in which a hole is made to receive
it, and in an inclined backward position, in order to facilitate the reading of

page_text: any writing which may be placed upon it. I can employ the visorium as it is
generally employed, although I prefer using it with the improvements herein-
after described. The visorium is provided with a small chain or piece of string,
with a pencil or pin at the end of it, in order to mark the place the workman
stops at, when he is obliged to throw his eyes off the writing to compose.
I would observe, that in addition to the great advantage which results from
the new construction of galley, both for the regularity of the composed lines,
as for the saving of time, the workman also acquires another advantage,
which is that of having both his hands free, so that he can employ them for
Figure 1 is a plan of the type cases, resting upon a frame or trestle of a
segmentary form. Each case is about eight feet wide by six feet high, but
this extent diminishes according to the position of the frame or trestle.
There are three cases; the first, from A to J; the second, from J to R;
and the third, from R to Z. These letters also serve to indicate to the com-
positor the type contained in each case, in alphabetical order. Each case is
divided into compartments indicated by the Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 1', 2', 3',
4, 5, and 1", 2", 3", 4", and these compartments are divided into nine
hundred and thirty-six irregular cases, on account of the form of the
trestles upon which they rest. These compartments are about two and one-
third inches wide, by two inches high and two and one-third inches deep, so
that each of them can contain the necessary quantity of type. The trestles
are disposed so as to contain as many cases, which are set one over the other,
as there are different sorts of characters used in printing.
The divisions are made with slides, to enable those characters which are
necessary to be substituted for those which are not required. Each of these
cases is divided into as many compartments as there are in the first, so that
each case contains on the same level all that is requisite for a workman for the
accomplishment of the work he is composing. The compartments are all
designated by projecting letters, indicating the character and other signs that
they contain, thus
The cases shewn in blank on the Drawing serve
case
to contain the single alphabetical type, such as capitals, &c. The alphabetical
letters on the first row, from A to J, are single letters without apostrophes ;.
those from J to R in the same row are small capitals; those from R to Z
single characters with apostrophes; and, finally, those from A to Z, tenth.
horizontal row of the second division, small capitals with apostrophes. Under

page_text: this series of compartments are the accentuated characters and abbreviations,
united together in the same manner as shown in the Drawing, and underneath
these are set the signs of punctuation and algebra.
Figure 2 is also a combination of double and single Arabian and Roman
figures, by means of which all required numbers can be composed with the
same economy of time as the type. This table is about eleven inches in
diameter, and contains six moveable compartments to enable the printer to
substitute them for others when required. This case is divided into one
hundred and twenty-eight irregular compartments; its form is round, but it
can be square. In both cases it can be mounted on a pivot, so as to make it
turn round, if necessary, or remain stationary according to requirement.
The position of the workman in Figure 1 allows him to be in front of the
type, and also to lay hold of the figures he may require without disturbing
himself. The spaces indicated in the Drawings by the arrows serve as
passages to the workman. The blank spaces in the table of Figures 1 and 2
are intended for quadrats, quadratines, semi-quadratines, spaces, vignettes,
tail-pieces, &c.
Figure 3 is the galley, set up and disposed to receive the type. At its top
part is set the visorium, Figure 4; A, B, C, D, four knobs, to which the straps
are fastened; e, f, k, i, nuts, adapted to the rods on the upper and lower sides;
g, h, i, j, nuts of the two side rods. The rods on the right and left sides go
through and support in the proper order the composing blades. 2, 1, 2, 2,
m, m, p, p, heads of the eight moveable pins, which are passed through the
edges, and firmly fixed to the sides of the plate.
Figure 4, the visorium, fixed on the upper edge of the galley, with writing O
to be composed; it is provided with a pin n. The visorium must be inclined
backwards, so as to form an obtuse angle with the galley, to facilitate the
reading of the writing adapted to it.
Figure 5 shews the four rods i', g', e, f'; the four nuts k', i', j', h'; also the
four knobs which serve for fixing the rods.
Figure 6, four moveable edges or frame of the galley, with holes at its
extremities through which the rods must pass. A', B', C', D', four knobs for
the small straps; y, the hole in which the visorium is to be fixed; q", q", 2", 2",
M", M", P", P", holes for the pins.
Figure 7, a composing blade, with holes through which the rods are to pass
at its extremities r, r.
Figure 8, edge with holes, through which the rods X, X, also pass. 1, 2,
holes for the pins.
Figure 9, the visorium, which is the same as that usually employed, with

page_text: this difference, that it should only be three inches high, and that the point on
which it is fixed is inclined backward. The letters u, v, indicate the writing
which is placed on the visorium. s, t, is the chain, provided with a pin for
marking the point at which the compositor stops while composing.
Figure 10, belt about four and a half feet long, with straps, from which
the galley is suspended. For this purpose the workman passes the belt over
his shoulder, and adapts the galley to its ends, so as to have it conveniently in
front. The straps are provided with buckles, in order to lengthen or shorten
them according as required.
Figure 11, galley with the composing blades, without the edges M', M',
P', P, Q, Q, Z, Z', holes made in the sides of the plate, through which small
moveable pins are passed, in order to hold from the edges against the plate
when the rods are loosened or taken out.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be carried into effect, I would have it understood that
I do not coufine myself to the precise details herein laid down, so long as
the peculiar character of my Invention be retained; but what I claim as my
Invention is,
First, the arrangement of double type, as herein-before described and repre-
sented in the Drawings.
Secondly, the mode of arranging the type cases, as herein-before described
and referred to in Figures 1 and 2 of the Drawings.
Thirdly, the construction and employment of the galley as a substitute for
the ordinary composing stick, as herein-before described and referred to in
Figures 3 to 11 of the Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said François Fortuné Benvenuti, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
F. F. BENVENUTI. (L.B.)