IMPROVED PROCESSES FOR ORNAMENTING METALLIC SURFACES, AND FOR PRODUCING SURFACES IN INTAGLIO OZ IN RELIEF FOR PRINTING PURPOSES
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for
the Invention of "IMPROVED PROCESSES FOR ORNAMENTING METALLIC SURFACES,
AND FOR PRODUCING SURFACES IN INTAGLIO OZ IN RELIEF FOR PRINTING
PURPOSES." A Communication from Charles Nègre, of Paris, in the
Empire of France.
Sealed the 1st January 1858, and dated the 1st July 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 1st July 1857.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED PROCESSES FOR ORNAMENTING
METALLIC SURFACES, AND FOR PRODUCING SURFACES IN INTAGLIO OR IN RELIEF
FOR PRINTING PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to reproduce copies of photographic
images, drawings, and prints by obtaining from them by the action of light
and the employment of chymical and galvanic operations engraved plates,
either in intaglio or in relief, upon iron, steel, copper, and other metals;
also to produce damaskened designs formed by metals of various colors;

page_text: also designs formed or anerent colors by means or several engraved plates,
registering one with the other; also designs of different colors, gold, and
platinum upon porcelain, earthenware, stoneware, &c.; also enamel or
nielle "work, and inlaid work upon metals, marble, stone, &c.
sh
In order to obtain these heliographic engravings, damaskenes, &c., I
employ negative reversed proofs, and ordinary positive and negative
proofs. I spread upon a plate of polished metal a layer of organic matter,
such as bitumen, gelatine, albumen, or gums made sensitive to the action
of light, and capable at the same time of protecting those parts of the
metal which are covered by it either from the action of an acid or a
galvanic current. This layer of sensitive organic matter may either be
acted upon in the camera, or through a negative reversed proof if it be
desired to produce a plate to be printed from after the manner of copper-
plate printing; or through an ordinary positive proof, if it be desired to
have a block for letter-press or block printing; or an ordinary negative is
employed, if it be desired to produce merely the damaskening appearance.
The parts of the layer of bitumen or other matter which have been pro-
tected from the action of the light are then to be removed by means of a
suitable solvent. I then deposit by galvano-plastic means direct upon all
the parts of the metal which have been laid bare by the solvent, a layer
of a metal less oxidizable than the plate of metal under operation, and of
a different color if damaskene work be required to be produced. The
photogenic layer which has served to protect certain parts of the metallic
plate from the galvanic deposit is then removed, and the heliographic
image formed by the organic matter having been also removed, there
remains upon the metallic plate a simple heliographic incrustation repro-
ducing the first image, and formed partly by laying bare the metal serving
as a ground, and partly by the layer of a different metal deposited by
galvanic agency. A shaded incrustation may be obtained by forming an
oxide or metallic sulphuret, the change only taking place at those parts
of the metal which are not covered with the galvanic deposit of gold or
silver. Those parts of the design not protected by the galvanic deposit
are then "bit in," by means of an acid diluted with water, or by a galvanic
current.
The metal to be caten into by electricity is immersed as an anode in a
neutral solution of a soluble salt of that metal, or of another metal of the
same nature. Steel may be immersed as an anode in a solution of an
alkaline salt, or in a saturated solution of sulphate of iron, to which an
alkaline salt is added; copper is immersed in a neutral bath of sulphate of
copper; brass may also be immersed in a bath of sulphate of copper, but it
is desirable to add a quantity of sulphate of zinc, proportioned to the alloy

page_text: of the metal. Gold is platanized and immersed as an anode in å bath
of cyanide and oxide of gold, &c. In operating upon zinc, steel, &c., an
engraving in relief is obtained by means of a reversed negative, by causing
an acid to act upon the metal when laid bare after one of the previous
operations. After the first biting-in, the parts attached are wetted with
gum water, and by means of a roller with some thick ink, the heliographic
varnish which is to protect the parts in relief is covered or strengthened.
A steel plate thus engraved in intaglio or in relief may also serve as a
matrix from which designs may be struck. The metallic plate having
been etched, an inlaid design may be obtained by covering the parts in
relief with a ground, and immersing the plate as a cathode in a solution of
one of the soluble salts of the metal to be obtained, which metal will be
deposited, and will fill up the sunken parts.
"Nielle" work is obtained by filling up the hollow parts with a sub-
stance which will melt into an enamel by means of fire.
An engraving in relief may also be obtained by printing through an
ordinary negative the layer of bitumen placed upon a plate of copper or
silver, &c. After the action of the solvent, the metal will be laid bare
at the parts corresponding to the shaded parts of the design. The plate
is then immersed in a bath of sulphate of copper, and an electric action
set up, and the deposit allowed to form to a certain thickness. All the
separate parts of the design are then united by means of wires, which
will connect all these detached parts, and when the deposit has attained
sufficient consistency it may be detached from the plate. One of these
heliographic engravings being completed, a proof in printers' ink is taken
off upon thin paper, and applied to any surface, such as metal, marble,
stone, &c., to act as a reserve, and a layer of another metal is deposited
upon it in the manner before described for the designs obtained by means
of the sensitive varnish. On obtaining from these engraved plates a proof
formed of a fusible and volatile matter mixed with a metallic oxide, and
applying this proof to porcelain, earthenware, stoneware, &c., the design
will become solidified by the action of heat, and the color will be brought
out. The layer of gelatine, albumen, or gum, with the added chemical
ingredients, having been acted upon through a reversed negative, and all
the parts protected from the action of light having been dissolved, the
polished metal will be laid bare at those parts which correspond to the
light parts of the design. The surface of polished metal when exposed.
to the air becomes covered with a film which protects it from the contact
of water. This property of polished metals may be taken advantage of
for covering the printed plate with varnish or printers' ink, which will
only adhere to those parts of the metal which have been laid bare. The

page_text: layer of gelatine and also those parts of the metal which it covers are then
attacked with acid, and an engraving in intaglio or in relief is obtained
according to the nature of the plate which has been employed.
In order to reproduce in copper an engraved steel plate, all the surface
of the engraved plate is covered with gold or platinum, and afterwards by
galvanic agency copper is deposited thereon, and an exact counterpart of
the engraving is produced. This deposit is then removed, and by means
of a fresh deposit upon this latter an exact copy of the original plate
will be obtained. Engraved plates in intaglio and in relief may also be
obtained from photographs, drawings, &c., by chymical and galvanic
operations, without the employment of the organic matters above
mentioned. For this purpose the metal is reduced in the parts of the sensi-
tive layer acted upon by the light when this layer consists of a salt of
silver or any other metallic salt sensitive to light. The reduction of silver
is effected by allowing the photograph to remain in a bath of gallic acid
and nitrate of silver. The photograph or drawing immersed in a solution
of a metallic salt, and exposed to vapor of phosphorus, will also reduce
the metal in the dark parts of the picture. In this case the two properties
known to appertain to phosphorus are called into action, viz., 1st, that of
only adhering in the form of vapor to the dark parts of a picture, and,
2nd, that of assisting in the reduction and revivification of a metal in
solution; sulphites and phosphates also assist in the revivification of the
metal; a lengthened exposure to light will also suffice in certain cases.
'A deposit of copper is effected upon all parts of a design thus metallized.
If the picture operated upon is a reversed negative, it is necessary, as
soon as the first deposit has acquired a certain consistence, to spread upon
the whole surface of the picture obtained upon glass, or attached by means
of varnish to any plane surface, a close layer of copper filings, which, by
allowing of a deposit upon the whole surface of the picture, will by its
grain give a dark tint to the impression; the metal will only penetrate the
polished surface (which is to produce the light parts) in those parts which
are in contact with the metallized parts of the picture. When the deposit
is deemed to be of sufficient thickness it is removed from the original
picture.
:

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters l'atent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 1st January 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said
William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors, ad-
ministrators, 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 "IMPROVED PROCESSES FOR ORNA-
MENTING METALLIC SURFACES, AND FOR PRODUCING SURFACES IN INTAGLIO OR IN
RELIEF FOR PRINTING PURPOSES." being a communication from Charles Negre,
of Paris, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Edward Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 William Edward Newton, d 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 object of this Invention or "Improved Processes for Ornamenting

page_text: Metallic Surfaces, and for Producing Surfaces in Intaglio or in Relief for
Printing Purposes," is to reproduce copies of photographic images, draw-
ings, and prints, by obtaining from them by the action of light in con-
junction with the employment of chymical and galvanic operations en-
graved plates, either in intaglio or in relief, upon iron, steel, copper and
its alloys, zinc, silver, tin, aluminium, gold, and other metals; also to
produce damaskened designs formed by metals of various colors, also
designs formed of different colors, by means of several engraved plates,
registering one with the other; also designs of different colors, gold and
platinum upon porcelain, cathenware, stoneware, &c.; also enamel or
nielle" work and inlaid work upon metals, marble, stone, &c
"
In order to obtain these heliographic engravings, damaskened and other
ornamental surfaces, the Inventor employs negative reversed proofs, and
ordinary positive and negative proofs. These reversed negatives may be
produced direct in the camera obscura, or they may be obtained in any
other suitable manner.
Upon a plate of polished metal must be spread a layer of organic
matter, such as bitumen, gelatine, albumen, or gums which are sensitive
to the action of light, either by their own nature or rendered so by the
addition of a substance which shall communicate that property to the
surface to be operated upon, and capable at the same time of protecting
those parts of the metal which are covered by it, either from the action of
an acid or of a galvanic current. The organic matters which may be
employed for this purpose are bitumens dissolved in essential oils, or
benzoin and gelatine, or albumen and gums, with the addition of
bichromate of potash. If it be desired to produce a plate to be printed
from after the manner of copper-plate printing, this layer of sensitive
organic matter may either be acted upon in the camera or through a
negative reversed proof. Or, if it be desired to have a block for letter-
press or block printing, the sensitive organic matter may be acted on
through an ordinary positive proof, or an ordinary negative may be em-
ployed if it be desired to produce merely the heliographic damaskening
appearance. The parts of the layer of bitumen or other organic matter
which have been protected from the action of the light are then to be
removed by means of a suitable solvent, such as a composition of oil of
naptha, or of petroleum, benzoin, and essential oils. For gelatine or gums
soluble in water, water may be employed as the solvent. The heliographic
image formed by one of these organic matters is now merely considered
as a reserve or insulating varnish; the Inventor then deposits by galvano-
plastic means direct upon all the parts of the metal which have been laid
bare by the solvent a layer of a metal less oxidizable than the plate of

page_text: metal under operation, and of a different color, if damaskene work be
required to be produced upon zinc, iron, and steel; copper, silver, gold,
platinum, and other metals may be deposited. Upon copper and its
alloys, or upon silver or aluminium, and their alloys, gold and platinum
may be deposited; and upon gold, platinum may be deposited. By means of
an essence, benzoin, or by friction, the photogenic layer which has served
to protect certain parts of the metallic plate from the galvanic deposit
may then be removed, and the heliographic image formed by the organic
matter having been also removed, there remains upon the metallic plate
a simple heliographic incrustation, reproducing the first image, and formed
partly by laying bare the metal serving as a ground, and partly by the
layer of a different metal deposited by galvanic agency. The operation
varies at this point according to whether it be required to obtain a colored
damaskened surface, or an engraved plate for printing. If by means of
heat, or any other means, an oxide or a metallic sulphuret is formed, a
shaded incrustation will be obtained, the change only taking place at those
parts of the metal which are not covered with the galvanic deposit of gold
or silver.
When operating upon brass or copper hydrosulphate of
ammonia may be employed for this purpose, either in the state of vapor or
in the form of a weak solution; or liquid chlorine, chloride of gold,
chloride of platinum, or sulphuret of potassium, &c., may be employed.
For the purpose of biting into those parts of the design not protected
by the galvanic deposit, an acid diluted with water, and which will not
act upon the metal deposited, is employed, or the biting in may be effected
by means of a galvanic current. For zinc, iron, and steel, sulphuric acid
may be used, if the reserve deposited consist of copper or silver; and
nitric acid should be employed for biting into zinc, iron, steel, copper and
its alloys, silver, aluminium, &c., if the reserve deposited consist of
platinum or gold.
The metal to be eaten into by electricity is immersed as an anode in a
neutral solution of a soluble salt of that metal, or of another metal of the
same nature. Steel may be immersed as an anode in a solution of an
alkaline salt, placing a second plate of iron at the positive pole or in a
saturated solution of sulphate of iron, to which an alkaline salt is added,
with a plate of copper as cathode. Copper is immersed in a neutral bath
of sulphate of copper; brass may also be immersed in a bath of sulphate
of copper, but it is desirable to add a quantity of sulphate of zinc pro-
portioned to the alloy of the metal; gold is platinized and immersed as an
anode in a bath of cyanide and oxide of gold. In operating upon zinc,
steel, &c., an engraving in relief is obtained, by means of a reversed
negative, by causing an acid to act upon the metal when laid bare after

page_text: one of the previous operations. After the first biting in, the parts
attached are to be wetted with gum water, and by means of a roller with
some thick ink, the heliographic varnish which is to protect the parts in
relief is to be covered or strengthened. The projecting parts in the
printing blocks must have the polish taken off them by any well-known
means, in order that they may take the ink easily. A steel plate thus
engraved in intaglio or relief may also serve as a matrix, from which
designs may be struck. The metallic plate having been etched, an inlaid
design may be obtained by covering the parts in relief with a reserve or
ground, and immersing the plate as a cathode in a solution of one of the
soluble salts of the metal to be obtained, which metal will be deposited,
and will fill up the sunken parts.
"Nielle" work is obtained by filling up the hollow parts with a sub-
stance which will melt into an enamel by means of fire, as is well known.
An engraving in relief may also be produced by printing through an
ordinary negative on the layer of bitumen placed upon a plate of copper
or silver, &c. After the action of the solvent, the metal will be laid bare
at the parts corresponding to the shaded parts of the design. The plate is
then immersed in a bath of sulphate of copper, and put in communication
with the zinc of the battery. At the other pole a second plate of copper
is placed, and the deposit is allowed to form to a certain thickness. All
the separate parts of the design are then united by means of wires, which
will connect all these detached parts, and when the deposit has attained
sufficient consistency it may be detached from the plate. One of these
heliographic engravings being completed, a proof in printers' ink is
taken off upon thin paper slightly sized, and this proof is applied to any
surface, such as metal, marble, stone, &c., to act as a reserve, and a layer
of another metal is deposited upon it in the manner before described for
the designs obtained by means of the sensitive varnish. After the
heliographic operation it is advisable to slightly scour the design before
immersing the metallic plate in the galvanic baths. Oxalic, hydrochloric,
nitric, or sulphuric acids diluted with water may be employed according
to the nature of the metal to be operated upon, or any other known means
of scouring may be employed. On obtaining from these engraved plates
a proof, formed of a fusible and volatile matter mixed with a metalic
oxide, and applying this proof to porcelain, earthenware, or stoneware,
the design will become solidified by the action of heat and the color will
be brought out. The layer of gelatine, albumen, or gum, &c., added to
bichromate of potash having been acted upon through a reversed negative,
and all the parts protected from the action of light having been dissolved,
the polished metal will be laid bare at those parts which correspond to

page_text: water.
the light parts of the design. The surface of polished metal when ex-
posed to the air becomes covered with a film of a compound of hydrogen
and resinous matters, which protect this surface from the contact of
This property of polished metals may be taken advantage of for
covering the printed plate (after having immersed it in water) with
varnish or printers' ink, which will only adhere to those parts of the metal
which have been laid bare. The layer of gelatine, and also those parts of
the metal which it covers, are then attacked with an acid, and an engrav-
ing in intaglio or in relief is obtained according to the nature of the plate
which has been employed.
In order to reproduce in copper an engraved steel plate all the surface
of the engraved plate is covered with gold or platinum, and afterwards
by galvanic agency copper is deposited thercon, and an exact counter-
part of the engraving is produced. This deposit is then removed, and by
means of a fresh deposit upon this latter an exact copy of the original
plate will be obtained. Engraved plates in intaglio and in relief may
also be obtained from photographs, drawings, &c. by chymical and
galvanic operations without the employment of the organic matters
mentioned in the first part of this description. For this purpose the
metal is reduced in the parts of the sensitive layer acted upon by the
light, when this layer consists of a salt of silver or any other metallic salt
sensitive to light. The reduction of silver is effected by allowing the
photograph to remain in a bath of gallic acid and nitrate of silver. The
photograph or drawing immersed in a solution of a metallic salt, and ex-
posed to vapor of phosphorus will also reduce the metal in the dark parts
of the picture. In this case the two properties known to appertain to
phosphorus are called into action, viz, first, that of only adhering in the
form of vapor to the dark parts of a picture; and, second, that of assisting
in the reduction and revivification of a metal in solution. Sulphites and
phosphates also assist in the revivification of the metal. A lengthened
exposure to light will also suffice in certain cases. A deposit of copper is
effected upon all the parts of a design thus metallized. If the picture
operated upon is a reversed negative, it is necessary, as soon as the first
deposit has acquired a certain consistence, to spread upon the whole
surface of the picture obtained upon glass, or attached by means of
varnish to any plain surface, a close or compact layer of copper filings,
which by allowing of a deposit upon the whole surface of the picture
will by its grain give a dark tint to the impression. The portions in con-
tact with the image or picture will furnish the whites by thin polish.
When the deposit is considered sufficient it may be detached.
Having now described this Invention of "Improved Processes for Orna-

page_text: menting Metallic Surfaces, and for Producing Surfaces in Intaglio or in
Relief for Printing Purposes," as communicated to me by my foreign
correspondent, and the manner of carrying the same into effect, I desire
it to be understood that what I claim under the above in part recited
Letters Patent is,―
Firstly, the application or combination of the process of galvanoplasty,
or the electro-deposit or reduction of metals, with the art or process of
photography, for the purpose of obtaining engraved plates in intaglio
or in relief for printing therefrom or for obtaining ornamental designs or
surfaces; I claim particularly producing, by means of electricity, direct
deposits or metallic images of gold, platinum, copper, &c., upon the sur-
face of another metal, such as steel, iron, copper, &c., partially covered
with a photographic varnish insulating and utilizing this superposed metal
as a reserve or ground, for the purpose of attacking and biting into the
more oxidizable metal forming the foundation or back, either by means
of an acid or by electricity.
Secondly. I claim effecting by means of electricity direct metallic de-
posits upon photographic images obtained by means of a metallic salt.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the First day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFAtt,
66, Chancery Lane..
W. E. NEW TON. (1..s.)