Call Number:

SC MS 0487

Repository:

Lehigh University Special Collections

Extent:

0.25 linear feet ([1] box ; [16] items)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

[Identification of item] Documents Relating to English Printing Patents, SC MS 0487, Special Collections, Linderman Library, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA

Date:

1834-1893 (inclusive)

Creator:

Campbell, Andrew, 1821-1890 and Hoe, Richard March, 1812-1886

Form:

Pamphlets

Abstract:

Extensive collection of British and American documents concerning the printing industry. Includes United States patents (1878) and drawings relating to a pasting and damping machine. The collection also contains reprints of fourteen British patents (1829-1862).

Andrew Campbell (1821-1890) was an American inventor and manufacturer of printing presses, president of the Campbell Press Company of Brooklyn, New York. In 1853 where he invented the press-feeding machine while employed by A.B. Taylor & Co. In 1861, he built the Campell Country Press which was used nationwide by newspaper publishers. In 1866, Campbell built the first press that printed, inserted, posted, folded, and cut in one continuous operation. He held 50 patents and is also credited with other labor-saving machinery such as hat manufacturer, steam engine, tools, lithographic machinery and electric appliances.

Stephen Davis Tucker (1818-1902) was a mechanic and inventor who worked for R. Hoe Company. In 1861 Tucker of New York had filed for a patent (No. 1304) in England for "Improvements in Printing Machinery."

R. Hoe and Company began in 1805 with the partnership of brothers Peter Smith and Matthew Smith who were brothers, and Robert Hoe, an English emigrant. Initially, they specialized in the manufacture of wooden hand printing presses. The company then made high-speed printing presses. The company became known as an innovator in the printing press business making the single large cylinder press, the two-revolution press, double cylinder press, large cylinder perfecting press, small cylinder inking machine, copper-plate copying press, type cases and stands, stereotype blocks, paper ruling press, all the related tools used in the printing business along with a foundry for casting type

A British law known as the Patent Amendment Law of 1852 required the reprinting of patents issued by the Office of the Commissioners of Patents from 1623 to 1852 (in total 12,997 applications). The new law required revenue stamp duties on patents. The patents covered minor to major changes concerning printing presses, engraving, lithography, color processes, printing on fabric, paper, packages and other media.

The collection is divided into two parts: Part A (MS 0487A) and Part B (MS 0487B)

MS 0487A consists of two letters from the United States Patent Office dated 1878, and eight sheets of drawings made by Andrew Campbell relating to a patent for a pasting and damping machine. The patents were the subject of a debate between Andrew Campbell and Stephen D. Tucker.

MS 0487B consists of reprints of fourteen English Printing Patents dating from 1829 to 1852. They are the result of the 1852 Patent Amendment Law, which required an accounting of patents issued between 1623 and 1852. They were removed from a compendium reprinted by the printers George Edward Eyre and William Spottswoode (1856-1863) who were printers to the government of Queen Victoria assembled in index form in several volumes as Specification of Patents by Bennet Woodcroft around 1862. In this collection Patent No. 1304 dated 1861 was awarded to Stephen D. Tucker of New York [see SC MS 0478.A] and William Edward Newton (1818/1820-1879/1900?), a patent agent for Newton and Sons in England for "Improvements in Printing Machinery," patent No. 2382 to Thomas Cecil Andrews of Philadelphia and Alfred Vincent Newton (1820-1900?), a patent agent also for Newton and Sons in England for "Improved Machinery for Printing from Engraved Plates," patent No. 6682 to Joseph Saxton (1799-1873) of Philadelphia and the United States Mint his "Improvements in Printing Presses and in Presses for Certain Other Purposes."

Materials are arranged by format and chronologically. Series 1: American Patents (MS 0487A), 1878 Series 2: British Patents (MS 0487B), 1829-1852