17 No. 3. 18

Imperial Gazette.

Woodcut of the Imperial coat of arms of the Holy Roman Empire, featuring a double-headed eagle wearing the Imperial Crown, holding a sword in one talon and a scepter in the other, with a shield on its breast. The eagle separates the two halves of the title.

German Imperial State Affairs.

On December 16, in Corvey The Princely Abbey of Corvey was a prestigious ecclesiastical territory within the Holy Roman Empire., the Baron Ferdinand von Lüning—born February 15, 1756, and previously a Cathedral Capitular a high-ranking member of the clergy belonging to a cathedral chapter of Münster and a Domicellar a junior canon at Corvey—was elected as the Prince-Bishop a bishop who also held the rank and authority of a secular prince of the Empire of Corvey. This took place in the presence of the Imperial Election Commissioner, the Imperial Count of Westphalia.

Arts, Manufactures, and Factories.

A new method for copying letters and other written documents; invented by J. Watt of Birmingham.

One writes the letter, or any other written matter that is to be copied, using the ink which I shall describe below, or with any other viscous substance. This refers to James Watt’s famous invention of the copying press, patented in 1780, which remained the standard for office copying for over a century. [The paper must be of such a quality] that it cannot be written upon referring to the thin, unsized tissue paper used for copying; cut it to the size of the original to be printed, moisten it by means of a brush or sponge with water, or dip it in all at once, and then place it between thick blotting paper, two pieces of cloth, or any other material that will absorb the excess moisture, and press it gently. Once this is done, place this dry-moistened paper either on top of or under the surface of the document to be copied, so that all points of the writing are in contact,

and on the other side place a piece of clean writing paper, or fine cloth, and the like.

Then, place both in a fixed position onto the lower surface of an ordinary rolling press, or onto the lower surface of the machine for which I shall include an illustration and description below, and pull it through once or several times, exactly as is done when printing copperplate engravings. A screw press can also be used for this purpose, proceeding in the manner described; or even any other heavy and uniform weight may be used for want of a better tool.

A portion of the ink from the original writing is thereby pressed onto and into the thin, moistened paper, providing a more or less faint copy, depending on the nature of the ink used and the quality of the paper.

Specifically, on one side, the letters are printed in reverse, but they regain their proper orientation on the other side by means of the paper’s transparency.

To make the copy of the writing even stronger, more legible, and more permanent, one should moisten the aforementioned thin paper with the following liquid and then proceed as before: or one may dampen it with the liquid, dry it again, and pull it through clean water when one wishes to use it.

Take two pounds of distilled wine vinegar and dissolve in it 2 Loth A Loth is a historical unit of weight, roughly equivalent to 15-16 grams. of sedative salt original: "sal sedativum Hombergii" — This is a historical name for boracic acid, discovered by Wilhelm Homberg.; then pour in 8 Loth of very white calcined heated to a high temperature to remove volatile substances, leaving a powder...