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 https://archive.org/details/completecourseofOOsene 
 
A COMPLETE 
 
 COURSE OF LITHOGRAPHY: 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 ©lea* anU <£x»lmt Smttruttfottf 
 
 IN ALL THE 
 
 DIFFERENT BRANCHES AND MANNERS OF THAT ART: 
 
 ACCOMPANIED BY 
 
 ILLUSTRATIVE SPECIMENS OF DRAWINGS. 
 
 TO WHICH IS PREFIXED A 
 
 HISTORY OF LITHOGRAPHY, 
 
 FROM ITS ORIGIN TO THE PRESENT TIME. 
 
 By ALOIS SENEFELDER, 
 
 INVENTOR OP THE ART OP LITHOGRAPHY AND CHEMICAL PRINTING. 
 
 WITH 
 
 A PREFACE 
 
 By FREDERIC VON SCHLIC HTEGROLL, 
 
 Director of ihe Royal Academy of Sciences at Munich. 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL GERMAN, BY A. S 
 
 Uon&on : 
 
 PRINTED FOR R. ACKERMANN, 101, STRAND. 
 
 1819- 
 
Printed by W. CLOWES, Northumberland-court, Strand. 
 
ADVERTISEMENT 
 
 FROM 
 
 THE PUBLISHER. 
 
 E Public will naturally expect some account of the motives 
 which induced me to lay before them the Course of Lithography, 
 by Alois Senefelder, in an English dress. 
 
 In the first place, the Art itself appeared to me of the highest utility. 
 By means of it the Painter, the Sculptor, and the Architect, are 
 enabled to hand down to posterity as , many fac-similes of their ori- 
 ginal Sketches as they please. What a wide and beneficial field is here 
 opened to the living artist, and to future generations ! The Collector 
 is enabled to multiply his originals, and the Amateur the fruits of his 
 leisure hours. The Portrait Painter can gratify his Patron by sup- 
 plying him with as many copies as he wishes to have of a successful 
 likeness. Men in office can obtain copies of the most important 
 despatches or documents, without a moment's delay, and without the 
 necessity of confiding in the fidelity of Secretaries or Clerks : the 
 Merchant, and the Man of Business, to whom time is often of the most 
 vital importance, can, in an instant, preserve what copies they may 
 want of their accounts or tables. In short, there is scarcely any de- 
 partment of art or business, in which Lithography will not be found 
 of the most extensive utility. 
 
 In the next place, I have occasion to know that a correct guide to the 
 knowledge of this useful art has been hitherto a desideratum. I speak 
 from experience. For more than two years I have availed myself of it, 
 in the publication of various works. During that time, however, I have 
 
iv 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 struggled with many difficulties, and been frequently embarrassed from 
 the want of definite instructions as to many essential points. Much 
 time and labour have thus been unnecessarily sacrificed. The art has 
 also been practised in some of the Public Offices, and by various private 
 individuals in this country ; and 1 have no doubt the difficulties and 
 embarrassments to which 1 allude, have been frequently experienced by 
 others as well as myself. 
 
 Under these circumstances, a correct guide to a knowledge of the 
 various manners of the art cannot fail to prove of the greatest benefit to 
 all those who are desirous of thoroughly understanding it. Such a 
 guide will be found in the following Treatise. It is the production of 
 Alois Senefelder, the individual to whom the world is indebted for the 
 invention of Lithography. The work is divided into two parts. In 
 the first part, which is a history of the art, from the idea that led to 
 its discovery, down to its last and most improved state, M. Senefelder 
 has laid before us the various plans that he formed, and experiments 
 that he tried, and the result with which they were attended, with the 
 most engaging simplicity, and a truth which renders them in the highest 
 degree instructive. In the second part, M. Senefelder has communicated 
 in the most unreserved manner, all the knowledge which he himself at 
 present possesses of the practice of the art. Here the reader will find the 
 most minute and comprehensive instructions for every operation. 
 Nothing seems to have escaped the notice of the ingenious author ; his 
 directions extend to every particular which has the least connexion 
 with the subject, and afford the means of surmounting almost every 
 possible difficulty. 
 
 Having now succinctly enumerated the advantages of the art, the 
 difficulties which stood in the w ay of obtaining a correct knowledge of 
 it, and the degree in which I conceive the present Treatise is calculated 
 to supply that deficiency ; I shall now briefly allude to some other cir- 
 cumstances which formed no slight inducement to my entering on the 
 present publication. 
 
 In the first place, 1 myself entertain no ordinary degree of fondness 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 V 
 
 for the art, and feel warmly interested in the success of whatever has a 
 tendency to promote its diffusion. I am, therefore, extremely anxious 
 to see it naturalized in this country, and in the same flourishing state in 
 which it is at present on the Continent. In the next plaee, I have the 
 honour, for such I esteem it, of a personal acquaintance with the in- 
 genious author and inventor; and M. Von Schlichtegroll, Director of the 
 Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences at Munich, under whose auspices 
 the work was ushered into the world, without whose kind and 
 urgent persuasion the author would never have engaged in it, and who 
 has honoured this work with an excellent Preface, is my most particu- 
 lar friend. M. Von Schlichtegroll has nothing more at heart than the 
 universal diffusion of this new and useful art ; and by the present pub- 
 lication, therefore, while 1 please myself with the hope that I shall be 
 useful to the Public, I know I shall also gratify, in no ordinary degree, 
 the philanthropic desire of my friend. 
 
 The work contains a Portrait of the author and inventor, and such 
 Specimens of Drawing printed at my press,* as are necessary for the 
 illustration of the different manners of the art, and the due under- 
 standing of the Instructions. 
 
 May it be the means of diffusing throughout this great and com- 
 mercial country, the knowledge of a discovery, from which much benefit 
 has already been derived abroad ; and which, from the immensity of our 
 transactions, promises to be of more advantage to us than to any other 
 nation ! 
 
 R. ACKERMANN. 
 
 101, Strand, 1 March, 1819. 
 
 * It was the wish of Mr. Senefelder to supply the English translation with impression* 
 from the original plates, and it would have given me much pleasure to have been able to 
 comply with his request ; but as each separate print must have paid a duty at the Custom 
 House, the aggregate duty alone would have added above a guinea and a half to the price of 
 each copy, without including the other expences with which such an importation would have 
 been attended, and I was obliged therefore to give up all thoughts of this. 
 
DEDICATED 
 
 (by permission) 
 
 MAXIMILIAN JOSEPH, 
 
 KING OF BAVARIA, 
 
 HIS MOST GRACIOUS KING AND SOVEREIGN, 
 
 THE AUGUST PROTECTOR OF THIS IVORK. 
 
 AND OF 
 
 THE ART OF LITHOGRAPHY, 
 
 BY 
 
 HIS MAJESTY'S MOST HUMBLE 
 
 AND MOST FAITHFUL SUBJECT, 
 
 ALOIS SENEFELDEK. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 A WORK, like the present, needs no introduction; 
 its intrinsic value must be its best recommendation. The 
 ingenious Author, however, being of opinion, that the 
 appearance of this work is, in great part, owing to his 
 acquaintance with me, and wishing that I should ac- 
 company it with an historical introduction, I willingly 
 seize this opportunity, to testify to the Public at large 
 the high regard and esteem which I entertain for 
 the talents of my distinguished contemporary and 
 countryman, who, not satisfied with what he has 
 already accomplished, pursues his inventions with 
 the utmost zeal and activity, with a view to further 
 improvements. 
 
 It would be unjust to say that the contemporaries of 
 the important discovery of Lithography, which the in- 
 ventor, by incessant experiments, is endeavouring to 
 carry to still higher perfection, have received it with in- 
 difference and neglect. With astonishing rapidity it 
 
 has spread over all Europe, and other parts of the 
 
 b 
 
X PREFACE. 
 
 world, and every where it has been received with due 
 admiration. The only obstacles which have impeded 
 its success, are the imperfect instruction which has, in 
 some places, been given respecting it by ignorant 
 artists and pretended adepts, and the difficulty which 
 the art of printing from stones (depending entirely on 
 chemical and not on mechanical principles,) has in the 
 eyes of the unexperienced. Under these circumstances, 
 it was natural that the inventor of the new art, who is 
 still living, and daily and successfully labouring towards 
 its improvement, should receive repeated invitations to 
 lay before the Public an history of his important dis- 
 covery, and instructions respecting the practice of 
 the art ; in short, to write such a work as that which 
 we now present to the literary Public. But the inge^ 
 nious artist, entirely devoted to his art, is much fonder 
 of trying experiments and attempting improvements, 
 than of the dry business of writing. Mr. Senefelder 
 often intended to commit to paper the history of his 
 first invention of the art, and its successive improve- 
 ments, down to its present state on the Continent ; but 
 before he could carry this intention into execution, his 
 indefatigable mind always suggested to him some new 
 
PREFACE 
 
 XI 
 
 improvements, calculated to render it more perfect ; 
 and this led him to fresh experiments and studies, 
 which absorbed the whole of his time and attention. 
 Thus it happened that the " Collection of Specimens," 
 already begun in 1809, remained unfinished, and 
 without any text to accompany them ; and even the 
 work, announced two years ago by Mr. Andre of 
 Offenbach, in conjunction with Senefelder, has never 
 made its appearance. 
 
 A strong external inducement or motive, therefore, 
 was required, to prevail upon Mr. Senefelder to give 
 to the Public what it had so long wished and called for. 
 Such an inducement he received in the following man- 
 ner: — Several assertions having appeared in the news- 
 papers, that Lithography had been invented at Paris, 
 or at London, and some rumours having been in circu- 
 lation even at Munich, ascribing the original invention 
 either to Alois Senefelder, or Dean Schmidt of Miesbach, 
 formerly Professor at Munich, I conceived myself called 
 upon to contribute, as much as was in my power, to the 
 removal of this uncertainty, and to prepare the way for 
 a critical history of the new art, at a time when it was 
 
 still possible to ascertain the truth. The <c Advertiser 
 
 b 2 
 
PREFACE 
 
 for Arts and Manufactures," which, since 1815, has 
 appeared weekly at Munich, contains chiefly Annals of 
 the History of Industry and Art in Bavaria; in this 
 Journal, therefore, towards the end of 1810, and the 
 beginning of the year 1817, I caused several letters to 
 be inserted on the subject of the invention of Litho- 
 graphy ; in which I called upon all friends and pro- 
 moters of national industry, to correct whatever they 
 might find inaccurately stated in the notices that I had 
 collected from the mouths of different witnesses, and 
 thus facilitate the discovery of a truth so important to 
 the present and following generations. But, above all, 
 I called on Mr. Alois Senefelder, then absent from 
 Munich, " Not to delay any longer the publication 
 u of a minute History of his Inventions, accompanied 
 " by a complete course of Instructions in Litho- 
 " graphy, detailing all its branches and different 
 u modes of application." These printed letters I sent 
 to Mr. Senefelder, then at Vienna. 
 
 The first of these objects has not been attained; 
 not one voice has yet been raised to solve, with his- 
 torical truth and dignity, the apparent inconsistencies 
 and contradictions of the different rumours, and to 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Xlll 
 
 prevent the language of our immortal Klopstock from 
 being one day applied to Lithography, " Covered 
 with eternal darkness are the great names of in- 
 ventors." 
 
 In the attainment of my second wish, I have been 
 more fortunate. Mr. Alois Senefelder justly appre- 
 ciated my well-meant intention, and the sincere in- 
 terest I took in this important discovery, which will 
 be an everlasting honour to Bavaria. Several conver- 
 sations on this subject have since passed between him 
 and myself ; and I used every means to revive the con- 
 fidence of this ingenious artist, whose spirits, by many 
 unsuccessful undertakings, had been greatly depressed. 
 
 My principal endeavours to bring the astonishing 
 progress which Lithography, by Mr. Senefelder's ex- 
 ertions, was daily making, to the knowledge of our 
 august Sovereign, to induce that venerable national 
 establishment to which I belong, " The Royal Aca- 
 demy," to enter on a scientific examination of it, and 
 to promote the appearance of thepresent work — These, 
 I say, have not been unsuccessful. 
 
 His Majesty, our most gracious King, the revered 
 father of his people, and most liberal promoter of this 
 
XIV 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 new art, was pleased to notice its most recent im- 
 provement, the substitution of metal, or even artificial 
 paper, to stone, which Mr. Senefelder contrived 
 during the last winter ; and, in order to encourage the 
 publication of the present work, he allowed it to be 
 dedicated to his illustrious name. Her Majesty, our 
 beloved Queen, highly conversant in the fine arts, 
 honoured the exertions of the artist with her attention, 
 and thereby animated his zeal and activity. 
 
 The Royal Academy of Sciences appointed several 
 of its most experienced members to examine the port- 
 able presses, which Mr. Senefelder lately contrived, 
 in order to render the use of the art of printing from 
 stone, metal, or artificial paper, more easy and general ; 
 and their report upon the subject has proved highly 
 satisfactory to the ingenious inventor. The Poly- 
 technical Society of Bavaria, by their monthly exhi- 
 bitions of the productions of national industry, and by 
 their journals, have contributed in like manner, to do 
 justice to the invention of Mr. Senefelder, to render 
 it more public, and to direct the attention of his fellow- 
 citizens, and of distinguished foreigners, towards it. 
 
 Mr. Senefelder now no longer delayed employ- 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 XV 
 
 ing the leisure hours which his unremitted expe- 
 riments and studies left him, in writing, from his 
 best recollections, the history of his invention, and an 
 unreserved exposition of its different branches or 
 manners, and in enriching this account with accom- 
 panying specimens of a most instructive nature. 
 
 Thus by the unceasing exertions of this distinguished 
 and meritorious artist, the present work has made its 
 appearance, which I do not hesitate to pronounce one 
 of the most interesting literary productions of the 
 present times. 
 
 It is divided into two parts : — 1. The history of 
 the invention, and its different processes ; — and, 2. 
 The description of the manner of writing, drawing, 
 etching, engraving, transferring, preparing and print- 
 ing the stone. All this is done with the greatest 
 possible perspicuity and clearness, which such a sub- 
 ject is capable of ; and the annexed specimens greatly 
 serve to illustrate it more fully. 
 
 The historical part gives, with the greatest candour, 
 which is a principal characteristic of the author, a 
 faithful account of the circumstances which led him to 
 the first experiments; of his successful and unsuccess- 
 
XVI 
 
 PREFACE, 
 
 ful attempts ; of the internal and external difficulties 
 with which he had to contend ; of the manner in which 
 one idea led to another ; of the connexions he entered 
 into; of the successful or unsuccessful projects, which 
 he entertained ; of the manner in which he was some- 
 times assisted, and sometimes deceived ; of the faults 
 he committed ; and of the uncertain and embarrassed 
 circumstances in which he passed a series of years. 
 The minuteness of this narrative, and the mention of 
 the personal affairs of the author and his friends, 
 may, perhaps, on a first view, astonish the reader. But 
 these very circumstances are, in a great measure, inti- 
 mately connected with the History of Lithography, 
 and its different vicissitudes; and, on the other hand, 
 the shortness of the time would not allow the author 
 carefully to finish and abridge what he intended only 
 for a sketch. In the history of an important invention 
 however, minuteness cannot be called a defect. How in- 
 teresting would it be to read all the private circum- 
 stances of the lives of John Guttenberg,or JohnFaustus, 
 if a narrative of the origin of Typography, similar to 
 this of the origin of Lithography, were in existence. 
 The wish that Mr. Alois Senefelder might openly 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 XVII 
 
 and minutely declare how he was led to the discovery 
 of Lithography, is now gratified. His narrative and 
 assertions heing thus publicly exposed, they may be 
 compared with the other accounts that are in cir- 
 culation on this subject ; and by a more distinct de- 
 finition of what is properly meant by the expression 
 " Lithography," the discussion may be conducted on 
 certain and fixed rules. I therefore take the liberty 
 to call once more on all contemporaries to notice 
 what they think contradictory in this account ; to pre- 
 pare in this manner a critical history of the invention, 
 with a chronicle of what has been done in the first 
 years of this art, by whom it has been done, or 
 whether more than one person at the same time hit 
 on the same idea ; and thus to do justice to every one. 
 It is greatly to be wished that a man of science, en- 
 dowed with sufficient acuteness and impartiality, might 
 render this most important service to our literature. 
 
 As to the second part, which contains a com- 
 pendium of instructions in the new art, it has been 
 more generally desired than even the history of it, and 
 more especially from the pen of Alois Senefelder. 
 
 Lithography, of late years, has been practised at 
 
 c 
 
XV111 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 Munich, as well as elsewhere, with great success; 
 and many artists have produced admirable specimens 
 of writing and drawing. But amongst those that are 
 fully acquainted with the subject in its whole extent, 
 there is but one voice, that, of all the artists who 
 have devoted themselves to Lithography, Mr. Alois 
 Senefelder has made not only the earliest, but also the 
 most numerous and diversified experiments in all its 
 various branches ; and, therefore, must be best 
 able to give the desired instructions. He is a cha- 
 racter of undisguised sincerity ; and I am fully con- 
 vinced that, in all his communications, his earnest 
 endeavour is, to explain himself without the least re- 
 serve, and with the utmost clearness : he has already 
 instructed many persons, and thereby acquired great 
 experience as to what are the difficulties which a 
 beginner of the art usually feels, in his first attempts. 
 According to his testimony (to which Professor 
 Mitterer, whom, after Mr. Senefelder, I believe to 
 be the best and most experienced judge of Litho- 
 graphy, entirely assents,) cases happened, not long ago, 
 which surprised the practical artist in the most unplea- 
 sant manner, and puzzled him like enchantment ; cases 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 xix 
 
 respecting which this book lays down instructions and 
 precautions, that could only have been known to 
 a man of Mr. Senefelder's extensive experience. If, 
 therefore, an artist or amateur, who strictly observes 
 the rides here given, should still meet with difficulties, 
 he must look for the cause in the nature of his ma- 
 terials ; for instance, in the quality of the soap, the 
 gum, the aqua-fortis, the lampblack, or some other 
 seemingly trifling, but in reality important, circum- 
 stance ; he must not lose courage, and by perse- 
 verance and confidence in his frank and faithful in- 
 structor, he will be sure of attaining at last the object 
 in view. 
 
 Besides those branches and manners of Lithography 
 which were hitherto known, and successfully practised 
 at Carlsruhe, Stutgart, Berlin, London, and Paris, 
 several others are taught and explained, which were 
 never before made public by the inventor; the for- 
 mer are reduced, for the first time, to simple and clear 
 principles ; and all those mistakes which, in spite of 
 the strict observance of the prescribed rules, may occur 
 in practice, are mentioned, explained, and cau- 
 tioned against. Even his latest experiments to sub- 
 
 c 2 
 
XX PREFACE. 
 
 stitute metal plates, or his new-invented stone-paper, 
 for stones, are communicated and explained. Though 
 the process in these two last-mentioned species of 
 printing is nearly related to Lithography, yet they 
 essentially differ from the art properly so called, as 
 every one of the different metals, such as zinc, cop- 
 per, brass, and iron, require a different preparation. 
 Mr. Senefelder, therefore, intends to devote another 
 work entirely to these subjects, which, when published, 
 will form a Supplement to the present. 
 
 May this work go forth under favourable auspices 
 to the world ; may it add to the reputation of its author, 
 increase the esteem which he enjoys of all lovers of the 
 arts in and out of Germany, and encourage him to 
 continue to devote his life, to which all friends of our 
 country and of the arts wish a long duration, to the 
 improvement of his great and highly promising art ! 
 Reputation and fame he has amply acquired by his in- 
 vention ; a man, more conversant with the world, 
 would have grown rich too; though this is not his case. 
 But our generous King has secured him from want, in 
 his old days : and I am convinced that, whatever ad- 
 vantage he may at any time derive from his art, he 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 xxi 
 
 will employ it in rendering that art more perfect; and 
 in instructing his only son, now five years of age, so 
 that he may he one day a worthy inheritor of his 
 father's name. 
 
 Munich. 
 
 Frederic von Schlichtegroll, 
 
 Director of the Royal Academy. 
 
TABLES OF CONTENTS 
 
 OF THE FIRST PART. 
 
 SECTION THE FIRST, 
 
 From 1796 to 1800. 
 
 Wish of the Author to possess a Printing-Press for himself ; 
 several Experiments with it. — Invention of the Art of Li- 
 thography . — Connexion with Gleissner. — Successful Be- 
 ginning. — Want of a good Press, andDisadvantagesresulting 
 from it. — Printing Establishment at Air. Falter's. — Expe- 
 riments of Dean Schmidt. — The Author's Acquaintance with 
 the Rev. Air. Steiner, and Improvements of the Art resulting 
 from it, by the invention of the Chemical Printing Process. — 
 He obtains an exclusive Privilege. — Partnership with 
 Mr. Andre of Offenbach. — Travels to Offenbach and 
 London. — Mrs. Gleissner goes to Vienna, in order to solicit 
 there an exclusive Privilege. 
 
 SECTION SECOND, 
 
 From 1800 to 1806. 
 
 The Author travels to Vienna. — Separation from Andre. — 
 Partnership with Air. Von Marti. — He obtains an exclusive 
 Privilege for the Austrian Dominions, establishes a Litho- 
 graphic Press, which subsequently is ceded to Air. Steiner. — 
 His Experiments in Cotton Printing. — UnsuccessfulUnder- 
 takings. — Departure from Vienna . 
 
XXIV 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 SECTION THIRD. 
 
 From 1806 to 1817. 
 
 Return to Munich, and establishment of a Press. — Partnership 
 with Huron Aretin. — Application of Lithography to Matters 
 of Art. — Albrecht Durer's Prayer-book. — Autographs. — 
 Booh of Specimens. — Establishment of many Presses. — 
 Dissolution of Baron Aretin'* Establishment. — His Em- 
 ployment by the Royal Board for taking a Survey of the 
 Kingdom. — Important Improvements of the Art. — The Au- 
 thor travels to Offenbach, and subsequently to Vienna. — 
 Researches of Director Von Schlichtegroll respecting Li- 
 thography. — Publication of the present Work, the result 
 of them. 
 
TABLES OF CONTENTS 
 
 OF THE SECOND PART. 
 
 Page 
 
 Introduction to the Lithographic Art > 91 
 
 SECTION FIRST. 
 
 General Rules and Observations 101 
 
 CHAPTER FIRST. 
 
 Description and Qualities of the Stones 101 
 
 Rubbing down and Polishing ditto 107 
 
 Assorting of ditto 109 
 
 CHAPTER SECOND. 
 
 On INK, CHALK, ETCHING-GROUND, and COLOURS. 
 
 Chemical Ink • Ill 
 
 JWanner of preparing ditto 114 
 
 Hard Ink of Borax 119 
 
 Liquid Ink 120 
 
 Ink for transferring Drawings or Writings from 
 
 Paper on the Stone 121 
 
 d 
 
XXvi . CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Hard Etching Ground • 122 
 
 Soft ditto 123 
 
 Etching Colour ».■•■• <■ 124 
 
 Lithographic Chalk 125 
 
 Printing Ink 129 
 
 Repairing Colour 132 
 
 CHAPTER THIRD. 
 
 On ACIDS, and other COMPOSITIONS, to PREPARE 
 
 the STONE. 
 
 Qualities of Acids in general 135 
 
 Different Acids 139 
 
 Gum Arabic as the principal Ingredient for preparing 
 
 the Stone 146 
 
 Partial Preparation of ditto 148 
 
 Short Recapitulation of the foregoing 154 
 
 CHAPTER FOURTH. 
 
 On the NECESSARY INSTRUMENTS and UTENSILS. 
 
 Steel Pen 159 
 
 Brushes 163 
 
 Etching Needles 164 
 
 Drawing and Copying Machines 165 
 
 Various necessary Utensils • • ■ • ib. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 xxvii 
 
 CHAPTER FIFTH. 
 
 On DIFFERENT SORTS of PAPER, £c. 
 
 Page 
 
 Transparent Paper, and the Art of transferring Out- 
 lines on Stone 169 
 
 Blotting or Soft Paper 171 
 
 Printing Paper 172 
 
 Process o f Wetting the Paper 174 
 
 CHAPTER SIXTH. 
 
 On PRESSES. 
 
 Description of the different Lithographic Presses 179 
 
 Qualities of ditto 180 
 
 Application of Letter and Copper-Plate Presses, to the 
 
 purpose of Lithography 184 
 
 Enumeration of Lithographic Presses hitherto used 190 
 
 Upright Lever or Pole Press 191 
 
 Cylinder Presses 196 
 
 Other Lithographic Presses 198 
 
 SECOND SECTION. 
 On the DIFFERENT MANNERS of LITHOGRAPHY. 
 
 The Sundry Manners of Lithography • 201 
 
 d 2 
 
xxviii 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Page 
 
 Elevated Manner of Lithography 203 
 
 § 1 . Pen or Hair-Brush Drawing 203 
 
 2. Chalk Marnier 228 
 
 3. Transfer and Tracing Manner 256 
 
 4. Wood-Cut Manner 264 
 
 5. Two sorts o f India Ink Drawing 265 
 
 6. Sprinkled Manner 268 
 
 7. India-Ink Drawings with several Plates 269 
 
 8. Manner of Printing in Colours, with several 
 
 Plates 271 
 
 9. Manner of Printing in Gold and Silver 273 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 The ENGRAVED MANNER of LITHOGRAPHY 
 
 ^ 1 . Increased or Engraved Manner « 276 
 
 2. Manner of Etching on Stone 290 
 
 3. Manner of Drawing with Preparing or Gum 
 
 Ink, and the sprinkled Aquatinta Manner • • • • 305 
 
 4. Aquatinta after the manner of Engraving, and with 
 
 Etching Ground • 312 
 
 5. Aquatinta Manner with Chalk Ground 313 
 
 6. Engraved or reversed Chalk and Soft Ground 
 
 Manner 316 
 
 7. India Ink Drawing, with Etching Colour 320 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 The MIXED MANNER. 
 
 Page 
 
 § I . Pen Drawing mixed with the Engraved Manner • • • • 324 
 
 2. Engraved Drawing with Elevated Tint 325 
 
 3. Engraved and Elevated Manner with several 
 
 Stones ib. 
 
 4. JManner of changing an Elevated Drawing into an 
 
 Engraved one, and vice versa ib. 
 
PART FIRST. 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 OF THF 
 
 ART OF LITHOGRAPHY. 
 
A COMPLETE 
 
 COURSE OF LITHOGRAPHY , 
 
 PART I. 
 
 History of the Art of Lithography . 
 
 HAD I been allowed to follow my own inclinations, I should 
 certainly have embraced the profession of my father, Peter 
 Sennefelder, who was one of the performers of the Theatre 
 Royal at Munich. This, however, being contrary to my 
 father's wishes, I devoted myself to the study of jurispru- 
 dence at the University of Ingolstadt ; and had no other 
 opportunity of indulging my predilections for the stage, than 
 by occasionally performing at small private theatres, and by 
 employing my leisure in some trifling dramatical productions. 
 
 It was in this way that I wrote the little comedy, Die J\Iced- 
 chenkenner, in the year 1789, which was received by my nu- 
 merous friends with such applause, that I was induced to send 
 it to the press ; and I had the good fortune to clear fifty florins, 
 after defraying the expenses of the printing. 
 
 B 
 
2 
 
 Soon after this I had the misfortune to lose my father, and, as 
 my reduced circumstances did not allow me to continue my aca- 
 demical studies, I could no longer withstand the desire to devote 
 myself entirely to the dramatic art, as performer and author ; for 
 the success of my first essay had inspired me with the most 
 sanguine hopes. Having, however, for the space of two years, 
 suffered a great deal of misery and disappointment at several 
 theatres, at Ratisbon, Erlangen, and other places, my enthusiasm 
 cooled to such a degree, that I resolved to forsake this unpro- 
 mising profession, and to try my fortune as an author. 
 
 But even in this plan I was not very successful, and the very 
 first attempt I made to publish another of my dramatic pro- 
 ductions entirely failed, as the piece could not be got ready for 
 the Easter Book-fair at Leipzig : it therefore produced scarcely 
 enough to pay the expenses I had incurred. In order to ac- 
 celerate the publication of this work, I had passed more than 
 one whole day in the printing-office, and had made myself ac-r 
 quainted with all the particulars of the process of printing. I 
 thought it so easy, that I wished for nothing more than to possess 
 a small printing press, and thus to be the composer, printer, and 
 publisher of my own productions. Had I then possessed suf- 
 ficient means to gratify this wish, I should never, perhaps, have 
 been the inventor of the Lithographic art ; but as this was not 
 the case, I was obliged to have recourse to other projects. 
 
 My first idea was to engrave letters in steel, stamp these 
 
3 
 
 matrices in forms of hard wood, and thus form a sort of stereo- 
 type composition, from which impressions could have been 
 taken in the same manner as from a wooden block. But I was 
 compelled to relinquish this plan, for want of proper tools, and 
 sufficient skill in engraving in steel ; but it is my intention 
 to submit this idea, with the subsequent improvements, to the 
 public, on another occasion. 
 
 The next plan that occurred to me was, to compose one page 
 of letter-press, in common printing characters, to make a east 
 of this composition in a soft matter, and, by taking another 
 cast from this cast, to obtain a sort of stereotype frame. This 
 experiment did not wholly disappoint my expectations. I 
 composed a sort of paste, of clay, fine sand, flour, and pul- 
 verized charcoal, which, mixed with a little water, and kneaded 
 as stiff as possible, gave a very good impression of the types ; 
 and, in a quarter of an hour, became so hard, that I could take 
 a perfect cast from it in melted sealing-wax, by means of a 
 hand-press. I afterwards applied the printer's ink to this ste- 
 reotyped block, in the usual manner, and thus obtained a per- 
 fectly clear impression from it. By mixing a small quantity of 
 pulverized plaster of Paris with the sealing wax, the composition 
 became much harder than the common type-metal of lead and 
 antimony ; and, to my invention of thus forming a sort of ste- 
 reotype tables, nothing was wanting but a few preparatory 
 improvements, and a small stock of types ; but even this was 
 too much for my limited finances, and I was therefore obliged 
 
 b 2 
 
4 
 
 to abandon this plan, which I did the more readily, as I just then 
 chanced to hit upon another, still more easy in its execution. 
 
 This was no other than to learn to imitate the printed cha- 
 racters, very closely, in an inverted sense ; to write these with 
 an elastic steel pen on a copper-plate, covered with etching- 
 ground, to bite them in, and thus to take impressions from 
 them. By practice I soon acquired some skill in this mode of 
 writing, and began to make a trial of it. The greatest diffi- 
 culty that I met with here, was how to correct the mistakes 1 oc- 
 casionally made in writing ; for I was then utterly unac- 
 quainted with the common covering varnish of the engravers. 
 I, therefore, tried to cover the faulty places with melted wax ; 
 but the cover I thus obtained was generally so thick, that I 
 could not well work through it. I now called to my assistance 
 the little knowledge of chemistry I had obtained at school ; 
 I well remembered that most of the resins, that withstand 
 aqua-fortis, are dissoluble in aether, spirit of wine, or alcali. 
 I tried many experiments with these, but all in vain ; I then 
 contrived a mixture of turpentine and wax, but this likewise 
 did not answer any purpose, as T probably made it too thin. 
 Fortunately I did not try more experiments with these sub- 
 stances, for, if I had pursued them, I might never have hit on 
 the invention of the lithographic art. At present I know very 
 well how to prepare a covering varnish, perfectly fit for this pur- 
 pose, with turpentine, wax and mastic. Another experiment 
 with wax and soap, was at last perfectly successful. A com- 
 
5 
 
 position of three parts of wax, with one part of common soap, 
 melted together over the fire, mixed with a small quantity of 
 lampblack, and dissolved in rain-water, produced a black 
 ink, with which I could with great ease correct the faults I 
 accidentally made. 
 
 Though I had thus overcome my greatest obstacle, yet the 
 want of a sufficient number of copper-plates, the tediousness of 
 grinding and polishing those I had used, and the insufficiency 
 of tin plates, which I tried as a substitute, soon put an end to 
 my experiments in this way. 
 
 It was at this period that my attention was accidentally di- 
 rected to a fine piece of Kellheim stone, which I had purchased 
 for the purpose of grinding my colours. It occurred to me 
 that by covering this plate with my composition ink, I could 
 use it as well as the copper or tin plates, for my exercises in 
 writing backwards. The little trouble that the grinding and 
 polishing of these plates would cost, were my chief inducement 
 to try this experiment. I had, till then, seen only very thin 
 plates of this stone, and therefore I had no conception that I 
 should be able to use them for taking impressions from them, 
 as they would not resist the pressure necessary for this purpose, 
 without breaking ; but in regard to writing, I soon discovered 
 that I could do it better and more distinctly on the stone, than 
 on the copper-plates. Being, soon after this, informed by a 
 stone-mason that he could procure these plates from one to eight 
 
(j 
 
 inches thick, I began to conceive the possibility of using them 
 likewise for the impressions ; but before this could be done, it 
 was absolutely necessary first to discover a method to give a 
 higher polish to the stone, or to prepare a colour that could be 
 better wiped off the stone, than the common printer's ink. For 
 the stone never admits that sort of polish which is requisite for 
 the application of the common ink ; and this, I suppose, is the 
 very reason why the stone having, not long before, been used by 
 engravers for etching, as a substitute for copper, (for I am well 
 aware that many similar experiments had already been tried,) 
 the attempt did not succeed, and was soon relinquished. 
 
 I tried all possible methods of polishing and grinding the stone, 
 but my success was not such as I could have wished. As to the 
 polishing of the stone, T found it the best way to apply to the 
 smoothly-ground surface of it a composition of four or five parts 
 of water, and one part of rectified oil of vitriol. This liquid pro- 
 duces a sudden effervescence on calcareous stone, which, however, 
 almost instantly ceases, so that we might be tempted to believe 
 the vitriol saturated ; but this is not the case, for on the same 
 liquid being applied to another part of the stone yet untouched, 
 it produces a similar effervescence ; the reason of this is, that the 
 surface of the stone is almost instantly covered with a coat of 
 gypsum, which is impenetrable to the vitriol. When this 
 liquid is wiped off, and the stone dried, it acquires, by a slight 
 rubbing of a rag, a most brilliant polish ; this, however, is so 
 thin, that it scarcely allows fifty impressions to be taken from 
 
7 
 
 it, without a repetition of the above process, which, however, is 
 attended with some injury to the drawing. But if impressions 
 are taken according to the present chemical method, and the 
 stone has been polished before the drawing is made, several 
 thousands of impressions may be obtained, as will be more fully 
 described in another place. 
 
 As to the second difficulty, of discovering a colour that could 
 be easily wiped off the stone, I found, after many experiments, 
 that none was better than a light varnish of oil, mixed with 
 purified lampblack, which could be wiped from the stone by 
 means of a weak solution of potash, and common salt, in 
 water ; but if this was not done with sufficient care, it sometimes 
 happened that the drawing or writing on the stone was at the 
 same time effaced, and could not be restored without great 
 trouble. The recollection of this fact, which at that time I 
 was unable to explain, led me, some years afterwards, to the in- 
 vention of the present chemical lithography. 
 
 I have been very minute in describing the process of in- 
 venting this ink of wax, soap, and lampblack, as it was prin- 
 cipally this invention which opened to me the way to the che- 
 mical lithography. It so happened, therefore, that I knew the 
 ink, before I even thought of applying it to the stone ; in the 
 first instance, I only used the stone for my exercises in writing ; 
 the ease with which this was done, (and which, indeed, is far 
 greater than on metal covered with etching ground,) in- 
 
8 
 
 duced me to use the stone for the printing ; but, in order to do 
 this, it was requisite to clear the stone as perfectly as the 
 copper-plate printer does his copper-plate, though the stone 
 will not take so high a polish as the latter. 
 
 I was tryingsome farther experiments for this purpose, when 
 a new and accidental discovery prevented me from pursuing 
 this plan. 
 
 In all the experiments I have hitherto described, I could not 
 boast of having invented any thing new, as I had been only 
 applying the theory of printing from copper-plates to stone 
 plates, or rather used the latter as a substitute for the former. 
 Had I not gone farther in my discoveries, it is more than pro- 
 bable that, if my circumstances had improved, I should have 
 returned to copper-plates, as the thickness and size of the 
 stones rendered their use by no means more convenient, and 
 as the novelty of the invention would not have encouraged me 
 to follow this new path. 
 
 I was firmly convinced that I was not the inventor of the art 
 of etching or engraving on stone, or of taking impressions from 
 stone ; I even knew that etching on stone had been practised 
 several centuries before me. But from the moment that I 
 abandoned the principle of engraving, and directly applied my 
 new invented ink to the stone, of which I am about to treat 
 more amply, I could consider myself as the inventor of anew art, 
 
9 
 
 and from that moment I relinquished all other methods, and 
 devoted myself exclusively to this. 
 
 As I come now in my narrative to that period, from which 
 the Art of Lithography may be said to have drawn its direct 
 origin, I hope I may crave the indulgence of the reader, if I 
 mention even the most trifling circumstances, to which the new 
 art was indebted for its existence. 
 
 I had just succeeded in my little laboratory in polishing a 
 stone plate, which I intended to cover with etching ground, 
 in order to continue my exercises in writing backwards, when 
 my mother entered the room, and desired me to write her a 
 bill for the washer-woman, who was waiting for the linen ; 
 I happened not to have even the smallest slip of paper at 
 hand, as my little stock of paper had been entirely exhausted 
 by taking proof impressions from the stones ; nor was there 
 even a drop of ink in the inkstand. As the* matter would 
 not admit of delay, and we had nobody in the house to 
 send for a supply of the deficient materials, I resolved to write 
 the list with my ink prepared with wax, soap, and lampblack, 
 on the stone which I had just polished, and from which I 
 could copy it at leisure. 
 
 Some time after this I was just going to wipe this writing from 
 the stone, when the idea all at once struck me, to try what 
 would be the effect of such a writing with my prepared ink, 
 
 c 
 
10 
 
 if I were to bite in the stone with aqua-fortis ; and whether, 
 perhaps, it might not be possible to apply printing ink to 
 it, in the same way as to wood engravings, and so take im- 
 pressions from it. I immediately hastened to put this idea 
 in execution, surrounded the stone with a border of wax, 
 and covered the surface of the stone, to the height of two 
 inches, with a mixture of one part of aqua-fortis, and ten parts 
 of water, which I left standing five minutes on it ; and on 
 examining the effect of this experiment, I found the writing, 
 elevated about a 10th part of a line, (or l-120th part of an 
 inch.) Some of the finer, and not sufficiently distinct, lines, 
 had suffered in some measure, but the greater part of the 
 letters had not been damaged at all in their breadth, consi- 
 dering their elevation ; so that I confidently hoped to obtain 
 very clear impressions, chiefly from printed characters, in which 
 there are not many fine strokes. 
 
 I now proceeded to apply the printing ink to the stone, for 
 which purpose I first used a common printer's ball ; but, after 
 some unsuccessful trials, I found that a thin piece of board, 
 covered with fine cloth, answered the purpose perfectly, and 
 communicated the ink in a more equal manner, than any 
 other material I had before used. My farther trials of this 
 method greatly encouraged my perseverance. The appli- 
 cation of the printing ink was easier than in the other me- 
 thods, and I could take impressions with a fourth part of the 
 power that was requisite for an engraving, so that the stones 
 
11 
 
 were not at all liable to the danger of breaking ; and, what 
 was of the greatest moment to me, this method of printing 
 was an entirely new invention, which had occurred to nobody 
 before me. I could, therefore, hope to obtain a patent for it, or 
 even some assistance from the government, which, in similar 
 instances, had shown the greatest liberality in encouraging 
 and promoting new inventions, which I thought of less im- 
 portance. 
 
 Thus the new art was invented, and I lost no time in making 
 myself a perfect master of it ; but, in order to exercise it so as 
 to gain a livelihood by it, a little capital was indispensable to 
 construct a press, purchase stones, paper, and other utensils. 
 But as I could not afford even this trifling expense, I saw my- 
 self again on the point of being obliged to relinquish all my 
 fond hopes and prospects of success, unless I could devise an 
 expedient to obtain the necessary money. At length I hit 
 upon one, which was to enlist as a private in the artillery, as 
 a substitute for a friend of mine, who promised me a premium 
 of 200 florins. This sum I thought would be sufficient to 
 establish my first press, to which I intended to devote all my 
 leisure, and the produce of which, I hoped, would soon 
 enable me to procure my discharge from the army ; besides 
 my knowledge of mathematics, mechanics, and fortification, 
 might possibly promote my views in this new career. 
 
 I was quickly resolved, and, on the third day after forming my 
 
12 
 
 resolution, I went to Ingolstadt, with a party of recruits, to join 
 my regiment. It was not without some feelings of mortification 
 and humbled pride, that I entered this city, in which I had for- 
 merly led the independent life of a student ; but the conscious- 
 ness of my own dignity, and enthusiasm for my new invention, 
 greatly contributed to restore my spirits. I slept in the bar- 
 racks, where I was not a little disgusted by the prevailing filth, 
 and the vulgar jests of a corporal. The next morning I was to 
 enlist ; but, to my great disappointment, the commander of the 
 regiment discovered that I was not a native of Bavaria, aud 
 therefore, according to a recent order of the Elector, could not 
 serve in the army, without obtaining a special license. 
 
 Thus my last hope failed me, and I left Ingolstadt in a 
 state of mind bordering on despair. As I passed the great 
 bridge over the Danube, and looked at the majestic river, in 
 which I had been twice nearly drowned while bathing, I 
 could not suppress the wish that I had not been then saved, 
 as misfortune seemed to persecute me with the utmost rigour, 
 and to deny me even the last prospect of gaining an honest 
 subsistence in the military career. 
 
 But though from my earliest years I had been uniformly 
 deluded by hope, I still continued to yield myself up to its 
 allurements, and new projects soon consoled me for my late dis- 
 appointment ; I resolved to give up, for the present, all thoughts 
 of being an author, and to become a journeyman printer. 
 
13 
 
 A page of wretchedly printed music from a prayer-book, 
 which I accidentally met with at a shop at Ingolstadt, suggested 
 to me the idea that my new method of printing would be par- 
 ticularly applicable to music printing ; I, therefore, resolved, 
 on my return to Munich, to go directly to Mr. Falter, a pub- 
 lisher of music, to offer him my invention, and beg his as- 
 sistance. My natural shyness alone prevented me from 
 executing this plan immediately ; I had twice passed his door, 
 without having the courage to enter the house, when I ac- 
 cidentally met an acquaintance, to whom I had occasionally 
 communicated something of my invention ; and, in conversing 
 with him, I learned that Mr. Gleissner, a musician of the 
 Elector's band, was just about to publish some pieces of sacred 
 music. This was most welcome news to me, as Mr. G. was 
 a particular friend of mine. 
 
 Without farther delay, I called on Mr. Gleissner, to whom I 
 communicated my new invention, offering him, at the same 
 time, my services for the publication of his music. The spe- 
 cimens of music, and other printing, which I showed him, 
 obtained his and his wife's highest approbation ; he admired 
 the neatness and beauty of the impressions, and the great ex- 
 pedition of the printing; and, feeling himself flattered by my 
 confidence, and the preference I gave him, he immediately 
 proposed to undertake the publication of his music on our 
 joint account. I had, in the mean time, procured a common 
 copper-plate printing press, with two cylinders ; and, though 
 
14 
 
 it was very imperfect, it still enabled me to take neat im- 
 pressions from the stone plates. Having, therefore, copied 
 the twelve songs, composed by Gleissner, with all possible 
 expedition, on stone, I succeeded in taking, with the assistance 
 of one printer, 120 copies from it. The composing, writing 
 on stone, and printing, had been accomplished in less than a 
 fortnight ; and in a short time we sold of these songs to the 
 amount of 100 florins, though the whole expense of stones, 
 paper, and printing, did not exceed 30 florins, which left us 
 a clear profit of 70 florins ; and, in the exultation of my hopes, 
 I already saw myself richer than Croesus. 
 
 Mr. Gleissner succeeded, through his patron Count Torring, 
 in laying a copy of this our first work before the Elector Charles 
 Theodore, from whom we received a present of 100 florins, 
 with the promise of an exclusive privilege. The next work, 
 Duettos for two flutes, by Gleissner, yielded us again a 
 little profit ; and an order from the Countess of Hertling, to 
 print 150 copies of Mr. Cannabick's Ode, on the death of 
 Mozart, promised us a still greater profit. 
 
 It was about this time that I laid a copy of our first work 
 before the Electoral Academy of Sciences, with a Memoir, in 
 which, after explaining the mode of printing, and other ad- 
 vantages of the new art, I also mentioned the cheapness of the 
 press, which did not cost more than six florins. How much 
 was I, therefore, disappointed, when, instead of seeing my new 
 
15 
 
 invention honourably mentioned in the transactions of the 
 Society, I received from its Vice President Von Vachiery, a 
 present of twelve florins, with the intimation, that my Memoir 
 had been very favourably received ; and, as the expenses of the 
 press, according to my own statement, did not exceed six 
 florins, he hoped that a double compensation would satisfy 
 my expectations. I, indeed, expected a very different treat- 
 ment from the guardians of science and art, whose duty it 
 is to investigate the value of every new invention ; and, if 
 approved, to submit it to the notice of government. 
 
 Promising as this beginning appeared, (in the year 1796,) 
 we soon had the mortification of seeing things assume a 
 very different aspect. As our income increased, we resolved 
 to construct a new and more perfect press, by which we 
 hoped greatly to facilitate the printing of our works. How 
 sadly, therefore, were we disappointed, when, on the first 
 trial with it, we obtained a blotched and dirty impression, 
 instead of the model of perfection which we anticipated ; 
 we took off* twenty more with the greatest care, but not 
 more than two or three were even tolerable. It is, and 
 will be as long as I live, perfectly incomprehensible to 
 me, how I could be so perplexed as not to discover imme- 
 diately the cause of this failure. I discovered it a long 
 time afterwards, by mere chance, but it cost me two years 
 of great trouble and anxiety. The cause why we did not 
 succeed, was a most trifling circumstance. In my first, 
 
16 
 
 and imperfect press, it happened that by the splitting of 
 the two wooden cylinders, each of them had a fissure, 
 two inches wide ; but as the diameter of the upper cylin- 
 der was large enough to print the whole page in one cir- 
 cumvolution, without the fissure touching the stone, I made 
 shift with the cylinder as it was, placing it always so that the 
 fissure did not touch the stone. But, in our new press, it was 
 necessary that the upper cylinder, in order to lay hold of the 
 stone, should draw it first between the two cylinders ; before 
 this could be done, however, it carried with it the cloth of the 
 printing frame, till it would stretch no longer, and forced the 
 stone under the cylinder ; but in this act, the paper under the 
 printing frame was carried over the charged stone and spoiled. 
 Every expedient I tried to remedy this inconvenience proved 
 unsuccessful ; and most likely I should have hit at last on the 
 very simple mode of using leather, instead of the thin cloth, 
 but I was too much perplexed and anxious about fulfilling 
 our engagements, and therefore preferred having another 
 press constructed, in which the pressure, as in the printing 
 presses, was to be vertical and uniform. In less than a week 
 this rough press was finished ; the first trials promised suc- 
 cess; but the greater stone plates did not give equal impres- 
 sions, probably on account of the unevenness of the table, 
 which was only of wood. I tried to increase the pressure as 
 much as I could, and by means of a lever, and a stone of 300 
 pounds, which descended from a height of ten feet, I produced 
 a pressure of more than fifty tons on the stone ; by this 
 
means I did not fail to obtain good impressions, but after the 
 second or third the stones always broke. To ascertain the 
 vertical pressure requisite to take an impression from a stone 
 plate, I tried numerous experiments, and found that the space 
 of one square inch, required a pressure of 300 pounds to 
 produce a good impression in the space of a few seconds ; 
 but leaving the weight for a minute or longer on the stone, 
 scarcely one half of that pressure was requisite. According 
 to this statement, the weight requisite for our music stones, 
 of about 100 square inches each, would have been fifteen 
 tons ; but the unevenness of the table, and the general im- 
 perfection of the machine, rendered it necessary to increase 
 this pressure threefold, and such a weight the stone was abso- 
 lutely incapable of bearing. I was soon after deterred from 
 farther improving upon this press, as, on one occasion, I 
 had a very narrow escape from being killed by the great stone 
 of 300 pounds, which always fell from a height of ten feet. 
 The consideration that the same accident might occur in 
 future to the printers, rendered the whole press odious to me ; 
 and I was, therefore, easily induced to pursue another plan for 
 constructing a new and perfectly simple printing press, which 
 I had just conceived. 
 
 At the time when I had not yet the advantage of a press, 
 I used the following method to take impressions from the 
 stones. Having first placed the wetted paper on the charged 
 stone, I covered it with a few sheets of waste paper ; then 
 
18 
 
 placing a sheet of thick paper over it, I took a piece of po- 
 lished wood and rubbed the surface of the paper, which with 
 the other hand I prevented from slipping, till I believed that 
 every part of it had been sufficiently pressed. In this way I 
 often obtained impressions as good and clear as from a press. 
 
 This method I proposed to imitate on a larger scale. A 
 wooden frame, of two feet square, was covered with cloth on 
 one side ; upon this cloth I pasted a sheet of thick paper, and 
 fastened the frame by means of two hinges upon a common 
 square table, in which the stone was fixed beneath the frame ; 
 in the inner side of the frame the paper was fixed by means of 
 threads : in this way I applied it to the stone, and with a piece 
 of wood or glass, rubbed the surface of the frame, till I thought 
 I had touched every part of it. The first specimens surpassed 
 our most sanguine expectations, and the hope of being yet able 
 to keep our engagements, re-animated our depressed spirits. 
 Two other similar presses were soon finished ; I employed my- 
 self incessantly in writing upon the stones ; the printing bv j gan 
 with six printers : but, — Oh! the uncertainty of human expec- 
 tations! — not one of all the six printers could make himself 
 master of the simple process of rubbing the surface of the stone ; 
 out of ten impressions, scarcely one was perfect ; and if they even 
 succeeded in printing three pages of a sheet perfect, the fourth 
 was sure to fail, and spoil the whole. Thus, out of three 
 reams of the best paper, only thirty-three perfect sheets could 
 be produced. 
 
19 
 
 The time fixed for the delivery of the work which we had 
 engaged to print was now elapsed, without our having been 
 able to furnish the requisite number, and thus we were ex- 
 posed to the reproaches of our employers ; our new art lost 
 almost all its credit and reputation, and even the privilege 
 which the Elector had promised, was refused us ; and, during 
 the life of Charles Theodore, we never could obtain it. Our 
 little gains were consumed, even debts were incurred, and the 
 ridicule of those whom the success of our first trials had ren- 
 dered jealous, was all the fruit we had earned from our labo- 
 rious endeavours to promote a new art. 
 
 As the want of a good press was the only cause of our failure, 
 I tried to induce Mr. Falter, music-seller at Munich, to fur- 
 nish me with the means of constructing one ; and engaged 
 myself to superintend the printing in his own house, if he 
 would give me leave to write the stones in my apartments. 
 To this Mr. Falter, who, upon the whole, had a very good 
 opinion of the art, readily agreed, and I ordered a large press, 
 with cylinders, to be constructed ; the cylinders, provided 
 with what are termed the cross, were both to be turned 
 by the workmen at the same moment, and this precaution 
 produced the most perfect impressions ; for the double action 
 of the two cylinders, forced the frame with the stone between 
 them, while in our former press the lower cylinder directly 
 counteracted this movement. This circumstance, together 
 with the greater thickness of the upper cylinder, which was 
 
 d 2 
 
20 
 
 fifteen inches in diameter, prevented the paper from changing 
 its position on the stone. This sort of press I still believe to 
 be best adapted for all lithographic printing, provided the 
 stones are of sufficient thickness, and despatch is not a consi- 
 deration ; for, in that respect, this press is not to be compared 
 with the lever-press, and several others, but the impression is 
 softer, more equal and exact, than can be obtained from any 
 other press. 
 
 As soon as this press was finished and put together, I began 
 to write on stone Mozart's Zauberjidte, arranged in quartettos 
 by Danzy, and to print it, with the assistance of Mrs. Gleissner, 
 at Mr. Falter's house ; but Mrs. Gleissner being soon after 
 prevented from assisting me, I instructed two soldiers in the 
 process of printing, and only furnished Mr. Falter with the 
 written stones. But these workmen, not entering into the 
 spirit of the art, spoiled a great deal of paper, so that Mr. Falter 
 at last preferred printing again from copper. 
 
 About the same time Mr. Schmidt, then Professor of the 
 Royal Military College, at present Dean of Miesbach, began 
 to etch on stone ; he was an intimate friend of Mr. Gleissner, 
 and often used to visit him. For about a year past it has been 
 asserted that Mr. Schmidt is the first inventor of Lithography, 
 and several pamphlets on the subject of this claim are already 
 before the public. Without entering more minutely into the 
 particulars of these rumours, I leave the thing to speak for 
 
itself. The reader will have seen, from the present simple and 
 unvarnished account, the natural, but troublesome, way that 
 conducted me to the new invention. If Mr. Schmidt, about 
 the same time, made a similar discovery, without my knowing 
 of it, it certainly must be said that he was more fortunate than 
 myself. According to his own statement, published in a letter 
 from him in the " Anzeiger fur Kunst, und Getverbjleiss," 
 the course of his invention was the following : — He saw in the 
 Cathedral of Our Lady, at Munich, a grave stone, with raised 
 letters and figures ; this he supposed to have been effected by 
 aqua-fortis: and, therefore, concluded that it would be possible 
 to take an impression from it. Such was the whole amount 
 of his discovery. If the merit and credit of a new invention 
 may thus easily be obtained, I have certainly been much less 
 fortunate in having been obliged to make such an endless 
 variety of experiments in search of it. But, in my opinion, 
 there is nothing new in Mr. Schmidt's discovery ; for the idea 
 that those letters and figures were etched, pre-supposes the 
 existence and use of etching, and every one, who is ever 
 so little acquainted with the process of printing, would easily 
 conceive the possibility of blackening, and taking an im- 
 pression from these large and raised characters on grave 
 stones, in the common manner of letter-press printing. If, 
 however, Mr. Schmidt joined to this first idea a second, viz., 
 that fine and slightly-raised characters and drawings could be 
 blackened by means of an instrument to be devised for the pur- 
 pose, and that impressions could be taken from them, then, 
 
22 
 
 certainly, he is entitled to the honour of having invented, at the 
 same time with or previous to me, the mechanical process of 
 raised Lithography, as it was then practised. But, upon the 
 whole, neither he nor I can boast of having been the first to 
 conceive the idea of using stones for printing; it is only the 
 manner of effecting this which constitutes the novelty of the 
 invention. At that period (1796) 1 had discovered, first, not only 
 the art of printing from stone plates, but an ink to write on 
 stone, which, at the same time, was proof against aqua-fortis, 
 of my own composition, and not from an old Nuremberg book, 
 from which Mr. Schmidt took his receipt : — secondly, a use- 
 ful instrument to blacken the imperceptibly-raised charac- 
 ters : — and, thirdly, the upright pole, or lever-press, of which 
 I shall speak more minutely hereafter. 
 
 As I am perfectly ignorant of Mr. Schmidt's experiments at 
 the above-mentioned period, and am precluded from obtaining 
 more particular information, I am ready to believe it on his 
 assertion, as a gentleman, that he printed from stone so early 
 as previous to July, 1796 ; but I have the most incontestable 
 proofs, that his method widely differed from mine ; and, above 
 all, that he was perfectly ignorant of the chemical printing, 
 which I discovered in 1798. Mr. Schmidt, and his pupils, 
 made several trials to produce drawings on stone, but, as it ap- 
 pears, he could not succeed in taking impressions from them. 
 Some of his stones, which I saw a long time afterwards, were 
 first etched; but, subsequently, the spaces between the lines cut 
 
23 
 
 out to a considerable depth by steel instruments, in the same 
 way as wood cuts : he had impressions taken from his stones 
 at the printing-office of the Royal Establishment for School- 
 books, and some impressions are said to have been very clear ; 
 I myself never happened to see any of them. The experiments 
 of Professor Schmidt, however, procured me the acquaintance 
 of the Rev. Mr. Steiner, who, by his liberal encouragement, 
 greatly contributed to lead me, in order to satisfy his different 
 requests, to several improvements, to which Lithography owes 
 much of its present perfection. The Rev. Mr. Steiner, an 
 intimate friend of Professor Schmidt, was Director of the Royal 
 School Establishments, and in this capacity he had several 
 publications under his care. Professor Schmidt's idea of pub- 
 lishing prints of all poisonous plants from stone, for the use 
 of the schools, met with his approbation; and, as several ex- 
 periments for this purpose did not succeed, he resolved to 
 apply to me, in order to attain his object. Wishing, at the 
 same time, to publish some church music, he came to me, 
 and requested me to cut the music lines in stone that they 
 might be inserted between the letter-press lines, and printed 
 all together in the common printing-press. I tried to ac- 
 complish this, but the cutting out of the intermediate spaces, 
 was found to be so troublesome, that it would have been much 
 easier to cut the notes in wood at once. We, therefore, adopted 
 the expedient of first printing the letter-press in the common 
 way, and afterwards added the notes from the stone in our 
 press. I, nevertheless, tried several other experiments to attain 
 
24 
 
 eur purpose, and, among these, I thought the following 
 the best : I covered a well polished plate of stone with a compo- 
 sition of burned pulverised gypsum, butter, and alumina, mixed 
 with a sufficient quantity of water, to the thickness of two or 
 three cards. When this mass was dry, I drew in it the lines and 
 points, or, in short, the whole of the music, with a steel needle 
 down to the surface of the stone ; and, that I might see 
 it more distinctly, I chose a dark-coloured, almost brown, 
 stone. Having completed the drawing, I took melted sealing- 
 wax, spread on a thin board of wood, and pressed it, while 
 still warm, on the stone, by means of a hand-press. When it 
 became cold, the white ground which was loosened from the 
 stone, and adhered to the sealing-wax, was cleaned with a 
 brush and water, and the drawing, or writing, appeared clear 
 and raised on the sealing-wax, like a wood cut, and admitted 
 of being printed in the usual way. I afterwards tried to sub- 
 stitute the composition of lead, tin, and bismuth, for the sealing- 
 wax, which, likewise, with proper management, perfectly 
 succeeds. Wlien the stone is covered with the same compo- 
 sition, but to a greater thickness, the finest cotton patterns 
 may be drawn on it, with greater facility, and in less time, than 
 they can be cut in wood. All my experiments perfectly suc- 
 ceeded, and I greatly regret, that in the sequel, I have 
 never had occasion to improve upon this invention, which I 
 had almost forgotten, and which only came into my mind 
 again when I was writing this history, which recalls many 
 things to my memory. In the second section of this work, or 
 
25 
 
 in the description of the process of stone printing, I shall take 
 an opportunity of speaking on the subject more at large, and 
 of relating some experiments in preparing blocks for cotton 
 printing, which 1 afterwards tried at Vienna. 
 
 A musical composition on the Conflagration of New Oetting, 
 in Bavaria, which I printed for Mr. Lentner, with a vignette 
 representing a house in flames, induced Mr. Steiner to have 
 some small drawings for a Catechism, printed on stone. As 
 drawings, they were but indifferent ; but he, nevertheless, en- 
 couraged me to try whether the new invention might not be 
 applicable to the higher departments of the art. This gentle- 
 man, with the exception of Mr. Andre, of Offenbach, was the 
 only person who thus reasoned : Lines and points of any degree 
 of fineness and strength, can, according to this new manner, 
 be produced on stone ; consequently, drawings, resembling 
 copper-plate engravings, are to be produced in a similar way ; 
 and if we cannot yet succeed in producing them, the reason of it 
 is not to be looked for in the insufficiency of the art, but in the 
 want of practice and experience of the artists. He, even at 
 this early period, wisely refrained from hastily judging, as 
 some self-sufficient and conceited connoisseurs continue to do 
 at the present day, that the art was still in its infancy ; but he 
 was convinced, when I shewed him my first specimens of the 
 improved chemical method of printing from stone, that the 
 invention had already attained its highest pitch of perfection ; 
 that artists might acquire greater skill ; that the operations 
 
 E 
 
26 
 
 might be simplified, and facilitated ; the mariners be diver- 
 sified and multiplied ; but that the art itself was not suscep- 
 tible of being further perfected. And, indeed, though I my- 
 self, when, after the lapse of twenty years, I consider in a su- 
 perficial manner, all the different improvements which I have 
 made in the art during this space, the gratifying results 
 of which are recorded in the contents of this Treatise, and 
 seen in the specimens annexed, and which greatly surpass the 
 expectations which I then ventured to entertain, am tempted, 
 for a moment, to believe that the present and past state of the 
 art, admit of no comparison whatever ; yet, upon closer ex- 
 amination, I am convinced that I had even then invented the 
 whole of the art ; and that all that others and myself have 
 since done, consists only in the improvement of the appli- 
 cation of it. — The whole still rests upon the same principles : 
 ink, composed of wax, soap, fyc, gum, aqua-fortis, or any 
 other acid, of which no one has a decided advantage over 
 another, oil, varnish, and lampblack, are still, and in the 
 same manner, the chief ingredients of Lithography, as they 
 were then. In the fundamental principle, nothing has been 
 improved, altered, or newly discovered ; no drawing, even of 
 any lithographer, has since appeared, which has to boast of 
 lines and points more clear, powerful, or black, than my first 
 specimens at that period contained in some of their parts. 
 
 Those, therefore, who endeavour to excuse the want of 
 patronage, which the art of Lithography, in its beginning, 
 
11 
 
 experienced, by the argument that it was impossible to guess, 
 at that time, to what perfection it was capable of attaining, 
 and who pronounce recent drawings, which, in respect of the 
 mechanical part of points and lines, are inferior even to those 
 that were then made, to be better lithographic productions, 
 merely because the drawing is executed by an abler artist, and 
 the subject is nobler ; — those, I say, plainly discover that 
 they want that liberal and impartial spirit, which the Rev. 
 Mr. Steiner so honourably displayed in the reasoning above 
 alluded to. It has happened several times, that the art, and 
 its inventor, have been confounded with the artist ; and some 
 publications have even gone so far as to assert, that though I 
 had invented the outline of the art, I had onlv been able to 
 apply it to music-printing ; but that such or such a one, had 
 the merit of having applied it to subjects of art, and had even 
 produced prints. If these conceited and forward judges, had 
 taken care to obtain better information, and had learned that, 
 besides myself, (the invention of the Rolling-Press of Professor 
 Mitterer excepted,) no person, in all the different branches of 
 Lithography, has effected any new improvement of conse- 
 quence, which he had not received directly, or indirectly, from 
 me ; that all those artists, and producers of prints, made their 
 first essays under my immediate direction, or were trained and 
 instructed by persons who derived their information from my 
 instructions, and that none of them can boast of having pene- 
 trated into the innermost recesses of the art, like Mr. Rapp, 
 of Tubingen, the esteemed author of a work, entitled, " The 
 
 e 2 
 
28 
 
 Secrets of Lithography ;" then certainly they would never 
 have made use of these ridiculous arguments, or have enter- 
 tained these unfounded prejudices, of which they ought to be 
 ashamed. 
 
 Had I, at that period, possessed greater facility in writing 
 and drawing on stone, the Rev. Mr. Steiner would have fur- 
 nished me with ample occupation. The next work I exe- 
 cuted for him, was a copy-book for young girls, which pos- 
 sessed little merit, as I had little practice in writing. He then 
 desired me to draw some scenes of sacred history on stone. 
 Schoen, at Augsburg, was just then engraving for him the 
 seven holy Sacraments, after Poussin, but they were too ex- 
 pensive in this shape, and he wished to render them cheaper, 
 so that even clergymen in the country might give them as 
 presents to the children of their parishioners ; and, in general, 
 he endeavoured to substitute for the sacred caricatures that 
 filled the prayer-books of the devout, such drawings as might 
 contribute to improve the public taste. In order to accom- 
 plish this the more expeditiously, it was deemed advisable to 
 instruct young artists in the process of drawing on stone with 
 my ink, and thus many drawings, more or less perfect, were 
 produced. 
 
 I was certainly now exposed to the risk of losing the secret of 
 my art ; and, indeed, except the exact proportion in the 
 composition of my ink, it was already lost ; but, as I still en- 
 
29 
 
 tertained the hopes of obtaining the long looked-for privilege, 
 or patent, for Bavaria, I did not hesitate to give instruction to all 
 those that wished it. But amongst all the young artists, there 
 was none who did not expect the most ample success on the very 
 first trials ; and as it was necessary that they should first learn 
 for some time, they soon relaxed in their attendance, which 
 greatly displeased Mr. Steiner, but was a matter of indif- 
 ference to me, as I was just occupied in applying a new and 
 important discovery, in such a way, as to give an entirely new 
 shape to my art, and to be able to produce drawings without 
 even the assistance of an artist. 
 
 Being employed to write a prayer-book on stone, which was 
 to be done in the common current hand, I found great diffi- 
 culty in producing the letters reversed upon the stone. My 
 ordinary method of writing music on stone, was first to trace 
 the whole page with black lead-pencil on paper, wet it, place 
 it on the stone, and pass it through a strong press. In this 
 way I got the whole page traced, reversed, on the stone. But 
 this being extremely tender, and easily wiped off, I should 
 have preferred an ink to the pencil. After having tried some 
 experiments with red chalk and gum-water, and common 
 writing-ink, which did not satisfy me, I prepared a compo- 
 sition of linseed-oil, soap, and lampblack, diluted with water ; 
 with this ink I traced the music or letters on paper, and trans- 
 ferred it to the stone, and thus obtained a perfect reversed 
 copy on the latter. This led jne to the idea whether it would 
 
30 
 
 not be possible to compose an ink, possessing the property of 
 transferring itself to the stone, so that the drawing might be 
 made at once complete, and to prepare the paper in such a 
 manner, that, under certain circumstances, it might discharge 
 the ink, with which writing or a drawing was executed on its 
 surface, upon the stone plate, and not retain any part of it. 
 
 Having observed that the stone ink, when it came into con- 
 tact with the common writing ink, coagulated, (because the 
 acid of the vitriol attracts the solvent alcali from it,) I wrote 
 with common ink, into which I had put vitriol in excess, on 
 paper ; and when the writing was dry, I dipped the whole 
 sheet, for a few seconds, in a thin solution of stone ink in 
 water ; then taking it out, I cleaned it in rain water, or a weakly 
 diluted ley. I found the stone ink precipitated strongly on all 
 the places covered with writing ink. After leaving the paper 
 to dry a little, I put it on the stone, and passing it through 
 the press, obtained a complete copy, but the impressions I 
 took from it were never perfectly clear and equal. I tried it, 
 therefore, in another way ; I besmeared the paper with a so- 
 lution of vitriol of iron in gum-water ; when dry, I wrote on 
 it with my stone ink, dried it again, moistened it with common 
 water for some time in order to loosen the ink ; then put it on 
 the stone plate, which I had previously covered with a so- 
 lution of oil varnish, in oil of turpentine. The result of this 
 experiment was more satisfactory, though not yet perfect, and 
 induced me to undertake an endless variety of other expe- 
 
31 
 
 riments, in which I altered the proportion of the ingredients, 
 and added others. I can safely assert that this circumstance 
 alone cost me several thousand different experiments, but I was 
 sufficiently rewarded by the final attainment of my object. 
 Besides, these experiments led me to the discovery of the pre- 
 sent chemical Lithography. The art of transferring from the 
 paper to the stone, rested principally on the greater or less 
 affinity of one ingredient to another ; for instance, I ob- 
 served that every liquid, especially a viscous liquid, such as a 
 solution of gum, prevented the ink from attaching itself to 
 the stone. I drew some lines with soap on a newly-polished 
 stone, moistened the surface with gum-water, and then touched 
 it with oil colour, which adhered only to the places covered 
 with soap. In trying to write music on the stone, with a 
 view to print it in this way, I found that the ink ran on the 
 polished surface ; this I obviated by washing the stone with 
 soap-water, or linseed-oil, before I began to write ; but in order 
 to remove again this cover of grease which extended over the 
 whole surface, (so that the whole stone would have been black 
 on the application of the colour,) after I had written or drawn 
 on the stone, it was necessary to apply aqua-fortis, which took 
 it entirely away, and left the characters or drawings untouched. 
 My whole process was, therefore, as follows : — to wash the 
 polished stone with soap-water, to dry it well, to write or draw 
 upon it with the composition ink of soap and wax, then to 
 etch it with aqua-fortis ; and, lastly, to prepare it for printing 
 
32 
 
 with an infusion of gum-water. I had hoped to have been able 
 to dispense with the gum-water, but was soon convinced that it 
 really enters into chemical affinity with the stone, and stops 
 its pores still more effectually against the fat, and opens them 
 to the water. In less than three days after my first idea, I 
 produced as perfect and clear impressions, as any that have 
 since been obtained. Thus this new art had, in its very origin, 
 arrived at the highest degree of perfection as to the principle, 
 and good and experienced artists were only wanting to shew 
 it in all the varieties of application. The use of dry soap very 
 naturally led to the invention of the chalk manner, and I now 
 saw all my former experiments in quite a different light. 
 The transition to the engraved manner, where the stone is first 
 prepared with aqua-fortis and gum, and the drawing en- 
 graved, without being etched, was so simple that I had not the 
 least difficulty in discovering it; and, indeed, this was the man- 
 ner in which the first work, after I had made my new and im- 
 portant discovery of chemical printing, was laid before the public. 
 This was " A Symphony for Four Voices, with the Accom- 
 paniment of different Instruments," by Mr. Gleissner ; it was 
 dedicated to Count Torring, and in order to make the title- 
 page as neat as possible, I chose the new-invented engraved 
 manner for it. Whoever possesses a copy of it, will be con- 
 vinced that the title-page is engraved ; and Mr. Rapp, of 
 Stuttgard, is, therefore, under an error, if he thinks himself the 
 first who used stone in this manner. So early as the year 1800, 1 
 
33 
 
 deposited a circumstantial description of it at the Patent 
 Office in London ; and in 1803, with the Government of 
 Lower Austria, after having obtained a privilege for it. 
 
 These new inventions, with that of the lever-press, as above 
 described, by means of which 1 could take off a great number 
 of copies in one day, enabled me to carry on my business 
 on a larger scale. I therefore took my two brothers, 
 Theobald and George, into my employ, and also engaged 
 two apprentices. The Rev. Mr. Steiner, and several other 
 persons, supplied me with sufficient occupation ; and, after 
 so many troubles, privations, and unpleasant circumstances, 
 which had nearly exhausted the whole of my own and 
 Mr. Gleissner's patience, promising prospects seemed at last 
 to open to us. We earned from ten to twelve florins a day, 
 and at the same time, (1799,) we had the pleasure of obtaining 
 through the favour of his present Majesty King Maximilian 
 Joseph, who about that time began his glorious reign, an ex- 
 clusive privilege for our new art, for fifteen years ; by which 
 the reprinting and selling of such works as we could produce 
 in Bavaria, was prohibited, under a penalty of 100 ducats, and 
 the confiscation of the stock and implements. In consequence 
 of this privilege, which, though it was only for Bavaria, en- 
 tirely satisfied all our hopes, I did not think it necessary to 
 keep our art any longer a secret, but took a pride in ex- 
 plaining it to any stranger, who, attracted by the novelty of 
 the invention, came to visit our office. In this way Mr. Andre 
 
 F 
 
34 
 
 of Offenbach, amongst others, was introduced to me. He 
 happened to see some of our printed music at Mr. Falter's, and 
 being himself a very extensive seller of music, he admired the 
 beauty of the print, and the firmness of the colour, which did 
 not come off on touching it, as it does from tin plates. 1 took 
 all possible pains to shew him my invention in the most ad- 
 vantageous light, etched and printed several stone plates in his 
 presence, and took impressions from them, as perfect as could 
 be wished for. The despatch of the printing, the quick drying 
 and the comparatively small quantity of colour that was used, 
 excited his unbounded admiration ; so that he made me, on the 
 spot, a proposal of a suitable recompense, on condition of my 
 communicating to him the whole of the art This I did not 
 hesitate to accept; and in a very short time we agreed that I 
 should go to Offenbach, establish a press there, and train pro- 
 per persons in writing and printing ; for which I was to re- 
 ceive a remuneration of 2,000 florins. Some altercations 
 having arisen between my own family and myself, my brothers 
 separated from me, and began to print on their own account ; 
 this however, being contrary to my privilege, they were soon 
 stopped : they went to Augsburg, where they tried to establish 
 a press for Mr. Gombart, but did not succeed. 
 
 As I had an interval of three months before the period fixed 
 for my departure for Offenbach, I employed this time in making 
 myself more thoroughly master of the new art ; and, among 
 other things, tried some experiments; and I discovered that my 
 
35 
 
 chemical printing process was not limited to stone only, but 
 that other substances, as wood, metal, paper, even fat substances, 
 as wax, shellac, and rosin, may be used instead of it in some 
 cases, and under certain circumstances. This gave me the 
 hope of discovering, perhaps, at some future time, an artificial, 
 less bulky, and less expensive kind of stone plate ; and in this 
 I succeeded in 1813, by inventing an artificial stone-paper, 
 or stone-like composition, which, spread on paper or linen, is a 
 substitute for stones, and resembles the common vellum. 
 
 The time of my departure for Offenbach being arrived, I 
 went thither with Mr. Gleissner ; and, without delay, applied 
 myself to the establishing of Mr. Andre's press ; from 
 which, after a fortnight, I was able to produce the first proof. 
 Mr. Andre was so perfectly satisfied, and had, upon the whole, 
 such a high opinion of the art of Lithography, that he made me 
 proposals to leave Munich entirely, to enter into partnership 
 with him, and to try to make the most of our art. He had 
 three brothers, none of whom were yet settled ; and wishing 
 to provide for them, he projected the plan of obtaining privi- 
 leges or patents in Vienna, London, Paris, and Berlin ; of 
 establishing in each of these places a number of presses, and a 
 house, and carrying on the business as a joint concern ; the cen- 
 tre of which was to be Offenbach, where Mr. Andre intended to 
 remain himself, while I undertook to superintend our house in 
 Vienna. In order to make the necessary preparations for this 
 purpose, I returned to Munich, where I resigned my prsse and 
 
 f 2 
 
36 
 
 whole establishment to my two brothers Theobald and George, 
 reserving to myself only the fourth part of the clear profit ; 
 and made such arrangements as not to interrupt, during my 
 absence, the engagements into which I had entered. At my 
 return to Offenbach, I found our establishment in good order, 
 and our artists well exercised ; Mr. Andre, who kept ten music- 
 presses, with tin plates, at work, stopped five of them, 
 and substituted lithographic presses in their stead. A short 
 time afterwards he went to England, partly on business, partly 
 in order to make himself better acquainted with the mode of 
 obtaining patents, fyc. One of our principal speculations for 
 England was the application of the lithographic art to cotton- 
 printing. I had, at one period, tried many experiments with 
 regard to the manner of printing in colours on paper, as well as 
 on cotton ; and, at last, believed I had discovered a new and 
 very advantageous way of doing it, by means of a cylinder 
 covered with leather, at the upper part of which was fixed 
 a vessel that supplied the necessary colour to the cylinder ; 
 so that in one day several thousand yards of cotton could be 
 printed. 
 
 After having discovered the chemical printing process, I 
 proposed to use a cylinder of stone, instead of the wooden one 
 covered with leather, which I thought could not fail of suc- 
 ceeding. Mr. Andre intended to take out a patent for this ; 
 but finding that the cylinder printing was already generally 
 used in England, he relinquished all idea of it. 
 
37 
 
 After his return from England, Mr. Andre proposed to me 
 to go thither, which I at last, though reluctantly, did, in the 
 company of one of his brothers. My stay in England, however, 
 had not the expected success with respect to establishing a li- 
 thographical office there ; the principal cause was the un- 
 necessary precaution and anxiety of Mr. Philip Andre, who 
 kept me, during the whole time of my stay, in a perfect se- 
 clusion from society, for fear of losing the secret. And thus 
 seven long months elapsed, before even the first step towards 
 obtaining our object, was taken. My patience at last being 
 exhausted, the patent obtained, and Mr. Philip Andre suffi- 
 ciently instructed in the practice of Lithography, I had not 
 the least inclination to prolong my stay, and returned to 
 Offenbach. The time I passed in London, however, was not 
 entirely lost for me and my art, for I employed my time in the 
 study of chemistry, chiefly as far as it relates to dyeing, and 
 tried a great number of experiments with various ingredients, 
 to improve my ink, and other materials ; I also made some 
 progress in the aqua-tinta manner, in which Mr. Gessner, son 
 of the poet, an artist of talent, drew some pleasing landscapes. 
 I am convinced that the Public would have a greater number 
 of masterly productions of the new art before them, if it 
 had been my fortune to have fallen in with an enterprising 
 print-seller, who employed proper artists, and undertook in- 
 teresting works ; but, as will be seen in the progress of this 
 Narrative, I was always involved in circumstances so unfa- 
 vourable and discouraging, that I had scarcely any opportunity 
 
38 
 
 to make use of the experience I possessed, in any work of 
 importance. 
 
 The first, and very unwelcome news, that I heard after my 
 return from England to Offenbach, was, that my mother had 
 gone to Vienna, with the intention of obtaining there an Im- 
 perial exclusive privilege for my two brothers, who, not satis- 
 fied with their present situation, and jealous lest Andre 
 should have the whole advantage of the new art, while they, 
 though nearest relations to the inventor, should derive none 
 whatever from it, had suggested to her this course as the only 
 means of securing independence, and a prosperous business 
 to themselves. My mother had not been long at Vienna, 
 before Mr. Andre, by an accident, was informed of her in- 
 tention ; and, in order to counteract it, he sent Mrs. Gleissner 
 to Vienna, with a commission to obtain the privilege for the 
 Inventor, and his partners. Thus these two ladies were en- 
 gaged in a lawsuit, which was not likely to terminate in a very 
 short time. The whole of this transaction, however, Mr. Andre 
 had intentionally kept a secret from me during my stay in 
 England ; and, as I could not but be highly displeased with it, 
 I proposed, in order to settle the business, to go myself to 
 Vienna. But to this Mr. Andre positively refused his assent, 
 without entering into any discussion, or giving me his reasons 
 for it. This, and several other circumstances, concurred to 
 lessen my confidence in Mr. Andre, for whose character I had 
 hitherto entertained the highest regard. I, therefore, persisted 
 
39 
 
 in my intention of going to Vienna ; and, as in one of the dis- 
 putes arising out of this subject, Mr. Andre went so far as to 
 remind me how much I ought to be obliged to him for all he 
 had done for me, and how essentially I had bettered my 
 situation in entering into partnership with him, conscious 
 of the purity of my intentions, and of my sincere endeavours 
 to promote his interest, as much as if it had been my own, and 
 that I had done even more for him than what our contract 
 bound me to do, I grew extremely nettled, and the passion of 
 the moment so completely got the better of me, that I tore in 
 pieces the contract, which had only been signed the day 
 before, and by which the fifth part of all our profit was secured 
 to me, and threw it down before Mr. Andre, saying, that I did 
 not wish to make my fortune by his means. 
 
 This was one of the most eventful moments of my life, as it 
 was in the history of my new art, the prospects of which were 
 entirely altered by it, and received a new direction and ten- 
 dency. It was also the cause of Mr. Andre's not succeeding 
 in his speculations, and of suffering severe losses, instead of 
 deriving any advantage from them, both in England and 
 France. Had our partnership lasted longer, there is no doubt 
 that the lithographic art would, in both these countries, have 
 attained a higher degree of perfection, and have yielded great 
 profit to its possessors. 
 
 Having about this time become reconciled to my two 
 
 ■ 
 
40 
 
 brothers, whose want of confidence and very improper conduct 
 towards me, my fraternal love at length forgave, I resolved 
 to take them with me to Vienna ; and thus, by uniting their 
 interest to my own, at once to put an end to that disgraceful 
 lawsuit, which was still going on there. 
 
 END OF THE FIRST SECTION. 
 
SECOND SECTION. 
 
 IT was iii the month of August, 1800, that I left Offenbach 
 for Vienna, accompanied by my brothers Theobald and George. 
 At Ratisbon I met my mother on her return from Vienna, who 
 rejoiced me with the news that she had petitioned for a patent 
 for my invention, for me as well as for my brothers. Thus 
 unanimity and friendship being restored among us, we pur- 
 sued our journey, full of hope, that our united and indefatigable 
 exertions in this new undertaking, would not prove fruit- 
 less. But, alas ! all our promising prospects soon proved to be 
 merely imaginary. 
 
 In order to be clear, it is necessary to go back a little in our 
 history. Mrs. Gleissner, whom Mr. Andre had sent to Vienna, 
 as before mentioned, to secure the privilege for me and himself* 
 or rather for our joint company, had been allowed a fair sum 
 to defray the expenses of this expedition ; and, not being dis- 
 posed to live in a very retired manner, or rather believing that, 
 to give consequence to our establishment, it was necessary to 
 make some external show, she had drawn for considerable sums 
 upon Mr. Andre's correspondent at Vienna ; so that this 
 banker, at last, began to suspect that she was exceeding the 
 prescribed limits. About the same time he received letters 
 
 G 
 
42 
 
 from Mr. Andre, in which he instructed him, in order to pro- 
 mote and facilitate the success of our petition, (well knowing 
 that my name was entirely unknown, while his, being at the 
 head of an extensive and highly respectable firm, was well 
 known at Vienna,) to sue for our common privilege in his own 
 name. 
 
 This determination, by which Mr. Andre solely endea- 
 voured to promote our common interest, the banker commu- 
 nicated to Mrs. Gleissner, charging her to act accordingly, 
 and. to represent Mr. Andre as the principal petitioner. But 
 Mrs. Gleissner, suspecting it to be merely a stratagem, refused 
 to comply ; and the banker, therefore, added that, in this case, 
 he was no longer authorized to supply her with money. This 
 threat, for in reality it was nothing more, exasperated her so 
 much, that she communicated the whole transaction to her 
 landlord, Mr. Von Bogner, a highly respectable merchant ; 
 acquainting him, at the same time, with all our plans, and the 
 great prospects which the new art promised to open. This 
 gentleman was easily convinced of the justice of our expec- 
 tations ; and, seeing that we had taken Mr. Andre as a partner, 
 merely because his capital was requisite to our first establishment, 
 he advised her to try whether we could not obtain the privilege 
 without this assistance, for ourselves alone, which would give 
 us the option of either taking him as a partner, or not, as we 
 might think fit ; and for this purpose he offered to introduce her 
 to Mr. Von Hartl, Imperial Court Agent, who, he said, was the 
 
43 
 
 best judge of the probable success of such an undertaking, and 
 in whose power it was to promote and accomplish the business. 
 
 This offer was thankfully accepted, and Mrs. Gleissner ex- 
 plained to Mr. Von Hartl, the nature and tendency of our in- 
 vention ; shewing him, at the same time, a piece of calico, 
 which had been printed at Offenbach, and was so perfect as 
 not to be surpassed by the best English prints. This spe- 
 cimen particularly attracted the attention of Mr. Von Hartl, 
 who was then greatly interested in a society recently esta- 
 blished at Vienna, for the purpose of introducing English 
 Spinning Machines into Austria, the funds of which amounted 
 to about one million and a half of florins. A good English 
 mechanician, of the name of Thornton, had been procured for 
 the constructing of these machines ; and the only objection that 
 public opinion could make to the probable success of this esta- 
 blishment, was, that the extensive trade of the English would 
 injure the sale of its productions. It was, however, suggested, 
 that this objection might be obviated by uniting the spinning 
 establishment with manufactories for weaving, dyeing, and 
 printing calico. As soon, therefore, as Mr. Von Hartl saw that 
 my invention would also be applicable to the printing of 
 cottons, he promised his full and unlimited patronage and 
 assistance in procuring the privilege ; and even offered to 
 furnish the necessary capital of 6,000 florins, on condition 
 that 1 should convince him of the utility of my invention. 
 Mrs. Gleissner, without delay, communicated to me this 
 
 g 2 
 
44 
 
 offer by letter, without, however, mentioning the condition 
 attached to it. 
 
 Such was the state of our affairs when I arrived at Vienna, 
 with my two brothers. The expenses of the journey had 
 nearly consumed all my money, and I found Mrs. Gleissner 
 nearly as destitute as myself ; our privilege was still far from 
 being obtained, and the only hope of obtaining it at all, rested 
 in Mr. Von HartPs protection and promises. The sole re- 
 source, therefore, that I had for the moment, was Mr. Von 
 Bogner, who liberally admitted me into his house, and to his 
 table, and promised me his assistance, as far as his means would 
 permit. My next care was to wait upon Mr. Von Hartl, which 
 I did, in company with my two brothers- He received us with 
 great politeness, but assured us that the privilege could not be 
 obtained for any but the real inventor ; and, as soon as he 
 should be convinced of the merit of the invention, he would 
 promote it with all his influence. This declaration otfended 
 my brothers to such a degree, that they declared, rather than 
 be dependent on me, they would try their fortune elsewhere ; 
 and, as they had not the necessary means to return, they 
 threatened to sell the secret to some printseller or artist, at 
 Vienna. To prevent this, I prevailed upon Mr. Von Hartl to 
 advance them the necessary sum, with which they immediately 
 returned to Munich, for the purpose of exercising my privilege 
 there, during my absence, which I allowed them to do, upon 
 condition of remitting to me one third of the clear profit. 
 
45 
 
 Having, in the mean time, constructed a small press, I laid 
 before Mr. Von Hartl such proofs, as perfectly convinced him 
 of the great utility and importance of my invention. He, 
 therefore, proposed to me a contract of partnership, by which 
 he engaged to furnish the necessary capital, and I to devote 
 my time and practical knowledge, to our establishment. His 
 principal object still was the application of the lithographic 
 art to cotton-printing ; but as this could not be begun imme- 
 diately, he proposed, in the mean time, to establish a press for 
 music and works of art ; and, as soon as the other and much 
 more extensive concern could be commenced, we intended to 
 relinquish the printing of music to Mr. Gleissner, exclusively. 
 
 It is necessary to state here, in my own justification, that 1 
 would not have entered into partnership with any other person, 
 so long as my connection with Mr. Andre was still in ex- 
 istence. As soon as I was perfectly acquainted with the state 
 of our affairs at Vienna, I wrote to Mr. Andre, representing to 
 him that they were not so bad as he was induced to believe ; 
 and that if he thought proper to go to the necessary expense, 
 success might still crown our plans, and the privilege be ob- 
 tained. But this proposal Mr. Andre, or rather his brother, 
 positively refused to accept, and thus I considered myself at 
 liberty to act thenceforward as I pleased. 
 
 As soon, therefore, as 1 had set up a great press, Mr. Von Hartl 
 and myself requested that a committee might be appointed by 
 
46 
 
 the government of Lower Austria, to investigate our new art. 
 This committee, besides the local magistrates, consisted of 
 Mr. Von Jacquin, Professor of Chemistry, and Mr. Schmutzer, 
 Director of the Academy of Engraving. I went, in their pre- 
 sence, through all the processes and different applications of 
 my new art, on paper, as well as on calico, with such success, 
 as to obtain their unqualified approbation, which they very 
 strongly expressed in their report on the subject. In the same 
 manner I satisfied a committee of the Imperial Aulic Council ; 
 and some time afterwards I had even the honour to exhibit my 
 process before his Majesty the Emperor himself, in whose 
 presence I made several trials with a little hand-press, that 
 obtained his entire approbation. We were now pretty sure of 
 obtaining our long looked-for privilege, without any farther 
 difficulty ; and the most promising prospects seemed to open 
 upon us. As I well knew that Mr. Von Hartl's great and 
 favourite project was to apply the lithographic process to ca- 
 lico printing, I devoted all my time to improve this branch of 
 the art, and to make myself master of the art of dyeing and 
 colouring. 
 
 Meanwhile the print and music-sellers, at Vienna, left no 
 stone unturned to counteract our application for the privilege, 
 because they were apprehensive of being totally ruined by the 
 introduction of this new art ; particularly, when they knew 
 that I had secured a powerful protector in my new partner 
 Mr. Von Hartl. In order to avoid this, they proposed to me 
 
47 
 
 to relinquish my intention of setting up an establishment of 
 my own ; upon condition, that the joint company of print and 
 music-sellers should supply me, throughout the year, with a 
 certain quantity of printing work. I now calculated that with 
 three presses for printing music, I should be able to print every 
 day 6,000 pages of music ; which, estimating the hundred at 
 the low price of twenty-five creutzers, would make a sum of 
 twenty-five florins ; and taking the year at 300 work-days, 
 would yield an annual profit of 7,500 florins, which could be 
 obtained without any risk, as the company of print-sellers en- 
 gaged to indemnify me, in case they could not procure the 
 necessary employment in printing. 
 
 This plan, however, though it seemed to me most ad- 
 vantageous and promising, did not receive the approbation of 
 Mr. Von Hartl, who was wholly averse to my submitting to any 
 restriction as to an establishment of our own ; and I was, there- 
 fore, under the necessity of relinquishing it, much against my 
 own inclination. Another, and likewise highly-advantageous, 
 offer, that was made to us about the same time, to sell to us 
 the long-established and very respectable business of the print- 
 seller Mr. Eder, was likewise roundly rejected, by the advice 
 of Mr. Von Hartl ; though I am convinced that it would, in 
 time, have proved a most lucrative concern, and would have 
 yielded as much profit to Mr. Von Hartl, as he afterwards 
 sustained loss. 
 
48 
 
 As J had been associated with Mr. Gleissner from the 
 very beginning of my lithographic career, and owed him 
 obligations, I thought it unjust to forsake him at a moment 
 when he stood most in need of me ; I had, therefore, induced 
 Mr. Von Hartl to let him come to Vienna, and to furnish him 
 with the requisite money for the purpose ; and, as the sum 
 allowed by him was not sufficient to pay his debts and tra- 
 velling expenses, T borrowed 400 florins on my own credit, 
 for this purpose. He now arrived at Vienna, with his family, 
 and one of my first apprentices, Mathias Grunewald. As 
 Mr. Gleissner's Symphonies had obtained universal appro- 
 bation, we began to print several of them as the first works of 
 our newly established press ; though it would have been more 
 advantageous to have begun with the compositions of some 
 more eminent composer, such as Haydn, whose name alone 
 would have been a sufficient recommendation at Vienna. 
 
 In order to establish any branch of lithographic printing, 
 it was indispensably requisite to have a considerable stock of 
 stone plates, of all dimensions ; and as we foresaw, that in our 
 establishment this point would be a very essential one, 
 Mr. Von Hartl, who was in the habit, every year, of making a 
 tour for the benefit of his health, resolved this year to visit 
 Munich, Augsburg, and Solnhofen ; and to take me with him, 
 in order to make, at the quarry itself, the best and most ad- 
 vantageous arrangements for the supply of stone plates, at any 
 future period. Another reason that contributed to this reso- 
 
49 
 
 » 
 
 lution was, his wish to inspect the estate of Riedau, which had 
 been represented to him as peculiarly well situated for the 
 establishment of a cotton manufactory, and which had just 
 been offered for sale. 
 
 This journey, on which we set out shortly afterwards, proved 
 one of the greatest enjoyments of my life. At Augsburg we 
 made a contract with a paper-maker, for the supply of music- 
 paper. At Munich we inspected the establishment of my 
 brothers, which, however, did not yield great profit to them ; 
 and at Solnhofen we purchased several hundred stone plates, 
 and made the necessary arrangements for our future supply. 
 On our return to Vienna, the first thing I did was to engage 
 some music-writers ; and I succeeded in finding two young 
 men, who, in a very short time, attained great perfection. 
 Mr. Gleissner's compositions were soon finished, and it became 
 necessary to look out for more work, in order to occupy the 
 writers and printers we had engaged. I therefore advised 
 Mr. Von Hartl to purchase some new music, of the best com- 
 posers, such as Krommer, Beethoven, Haydn, to which he 
 agreed ; but said, he waited only for a proper opportunity for 
 seeing these gentlemen, as he expected them at his own house. 
 As this, however, was delayed from one week to another, we 
 were obliged, in order to employ our men, to print a great 
 quantity of pieces, composed in the mean time by Mr.Gleissner. 
 Thus, (a collection of overtures excepted,) we printed, for nearly 
 a year, nothing but Mr. Gleissner's works, which consumed 
 
 H 
 
50 
 
 our whole stock of paper, and remained useless upon our 
 hands. About this time I was myself very little occupied with 
 Lithography, but devoted my time to the study of dyeing 
 and colouring, and to experiments connected with these 
 arts, which cost me a great deal of money ; and, after all, I 
 found, that, in order to superintend a calico-printing esta- 
 blishment, where my invention should be adopted, it would 
 not be necessary for me to understand the management and 
 composition of colours myself, but that we might employ 
 any person of experience in that branch. As soon as I felt 
 myself master of the art of dyeing, I accompanied Mr. Von 
 Hartl to Pottendorf, the great spinning manufactory, where 
 I became acquainted with the ingenious Mr. Thornton. 
 My idea of printing calico with large stone plates did not, 
 at first, receive his approbation, as he was too much pre- 
 possessed in favour of the English cylinder-printing ; and I 
 was, indeed, myself convinced, that the difficulty of exactly 
 applying calico to the stone, required still further im- 
 provements and inventions. He, therefore, resolved to pro- 
 cure a very thick piece of stone, to turn out of it a cylinder at 
 least eight inches in diameter, and to apply this to the printing 
 in the same way as copper cylinders. But, before these stones 
 could arrive, I conceived the idea that it might be possible to 
 substitute copper, or metal, for stone cylinders, and to etch them 
 in the usual way. To this Mr. Thornton objected, that printing 
 cylinders ought to be engraved, and not etched ; for, if the 
 latter method was applicable, he was sure the English artists 
 
51 
 
 would, long ago, have preferred it. This argument, however, 
 did not convince me ; 1 tried an experiment, which still more 
 corroborated my opinion ; but, in order to settle the question 
 at once, Mr. Thornton, who had brought with him from 
 England a small model of a press, with a cylinder, engraved 
 by the best English pattern engraver, proposed, that I should 
 etch this same engraved pattern on another cylinder, according 
 to my method, and then we could compare the results. This 
 proposal I eagerly accepted ; a perfectly similar cylinder of 
 zinc was procured ; and, as the pattern was very simple, I ac- 
 complished the drawing and etching of it in half a day, instead 
 of a week, as Mr. Thornton expected. We now proceeded to 
 the comparative trials ; first, with the copper cylinder, which, of 
 course, gave very clear and distinct impressions. We then 
 exchanged the copper cylinder for the zinc, and I had the 
 triumph of seeing that the print produced by it, was as neat 
 and clean as the former, and, at the same time, much stronger 
 and more beautiful ; and, therefore, the impressions were una- 
 nimously declared the best. The reason of this, I believe, is, 
 that the lines made by the graver 3 gradually contract in breadth, 
 from the surface downwards, and therefore cannot take a suf- 
 ficient quantity of colour ; while the etched lines, being of 
 a uniform breadth, absorb and give back nearly double the 
 proportion of colour. This experiment decided the practi- 
 cability and advantage of my etching method ; and Mr. Von 
 Hartl only waited for the next general meeting of the pro- 
 prietors of the calico manufactory, to introduce it upon a large 
 
 h 2 
 
52 
 
 scale. Nobody rejoiced more at this success, than myself ; as 
 I imagined the time was now come, when Mr. Von Hartl's 
 liberality, in the protection of the new art, would be rewarded ; 
 for, in truth, his expenses already amounted to a very consi- 
 derable sum ; in return for which, he had nothing but a large 
 stock of stones and music. 
 
 In the beginning of the year 1803, we had, at last, the satis- 
 faction of obtaining our long wished-for privilege for the 
 Austrian dominions ; and I thought that it would be most con- 
 ducive to our interest, to open an establishment for the sale of 
 our productions. To this proposal, however, Mr. Von Hartl 
 was decidedly averse, as he believed it would only add to our 
 certain expenses, while it afforded no certain prospect of gain. 
 We resolved, therefore, to contract with some bookseller for 
 the sale of our works, by commission ; and, after some deli- 
 beration, fixed upon the house of P. Rehm and Co., who 
 undertook the business for a commission of 25 per cent., and 
 promised to account every month for the receipts. At the end 
 of the first month, I expected to receive a good sum ; but found 
 myself miserably disappointed, when, on inspecting their 
 books, I learned that the total amount of the music sold by them 
 was no more than lOflor. 48 xr. The consideration of the pro- 
 verbial difficulty of all new beginnings, consoled me for the 
 present; but at the end of the second month, our profit was 
 no more than 1 flor. 36xr. Our patience was now exhausted ; 
 and, as Mr. Von Hartl, about the same time, sustained con- 
 
53 
 
 siderable losses from different quarters, he lost all courage and 
 inclination to persevere longer in the protection, and to spend 
 more money in the introduction, of so unproductive an art. 
 From this, his first impulse, he was however dissuaded, by his 
 confidential friend and secretary, Mr. Steiner, who represented 
 to him, that it was not so much the fault of the new method of 
 printing, as the injudicious choice of our works, that prevented 
 a more extensive sale : if the lithographic printing process 
 were applied to more popular and worthy objects, he had no 
 doubt but it would prove a perfect gold mine to him, and 
 every body concerned in it ; but, for this purpose, it would 
 be necessary to commit the management of the sale to an ex- 
 perienced and industrious man, and he knew no one better 
 qualified for the purpose than a Mr.Grund,a well known print- 
 seller and auctioneer. To this plan Mr. Von Hartl, who had 
 already despaired of success, was easily induced to consent, and 
 he even advanced considerable sums for the first establishment 
 of this new concern. Mr. Grund was to deliver his account 
 of sales every quarter, and to receive 30 per cent, for his com- 
 mission ; but nearly twelve months elapsed, and neither ac- 
 count nor money was forth-coming. It was, therefore, easy 
 to foresee, that in this way no success could be obtained ; 
 and, to save the whole undertaking from ruin, it was deemed 
 necessary to have recourse to another plan. This was, to set 
 up an establishment of our own, for the sale of our works ; 
 Mr. Steiner promised, in this case, to become a partner, and 
 embark some capital in our new concern, for which he asked no 
 
54 
 
 more than one-third of the clear profit of the whole. I found 
 myself, at this period, in a very embarrassed situation, as the 
 small debt of 400 florins, before alluded to, had, by dexterous 
 management, increased, in the short space of a few years, to 
 the sum of 2,000 florins ; the payment of which was now 
 peremptorily demanded. I was not able to satisfy this debt, 
 and Mr. Von Hartl made it the principal condition of his 
 interference in my favour, in this case, that I should agree 
 to the plan last proposed by Mr. Steiner, and take him 
 as a partner. Under the existing circumstances I had no 
 choice, but was obliged implicitly to submit to every con- 
 dition. The principals of the new establishment were now, 
 Steiner, myself, and a Mr. Grasnitzky, who, in some former 
 transactions, had gained the confidence of Mr. Von Hartl, and 
 was esteemed very intelligent as a man of business. Under his 
 direction, Lithography seemed, indeed, to revive at Vienna ; 
 new artists and writers were employed, and music, and works 
 of art, were printed on a large scale. Amongst the latter, one 
 of the best productions was, an imitation of Preissler's Draw- 
 ing-JBook, which was executed by an artist of the name of 
 Charles Miiller ; who, in a very short time, acquired great 
 skill in the ink and chalk manner : the first number of it was 
 printed under my direction, and is, as I understand, superior 
 to the rest that were printed in a new sort of press, invented 
 by 3Ir. Grasnitzky. I rejoiced, most sincerely, at the success 
 which our establishment now promised to have, as I hoped that, 
 at the end of the year, I should have my share of the profit; but, 
 
even in this expectation I was deceived, for Mr. Steiner de- 
 clared, that, till the capital of 20,000 florins, advanced by 
 Mr. Von Hartl, was repaid, (which could not be expected in 
 less than ten years,) I had no prospect of receiving any part of 
 the profit. Unjust as this intimation was, I was but too well 
 convinced that, without involving myself in an expensive 
 lawsuit, I had no means of redress ; and, being thus frustrated 
 in all my prospects, I determined to sell the whole of my 
 share in the establishment to Mr. Steiner ; he offered me the 
 sum of 600 florins, which I at last agreed to accept, but he 
 paid me no more than 50 florins, having a demand on 
 Mr. Gleissner of 550 florins, which was entirely unknown to 
 me. The loss of my privilege, for which I had made so many 
 sacrifices, grieved me indeed very much ; but Mr. Von Hartl, 
 to comfort me, bade me look to the example of other inventors, 
 who had not fared better, or derived more benefit from their 
 inventions, than I had from mine. The only prospect that 
 now remained to me, was the calico printing ; and as the pro- 
 prietors of the spinning and weaving manufactory at Pottendort 
 had come to the resolution of having a printing manufactory, 
 in addition to the two others, I set out for Pottendorf, to try 
 my experiments on a large scale. There I constructed a large 
 printing-press, in which two cast-iron cylinders, two yards 
 long and eight inches thick, were employed, instead of the 
 copper ones ; and Mr. Thornton most ingeniously contrived 
 the motion and management of them, so that the whole pro- 
 cess of printing seemed to be performed of itself, without the 
 
56 
 
 aid or assistance of men. My next occupation was to draw 
 and engrave the pattern in the upper cylinder. The proposed 
 pattern was a very simple one, consisting of a small flower, 
 which, in order to cover the surface of the cylinder, was to be 
 repeated at least 30,000 times ; reckoning, therefore, only half 
 a minute for the engraving of one flower, the whole could not 
 be completed in less than a month ; and, in doing the first 
 flowers, I found it so very difficult to make one exactly like 
 the other, that I despaired of accomplishing this object. But, 
 to avoid the shame that would have been the necessary result 
 of my failure, I set about contriving a drawing machine ; by 
 which, without being a good draftsman, I could execute the 
 most difficult pattern in two days, with greater correctness 
 than can be ever obtained with the graver. In this way I 
 drew the pattern on the cylinder, etched it afterwards, and 
 took some proof impressions, in the presence of Prince Esterhazy 
 and others, which met with universal approbation. 
 
 It was now the plan of Mr. Von Hartl to obtain an exclusive 
 privilege for the cylinder calico printing, to sell this to the 
 company, and to procure for me the appointment of director 
 of the establishment, in the same manner as Mr. Thornton 
 was of that of the spinning manufactory ; who, besides an ample 
 salary, had the fourth part of the clear profit of the whole. 
 This was a most welcome prospect to me, as I might thus 
 hope to become, in a few years, a rich and independent man ; 
 and I thanked Mr. Von Hartl, most sincerely, for his good 
 
57 
 
 intentions towards me. But Fortune had resolved to destroy 
 this fair prospect, as she had done so many others. It was just 
 at this period, that Buonaparte succeeded in cutting off all 
 communication between England and the Continent, so that it 
 was impossible to obtain English spun cotton, even at the highest 
 prices. This circumstance forced the manufacturers of Ger- 
 many, as well as of the adjacent countries, to have recourse to 
 the Pottendorf spinning manufactory for the necessary supply ; 
 and the sale, in a short time, was so great, that the whole of 
 the overstocked magazines were soon emptied, and even the 
 most sanguine expectations of the proprietors were surpassed. 
 With these prospects they thought it unnecessary, and even 
 injurious to their interest, to set up a new and different esta- 
 blishment, as the calico-printing would have been ; they en- 
 tirely gave up their former project, and even Mr. Von Hartl 
 relinquished his plan of suing out a privilege for the cylinder 
 press, which, through the treachery of a foreman, had been 
 already copied, and communicated to several other manu- 
 facturers. 
 
 Thus once more disappointed in all my promising prospects 
 and hopes, I bitterly complained of the hardship of my fate 
 to a friend of mine, Mr. Madlener, bleacher, at Pottendorf ; 
 and this truly excellent man immediately promised to provide 
 for me in another way. He introduced me to a Mr. Blumauer, 
 calico-printer, at Vienna, who purchased from me a model of my 
 cylinder-press for 500 florins ; and, not long after, he pro- 
 
 i 
 
58 
 
 cured me the acquaintance of Messrs. Faber, two brothers, 
 who possessed a calico-printing establishment at St. Polten, 
 and engaged me, by a formal contract, to erect there a com- 
 plete cylinder-press. I was already on the eve of my de- 
 parture for St. Polten, pursuant to my engagement, when, by 
 a most providential chain of circumstances, a new prospect of 
 making considerable progress in the improvement of my litho- 
 graphic inventions, seemed, all at once, to open upon me. 
 During my residence at Vienna, I had had several letters from 
 my brothers, complaining of the want of work, and the con- 
 sequent difficulties with which they had to struggle ; I, there- 
 fore, had no great inclination to return to Munich, though I 
 could not boast of having been, in any way, successful at 
 Vienna ; and should, therefore, after the fulfilment of my en- 
 gagements, have, most likely, returned to Mr. Andre, at 
 Offenbach, as Gleissner and his family were well provided for 
 at the establishment of Steiner and Grasnitzky. It happened, 
 however, that a traveller coming from Munich informed us, that 
 my two brothers were in a very prosperous way there ; that they 
 were employed by several public establishments ; that they 
 had sold the privilege to the government ; and that they had 
 entered into a very advantageous partnership with Mr. Hazzi, 
 for setting up a lithographic repository, for the sale of works 
 of art. This news induced Mrs. Gleissner to go herself to 
 Munich, to inquire into the truth of this information. At 
 Munich she found my first apprentice Griinewald, who, in 
 1804, had left Vienna, in hopes of bettering his fortune, in- 
 
59 
 
 tending to establish a lithographic press at Leipzig, for 
 Messrs. Breitkopf and H'artel. Having returned to Munich, 
 he persuaded Mrs. Gleissner to set up a little press, to which 
 she agreed, in the hope of realizing some profit to cover the 
 expenses of her journey. In this way she became acquainted 
 with Abbe Vogler, who gave her some of his music to print. 
 Abbe Vogler was so much pleased with this lithographic 
 method, that he proposed to Baron Christoph Aretin, to set 
 up a lithographic establishment at their joint expense, and 
 to associate with them the inventor of the new art, and 
 Mr. Gleissner. Baron Aretin agreed to this proposal, and 
 both entered into an agreement with Mrs. Gleissner, pursuant 
 to which I was to come to Munich with Mr. Gleissner, to es- 
 tablish the presses, and superintend other arrangements, the 
 capital for which they offered to advance. 
 
 The news of this proposal very agreeably surprised me, as 
 Baron Aretin, who had been my school-fellow at Munich, was 
 a man for whom I always felt the greatest esteem and respect. 
 I, therefore, most joyfully concluded the contract ; and, as 
 Baron Aretin and Abbe Vogler seemed to wish that I should 
 repair to Munich, without further delay, I endeavoured to leave 
 Vienna almost immediately. The only thing that bound me 
 to it was, my engagement with Messrs. Fabers, which I could 
 not hope to complete in less time than several months. But, 
 such was the liberality of these gentlemen, that they not 
 only gave me leave, for a few months, to go to Munich, to 
 
 i 2 
 
GO 
 
 arrange this lithographic establishment, but they even ad* 
 vanced a considerable sum for copper cylinders, which they 
 wished me to procure at Munich, for their manufactory at 
 St. Pol ten. 
 
 END OF THE SECOND SECTION 
 
 \ 
 
THIRD SECTION. 
 
 It was in October, 1806, that I left Vienna, in Mr. Gleissner's 
 company ; we first directed our course to the Convent of Atl, 
 near Wasserburg, which Baron Aretin had lately purchased, 
 and where we were met by Abbe Vogler. His favourite plan 
 was to establish a lithographic press there ; but, as this was 
 totally inconsistent with my other views, we all proceeded to 
 Munich. There Abbe Vogler made several propositions, of a 
 nature highly calculated to promote his own interest, but 
 manifestly injurious to Baron Aretin, and which we, therefore, 
 rejected. As he refused, moreover, to pay his share of the re- 
 quisite capital in cash, but offered in its stead old music, at 
 enormous prices, our partnership was soon dissolved. 
 
 About the same time a young man of the name of Strohofer, 
 an apprentice of one of my younger brothers, made an attempt 
 to establish himself at Munich ; this being contrary to our 
 patent, he was soon interdicted. Abbe Vogler, who happened 
 to fall in with him, conceiving that he had found the very man 
 he wanted, for the accomplishment of his projects, without our 
 assistance, entered into an agreement with him, and ap- 
 pointed a place where he should meet him again. No sooner 
 had Strohofer, who possessed a high degree of effrontery, 
 
62 
 
 reached Stuttgard, on his way, than he published pompous ad- 
 vertisements in praise of his skill and talents ; at the same time 
 offering his services to any one that wanted them. In this way 
 he became acquainted with Mr. Cotta, the eminent bookseller, 
 who soon discovered the superficial nature of his acquirements, 
 but, at the same time, justly appreciated the great importance 
 of this new method of printing ; and thus, through the co- 
 operation of an amateur, Mr. Rapp, was produced the work, 
 entitled, " The Secret of Lithography the first publi- 
 cation that exhibited the new art in the right point of view. 
 
 At the very outset of our establishment at Munich, the 
 most favourable prospects opened upon us, through the liberal 
 patronage of Baron Aretin. Several presses for music, writ- 
 ing, and even works of art, were set to work, and the publi- 
 cation of Albrecht Diirer's Prayer Book, which soon followed, 
 obtained the unqualified applause of all who saw it, and 
 fixed the reputation of our establishment ; for, even those 
 who hitherto had not entertained a favourable opinion of the 
 new art, were convinced by this work, that it was not so unim- 
 portant an invention as they supposed. 
 
 Mr. Mitterer, professor at the Public School, had contributed 
 much to prepossess the public opinion at Munich, in our 
 favour. He had been made acquainted with the whole pro- 
 cess of Lithography by my brothers ; and, as the chalk-manner 
 enabled him to multiply, in an expeditious and cheap way, 
 
63 
 
 his copies for his pupils in drawing, he obtained permission to 
 establish, at the expense of the government, a lithographic 
 press, for the national school, and my two brothers were 
 employed to conduct it. This was, properly speaking, an in- 
 fringement of my privilege ; but the fact was, that my brothers, 
 on account of their exercising the lithographic art at Munich, 
 by my permission, were commonly considered as the proprietors 
 of the privilege itself. 
 
 In the course of time, when several other presses were set 
 up in public establishments, as well as by private individuals, 
 Baron Aretin, who expected to have enjoyed the exclusive pri- 
 vilege, as long as he was in partnership with me, and advanced 
 the capital, preferred a complaint to the proper authorities, but 
 he received for answer, " That this art was no longer a secret 
 as if the circumstance of keeping it a secret had been the con- 
 dition of the privilege. If so, I must not have employed any 
 person in assisting me in writing, drawing, or printing ; the 
 secret, and consequently the privilege, would thereby have 
 been lost. 
 
 My partnership with Baron Aretin lasted about four years, dur- 
 ing which period I executed a great variety of works, such as cir- 
 culars, tables, and other things, for the government ; plans, maps, 
 and works of art, in the different manners. It was then, also, that 
 I conceived the first idea of a Treatise on Lithography, similar 
 to the present, and even published the first number of spe- 
 
64 
 
 cimens, that were to accompany it. But, upon the whole, our 
 establishment had not the expected success, partly because it 
 was very difficult to procure clever artists, chiefly in the writing 
 department, and partly because we wanted a proper person to 
 direct the mercantile part of our business, for which I felt myself 
 wholly unequal. Besides, my time was completely occupied 
 with the superintendence of our five presses ; and as our 
 printers were generally of the most ignorant class of society, 
 it often happened, that in the printing, they, by their awk- 
 wardness, spoiled the stones, which I was obliged to repair. 
 Of some works, which we executed for the government, we had 
 as many as 15,000 copies to take off, which gave me time to pre- 
 pare, in the mean time, other stones ; but as it was necessary 
 that all the work for the government should be done in a 
 great hurry, and at a very short notice, we were always obliged 
 to keep a greater number of presses and pressmen, than our 
 other occupations required ; and thus the profit gained in one 
 busy week, was lost in the succeeding ones, when some of our 
 presses had nothing to do. 
 
 About this time, Baron Aretin, who had been appointed 
 director of the court of appeal at Neuburg, removed from 
 Munich, and Gleissner and myself received appointments in 
 the royal board of survey ; and we, therefore, resigned our 
 establishment, partly to Mr. Von Manlich, director of the 
 royal gallery of pictures, and partly to Mr. Zeller. The in- 
 terest which Baron Aretin had taken in the art of Lithography, 
 
65 
 
 had essentially contributed to make it more known, and to 
 attract the public attention towards it ; scholars, as well as 
 statesmen, came to inspect our presses ; even their Royal 
 Highnesses the Crown Prince of Bavaria, and his sister, 
 Charlotte, the present Empress of Austria, honoured our es- 
 tablishment with their presence. His Royal Highness the 
 Crown Prince, wrote, with chemical ink, the following words 
 on a piece of paper, " Lithography is one of the most im- 
 portant discoveries of the eighteenth century ;" and his Royal 
 Sister wrote the expressive words, " I respect the Bavarians ;" 
 which I transferred in their presence to the stone, and took im- 
 pressions from it. I shall always consider it one of my greatest 
 misfortunes, that my connexion with Baron Aretin was so early 
 dissolved ; for the prospects which he opened to me promised 
 to place me in such circumstances, that I might have devoted 
 my whole time to the improvement of the new art, and its 
 various applications ; and I never shall cease to regret, that I 
 was thus deprived of the best opportunity of serving my 
 country, and, perhaps, society at large, in the way most con- 
 genial to my abilities and talents, and thus justifying the con- 
 fidence and high opinion with which the Baron honoured my 
 exertions. 
 
 Another fair prospect of being employed to establish in 
 France, with a proportionate capital, a great imperial litho- 
 graphic institution, through the recommendation of Mr. Von 
 
 K 
 
66 
 
 Manlich, and the celebrated Denon, was frustrated by the 
 subsequent political events. 
 
 A third prospect, of no less consequence, that of establishing 
 a calico-printing at Munich, or Augsburg, in conjunction with 
 Count Arco, High Chamberlain to the Dowager Electress, 
 was defeated by the want of skill of a turner at Munich, who 
 spoiled our copper cylinder, and thereby caused our first ex- 
 periments to fail. 
 
 This last plan was, upon the whole, a most unfortunate one 
 for me, for it cost me much time and money, and even prevented 
 me from fulfilling the engagement with Messrs. Faber, already 
 mentioned by me. One day, when Count Montgelas, then 
 prime minister, visited our establishment, I happened to make, 
 in his presence, some experiments with a small model press, in 
 the manner of printing on calico ; these experiments obtained 
 his marked approbation, and he readily promised to patronize 
 the establishment of such a manufactory on a large scale. In 
 order to convince him more fully of the importance of this 
 method, I mentioned my engagement with Faber ; this, how- 
 ever, had a very different effect from what I intended, and his 
 Excellency declared that, if I chose to employ my inventions 
 to the advantage of a foreign country, I could not expect, 
 any assistance in my own ; that even a royal ordinance ex- 
 isted, by which it was forbidden to any subject of the king- 
 
67 
 
 dom to practise in a foreign country an invention, the exclusive 
 possession of which would be of importance to Bavaria; and that 
 this regulation being strictly applicable to my case, it would be 
 inexcusable in me to have any farther connexion with Austria. 
 
 This prohibition made me very uneasy, as I feared that it 
 would place my conduct in a very unfavourable light, in the 
 eyes of Messrs. Faber, for whose liberal behaviour towards me, 
 I entertained the highest gratitude. I made, therefore, several 
 attempts, to fulfil my engagement, to go to St. Polten, and es- 
 tablish their presses, but these also were defeated by the bad 
 management of their agent at Munich ; and thus I lost all the 
 profit and fair prospects, which this engagement held out to me. 
 
 It may not, perhaps, be altogether uninteresting, to enu- 
 merate all the different Lithographic establishments, which, 
 in the course of time, were established at Munich. 
 
 The first of all was that established by myself and Mr. Gleiss- 
 ner, which was afterwards carried on in our name by my two 
 brothers, Theobald and George, up to the year 180p5. They 
 then sold it to the Sunday School, where, under Mr. Mitterer's 
 able direction, it has become one of the most perfect, even for 
 works of art. 
 
 Strohhofer, an apprentice of my brother Charles, from whom 
 
 k 2 
 
68 
 
 he learned the elements of the art, entered, in 1S06, into part- 
 nership with Mr. Sidler, who set up a press for the Royal Ex- 
 chequer ; and, after the expiration of my privilege, he esta- 
 blished his house on a larger scale, chiefly for music and 
 circulars, and it still flourishes at Munich. 
 
 The convenience and saving in multiplying the copies of 
 royal ordinances or circulars, by transferring them to the 
 stone, instead of having them transcribed by hand, induced 
 Mr. Von. Hartmann, President of the Administration of 
 Domains, to have a lithographic press, for that purpose, in his 
 office. He, therefore, sent for Sennefelder, to establish one. 
 The messenger, by mistake, went to my brother Theobald, 
 instead of me, who accepted ihe offer, erected the presses, and 
 received the advantageous appointment of Inspector of this 
 establishment, under very favourable conditions ; and being 
 allowed to work, when not engaged at this office, on his own 
 account, he contrived, in a short time, to realize very con- 
 siderable sums of money. 
 
 This success led many others to consider the art of Litho- 
 graphy as the means of getting rich in a short time, and thus 
 two of my brother's occasional assistants, Helmle and Roth, 
 contrived to establish a press of their own. 
 
 About the same time another press was established at the 
 
69 
 
 Royal Institute for poor children ; and, in another quarter, 
 Mr. Dietrich set up a similar one. 
 
 My own prospects, about the year 1810, wore a very unpro- 
 mising appearance ; and though, by indefatigable zeal and 
 numberless experiments, I had made myself perfectly master 
 of the new art, I should, but for a lucky accident, have been 
 obliged to apply to some of my former pupils, for employment. 
 I had even the mortification to see myself abused in the public 
 papers, which asserted that, though I had discovered the prin- 
 ciple of the art, which, from selfish motives, I had long kept 
 a secret, yet I had never been able to apply it to any thing 
 but music. This unfounded and humiliating assertion, wounded 
 me deeply, as it was well known that all the Lithographers of 
 that period, had been taught by me ; and that none of them, 
 not excepting even Professor Mitterer, the most accomplished 
 of them all, understood the whole of the art so perfectly as I did. 
 
 As to the charge of having kept it a secret, I do not hesitate 
 one moment to pronounce it a falsehood ; for, as soon as I had 
 obtained my privilege for Bavaria, in 1799, 1 communicated the 
 whole of my process to every one who wished to know it, even 
 to perfect strangers ; and this openness, and the pleasure I 
 took in publishing every discovery that I conceived to be of 
 any use to society, frequently drew upon me the bitter re- 
 proaches of those who lived with me, and who used to say, 
 that I might have been a very rich man, had I been more re- 
 
70 
 
 served in regard to my discoveries. This, however, could not 
 have been the case, since from my own means alone, I could 
 never have produced any thing perfect, as it would then have 
 been necessary for me to write, draw, and print every thing 
 with my own hands, which was impossible. 
 
 I rather suspect that the opinion of my art having been long 
 kept secret, arose from the circumstance that several of my 
 former workmen, or other persons, who had, by accident, heard 
 something of Lithography, treated it as a great secret, in order 
 to obtain greater consequence ; some of them even went so far 
 as to travel about, and to sell their secrets and prescriptions, 
 to credulous persons, in some cases for considerable sums. 
 
 After this short digression, which I thought necessary for my 
 own satisfaction, I return to our history. 
 
 In the year 1809, as I before stated, there were established 
 at Munich six public lithographic printing-houses., besides my 
 own, and several other presses, that amateurs or artists had 
 erected for their own use. Among the latter, Mr. Mettenleithner 
 was the most distinguished. This gentleman, to whom I 
 shewed several specimens of the new art, as early as 1796, did 
 not conceive a very favourable opinion of it, but was entirely 
 converted on seeing some of the highly-finished specimens 
 from the presses of Messrs. Mitterer, Strixner, and Piloti, and 
 induced to try some experiments himself, in conjunction with 
 
71 
 
 a young- man of the name of Dallarmi. Some time after this, 
 Mr. Mettenleithner established a lithographic press at Rome, 
 which, however, did not meet with the expected success. In 
 the year 1807, Mr. Werz, and my former pupil Grunewald, 
 attempted to set up a similar establishment at Milan, but 
 were likewise disappointed in their expectations. 
 
 Mr. Mettenleithner, in conjunction with one of the best 
 printers of Baron Aretin's press, about this time laid the foun- 
 dation of the present lithographic establishment at the Royal 
 Board for surveying the kingdom ; and his son-in-law, 
 Mr. Winter, soon after set up a similar one for the use of his 
 Majesty's Privy Council. Mr. Mettenleithner in a short time 
 employed between thirty and forty draftsmen, to draw the 15 or 
 20,000 plans, that were to be printed from stone plates. Ac- 
 cording to a royal ordinance, the whole of the kingdom was to 
 be surveyed, and most accurately measured, for the better regu- 
 latingand proportioning the land and assessed taxes; now, as it 
 was necessary to have at least two copies of each original map, 
 it appeared that the expense of doing this by hand, would be 
 far greater than to have it drawn on stone, by which means a 
 great number of copies could be taken, if required, and the 
 greatest similarity between these copies be preserved. 
 
 They had been some time at work, when they happened 
 one day to want a stone plate of larger dimensions than their 
 common plates, and knowing that 1 possessed very large plates, 
 
72 
 
 they desired me to sell one to them ; I readily acceded to 
 this request, and so became, by mere accident, acquainted 
 with Mr. Von Badhauser, one of the commissioners. In a 
 conversation with him, I discovered, that it was owing to a 
 mere intrigue, that the superintendence of this extensive esta- 
 blishment had been withheld from me. Another of the com- 
 missioners, the celebrated astronomer Schiegg, was also very 
 much dissatisfied with the prices and management of the litho- 
 graphic presses, and, therefore, proposed to submit the whole 
 concern to my direction. 
 
 I was accordingly summoned to Mr. Von Utzschneider, 
 president of the board, who, in a most flattering and liberal 
 manner, acquainted me with the resolution of the royal com- 
 missioners to intrust me with the superintendence of the litho- 
 graphic part of the establishment ; and that they should feel 
 proud to see ine, the inventor of this useful art, employed in 
 their office ; and he left it entirely to me to suggest the plan, 
 upon which I should think it most advantageous to ar- 
 range the establishment. I, therefore, proposed to them, what 
 I conceived the most advantageous way for the Board to carry 
 on the business, namely, to print their plans and maps by con- 
 tract, at two kreutzers per plate ; by which they would save 
 two-thirds of their expenses. This offer, however, to my great 
 astonishment, did not meet their approbation ; and Mr. Von 
 Utzschneider suggested to me, that it would be better to de- 
 mand an adequate yearly salary for myself and Mr. Gleissner, 
 
73 
 
 and to give up the whole of our time to the establishment. 
 This I did accordingly, and, in a few days, I saw my most san- 
 guine hopes realized, and an ample and comfortable provision 
 secured to me for life ; so that I have every reason to respect this 
 excellent man, as the creator of my fortune, who secured me from 
 want for the rest of my days, and placed me in such circum- 
 stances, that I need not look to my art alone as a means of 
 subsistence. All the useful improvements and additions that I 
 have since made in it, are entirely owing to the ease and inde- 
 pendence which his patronage procured for me. My salary as 
 Inspector of the Royal Lithographic establishment, was fixed 
 at 1,500 florins a year, and that of my friend Gleissner at 
 1,000 florins; and I, moreover, obtained permission to con- 
 tinue the business which I had hitherto carried on in con- 
 junction with Baron Aretin. This happened in October, 1809 
 
 At first my new office absorbed the whole of my time ; but, 
 as soon as I had succeeded in arranging the business, and in 
 training some workmen, 1 had more leisure, and I devoted it 
 most conscientiously to the improvement of the private esta- 
 blishment in which I was concerned with Baron Aretin ; which 
 I had the pleasure of seeing in a flourishing state, just at the 
 period when Baron Aretin's promotion in the public service 
 called him away from Munich. This circumstance broke up 
 the whole concern, at the very moment when we began to reap 
 the fruits of our exertions ; we resigned our presses to Mr. Von 
 Manlieh, and Mr. Zeller, as mentioned above ; and the only 
 
 L 
 
74 
 
 consolation we had was, that in the hands of these truly pa- 
 triotic and spirited gentlemen, our establishment continued to 
 be useful to our country. 
 
 I intended to keep two presses myself for my own use, and 
 as I married about the same time, I hoped that my wife might be 
 able to superintend this limited concern, and render it a lucrative 
 one for us ; but though our prospects at first seemed favourable, 
 in the course of time things turned out otherwise, and I 
 was, therefore, easily pursuaded to relinquish the business. 
 Mr. Gleissner, being more sanguine in his expectations, took 
 my workmen into his pay, and began very successfully ; but 
 having, soon after, the misfortune to be seized with a dangerous 
 illness, which ended in mental derangement, his family was 
 obliged to give it up. 
 
 Being now less encumbered with business, I earnestly di- 
 rected my attention to the production of a lithographic Com- 
 pendium, the first number of plates for which had already 
 been published, and honoured with the public approbation. 
 Some artists, in the mean time, had made such progress in the 
 art, that what I thought a perfect print this year, did not seem 
 so in the next ; and I had taken it into my head, that all the 
 specimens of the different manners, that were to accompany 
 ray compendium, ought to be unquestionable master-pieces of 
 the art. In the year 1811, when my much-respected friend 
 Mr. Andre paid me a visit at Munich, T communicated to him 
 
75 
 
 my plan, which he so fully approved of, that he instantly offered 
 to undertake all the expenses connected with it. We agreed 
 that the work should be published at Offenbach, and that the 
 necessary drawings should be executed by the best artists of 
 Frankfort. But we soon found that it was not very easy to 
 meet with proper artists, and the few that we thought qua- 
 lified, asked treble the price of a similar engraving in copper, 
 as they were not yet masters of the new art ; so that we were 
 obliged to defer the publication of our compendium, till 
 another and more favourable period. 
 
 More than two years now elapsed, in which little or nothing 
 was done towards the completion of this my favourite design ; 
 from time to time I finished a plate for this purpose, but hitting 
 always in a short time upon something that I thought better, 
 I rejected it again. But my mind was deeply impressed with 
 the obligation I was under towards my family, as well as towards 
 myself, to state to the Public at large all the facts and circum- 
 stances that attended the origin and progress of Lithography ; 
 and to leave this as a bequest to my family, which, perhaps, 
 one day, when I should be no more, would entitle them to the 
 gratitude and respect of their contemporaries. 
 
 In 1816, when Mr. Andre, to whom I communicated all the 
 improvements and new discoveries I had made since I left him, 
 was at Munich, the period for the publication of my long- 
 projected compendium was finally fixed, and 1 promised him 
 
 l 2 
 
76 
 
 to lose no time in composing the description of all the dif- 
 ferent manners, and their management, while various artists 
 were engaged in executing the requisite specimens. Some 
 unforeseen avocations, however, prevented me from making a 
 rapid progress ; the principal of which was my journey to 
 Vienna, to establish a lithographic office for Mr. Gerold, a 
 respectable bookseller there. I had hoped to return in about 
 three months, during which time I conceived the Munich ar- 
 tists would be able to proceed with their drawings. But I had 
 the misfortune, soon after my arrival at Vienna, to fall seriously 
 ill ; and, as I recovered very slowly, the period of my return 
 was considerably retarded. 
 
 Mr. Gerold's lithographic establishment did not, at first, 
 meet with the expected success ; chiefly owing to some im- 
 pediments purposely thrown in his way by Mr. Steiner. 
 Vienna, I am inclined to believe, is a very congenial and fa- 
 vourable place for Lithography, in which it might soon reach 
 a high degree of perfection, as it contains an abundance of 
 good artists. Those who particularly patronised Mr. Gerold's 
 new office, were, Colonel Von Aurach, Captain Kohl, and 
 Mr. Kunike, an eminent professor of drawing, who, by actual 
 experiments, had convinced themselves of the high value of 
 the new art. The last of these gentlemen contrived a very 
 ingenious method of producing, with little trouble, a great 
 number of original drawings, or copies of the same drawing. 
 As our printers were far from being expert in this new process 
 
77 
 
 of printing, many copies were but imperfectly printed, and 
 would, according to our usual practice, have been destroyed ; 
 this was more particularly the case in printing one drawing in 
 chalk with two stone plates. Mr. Kunike, instead of destroying 
 these imperfect copies, corrected and finished them by hand 
 with black Paris chalk, and thereby rendered them true ori- 
 ginal drawings ; in the same space of time in which he could 
 have executed one entire drawing by hand he was able to 
 correct and finish twelve imperfectly printed copies, so that 
 they could not be distinguished from the original, which they 
 sometimes even surpassed in excellence. 
 
 A short time before my departure from Vienna, a number 
 of the Journal for Industry and Arts, published by the Poly- 
 technic Society at Munich, fell into my hands, in which 1 
 found a series of letters by Mr. Von Schlichtegroll, director of 
 the Royal Academy of Arts, containing an enquiry into the 
 origin and progress of the invention of Lithography. He 
 had carefully collected all the information on this subject, 
 which he could collect from my brothers, some inhabitants of 
 Munich, and other authorities. On my return to Munich, I 
 immediately waited upon him, to thank him for his patriotic 
 exertions, and to give him some further information on this 
 subject ; and I was so fortunate as to find in him an active 
 promoter of the useful arts, who was kind enough to take a 
 particular interest in my past and present undertakings, and 
 did every thing in his power to advance them. It was he who 
 
78 
 
 directed the attention of several distinguished and learned 
 characters towards the new art, who procured me the oppor- 
 tunity of submitting specimens of my last improvements to the 
 Royal Academy of Sciences, and the Polytechnic Society, of 
 which he was then president ; it was through him that I had 
 the distinguished honour of exhibiting my newly-invented port- 
 able hand-presses to their Majesties our gracious King and 
 Queen ; and I shall never forget the moment when the sincere 
 approbation of their Majesties amply recompensed me for all 
 the trouble, misfortunes, and disappointments, of my past life, 
 and encouraged me to devote the rest of my days to the ser- 
 vice of a country, that has the happiness to be governed by so 
 excellent a Monarch. But, alas ! life is of such short duration, 
 that at the end of it scarcely any thing is left us but the regret 
 of disappointed hopes and baffled schemes, the execution of 
 which our active zeal and warm imagination represented to 
 us as easy and practicable. 
 
 It is to Mr. Von Schlichtegroll's continual encouragement, 
 that the present Treatise on Lithography owes its origin and 
 completion. When, after the discovery of the chemical pro- 
 cess of printing from stone plates, I saw the first perfect spe- 
 cimens of it, and resolved to make this invention useful to me, 
 I little suspected that the greater part of my life would be spent 
 in this pursuit ; but merely looked to it as a means of ame- 
 liorating my condition, so as to be more at liberty to choose 
 the mode most congenial to my feelings and talents of labouring 
 
79 
 
 for the public good, and enlarging the sphere of useful in- 
 ventions. But still, as it is, I esteem myself happy in seeing, 
 in my own life-time, the value of my invention so universally 
 appreciated ; and in having myself been able to attain in it 
 a degree of perfection, which, in a thousand other inventions, 
 has not been reached till long after the death of the first 
 inventor. 
 
 Mr. Von Manlieh, director of the Royal Gallery of Pictures, 
 has published for some years back, numbers of drawings from 
 the royal collection of the original sketches of great masters, 
 of which many are highly beautiful, and in the judgment of 
 all connoisseurs, true facsimiles of the original. 
 
 Still greater praise is due to the collection of copies from the 
 Royal Picture Gallery, published in seventy-two Numbers ; it 
 has obtained the unqualified approbation of the Public, and 
 would have been still more admired, had the printers been as 
 skilful as the artists. The greater part of these drawings are in 
 the chalk manner, and produced with two or more stone plates ; 
 if the effect of the different plates is well calculated, the stone 
 print becomes a perfect imitation of the original, and some- 
 times cannot be distinguished from it, even by experienced 
 artists. The venerable Mr. Von Manlieh, and his worthy 
 pupils, have, by this work, greatly raised the value and repu- 
 tation of Lithography, for which I here publicly express to 
 them my grateful acknowledgments ; which are equally due 
 
80 
 
 to Professor Mitterer, and his pupils, to whom Lithography is 
 also very greatly indebted. Professor Mitterer has obtained a 
 degree of perfection, particularly in the chalk manner, that 
 may properly be termed the ne plus ultra of the art. He is, 
 moreover, the inventor of a press, called, " Roller, or Star 
 Press/' which, in its present improved state, is all that can be 
 desired in regard to power, expedition, and ease. 
 
 Since the year 1809, I have devoted all my leisure to the im- 
 provement of Lithography, and to the reducing of all ope- 
 rations, in its different branches, to the most simple and certain 
 principles. Thus I have, by numberless experiments, suc- 
 ceeded, for instance, in simplifying the manner of transferring 
 from paper, upon which drawing or writing is previously exe- 
 cuted with prepared ink ; and particularly in transferring 
 leaves of old books or old prints to stone, by which, in the 
 most easy manner, lithographic stereotypes may be obtained. 
 Such progress has also been made in printing in colours, that 
 I produce not only coloured prints, but likewise copies so like 
 oil-paintings, that it is impossible to discover any difference be- 
 tween these copies and the original pictures. I farther dis- 
 covered a new method of printing playing cards, tapestry, and 
 even calico, by which two persons in one day can print 2,000 
 pieces of the size of folio sheets, even if the pattern should 
 consist of 100 or more different colours. Incredible as this as- 
 sertion at present may seem, I hope, if I have life and health, to 
 lay before the Public astonishing specimens of this new process. 
 
81 
 
 Among the new methods of Lithography that I introduced 
 during this period, the following are the principal ; — the en- 
 graved chalk-manner, the dotted manner, some new kinds of 
 aquatint, the transformation of the raised or relief manner into 
 the engraved, and vice versa, and a new method of writing- 
 printed characters, by means of a machine, for splendid works. 
 
 My next aim was to apply a remedy to the uncertainty of 
 lithographic printing, so generally complained of ; or to the 
 circumstance that the plates were so frequently spoiled in the 
 press, from the want of skill in the printers. This I completely 
 effected by a printing press, in which the wetting, cleaning, 
 and charging of the stone, is not performed by hand, but by 
 the mechanical power of the press itself ; which, if requisite, 
 maybe placed beside the water, and worked nearly without any 
 human assistance. By this invention, I venture to flatter 
 myself, Lithography has attained its highest degree of per- 
 fection. A model of this new-invented press, was exhibited 
 by me in 1817, to the Royal Academy of Sciences ; and the 
 Committee, appointed to examine it, was so pleased with the 
 ingenuity of the invention, that the gold medal was voted to 
 me for it. 
 
 But the most important of all the improvements which I 
 have been fortunate enough to contrive, is, the invention of a 
 substitute for the calcareous stone plates hitherto used in Li- 
 thography ; which, from their unevenness, weight, and fragility, 
 
 M 
 
82 
 
 often prove troublesome ; and, besides, take up a great deal of 
 room, and thus require extensive space for even a moderate 
 establishment. In trying to remedy this inconvenience, I 
 ascertained that the chemical printing process is, under certain 
 restrictions, equally applicable to metal plates; but more es- 
 pecially to a certain artificial composition of stone, which can 
 be spread on metal, wood, or stone plates, nay, even on paper 
 or cloth ; and which proves, in every respect, a perfect sub- 
 stitute for the Solenhofen stone. The great number of expe- 
 riments which, in the course of four years, I made with this 
 composition, have thoroughly convinced me of its utility and 
 value, and that it possesses all the good qualities of the stone, 
 without its inconveniencies. The fragility of the Solenhofen 
 stone, renders it necessary to have very thick plates for printing. 
 If the size is that of a common folio sheet, its thickness must 
 be at least "one inch and a half, to prevent its breaking in the 
 press. If the stone is to be frequently ground and re-polished, 
 its thickness must be at least two inches, and then it may 
 be re-polished nearly 100 times. The weight of such a stone is 
 between twenty and thirty pounds, sometimes more, and it takes 
 up a considerable space. In a large establishment, where a 
 considerable number of stones are used, and where it is often 
 requisite to keep them for a long time, in order to be able to 
 take off copies as they are wanted, this inconvenience is of great 
 moment. 
 
 If the stone plates are sufficiently thick, the danger of their 
 
83 
 
 breaking in the press is not so great ; though this will some- 
 times happen from mismanagement, from warming them, and 
 from sudden frost, especially when they have been previously 
 wet. Besides, as these stone plates are not to be found every 
 where in equal excellence, the charge of conveyance renders 
 them very expensive. 
 
 All. these defects are obviated in the artificial stone compo- 
 sition, the principal advantages of which are the following : — 
 
 1, The composition stone plates are much cheaper than the 
 natural ones. — 2. Their weight is very inconsiderable, a plate 
 of folio size scarcely weighing four ounces. — 3. One hundred of 
 these plates, laid one upon another, do not occupy more room 
 than a single stone. — 4, The resistance of these plates to the 
 strongest press, is superior to that of stone, copper, and even 
 iron plates ; as their elasticity, without the least alteration of 
 their surface, withstands the greatest imaginable pressure, 
 if they are properly managed. — 5. The drawing on these plates 
 with prepared ink, as well as the engraving on them, is easier 
 than on real stone plates ; the latter operation is particularly 
 well calculated for these plates. — 6. The charging and printing 
 of these plates is greatly facilitated, and the pressure of the press 
 need not be so strong as for real stones ; for the artificial stone 
 plates receive and give out the printing ink with greater fa- 
 cility. — 7. Lastly, they are particularly suited for all kinds of 
 fac-similes ; so that by the mere application of a fresh im- 
 
 m 2 
 
84 
 
 pression upon another plate, a perfect fac-simile of the original 
 may be obtained. This property of composition plates will, 
 one day, be of great importance in stereotyping books,[and 
 other common printing work. 
 
 These, and many other advantages, which will be detailed 
 in the second part of this Treatise, render, without doubt, this 
 last invention one of the most important in the whole compass 
 of chemical printing; in spite of all that incompetent critics, 
 without sufficient knowledge of the nature of the invention, may 
 urge against it. I have had the honour to exhibit specimens 
 of my composition stone, as well as the whole process of print- 
 ing from it, before the Royal Academy of Sciences, and the 
 Polytechnic Society for Bavaria. 
 
 Owing to my different engagements, and principally to the 
 composition and publication of this Treatise, I have hitherto 
 been unable to establish myself a manufactory of these artificial 
 stone plates. This, however, I now hope to accomplish in a 
 short time ; and all may then, by actual trials, agreeably to 
 my directions, convince themselves of the truth of my assertions. 
 
 This invention will, no doubt, greatly facilitate, every where, 
 the introduction and application of Lithography ; and I am 
 proud to see that, even in its present shape, it is known and 
 exercised in a great part of the civilized world. In England 
 and France it was first introduced by Mr. Andre, and it has 
 
85 
 
 lately been revived in London by Mr. R. Ackermann, of the 
 Strand, and in Paris by Count Lasteyrie, both of whom have 
 employed it in various publications. At Berlin, Mr. Von 
 Reiche opened a lithographic establishment, upon a large 
 scale ; at St. Petersburgh, it was practised several years ago, 
 and at present it is more particularly cultivated by Baron 
 Schilling. Even in Philadelphia, and what is still more asto- 
 nishing, in Astrakan, Lithography is already introduced ; and, 
 as I understand, is in a flourishing state. 
 
 God grant that it may soon spread all over the world ; that 
 it may prove useful to mankind, and contribute to its im- 
 provement ; and that it may never be abused to any dis- 
 honourable or wicked purpose ; and I shall then never cease 
 to bless the hour in which I invented it. 
 
 END OF THE THIRD SECTION, AND OF THE HISTORY. 
 
PART II. 
 
 ART OF LITHOGRAPHY, 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 Instructions in the different Branches and Manners 
 of this new Art. 
 
ART OF LITHOGRAPHY, 
 
 6fC. SfC. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 MtvtiButtxon. 
 
 Lithography is a branch of a new method of printing, 
 differing in its fundamental principles from all other methods 
 now in use, and known by the name of Chemical Printing. 
 All the other methods of printing, hitherto known, might be 
 divided into two branches ; the one multiplying the original 
 by elevated forms, the other by engraved forms. To the first 
 branch belongs the common letter-press printing, where the 
 letters and signs are moulded in a composition of metal, or in 
 wood, in such a manner that those lines and points which are 
 to receive the colour, and be printed, are elevated ; while the rest 
 of the plate, which is to remain blank on the paper, lies 
 deeper. The wooden blocks, for calico-printing, are of the 
 same description. 
 
 Under the second branch may be included all the different 
 
 n 2 
 
92 
 
 methods of engraving on copper or tin, as well as calico- 
 printing from copper-plates or cylinders. 
 
 The manner of taking impressions, or the printing, is, in 
 the first branch, effected in the following way : — The types, 
 which are all of equal height, and therefore form an equal 
 surface, are repeatedly touched in all the parts of the surface 
 by a printing ball of leather, filled with horsehair, and suffi- 
 ciently charged with black or coloured ink. The ball, from 
 its firmness and elasticity, touches only the elevated spots, 
 which it covers with the adhesive liquid colour, so that in the 
 proper press an impression may be easily taken off. The same 
 manipulation, with some modifications, is employed in calico- 
 printing from wooden blocks ; the block is charged by being 
 put upon a ball or cushion covered with colour, then applied 
 to the calico, and by a moderate blow of a hammer, the im- 
 pression is obtained. A process, directly the reverse, is ob- 
 served in the copper and tin printing ; for here, in order to 
 charge the engraved lines with colour, the whole plate is first 
 covered with colour ; then the surface is wiped off and cleaned 
 with rags ; and, as they do not enter into the engraved furrows, 
 the colour remains in them, and by the strong pressure of a 
 press, by which the paper is forced even into these narrow 
 furrows, the desired impression is obtained. 
 
 It is evident that in both these methods of printing, the 
 charging the types or plates with colour, by which the im- 
 
93 
 
 pression is obtained, depends entirely on mechanical principles, 
 viz. — that, in the letter-press printing, the colour adheres only 
 to those places that come in contact with it ; and, in the copper- 
 plate printing, to those from which it is not wiped off. 
 
 The chemical process of printing is totally different from 
 both. Here it does not matter whether the lines be engraved 
 or elevated ; but the lines and points to be printed ought to be 
 covered with a liquid, to which the ink, consisting of a homo- 
 geneous substance, must adhere, according to its chemical affi- 
 nity and the laws of attraction, while, at the same time, all 
 those places that are to remain blank, must possess the quality 
 of repelling the colour. These two conditions, of a purely che- 
 mical nature, are perfectly attained by the chemical process of 
 printing ; for common experience shews that all greasy sub- 
 stances, such as oil, butter, <$fc, or such as are easily soluble in 
 oil, as wax, bitumen, Spc, do not unite with any watery liquid, 
 without the intervention of a connecting medium ; but that, on 
 the contrary, they are inimical to water, and seem to repel it. 
 The principal dissolving and uniting liquid for the above- 
 mentioned substances is alcali, which, by proper management, 
 forms a sort of soap, soluble in water. 
 
 Upon this experience rests the whole foundation of the new 
 method of printing, which, in order to distinguish it from the me- 
 chanical methods, is justly called the chemical method ; because 
 the reason why the ink, prepared of a sebaceous matter, adheres 
 
 n 3 
 
94 
 
 only to the lines drawn on the plate, and is repelled from the 
 rest of the wetted surface, depends entirely on the mutual 
 chemical affinity, and not on mechanical contact alone. 
 
 It might, perhaps, be objected, that in the other methods 
 of printing, the colour adheres to the lines which are to be 
 printed, from the very same cause, as it is a well-known law, 
 that water and oil adhere to all bodies in a perfectly dry state. 
 But the case is not the same with fluids and their mutual effect, 
 and this constitutes the essential difference between the former 
 and this new method of printing. A dry plate would every 
 where imbibe the colour ; but the surface of the plate being 
 sufficiently wetted, it takes the colour only on those places 
 that are in a state the reverse of wetness. The repelling, there- 
 fore, of the colour, from all those places that are to remain 
 blank, is the novelty in the whole process. 
 
 It is not, however, sufficient, in order to print chemically, 
 to make certain spots of the plate greasy, and others wet ; 
 water of itself being, when applied to most of the substances, 
 used for plates, of insufficient power to act as a means for re- 
 pelling the colour from all the places on which it ought not to be. 
 In silicious and porcellaneous substances, such as glass, china, 
 and clay slate, pure water might be sufficient ; but then the 
 slight power of adhesion, and tenacity of the greasy ink, when 
 applied to these plates, is another obstacle to the taking a con- 
 siderable number of impressions from them ; however, in case 
 
95 
 
 of necessity, this obstacle may be removed, in part, by the use 
 of very hard substances which soon dry, such for instance as 
 linseed-oil varnish, mixed with a great deal of sulphate of zinc. 
 But in those substances which powerfully attract the ink, as 
 for instance, metals, wood, calcareous stone, artificial stone, 
 paper, SfC, it is necessary to prepare the surface of the plate so, 
 that in those places which are to remain blank, it may reject, 
 as if from aversion, the colour ; and, consequently, entirely 
 change its nature. 
 
 Repeated experiments have convinced me, that it is possible 
 to discover preparations for all the substances belonging to this 
 class, and of which I shall more minutely speak in another 
 place. The chemical process of printing is not only applicable 
 to stone, but likewise to metals, fyc. ; and Lithography, there- 
 fore, is only to be considered as a branch of the more general 
 chemical process of printing. 
 
 Amongst the different materials applicable to this new me- 
 thod of printing, the calcareous slate occupies the first place. 
 It possesses not only a strong tendency to combine with unc- 
 tuous substances, and to retain them obstinately, but it likewise 
 possesses the power of absorbing bodies of a different nature, 
 such as aqueous fluids ; so that the stone, thus impregnated with 
 them, will repel oleaginous and unctuous bodies. 
 
 This excellent quality, the cheapness and facility with which 
 
96 
 
 these stones could be procured in Bavaria, the advantage of 
 their being easily rendered fit for use, determined me to over- 
 look the few defects or inconveniencies they presented, such as 
 their heaviness and occupying much room, and their not un- 
 frequent difference in quality, and induced me to use them as the 
 principal material for my various experiments, the successful 
 result of which has now established this my invention as a 
 new art. 
 
 Having so far treated of the elements and character of this 
 new method of printing, and having explained the names and 
 fundamental principles of it, it still remains for me to say a 
 few words on the subject of its utility. 
 
 The merit of every new invention consists in the advantage 
 resulting from it for sciences, arts, and manufactures ; it may 
 not, therefore, be improper to inquire what advantage in this 
 respect, has been derived from the art of Lithography ; and to 
 ascertain in what points it is preferable to the other methods 
 of printing hitherto known. 
 
 There is no invention, in this sublunary world, which unites 
 in itself all the advantages and all the excellencies that might 
 be 1 wished. Lithography does not constitute an exception to 
 the remark. It may, indeed, be said of the art of Lithography, 
 that neither type, nor copper-plate printing, can be dispensed 
 with in consequence of its invention ; though it is not im- 
 
97 
 
 possible that, by farther improvement of the presses, it may one 
 day combine the advantages of the other methods of printing, 
 with those which are peculiar to itself ; but at present the 
 facility and quickness of composition, the equality and cor- 
 rectness of the single letters, which can be obtained in type- 
 printing, give to this art a decided superiority for many pur- 
 poses. Some subjects, however, that hitherto have been ex- 
 ecuted by types, such as circulars, bills of exchange, in- 
 voices, cards, and addresses, $*c, can be executed by means 
 of Lithography, more quickly and in greater perfection than 
 by types. 
 
 With regard to copper-plate printing, it is to be presumed 
 that, upon a more general introduction of Lithography, only 
 two methods will remain in use, viz. : — The line engraving, 
 and the etched manner, which is afterwards finished by the 
 needle and the graver. Here, however, the talent of the artist 
 ought to be taken into consideration, for a more experienced 
 artist may, even in these manners, produce something equally 
 admirable on stone, as on copper. The same may also be said 
 of the manner of dotted engraving, as it was practised by the late 
 Mr. Bartolozzi, or our eminent Mr. John, in Vienna, and many 
 eminent artists in England, whose delicate style in that mode of 
 engraving will not likely be rivalled by lithographic art. > 
 
 All the various other methods of copper-plate printing 
 must yield, without question, the palm to Lithography ; 
 
98 
 
 especially when we consider the easiness of the manipulation, 
 the comparatively short time required to take impressions, and 
 the number of impressions that can be struck off. Thus, for 
 instance, all sorts of writing can be done easier and more 
 quickly on the stone with the needle, as well as with the greasy 
 ink, than could be done by the most experienced engraver. For 
 maps, and other topographical plans, Lithography has, there- 
 fore, a decided superiority, as they can be done on stone in 
 greater perfection, and in much less time, than would be re- 
 quisite if done on copper. Another advantage which stones 
 possess over copper is, the greater facility in the printing of 
 the former, for which less technical skill is required, while 
 copper printing is attended with very considerable diffi- 
 culties. Many persons, for instance, are of opinion that the 
 German printers do not equal those of Paris and London ; 
 but the laying on the colour on the stone requires so little time, 
 that the printing, especially large plates, from stone, can be 
 done much more quickly than printing from copper. Besides 
 this, corrections can be made with more ease on stone, than on 
 copper or tin. 
 
 From this it is evident that all sorts of drawing or writing, 
 which hitherto have been done on copper or tin, and in which 
 the utmost fineness, expression, and clearness, or, in short, the 
 greatest possible technical perfection, is not absolutely requisite, 
 can be done by Lithography in a more cheap and easy way, and 
 may be multiplied in a comparatively very short space of time ; 
 
99 
 
 and it has been generally observed that drawings of the less 
 excellent artists, appear to greater advantage on stone, than 
 on copper. 
 
 Even this advantage would be sufficient to establish the use- 
 fulness of the new art ; but there are besides several other 
 methods that are altogether peculiar to it, and cannot possibly 
 be imitated by type, or copper-plate printing. Of these I shall 
 notice here only, first, the chalk manner, by which every artist 
 is enabled to multiply his original drawings ; and, secondly, 
 the transfer manner, by which every piece of writing or draw- 
 ing with the greasy ink on paper, can be transferred to the 
 stone, and impressions taken from it. This last method may, 
 one day, be of great utility to public offices, and the public 
 at large. 
 
 These are the principal advantages, which, according to my 
 firm conviction, Lithography possesses ; and every impartial 
 observer of this art will, no doubt, share my opinion. After 
 these preliminary observations, I hasten to the description of 
 the art, and its different branches or manners. 
 
 o 
 
PART SECOND. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 GENERAL RULES AND EXPLANATIONS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 OF THE STONES. 
 
 Description and Qualities of the Stones. 
 
 The species of Stones which has hitherto been exclusively 
 used at Munich, for the purposes of Lithography, is a sort of 
 calcareous slate, found in the country from Dietfurt to Pap- 
 penheim, and along the banks of the Danube, down to Kell- 
 heim ; from which last place the name of Kellheim Stone-plates 
 has been derived, as in former times they were principally 
 taken from thence. The quarries at Kellheim seem at present 
 to be exhausted, and the traffic in this article has its centre in 
 the village of Solenhofen, in the districh of Monheim, three 
 leagues from the town of Neuburg, on the Danube, where 
 almost all the inhabitants are stone-masons. The country 
 there abounds in this species of stone, so that for centuries to 
 
 o 2 
 
102 
 
 come no want of stones is to be feared. When the ground is 
 uncovered to the depth of from ten to fifteen feet, these stone- 
 plates appear in horizontal strata, which at first are of very in- 
 considerable thickness, often not thicker than paper ; and for 
 that reason, and their want of consistency, cannot be used for 
 any lithographic purpose. 
 
 The Solenhofen stone, in its chemical decomposition, consists 
 of lime and carbonic acid. In nitric, muriatic, and other acids, 
 it can be almost entirely dissolved, and the carbonic acid 
 escapes in the form of gas. As most of the marbles are com- 
 posed of the same substances, one might be induced to believe 
 that marble-plates could equally be used for Lithography ; but 
 the unequal and dark colour, and the frequent veins and 
 fissures in these sorts of stone, are a considerable obstacle. 
 Notwithstanding this, I have often used select pieces of light- 
 coloured marble for several purposes of Lithography, and their 
 greater hardness renders them very useful ; the Solenhofen 
 stone, however, in general, is much to be preferred, on account 
 of its equal and light colour, and greater cheapness. 
 
 Since the art of Lithography has risen to considerable ce- 
 lebrity, attempts have been made to discover the same species of 
 stone, or one resembling it, and possessed of the same qualities, 
 in other countries ; and in England, France, and Italy, as well 
 as of late in Prussia, these attempts have been successful. And, 
 upon the whole, it is more than probable, when we consider 
 
103 
 
 the immense quantity of carbonate of lime, which is found on 
 so many places of the surface of the earth, that the same species 
 of stone might be frequently discovered in slates of one, two, 
 or more, inches in thickness, or in larger masses, which might 
 be cut into plates. 
 
 It has been observed, that all the strata are not of the same 
 good quality ; sometimes even the stones of the same strata 
 are very different. If good and perfect work is to be produced, 
 it is important to select sound and suitable stones, and to take 
 none but those of the first quality from the stone-masons, who 
 very well know how to distinguish them. 
 
 A perfect stone ought to be of the following description : — 
 
 1st, In point of thickness. The thickness must always be in 
 proportion to the size of the stone. Small stones resist the force 
 of the press, without breaking, when of less thickness than 
 great ones ; nevertheless, even small stones ought not to be 
 thinner than one inch and a half, neither should they be thicker 
 than two and a half inches, as the thickness renders them so 
 very heavy and unmanageable. 
 
 In general, the best thickness of a stone is from two to two 
 and a half inches. 
 
 2d, In point of substance. Some of the stones are of a 
 
104 
 
 softer nature, some of a harder ; sometimes the same stone on 
 one side is soft, on the other hard ; and sometimes it happens 
 that it is composed of several unequal strata : this latter cir- 
 cumstance is no material objection, if the stone is sound in 
 other respects. Generally speaking, the harder sort of stones 
 are the best for all the different manners, provided their sub- 
 stance be uniform, and not interspersed with white spots and 
 points, as is frequently the case ; for then they are not good 
 for any manner, where clearness and neatness are required. 
 The rubbing down and polishing of these stones is very dif- 
 ficult, as the white and softer spots are more affected by the 
 polishing material, and create hollows. Besides they have the 
 following inconveniencies : — 
 
 a } In writing with the pen on a stone of this description, 
 the pen, in going over these deeper spots, gets entangled, and 
 the lines loose their clearness. 
 
 b, In drawing with chalk on them, it is very difficult to pro- 
 duce uniform shades, as the deeper spots do not give out the 
 chalk so well as those which are more elevated ; in fact, the 
 grain will not be equal. 
 
 c, In engraving with a needle on them, it happens that the 
 needle enters deeper into the soft spots, whereby the lines be- 
 come broader, and the drawing loses its elegance : and in 
 etching, the soft spots are likewise more affected. 
 
105 
 
 Soft stones, if not very thick, are very apt to break under 
 the press ; but they are easily engraved on, as they offer less re- 
 sistance to the needle. The impressions from them are ge- 
 nerally very black, as they retain more colour ; but the printing 
 is rather difficult, as they are very apt to soil, nor do they give 
 the same number of impressions as the hard ones. The softest 
 sort of Solenhofen stones has commonly a yellowish appearance, 
 or mixed white and red, or it has frequent yellow veins. 
 
 The best and hardest stones have often small defects, such 
 as small invisible holes, veins, and fissures ; those which 
 possess these defects, must be carefully avoided. Veins of 
 very small dimensions like hairs, single spots of greyish or 
 yellowish colour, incrustations of fishes, herbs, fyc, which 
 sometimes occur, are not essential defects ; and it is very sel- 
 dom that we find a stone of the size of a common sheet of 
 paper, free from all these defects, which can only be discovered 
 after the polishing of the stone. 
 
 3. In respect to the size. The size of the stone must differ 
 according to its use. A small drawing, it is true, may be 
 printed from a large stone ; but, in many cases, the con- 
 struction of the press renders it necessary that the stone be not 
 much larger than the drawing ; nevertheless, the stone at 
 its two extremities, where the printing is to begin and to end, 
 must be at least one inch larger than the drawing, otherwise 
 there would be no room for the setting of the scraper, as will 
 
106 
 
 be more fully described hereafter. For small articles, such as 
 cards, addresses, fyc, it is advisable to take stones of the size 
 of an octavo sheet, and for this purpose larger stones, which on 
 account of partial defects, cannot be used for large drawings ; 
 or those that have been broken may frequently be cut down 
 to this size. 
 
 It is material, for the good construction of the press, [that 
 every stone, on its four sides, be cut at right angles, and perpen- 
 dicularly, as in this shape they can be best fixed into the press. 
 
 The stones, notwithstanding their hardness, are very brittle ; 
 and a single stroke of a hard body often causes, even in the 
 thickest stone, a fissure, which, sooner or later, proves fatal. 
 This, therefore, as well as the falling or striking against them, 
 must be carefully avoided. 
 
 It is this quality of brittleness which regulates the manner of 
 splitting the stones into different forms and sizes. For this pur- 
 pose a small instrument of hard steel, weighing about oneounce, 
 is used ; it has the form of a common chisel, not very sharp, and 
 is attached to a long thin handle, of two or three feet in length ; 
 the stone is then placed hollow, and in the line where the se- 
 paration is to be effected, strokes with the mallet, at the dis- 
 tance of one inch from each other, are applied. This, in most 
 cases, is sufficient to divide the thickest stones ; but, as the 
 sides of the stone do not always form a true perpendicular to 
 
107 
 
 the surface, it is sometimes necessary to dress them afterwards 
 with a sharp chisel. This process of dividiug, though very 
 simple, requires some experience and skill ; as a single stroke, 
 applied to a wrong place, often causes a fissure in an opposite 
 direction. It is, therefore, by no means advisable to divide a 
 plate after a drawing has been made upon it. 
 
 The Rubbing Down and Polishing of the Stones. 
 
 The Stones, as they come from the quarry, even if they have 
 been rubbed down there, are not always fit for use, and require 
 to be first carefully polished. In order to do this, a strong 
 iron or brass ruler, called a strait edge, is necessary ; this is 
 applied in various directions to the surface ; if it is possible to 
 look under it, this is a sign that it does not touch in every 
 place, and that there are still hollows in the surface. In order 
 to remove these, the prominent parts of the surface must be 
 rubbed with a coarse grained sand-stone (or pumice-stone, if 
 not too expensive) and water, till the ruler applied in all direc- 
 tions touches the surface in every point of its line. When 
 this is done, the stone thus prepared is placed on a strong hori- 
 zontal table, and thinly covered with fine sand, mixed with a 
 spoonful of water ; to this a little soap may be added, as it faci- 
 litates the polishing and augments the action of the sand on the 
 stone. Another stone is now put on the surface of the first, and 
 
 p 
 
108 
 
 moved up and down in different directions. At intervals fresh 
 sand and water must be applied ; and thus two surfaces are 
 polished at the same time, and rendered perfectly level and 
 even. In moving one stone upon the other, care must, however 5 
 be taken not to exceed the surface of the under one, otherwise 
 the upper stone takes a concave, and the under one a convex 
 figure. To avoid this, the best way is, to exchange the stones 
 frequently, so that the under one may at one time be the 
 moving stone, and the upper at another time ; or to take two 
 stones of different dimensions, and to use the smaller one as the 
 moving stone. From time to time the stones must be wiped 
 with a sponge, and examined by the ruler, till at last they are 
 found perfect. By a little experience it can be easily ascer- 
 tained by the touch, whether a stone is sufficiently polished or 
 not, for as long as there is any unevenness on its surface, a 
 certain resistance is felt, which sometimes is so strong, as to 
 prevent the movement of the upper stone. Two stone plates, 
 in this state, if left to dry, adhere so strongly together, that no 
 power can separate them, without injury to one or both of their 
 surfaces. The only means of separating the stones in this case 
 is, to introduce the blade of a common knife as deep as possible 
 between them, and to give a few gentle strokes with a mallet 
 on the upper side, upon which they will separate instantly. 
 
 In the beginning of the act of rubbing down and polishing 
 the stones with sand, innumerable small furrows, occasioned by 
 the grains of the sand, may be discovered on the surface ; but 
 
109 
 
 the process of polishing one stone with another entirely takes 
 them off, and the surface then presents a perfectly smooth 
 level. If, upon close examination, no traces whatever of these 
 almost imperceptible furrows can be discovered, and the rule 
 touches the surface in all points of the line of contact, and in 
 all directions, then the stone may be pronounced perfect and 
 fit for use. It would, however, be presumptuous to believe, that 
 by any process a perfect mathematical level can be obtained ; 
 if the surface only approximates this, and the uneven nesses do 
 not exceed the thickness of a sheet of Bank post-paper, it is 
 quite sufficient. 
 
 This process of polishing, here described, is by far the best 
 and most expeditious, and requires less skill and experience 
 than any other method. The elegance and purity of the im- 
 pressions, and the ease or difficulty in printing the plate, de- 
 pends very much upon the perfect state of the polishing, which 
 therefore ought to be done with the greatest diligence and 
 exactness. This is the first preparation and polishing of the 
 stone ; if afterwards they are to be used for drawing, they require 
 another particular preparation, which differs according to the 
 different methods, as shall be hereafter more fully described. 
 
 The Assorting of the Stones. 
 
 After a stone has been prepared in the manner just described, 
 
 p 2 
 
110 
 
 the nature of its substance, as well as its defects, can be clearly 
 seen, from which it may be ascertained to what sort of use it 
 is best adapted. Stones of unequal hardness may be laid by 
 for coarse pen-and-ink drawings ; stones of uniform hardness, 
 but unequal colour, are fit for fine pen-and-ink drawings, and 
 for the engraved, as well as for the transfer manners. The 
 purest, best coloured, and hardest stones must be selected for 
 chalk drawings. 
 
 The stones may be preserved in any place not too damp, 
 nor too much exposed to cold in winter. A dry cold does not 
 hurt the stones, but if they are damp, and afterwards freeze, 
 they are apt to break ; or if exposed to a constant damp, they 
 are apt to attract saltpetre and other substances that injure the 
 surface. A stone, if taken from the storehouse for use, ought 
 first to be kept a few days in a dry room of moderate tem- 
 perature. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 Of INK, CHALK, ETCHING-GROUND and COLOURS. 
 
 The Chemical Ink. 
 
 The ink, known by the name of chemical ink (a more appro- 
 priate denomination, from its constituent parts, viz., unctuous 
 and bituminous substances, and an alkali, would be fat or 
 alkalic ink), is one of the principal and most important requisites 
 in a lithographic establishment. It is used for writing or 
 drawing immediately on the stone, or for covering the surface 
 of it, like etching ground, or for transferring drawings, executed 
 on the paper, to the stone. The principal qualities of this ink 
 are, its filling the pores of the stone, in those places to which it 
 is applied, with an oily greasy substance, and, farther, its 
 resisting the action of aqua-fortis and other acids. 
 
 I have observed in another place, that different mixtures 
 without number of this ink may be prepared and found useful 
 for different purposes, according to the fancy and inclination of 
 the artist. Having, however, made so many experiments on this 
 important subject, I feel justified in recommending the follow- 
 ing different compositions as the best and most perfect for the 
 different purposes : — 
 
112 
 
 Chemical inks may be divided into two principal species, 
 viz., one for drawing on the stone, of a thicker nature ; and 
 another for transferring drawings to the stone, of a more liquid 
 substance. 
 
 The best compositions, of the first species, are the following : 
 
 1. White bees-wax by weight 8 parts 
 
 Soap 2 
 
 Lampblack ] 
 
 A*. JB. This ink is not used for drawing or writing on the 
 stone, but for covering those places, which the aqua-fortis is 
 not to affect. If it is desirable to have it thick, burnt wax may 
 be added at pleasure. This is obtained by exposing wax to 
 such a degree of heat, as to cause it to take fire, and let it burn 
 till the quantity is reduced to one half. 
 
 2. Wax by weight 12 parts. 
 
 Common tallow - 4 
 
 Soap 4 
 
 Lampblack 1 
 
 3. Wax 12 
 
 Shellac 4 
 
 Soap 4 
 
 Lampblack 1 
 
 4. Tallow 8 
 
 Shellac • ..... 8 
 
 Soap 4 
 
 Lampblack 1 
 
113 
 
 5. Wax by weight 8 parts 
 
 Shellac 4 
 
 Mastic 4 
 
 Soap 4 
 
 Lampblack 1 
 
 6. Wax • 8 
 
 Tallow 4 
 
 Shellac 4 
 
 Soap < 4 
 
 Lampblack 1 
 
 7. Wax 1 
 
 ^ . y 12* 
 
 Gum Guaiacum J 
 
 Tallow 4 
 
 Soap ■ 4 
 
 Lampblack 1 
 
 8. Wax i- 6 
 
 Shellac . 4 
 
 Tallow 2 
 
 Mastic 3 
 
 Venetian Turpentine 1 
 
 Soap • 4 
 
 Lampblack • If 
 
 * Wax and gum guaiacum are melted together in equal quantities; the part that does 
 not become liquid is then removed, and of the remaining composition, twelve parts, as 
 prescribed, are used. 
 
 « 
 
 f There is no material difference between the seven last compositions ; those into 
 which shellac enters remain a longer time liquid, but are more difficult to prepare. It 
 
114 
 
 .Manner of preparing the Chemical Ink. 
 
 All the different ingredients of the composition of the ink, 
 except the soap, of which only one half is taken, are put to- 
 gether in an iron saucepan, and exposed to a strong fire till the 
 whole of the mass ignites. When the quantity is reduced to 
 one half, the saucepan is carefully covered, or put into a pailful 
 of water, to extinguish the flame and cool the substance. 
 
 The reason why only one half of the soap is added is, that 
 the alcali, in the violent heat, unites better with the other sub- 
 stances. As in this process it loses its power, and is saturated 
 with carbonic acid, which renders it less fit to dissolve the 
 greasy substances, it is best not to add the other half of the 
 soap till after the burning, and to keep the composition over 
 a coal fire, at such a degree of heat as is sufficient for the dis- 
 solution of the soap. This done, a small quantity of the com- 
 position may be taken on a clean knife, in order to ascertain 
 whether it dissolves easily in cold water. If the soap is good, 
 the prescribed quantity is always sufficient ; but if the alcali 
 
 is not necessary to be very strict in the proportion of the different ingredients, except 
 in the soap and lampblack. Soap, in general, must be the fifth, and lampblack the 
 twentieth, part of the whole. Too much soap renders the ink too slimy, and too 
 much lampblack occasions it to run upon the stone. 
 
115 
 
 in it is not strong and pungent enough, a small quantity of 
 soap may be added, till it is seen that the ink easily dissolves 
 in water. The lampblack, which must be of the finest quality, 
 and previously burnt on the fire in a close vessel, till yellow 
 smoke no longer issues from it, must now be added to the 
 composition, stirring it constantly all the while. When all has 
 been well mixed, and worked up till it gradually becomes 
 cool, the composition is theu taken out of the saucepan, when 
 any shape may be given to it. Most of it ought to be made 
 into small cylinders or sticks, and in this dry state it is pre- 
 served for occasional use. 
 
 Here it is necessary to add the following general ob- 
 servations : — 
 
 1. Under the denomination of soap, is understood the com- 
 mon soap prepared from tallow and soap lees ; Venetian, or oil 
 soap, is not so good for ink, as it renders it more slimy when 
 dissolved in water, and does not resist so well the action of 
 aqua-fortis. 
 
 2. For colouring the ink, there may be used, besides lamp- 
 black, indigo, blue lake, vermilion, and red ochre, and various 
 other colours, provided they do not alter the nature of the soap, 
 which will be the case if they consist of neutral or other salts. 
 The lampblack, if not previously burnt as above-mentioned, 
 contains a great quantity of pyroligneons acid, which unites 
 
 Q 
 
116 
 
 with the alcali, neutralizes it, and thus prevents it from dis- 
 solving the greasy substances. It is, therefore, very material 
 to burn or roast the lampblack, before it is used, over a strong 
 fire, by the action of which the acid escapes in the form of a 
 yellow smoke. 
 
 Another sort of black is preferable to this burnt or roasted 
 lampblack. It is prepared from animal grease or wax, or from 
 a composition of ox tallow and gum penzoe. For this purpose 
 the tallow is melted and poured into a common lamp with a 
 cotton wick ; then the lamp is lighted and placed under an iron 
 or brass plate, on which the black collects. From time to 
 time black is scraped off with a knife, and preserved in a 
 covered vessel, till the necessary quantity is obtained. This 
 black is very fine and mild, and so strong, that with one ounce 
 of it as much can be done as with three ounces of the common 
 lampblack. The ink prepared with this black, is particularly 
 fine and liquid. 
 
 In general it is to be observed, that the greater the quantity 
 of lampblack used in the composition of the ink, and the 
 blacker the ink is, the more it is apt to run on the stone, and 
 to produce thick and coarse lines. The smaller the quantity 
 of lampblack in the ink, the finer the lines are ; but, as it is 
 not so visible, it is more difficult to work with it. 
 
 3. For dissolving the ink, distilled water is best ; pure rain- 
 
117 
 
 water, or, if this cannot be had, pure soft river-water, will do in 
 case of need. If the rain-water is old and putrid, the solution 
 is apt to become thick and slimy.. 
 
 4. The igniting and burning of the ingredients is not ab- 
 solutely necessary, but it contributes much to render the ink 
 of a superior quality for use. 
 
 5. It is only when shellac enters into the composition, 
 that it is necessary to burn the ingredients well, as this 
 substance does not fully dissolve, except in a very considerable 
 heat. 
 
 The shellac, which in China and the East Indies is prepared 
 by an insect belonging to the genus of the bee, possesses the 
 quality of melting in a moderate heat, but does not dissolve in 
 any sort of animal grease, as tallow, butter, oil, wax, if not 
 previously freed from the acid which belongs to it ; and this can 
 only be done by a violent fire. If shellac is melted with oil or 
 grease, it remains, at first, at the bottom of the vessel ; if the 
 heat is increased to such a degree as to ignite the ingredients, 
 it begins to swell and to cover the surface in the form of a 
 spongy mass. The heat still increasing, it dissolves at last 
 entirely. As soon as it has entirely dissolved, it is time to take 
 the vessel from the fire, and to cover it well, in order to ex- 
 tinguish the flame. 
 
 Q2 
 
118 
 
 6. None of the above-mentioned compositions of ink, ran 
 be kept long in the liquid state, as in a few days it becomes 
 slimy, and unfit for use. It is, therefore, better to preserve 
 the ink in a dry state, in which it does not experience any 
 change for years ; and to dissolve a small quantity of it 
 as often as required, by rubbing it down in a clean ves- 
 sel or cup ; if a sufficient quantity is thus obtained, a few 
 drops of water may be added, and, by rubbing it with the 
 finger, it will soon be dissolved. The ink is then fit for im 
 mediate use. 
 
 7. In dissolving the ink in water, it is material to ob- 
 tain the necessary degree of liquidity. A good ink must 
 not contain undissolved particles, and ought to be of the 
 thickness of cream or oil ; if it is too thick, it is difficult 
 to work with it ; if too thin, it does not resist the aqua- 
 fortis. A very few trials are sufficient to teach the stu- 
 dent a correct proportion in this. A good artist will do well 
 to prepare, every day, a sufficient portion of ink ; if, during 
 the work, it becomes too thick, as sometimes will happen, 
 the addition of one or two drops of water will remedy this 
 sufficiently. 
 
 These are the general observations on the use of the che- 
 mical or alcalic ink ; some other particulars shall hereafter be 
 mentioned in the description of the different manners. 
 
119 
 
 Hard Ink of hora i 
 
 Besides the sorts of ink already mentioned, it is advisable 
 to prepare a store of the following, the use of which shall be 
 described hereafter in its proper place. 
 
 No. 1. Shellac - 4 parts. 
 
 Borax • • • - 1 
 
 Water 16 
 
 The shellac and borax are put in a clean vessel, two-thirds 
 of which are filled with water ; it is then exposed to the fire, 
 where it must be kept boiling for an hour; as much of the 
 water as evaporates must, from time to time, be added. If the 
 greater part of the shellac is dissolved, the vessel is taken 
 from the fire, cooled, and the contents of it filtered through a 
 clean piece of linen, to separate the undissolved parts of the 
 shellac from the solution. This can be preserved for years in 
 a well-closed bottle. In order to give it the necessary colour 
 for use, part of it must be boiled in an iron or copper ladle, 
 till it becomes of the consistency of honey ; then lampblack, or 
 any other colour, is added, and the whole well shaken and 
 mixed with water ; the black or coloured ink is then fit for use, 
 and may be kept in a well-corked bottle. 
 
120 
 
 Liquid Ink. 
 
 Mr. Andre, of Offenbach, used a sort of ink, which can be 
 preserved for years in a liquid state. According to my ex- 
 perience, it is not so good for very fine drawings, as some of 
 the above described compositions ; but for music and writing 
 it does very well, chiefly on account of its great durability. 
 
 Shellac 12 parts. 
 
 Mastic 4 
 
 Soap of Ox-Tallow 1 
 
 Pure crystallized sub-carbonate of Soda- • • •• 1 
 Lampblack 1 
 
 These ingredients are mixed with water, exposed to fire, and 
 boiled till all is well dissolved and united, which is greatly fa- 
 cilitated by frequent stirring. The boiling is continued till the 
 whole of the water is evaporated, then fresh water is added and 
 boiled a second time, till all is dissolved again ; the liquid is 
 then filtered through linen, and preserved in a well-corked 
 bottle. If the ink is too thick to admit of the filtering, it can 
 easily be made thinner by adding a sufficient quantity of water 
 to it. The same thing can be done, if, during the use, it 
 thickens too much. 
 
121 
 
 Ink for transferring Drawings or Writings from Paper 
 
 on the Stone. 
 
 All the different compositions of ink hitherto mentioned, 
 are for immediate use on the stone. But, if the drawing or 
 writing is to be made on paper, and from thence transferred 
 to the stone, they will generally be found too hard, unless 
 heated stones be used ; but as this is rather difficult, it will be 
 more advisable to use the following composition : — 
 
 Shellac 3 parts. 
 
 Wax 1 
 
 Tallow 6 
 
 Mastic 5 
 
 Soap • 4 
 
 Lampblack 1 
 
 The manner of preparing this ink is the same as that of 
 those already described, and it can be preserved in its dry 
 state for years. In order to ascertain if it is fit for use, the 
 best method is, to dissolve a small quantity of it in water ; if it 
 retains a certain viscousness, it is good. If, by passing the 
 stone under the press, with a moderate pressure, it does not 
 come off uniformly, and in all places, it is a sign that it is too 
 
hard, and this may be remedied by adding a small quantity of 
 butter or vegetable oil ; but this cannot be done, without 
 melting the whole over a moderate fire. If, on the other hand, 
 the lines in the transfer expand and become broader, it is a 
 sign that the ink is too soft. The temperature of the room, or 
 even of the atmosphere, has a great influence in this respect, 
 and it is necessary to use a harder or softer ink accordingly. 
 
 Hard Etching Ground. 
 
 Besides the Chemical Ink in the different manners of Li- 
 thography, another substance is sometimes used for covering 
 the stones, which resists the action of aqua-fortis, and is known 
 under the name of Etching Ground, as it differs very little from 
 that which engravers use for their copper-plates. It consists 
 of the following : — 
 
 Wax 12 parts. 
 
 Mastic 6 
 
 Asphaltum ■ 4 
 
 Colophony 2 
 
 Tallow 1 
 
 All these ingredients are melted together on the fire in an 
 iron saucepan, and exposed to the heat till the asphaltum be 
 entirely dissolved. After this, the mass is left burning, till it 
 
123 
 
 is reduced to about two-thirds ; then, by covering the pan with 
 a cover fitting it exactly, the flame is extinguished. If the 
 whole is cooled, it is taken out, formed into different shapes, 
 and preserved for use. 
 
 A good etching ground can be obtained from mere wax, if 
 it is left boiling and burning till nearly five parts of it are 
 consumed. 
 
 Soft Etching Ground. 
 
 In some manners of Lithography, it is requisite to have 
 another sort of etching ground, which possesses the quality of 
 not entirely covering the surface of the stone, so as to allow the 
 aqua-fortis to act uniformly on many points of it, and to affect 
 the stone ; or which, if it even resists the aqua-fortis, by a 
 slight touch can be so far removed, as to admit the aqua-fortis 
 to the stone in a greater or lesser degree, and produce a tint in 
 imitation of aquatinta. This description of etching ground 
 is prepared in the following manner : — 
 
 No. 1. Thick varnish of Linseed-Oil 1 part. 
 
 Tallow 2 parts. 
 
 Both ingredients well melted together. 
 
 R 
 
124 
 
 No. 2. Wax 1 part. 
 
 Tallow 5 
 
 Varnish of Linseed-Oil 3 
 
 Likewise well melted together. 
 
 The use of this composition will be hereafter described, in 
 treating- of aquatinta, fyc. It is good to prepare a small store 
 of both compositions. 
 
 Etching Colour. 
 
 Under this denomination I mean a sort of printing colour, 
 which possesses the quality of resisting the aqua-fortis, if the 
 stone is impregnated with it. In many cases it is of great use, 
 and even indispensable ; it is, therefore, good to have it like- 
 wise in store. It is composed of 
 
 Thick Varnish of Linseed-Oil 2 parts. 
 
 Tallow 4 
 
 Venetian Turpentine 1 
 
 Wax 1 
 
 All well melted together, then four parts of lampblack added 
 to it, and preserved in a well-closed tin box. 
 
125 
 
 Lithographic Chalk. 
 
 Chemical, or greasy Chalk, is a composition which, in its 
 dry state, can be applied to the stone like Spanish or French 
 chalk, and different sorts of drawings may be made with it. 
 The chemical ink above described, if dissolved in water, enters 
 the surface of the stone, and impregnates the spots where it 
 enters with grease. The chalk has the same effect on the 
 stone, only the degree in which it penetrates and sticks to the 
 surface, is not the same as in the case of the ink. 
 
 The compositions by which different sorts of harder or softer 
 chalk can be produced, are innumerable ; but as almost all 
 bituminous substances give less perfect compositions, and wax 
 and soap form the principal ingredients in it, it may not be 
 superfluous to communicate the following recipes : — 
 
 No. 1. Wax 4 parts. 
 
 Soap 6 
 
 Lampblack 2 
 
 The wax and the soap are melted together, then the lamp- 
 black is added ; the whole is well rubbed down on a hot iron 
 plate, then put into a saucepan and exposed to the fire, till it re- 
 turns once more to a liquid state. It is then poured out on a stone 
 
 r 2 
 
126 
 
 plate, well impregnated with oil, so as to form a cake of the 
 thickness of the eighth part of an inch. The mass, if cooled, 
 is cut into small slices, and tit for use. 
 
 No. 2. Wax 8 parts. 
 
 Soap 4 
 
 Lampblack 2 
 
 The wax is first burned till reduced to about one half, then 
 the soap is melted with it, and the same process takes place as 
 in the case of No. 1. 
 
 No, 3. Wax 4 parts. 
 
 Spermaceti 4 
 
 Soap 4 
 
 Lampblack 2 
 
 The first three ingredients are melted together, then the 
 lampblack is added, and the whole treated as above. 
 
 No. 4. Wax 8 parts. 
 
 Spermaceti 4 
 
 Soap 4 
 
 Lampblack 2 
 
 The wax is reduced by burning to one half, then the sper- 
 maceti and soap are melted with it, and treated in other respects 
 as above. 
 
127 
 
 No. 5. Shellac 4 parts. 
 
 Wax 8 
 
 Soap 5 
 
 Lampblack 3 
 
 The Shellac is first dissolved in the wax by exposing the 
 substances to a moderate heat ; the rest as above. 
 
 No. 6. Shellac 4 parts. 
 
 Wax 8 
 
 Tallow 2 
 
 Soap 5 
 
 Lampblack 3 
 
 The same manner of preparation as above ; after the Shellac 
 is dissolved the tallow is added. This chalk is somewhat softer 
 than the former ; the two following sorts are of the same 
 description. 
 
 No. 7. Wax 8 parts 
 
 Tallow 4 
 
 Soap 6 
 
 Lampblack 3 
 
 The wax, tallow and soap are melted together, so as to ignite 
 till a third part of it is consumed ; then the lampblack is 
 added. 
 
128 
 
 No. 8. Wax 
 
 Tallow 
 
 Minium or red lead 
 Lampblack 
 
 The wax, tallow and the minium are heated over the fire, 
 under continual stirring ; till the minium be dissolved in scum, 
 and changes its red colour to a brown one ; then the lampblack 
 is added and well rubbed down, the whole is then heated again, 
 poured out and cut into sticks. 
 
 These compositions I have ascertained by a great number of 
 experiments, to be the best for a good chalk, and it is advisable 
 to prepare a store of all or at least of most of them. The before- 
 mentioned different sorts of chemical ink differ immaterially, 
 and therefore may be used promiscuously ; but every one of 
 the specified sorts of chalk gives, when used, another kind of 
 what is called grain, and the judicious application of these to 
 different sorts of drawings, greatly contributes to their ex- 
 cellence and good appearance. The greater or less degree of 
 roughness of the stone prepared for chalk-drawing renders it 
 necessary sometimes to make another choice of chalk, and all 
 the deep shades can more easily be produced by soft chalk than 
 by hard ; for outlines and very light shades, on the contrary, the 
 latter sorts are preferable. 
 
 The lampblack, used for chalk, must previously be burned 
 
 2 parts 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
129 
 
 or roasted, otherwise it causes hollows in the cake ; the same 
 will happen, if the mass is poured out too hot on the stone, in 
 that case the melting it over again is indispensably necessary. 
 
 Chalk, containing a considerable quantity of shellac, if ex- 
 posed to damp air, is apt to become very soft ; it is therefore 
 better to preserve it in well-closed boxes or bottles. 
 
 The Printing Ink. 
 
 The manner of preparing Printers* ink in large quantities is so 
 very difficult and dangerous, that it is not advisable for any one, 
 who has not made it his particular study, and already acquired 
 some experience respecting its preparation. If the experiments 
 and lithographic printing are not carried on upon so extensive 
 a scale, as to require one or two hundred weight of oil varnish in 
 the year, it is better to purchase small quantities ready made. 
 
 The manner of preparing oil varnish, by boiling and burning 
 the oil, is a process too well and too generally known to me- 
 chanics to require a detailed description here. It will, therefore, 
 be found sufficient to mention only those qualities of a good 
 varnish, that are requisite for the different purposes of Litho- 
 graphy. 
 
 Three sorts of oil varnish are generally used for lithographic 
 
130 
 
 printing, which might be denominated the thick, the middling, 
 and the thin varnish ; of every one of which there ought to be 
 a store in a good establishment. 
 
 The thin varnish is produced by reducing the oil, by means 
 of boiling and burning, to about two-thirds of its original 
 quantity ; it is of the thickness of common honey, but does not 
 draw stringy. 
 
 In the middling sort of varnish, the oil is reduced to one half; 
 it is of the thickness of very old honey, and admits of drawing 
 stringy to the length of one foot and more. 
 
 In the thick varnish the quantity of the oil is little more re- 
 duced than in the former ; but it draws stringy to the length of 
 three feet, and possesses the greatest degree of viscosity. 
 
 The oil varnish is the principal ingredient in the printing 
 ink ; if well prepared, is dries very easily of itself, without 
 any other ingredient to promote the drying being boiled with 
 it ; on the contrary, this ought to be avoided, as the colour 
 prepared with a varnish of this description, is very apt to stick 
 on the prepared parts of the stone, and thereby soil the stone, 
 and spoil the impressions. 
 
 In order to prepare the printing ink, it is necessary to add 
 a sufficient quantity of lampblack to the varnish, for which 
 
131 
 
 purpose the fine burned lampblack is likewise preferable to the 
 common. 
 
 The greater the quantity of lampblack mixed with the var- 
 nish, and the more closely both ingredients are united, by 
 grinding them with a muller on a stone had for that purpose, 
 the better the colour will be for the use of Lithography , 
 care must, however, be taken not to add too much lampblack ; 
 so as to make a dry paste of the varnish, as it will then be 
 very difficult to bring it on the roller. Some experience and 
 trials are necessary to teach the right proportion, which depends 
 verj 7 much on the thickness of the varnish, and cannot be w ell 
 described. 
 
 In treating of the different lithographic manners, the re- 
 spective requisites and composition of the printing ink, best 
 appropriated to each of them, will be more particularly de- 
 scribed, and the ingredients specified that must be added, in 
 order to render the colour more black, or promote its drying. 
 In general it may be observed here, that the places covered 
 with ink or chalk on the stone, take the ink easier if it is thin 
 and liquid ; but, on the contrary, if the ink has too great a 
 quantity of lampblack, and is very thick, the danger of soiling 
 the surface of the stone in those places that are prepared to 
 reject the ink, is not so great ; but on the other hand, fine lines 
 and points are very liable either not to take it, or to disappear 
 entirely. The impressions with it are, when the designs take 
 
 s 
 
132 
 
 colour, generally very clear ; but the charging of the roller is 
 rather difficult, and the press requires a greater force. 
 
 Besides lampblack, all other sorts of different colours may be 
 mixed with oil-varnish, as will be more fully described in treat- 
 ing of coloured impressions. Even in making a black colour, 
 sometimes ivory black is used instead of lampblack ; or, in the 
 engraved and aqua-tinta manner, Frankfort black. 
 
 Repairing Colour. 
 
 It not very nnfrequently happens, that lines too faintly 
 drawn do not resist the aqua-fortis, and are entirely obliterated ; 
 or that, by the unskilful management of the printer, fine lines 
 are rubbed away. In both cases faint traces of remaining 
 grease may still be discovered, but they are too faint to take 
 colour. In order to repair these defects, the following very 
 simple method may be used, that is, to charge the stone re- 
 peatedly with the colour hereafter described. 
 
 The repairing-colour is composed of very thin oil-varnish, 
 in which a quantity of litharge, or minium, or white lead, is 
 dissolved by boiling, and to which a sufficient quantity of 
 lampblack is added. It may often be expedient to add to the 
 lampblack a small quantity of well-pounded sand, or pumice- 
 stone. 
 
133 
 
 The varnish requisite for this colour may be thus prepared. 
 Take a quantity of the thinnest varnish, expose it to the fire till 
 it ignites ; add then a quantity of well-pounded minium, ( for 
 instance, one ounce to sixteen ounces of varnish,) or any other 
 oxide of lead, and stir it till it is well mixed together. 
 
 Another sort of repairing-colour can be prepared by mixing 
 the common printing colour with vegetable oil, tallow, and a 
 very little soap. Both of these colours are very apt to adhere 
 to any places which have an inconsiderable degree of grease in 
 them, and renders them fit again to take the printing colour. 
 The precautions, which it is necessary to observe to prevent the 
 soiling of the whole surface, will be explained in another 
 place. 
 
V 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Of ACIDS, and other COMPOSITIONS, to PREPARE 
 
 the STONES. 
 
 Qualities of Acids in general. 
 
 The expression " To prepare the Stone," may properly 
 designate every sort of preparation for the different manners of 
 drawing or printing ; but, in Lithography, it has always been 
 understood to designate, by preference, that process by which 
 the stone receives the quality of repelling the colour on certain 
 distinct places. 
 
 Most people who have occupied themselves with Lithography 
 still maintain the opinion, which, for a long time, was my own, 
 that the etching with aqua-fortis, or any other acid, prepares 
 the stone, and that the subsequent application of gum only 
 adds to it. But numerous experiments have now convinced 
 me of the contrary. The gum-arabic, and some other similar 
 substances, are the principal means of preparing the stone ; 
 and, by the acid, the stone is only rendered more disposed to 
 admit it. The sulphuric acid, which changes the surface of the 
 stone into gypsum, is the only acid that prepares the stones 
 without gum ; but its application is limited to very few manners. 
 
136 
 
 The stones used for Lithography consist, for the most part, 
 of calcareous matter, perfectly saturated with carbonic acid. 
 Now most of the acids, and even some of the neutral salts, have 
 a nearer chemical affinity to the lime, than the carbonic acid 
 united to it ; as soon, therefore, as another acid comes into 
 contact with the stone, the carbonic acid is liberated, and es- 
 capes in the form of air, while the lime of the stone unites with 
 the other acid. If aqua-fortis, vinegar, tifc, is poured over the 
 stone, a number of bubbles immediately rise, (which is nothing 
 else than the carbonic acid,) and the liquid appears as if boiling, 
 more or less, according to the degree of its concentration. 
 This boiling lasts till the acid is entirely saturated by lime. 
 
 Another effect of this operation is, the dissolution and re- 
 moval of a part of the surface of the stone ; but if some spots 
 of it were previously impregnated with grease, which resists 
 the action of the acid, these, of course, remain untouched, and 
 in their old state ; so that if the stone, after the act of etching, 
 is wiped, these spots are imperceptibly prominent, while the 
 whole surface of the stone appears more or less sunk, according 
 to the quantity and strength of the acid applied. 
 
 If the stone is covered with grease, but not so closely as to 
 counteract entirely the action of the acid, this latter gradually 
 penetrates and etches the grease away, particularly if it re- 
 mains a long time upon it, and possesses sufficient strength. 
 On this circumstance, that a thin cover of grease may be 
 
137 
 
 removed partially or wholly, as may be necessary, by the action 
 of acid, is founded the manner of preparing stones for pen and 
 ink drawings, or some manners of aqua-tinta, by washing them 
 with oil or soap- water. 
 
 Another and very important effect of the acid on the stone 
 is, that besides etching away the surface of the stone, it gives 
 a fine polish to it, which renders it so smooth as to be a safe- 
 guard against the sticking of the colour on these prepared 
 places. If, therefore, a stone upon which a drawing is made, 
 has been etched by an acid, it may, as long as it remains wet, 
 and the colour is not too forcibly put on, be several times 
 charged and printed. However, this apparently fine polish is, 
 by no means, sufficient to allow the printing for any length of 
 time, with security. The polish is only then perfect when the 
 stone, after the etching, has been washed with a solution of 
 gum-arabic. If a stone that lias only been etched, but not 
 washed with gum, becomes dry, or if it is only negligently 
 touched with the linen rags impregnated with colour, and 
 other greasy matter, it is apt to soil and take colour. As a 
 proof how little etching with acid prevents the subsequent ad- 
 hesion of grease, I shall mention, in another section, several 
 cases where the stone is first etched, and then drawn upon with 
 dry as well as liquid ink. 
 
 The principal effects., which acids in general manifest on the 
 stone, may be comprised under the following heads: — 
 
138 
 
 1. They do not affect those places that are properly covered 
 with grease. 
 
 2. They penetrate more or less, if the grease is very thinly 
 put on. 
 
 3. In those places where they touch the stone, they dissolve 
 parts of it, and remove them. 
 
 4. They give a brilliant polish to the stone, which facilitates 
 the printing, but is not of long continuance, and disappears 
 by the frequent wiping of the stone. 
 
 5. They do not prevent the subsequent adhesion of greasy 
 substances, as soon as the stone etched by them is become dry 
 again ; so that a place which previously has been entirely pre- 
 pared by acid and solution of gum, may, by a repeated etching, 
 be rendered fit to receive colour. In the subsequent pages, 
 various applications of this method will be noticed. 
 
 6. Lastly, Acids have the property of creating a rough sur- 
 face in prepared and frequently-printed stones, (especially if 
 their original polish produced by the etching has given way 
 to that produced by frequent ablutions ;) the reason of this is, 
 that some spots are more, and some less, affected, by which 
 small pores are produced, and the printing ink is very apt to 
 adhere to them. This circumstance, as will be more fully 
 
139 
 
 stated in another place, renders particular caution necessary, 
 when prepared stones, of which impressions have already been 
 taken, are to be cleared from accidental spots of grease, or 
 other defects ; as, by unskilful management, these defects may 
 be increased, and the drawing totally spoiled. 
 
 The different Acids. 
 
 Aqua-fortis, or nitric acid, muriatic acid, vinegar, tartarous 
 acid, malic and oxalic acid, have all nearly the same effects ; 
 aqua-fortis and muriatic acid are generally preferred, on ac- 
 count of their cheapness. 
 
 Sulphuric acid, or oil of vitriol, in a very weak solution in 
 water, is of great use, if a strong etching acid is not required ; 
 where this is the case, it cannot be used, as this acid in dis- 
 solving the surface of the stone, changes it into gypsum, which 
 covers the stone, and prevents the acid from acting any more 
 on it. If, for instance, a solution of one part of sulphuric acid 
 and twelve parts of water, is poured on a clean polished stone, 
 it produces a violent effervescence, which, however, lasts but a 
 few moments ; as soon as its action subsides, one might be in- 
 clined to suppose that the acid .was perfectly saturated with 
 chalk ; this, however, is not the case, for if the same acid is 
 put on a fresh stone, it has just the same effect upon it as on 
 the first. 
 
 T 
 
140 
 
 If the acid is wiped off the stone, and its surface, when dry, 
 is well rubbed with a flannel, it takes a most perfect polish, and 
 it may be cleaned from the colour with as much ease as copper- 
 plates. This polish, however, does not remain long, as the 
 crust of gypsum, which is very thin, is soon worn off. In the 
 engraved manner, however, where, during the engraving, 
 proofs must sometimes be struck off, this process may be most 
 advantageously resorted to. 
 
 All the acids already mentioned possess the quality, if applied 
 to a stone already prepared and used for printing, of producing 
 a rough surface upon it. It appears that the gum arabic unites 
 in some places more, in others less, intimately with the surface 
 of the stone ; and, in proportion as it does this, the acid, if a second 
 time applied to the prepared stone, has in some places a greater, 
 in others a less, perceptible effect upon it. The bubbles, which 
 on the application of the acid make their appearance, may like- 
 wise contribute to this roughness, as they prevent its equal and 
 uniform action. This phenomenon is still in a greater degree 
 apparent in the citric acid, or in a solution of alum in water. 
 Apply a few drops of lemon-juice, or dissolved allum, to a stone 
 prepared with aqua-fortis and gum ; let it get dry, and then 
 cover the stone, or the part of the stone, where the acid has 
 dried, with grease or colour ; then wipe off" the colour with a 
 wet rag, and it will be seen that the stone becomes perfectly 
 clean and white, except on the spot where the alum or lemon- 
 juice has been applied. This spot will be found to have taken 
 
141 
 
 the grease, as if it had been covered with chemical ink. The 
 same effect, only in a less degree, is produced by all other acids. 
 
 The following observation may here be in its proper place : — 
 It often happens that, through negligence, bad colour, or un- 
 clean linen rags, the stone is soiled, or takes colour in places 
 where it ought not to do so, especially near the margins, as 
 these dry most quickly, and are more exposed to the touch of 
 greasy hands, or other accidents. Spots soiled in this manner, 
 are generally cleaned by rubbing them with gum-water, and a 
 clean flannel ; sometimes, however, especially if the ink is soft, 
 this process does not succeed, and then there is no other re- 
 medy than to prepare the stone afresh ; in which process, 
 however, great care must be taken, to avoid the rough surface 
 just mentioned, as this would only increase the evil. It is 
 therefore greatly preferable, in this case, to rub down the mar- 
 gin of the stone with pumice-stone, till the spots are gone, and 
 to apply the acid and gum only to the spot so rubbed down. 
 
 Another way of removing such spots of grease is, to im- 
 merse a piece of clean flannel in pure aqua-fortis, and to rub 
 them over with it, which makes them instantly disappear ; 
 care, however, must be taken not to let a drop of the aqua- 
 fortis fall on the drawing, as this would be infallibly spoiled 
 by it. 
 
 Another precaution, which, in all the processes of removing 
 
 t 2 
 
142 
 
 greasy spots from the stone, ought not to be neglected, is, to 
 prepare them with gum after the acid has been used ; and as 
 long as this is not done, the greasy spots which have apparently 
 been removed, will soon re-appear, and take colour as before. 
 
 The gum may be mixed with the aqua-fortis, but then it 
 cannot be kept longer than a day, as it soon loses on the stone 
 its preparing quality. 
 
 The following rules ought particularly to be attended to : — 
 
 1st. If a stone prepared with acid, but not with gum, has 
 been for a considerable time in use by the printer, the ink pe- 
 netrates more or less, according to its quantity and degree of 
 liquidity, into the stone ; which, however, preserves its surface, 
 as it has been prepared, though it becomes more apt to soil. 
 In this case, therefore, it is necessary to give the stone a slight 
 preparation of gum, which entirely prevents the grease from 
 again adhering to it. 
 
 2dly. As the gum acts only on the uppermost surface of the 
 stone, and by frequent wiping oft* is gradually diminished, it 
 is of consequence, in order to preserve the surface, to renew 
 from time to time the preparation with gum. Twice a day is 
 quite sufficient : this, in fact, must be done when the printer 
 leaves off work to go to his meals, as the stone ought never to 
 get dry, without having a coat of gum on it. 
 
143 
 
 3dly. For the same reason, and on account of the great de- 
 licacy of the surface, a prepared stone ought never to be vio- 
 lentlyrubbed with any greasy matter, as this injures the surface, 
 and renders it liable to imbibe the colour. 
 
 4thly. If a stone, through long and frequent use and printing, 
 is deprived of its gum preparation, it is, as before-mentioned, 
 very apt to soil. It is therefore advisable, as often as the 
 printing of a stone is discontinued, to give it a fresh dressing 
 with gum, before it is laid by. If this has not been done, and 
 the plate is to be printed again, it must be carefully washed 
 with pure water, or with a very weak solution of aqua-fortis, 
 (one part of aqua-fortis to 500 parts of pure water,) and then 
 prepared afresh with gum. The omitting of this precaution, 
 has often entirely ruined the stone. 
 
 bthly. The gum can prepare only a stone that is perfectly 
 clean, and to which aqua-fortis has previously been applied. 
 If, therefore, the surface of the stone has any trace of grease, it 
 is not affected by the gum, and, in spite of every preparation 
 with it, will take colour. 
 
 Qthly. If the grease on the surface has been removed by acid — 
 in the using of which the greatest possible care is required, as the 
 strength necessary to remove the greasy spots will, if permitted 
 to come in contact with the drawing, remove that likewise — the 
 gum can act, and the stone becomes perfectly prepared. 
 
144 
 
 lihly. The rubbing down of the stone, is not sufficient to 
 render the stone susceptible of being prepared by gum alone ; 
 for, even after the rubbing down, it may still contain some 
 spots where the grease has penetrated, and which are liable to 
 soil, in spite of the gum ; this, however, can be partly pre- 
 vented, if the solution of gum is made very thick, and mixed 
 with a small portion of aqua-fortis. 
 
 8thly. From these observations, the following conclusions 
 may be drawn : — 
 
 By the repeated printing from a stone, it happens that the 
 colour penetrates, to a considerable depth, into the interior 
 of the stone. If the same stone is to be used for another 
 drawing, it ought to be rubbed down till all the traces of 
 the grease have disappeared ; this, however, takes too much 
 time, and would render the stone considerablv thinner. It is 
 only, therefore, generally rubbed down till it becomes per- 
 fectly smooth and level. In this case, it is necessary to prepare 
 it well with strong acid, otherwise (if, during the subsequent 
 process of printing, it loses jthe preparation,) the whole of the 
 former drawing might re-appear on the surface. And against 
 this there is no remedy. 
 
 If the stone is soiled in the middle of the surface, the best 
 manner of cleaning it is to wash it with a few drops of oil of 
 turpentine, and the same quantity of gum- water, and to wipe 
 
143 
 
 it well with a clean flannel. If in this manner the spot is not 
 removed, the stone must be prepared afresh. As this prepa- 
 ration, however, is different according to the different manners, 
 it will be described when treating of them. 
 
 If a greasy substance has penetrated deep into the surface, 
 where it ought not, it will always be very difficult to remove 
 it without injuring the whole. Drawings in the chalk manner 
 are particularly difficult to correct, after the stone has been 
 prepared and printed. The lines that are to be altered, it is 
 true, may be scraped off by a- sharp instrument ; but then the 
 difficulty is, how to re-prepare these spots thus deprived of their 
 prepared surface : if the acid used for this purpose is weak, 
 it is not sufficient ; if strong, the delicate parts of the drawing 
 may be injured by it. 
 
 In order to remedy this inconvenience I tried repeated ex- 
 periments, to discover an acid composition with the quality of 
 not producing a rough surface when applied to a stone already 
 previously prepared. This I believe myself to have discovered 
 in the phosphoric acid, especially if mixed with well pounded 
 gall-nuts. 
 
 The water, in which phosphorus has been preserved for a 
 considerable time, becomes acid and affects the stone very 
 strongly. But phosphoric acid is better obtained by burning 
 phosphorus and collecting the smoke.' This process, however, 
 is somewhat expensive. 
 
146 
 
 A few drops of any sort of acid, if poured on a clean well 
 polished stone, affect the whole surface of it ; if this is well 
 wiped off, the stone washed with soap-water, or chemical ink, 
 and, when dry, cleaned again from these greasy substances by 
 some drops of oil of turpentine, — then the stone, if washed with 
 water and passed over with a roller charged with colour, will 
 take this colour in all points of its surface, even in those affected 
 by the acid. If gum be mixed with the acid, the result still 
 remains the same. The conclusion to be drawn from this phe- 
 nomenon is, that soap-water (as well as all alcalis) annihilate 
 the effect which the acid and gum produce on the stone, and 
 again render it susceptible of taking all sorts of greasy sub- 
 stances on its surface. If phosphoric acid has been used, the 
 washing with soap-water must be repeatedly applied. If gallic 
 acid be mixed with the phosphoric acid, it resists still more 
 powerfully the action of the soap-water. In general, gallic acid 
 mixed with any other acid, resists more strongly the soap-water. 
 This observation led me to the discovery of some particular 
 manners of lithographic printing, which are to be described in 
 another place. 
 
 Gum Arabic, as the principal Ingredient for preparing 
 
 the Stone. 
 
 A few drops of gum arabic, dissolved in water, if applied to 
 a well polished stone, produce the effect, that the spot thus 
 wetted will not take colour, as long as it remains wet. As soon 
 
147 
 
 as it becomes dry, the colour adheres to it, but is easily wiped 
 off with a sponge and water. From this it appears, that gum 
 alone prepares the stone, or in other words, imparts to it the 
 quality of rejecting the colour or printing ink. If, however, the 
 acid has been previously applied to the stone, this quality gains 
 in durability. 
 
 In both cases the uppermost surface of the stone only is 
 affected, and the least accident may annihilate the effect it 
 has had upon it. On this principle rests the engraved manner 
 of lithographic printing. If therefore a well-polished stone is 
 suffused with a solution of aqua-fortis, then prepared with gum 
 and well dried, it may in this state be covered with printing 
 ink or any other fat body (soap and alcalic compositions except- 
 ed,) without the risk of injuring its prepared surface. The 
 more it has been washed with gum, the greater is the security 
 against the penetrating of the fat substances. 
 
 During the printing, where the stone is always kept wet, the 
 washing with gum is not absolutely necessary ; but as the 
 surface through repeated wiping and cleaning soon loses its 
 preparation, it is advisable, under certain circumstances, to 
 mix the ink, or even the water used for wetting the stone, with 
 gum ; this shall be more clearly explained hereafter. 
 
 Some other substances, as for instance, the gum from cherry 
 and plum trees, the sap of some other plants, sugar and all 
 
 u 
 
I is 
 
 slimy substances, as the white of an egg, for instance, have a 
 similar effect to that of gum arabic on the stone ; the gum 
 afabic, however, is always preferable, as its effect is far more 
 certain and powerful. 
 
 The partial preparation of the Stone. 
 
 Under this head I intend to communicate the result of my 
 experience on the subject of a very important phenomenon 
 in Lithography, which frequently occurs and embarrasses 
 beginners in the art — I mean the imperfect or partial prepara- 
 tion of the stone ; that is, where the stone shows a great incli 
 nation to receive the ink, but in fact receives it only in parts. 
 A few illustrations will, I presume, make this more intelligible. 
 
 a. If a drawing has been made with chemical ink on a well 
 polished stone, and is afterwards bit in with acid and gum as 
 usual, charged with printing ink, and impressions taken from 
 it ; if, when the ink is applied to the stone, the places to which 
 it adheres are rubbed with a wet finger and with a certain degree 
 of pressure, the colour may be rubbed off; but the places thus 
 rubbed off, do not by the subsequent application of the roller 
 and ink, easily take colour again, and the difficulty is in the 
 ratio of the degree of pressure which has been used in the 
 rubbing, and the tenacity of the printer's ink. The drawing on 
 the stone will seem to have suffered no alteration, and appear as 
 black as in its original state, if cleaned and washed with water, 
 
149 
 
 but as soon as the roller is passed oyer it, the rubbed places 
 reject the ink ; in some instances this defect may be removed 
 by the applicaion of the proper means, but in others they 
 prove entirely ineffectual. 
 
 The surface of the stone by this sort of rubbing is entirely 
 cleaned from grease, and takes a kind of polish, which, though 
 the chemical ink has penetrated into the interior of the stone, 
 prevents the printing ink from adhering to these spots. This 
 polish, however, is not of long standing, and, as will be here- 
 after explained, maybe entirely removed. 
 
 b. The same thing may happen when the drawing is made 
 too delicate and bit in by too strong an acid, which in some 
 degree injures the lines ; in this case it also prevents the ink 
 from adhering to the drawing if applied by the roller. 
 
 c. Another kind of imperfect or partial preparation is, when 
 the stone in some places or on its whole surface shows an incli- 
 nation to take the ink, or to soil ; if this takes place on the 
 whole of the surface, it is known by the expression, — The stone 
 has taken a tint. 
 
 This phenomenon may arise from very different causes; 
 either from a greasy substance in the stone having been brought 
 to its surface, or from the preparation of the surface having 
 been partly injured or altogether effaced. 
 
 u 2 
 
150 
 
 This leads us to the following observations : — 
 
 1st. By merely rubbing the stone with pure water, a sort of 
 preparation can be given to it, when a suitable substance is em- 
 ployed in the rubbing. The preparation is indeed very im- 
 perfect, but it can easily be made perfect by means which shall 
 be explained hereafter ; and the degree of imperfection depends 
 on the hold which the substance employed in rubbing takes of 
 the stone. Linen and cotton act less powerfully ; wool and 
 hair, or silk, or wet leather, produce a stronger effect. Even 
 the printer's ink, when it consists of very firm varnish, or has 
 a good deal of lampblack in it, can with water give, by means 
 of strong friction, a preparation and polish to the stone. The 
 effect is still increased when Frankfort black or pulverised char- 
 coal is mixed with the ink, and the stone is kept extremely wet. 
 
 2dly. The imperfect preparation is produced more effectually 
 and quickly if gum or similar substances are mixed with the water. 
 
 3dly. Such preparation is still more effectual, if a weak acid 
 is added. A strong acid would render the preparation perfect, 
 but at the same time injure other places, or create a rough 
 surface on the stone. 
 
 AtJily. By rubbing the stone with sand or pumice-stone, a 
 partial preparation may likewise be produced, which by the 
 application of gum may be changed into a perfect one. The 
 
151 
 
 circumstance is deserving of particular attention, that a stone 
 injured by rubbing, may be restored to its former state (that is, 
 rendered fit to receive the ink) by a gentle rubbing down with 
 pure water. If, for instance, a stone, drawn and prepared in the 
 elevated manner, has by improper management been reduced to 
 a state in which it does not take the ink in all places covered by 
 the drawing, it is only necessary to rub it gently down with water 
 and fine sand, or to wash it with oil of turpentine, till all the 
 printing ink is removed from the surface, and afterwards to put 
 it in a vessel with pure water. Then let it be gently rubbed 
 down with clean pumice-stone, so that the traces of the 
 grease, that have penetrated into the interior of the stone, are 
 not injured, and in the following manner it may be restored to a 
 perfect preparation, so as to give impressions as clear as the 
 first taken from it. Take a small quantity of the etching 
 colour, before described, on a clean rag of linen or cotton ; pass 
 it gently several times over the stone in the water, and it will 
 be seen that all the places covered by the drawing take the 
 printing ink again, even if the elevation of the drawing pro- 
 duced by the acid be entirely lost by the rubbing down. The 
 stone may afterwards be prepared afresh with a weak acid and 
 gum, and will be altogether fit for printing. 
 
 Great care ought to be taken in this process, first, to have 
 the pumice-stone entirely free from greasy substances, as these 
 in the act of rubbing would adhere also to those spots that are 
 to remain white ; secondly, not to employ any degree of pressure 
 in passing the etching colour over the stone, for being almost 
 
152 
 
 entirely without preparation or gum, it would in this state be 
 liable to soil ; and, lastly, not to let the stone become dry 
 before it is perfectly prepared by acid and gum. 
 
 The result of this process led me to an experiment, by 
 which I ascertained, in the most satisfactory manner, that a 
 gentle degree of rubbing the stone with printing ink, if mixed 
 with a little tallow, produces the effect of changing the partial 
 or imperfect preparation of the stone to a perfect one, and of 
 restoring all injured parts of the drawing to their former clear- 
 ness; while, on the other hand, a stronger degree of rubbing with 
 leather, wool or strong ink, renders the stone, thus immersed in 
 water, incapable of receiving the printing ink. The first 
 method may be advantageously applied to restore an injured 
 drawing, the latter to remove all sorts of soil or dirty spots. If 
 the soil is on such places as were before perfectly clean and 
 duly prepared, it will be entirely removed ; but if the grease, 
 that has penetrated into the stone, has only lost its superficial 
 preparation, the effect is only partial, and the stone must sub- 
 sequently be washed with a weak acid and gum. The im- 
 portance of this observation is evident, as by the application of 
 the same process, perfectly contrary effects may be produced ; 
 and I venture to say, that no one can boast of being perfectly 
 initiated in the art of printing from stones, who has not a 
 perfect and clear knowledge of this manipulation, which cannot 
 be obtained without a great deal of attention and practice. 
 
 btlily. It has already been observed, that a repeated ap- 
 
153 
 
 plication of alum, or citric acid annihilates the prepared 
 state of the surface. The same is effected by soap and alcalic 
 compositions, as likewise by the chemical ink, if it contains a 
 sufficient portion of alcali. 
 
 Qthly. The laying-by of the stone, and leaving it untouched 
 for some time, produces very material and often opposite effects. 
 When a stone is reduced to the state, that some injured spots of 
 the drawings do not print any longer, if water is poured on it, 
 it does not remain on them but runs off ; which is the best 
 criterion for determining that they still contain greasy sub- 
 stances, though not strong enough to attract and retain the 
 printing colour. If in this state the stone is put by and not 
 printed for a few days, it will, if afterwards charged with 
 colour by means of the roller, take the colour as well as in its per- 
 fect state. On the contrary, if the places that are to remain white 
 on the stone, have been soiled, this defect, as above observed, 
 may be easily removed by oil of turpentine and gum water, 
 though it usually soon re-appears ; but if after being thus 
 cleaned, the stone can be spared for a few days, and is washed 
 with gum and left untouched during that time, it entirely loses 
 its tendency to soil. 
 
 The cause of these phenomena is, in the first case, that the 
 grease which has penetrated deeper into the stone, gradually 
 collects again on the surface, by which its quality to imbibe 
 and print the ink is restored ; and, in the second case, that the 
 
154 
 
 comparatively small quantity of grease, that constitutes the stain, 
 gradually expands and penetrates into the stone so much, that 
 it loses its soiling effect. The truth of this last assertion is 
 rendered still more evident by the fact, that linseed oil and the 
 varnish prepared from it, when exposed to and dryed by the 
 air, loses its greasy quality and rejects the ink altogether, 
 This experiment led to the discovery of an artificial substitute 
 for the stone, or stone-paper, which at the end of this work, 
 will be fully described. 
 
 Ithly. The preparation, by rubbing down the stone in its wet 
 state, is directly opposite to that effected by rubbing it with dry 
 and greasy substances, by which imperfectly or partially pre- 
 pared stones are rendered capable of receiving the ink,but which 
 in perfectly prepared stones produces only a partial or imper- 
 fect preparation. As every quality of the stone may be made in- 
 strumental to the production of good impressions, or by improper 
 management may prove the cause of miscarriage ; so in this 
 case, by the judicious application of the dry rubbing, injured 
 spots may be restored, or by the injudicious application of the 
 same process the clean places may be soiled. Of both I shall 
 treat more in detail in another place. 
 
 Short Recapitulation of the foregoing. 
 
 The art of preparing the stone, being one of the most important 
 
155 
 
 points in Lithography, it will not be superfluous, I presume 
 to collect the whole of what has been said respecting it into 
 one view, by which the nature and cause of all the phenomena 
 may be better elucidated : — 
 
 1. The calcareous slate consists in its texture of numberless 
 pores, equally capable of imbibing greasy as well as watery 
 substances. 
 
 2. These substances have the quality of adhering to the 
 particles, that constitute the stone, but can be easily separated 
 from them, so long as the nature of the stone is not altered. 
 This alteration is effected by sulphuric, tartareous, and phos- 
 phoric acid. 
 
 3. Water evaporates gradually from the pores, when the 
 stone dries ; but gum and other slimy substances do not eva- 
 porate. 
 
 4. Greasy substances gradually penetrate into the interior 
 of the stone, and can by no means be separated from it, 
 except by removing the surface of the stone as far as the grease 
 has penetrated ; this may be done by rubbing it down or by 
 the application of acid. 
 
 5. Printing ink cannot adhere to the stone, so long as it 
 contains a sufficient quantity of water. In general, it adheres 
 
 x 
 
156 
 
 only faintly to the calcareous surface, and does not get a 
 stronger affinity to it, till its pores are filled with a greasy sub- 
 stance, to which the ink by its natural resemblance tends to 
 unite. 
 
 6. This affinity or adhesion of the printing ink only takes 
 place, when the external greasy colour (which is put on by the 
 roller) can touch and unite with the grease in the stone. If 
 this communication be interrupted (which is the case, when the 
 ink has penetrated too deep into the stone and has left the sur- 
 face) the stone does not take colour unless this communication 
 be re-established. 
 
 7. The interruption of this communication takes place when 
 the ink, by force or by wet rubbing, is removed from the 
 surface, or when a substance that closes the pores comes in 
 contact with the stone. 
 
 8. The more the pores are rough, sharp, or angular, the 
 easier the colour adheres, at first only mechanically to the 
 surface of the stone; but gradually when all the moisture 
 in the stone has evaporated, it enters deeper into the interior 
 of the stone, and unites with it and fills the pores. To coarse- 
 grained stones a greater quantity of colour adheres, whence 
 it sometimes happens that, in some lithographic manners, 
 a too highly-polished stone, though it appears perfectly 
 black when charged with colour, does not give strong im- 
 
157 
 
 pressions ; but stones, of a softer grain, generally give strong 
 and black impressions, especially if the ink is not too thick. 
 
 9. The effect of the acid on the stone is to give to the sur- 
 face a higher polish, and to contract and fill the pores. This 
 renders the stone incapable of receiving and retaining the ink. 
 
 10. A well-polished stone, prepared with ink and gum, can, 
 by a repeated application of these ingredients, be rendered 
 rough on its surface, and incapable of receiving ink. The pre- 
 pared surface is thus destroyed, and the communication be- 
 tween the grease in the interior of the stone, and the ink ap- 
 plied by the roller, is re-established ; this, however, entirely 
 depends on the degree of the application of this process. 
 
 These are the most essential general observations I have to 
 communicate. When treating of the different manners of 
 Lithography, the particular application of these general rules 
 will be more fully explained. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Of the NECESSARY INSTRUMENTS and UTENSILS. 
 
 IN Lithography a great number of different instruments and 
 utensils are requisite, and occasionally wanted. I will, however, 
 confine myself here to a description of those which are ex- 
 clusively made for lithographic purposes. 
 
 The Steel Pen. 
 
 This is one of the most necessary and important instruments in 
 Lithography, and simple as the manner of manufacturing it is, 
 it still requires a great deal of attention and skill ; for on the 
 good quality of the pen the clearness of all writing and drawing 
 on the stone greatly depends ; and without a good pen, the skill 
 of the best artist may be entirely thrown away. It is, therefore, 
 important to the artist to be able to prepare his own pen, and 
 to repair it. For coarse writing, the common steel pen which 
 is used for ruling may be sufficient, but in finer work it is 
 not so. 
 
160 
 
 The manner of preparing them is as follows : — Take a com- 
 mon watch-spring, not too small and not too large, (an eighth 
 or a sixth part of an inch is the best size,) clean it from grease by 
 rubbing it with sand or chalk, then put it into a clean cup, filled 
 with a solution of equal parts of water and of aqua-fortis, and 
 let the spring be wholly covered with the solution. The aqua- 
 fortis will affect tho spring; then let it remain in it till about 
 three-fourths of its thickness is consumed, and it becomes as 
 pliable as a slip of paper. During this process the watch-spring 
 must, from time to time, be taken out and well wiped, as this 
 renders the effect of the aqua-fortis more uniform. If the steel 
 is not throughout of the same quality, it is unequally affected 
 by the acid, and becomes corroded in some places, before the 
 necessary degree of thinness is obtained. The cause of this, 
 however, I sometimes discovered to be in the aqua-fortis. If 
 some elevated spots, or little holes, can be discovered on the 
 pen, it is a sign that it is not well prepared. Sulphuric or 
 muriatic acid may be used instead of aqua-fortis. 
 
 - A person, who writes a light hand, may have his pens as thin 
 as they possibly can be made ; but for a heavier hand, they 
 must be stronger, otherwise the writing will appear uncertain 
 and trembling. 
 
 If the spring has attained the necessary degree of thinness, 
 it must be taken out of the cup, well wiped off, and cleaned 
 with sand ; then cut, with a good pair of scissors, into pieces 
 
161 
 
 two inches long. They must then be bent or hollowed into a 
 semi-circular form ; this is best effected by putting them on a 
 flat stone, and hammering them with a small hammer, such as 
 watch-makers use, the points of which must be rounded ; if a 
 few sheets of paper are put under it, the operation will be 
 greatly facilitated. Another manner of proceeding is, to cut a 
 semi-circular furrow in a stone, to put the piece of steel spring 
 into it, and to rub it well with a steel instrument with a round 
 point, till the spring at last takes the same semi-circular form. 
 The degree of bending differs according to the different hands ; 
 if the curvature is very inconsiderable, the pen has more re- 
 semblance to a brush, and scarcely opens, even if pressed down 
 with force ; but the more it approaches the semi-circular form, 
 the wider it opens if pressed. Experience and practice are 
 here, as in every thing else, the best guides. 
 
 After this the pen must be cut ; to effect which let a fine slit, 
 of the length of one-twelfth of an inch, be made in the midst of 
 the watch-spring by means of a fine pair of steel scissors ; then, 
 on both sides of it, let as much be taken off gradually as is 
 necessary to give to the point of the pen the proper form. It 
 is best not to take oft* too much at a time, otherwise, it often 
 happens that it bends to a wrong form, and to cut from the 
 point of the pen towards its handle. 
 
 In a good pen the two points must be of the same length, 
 so as to touch the stone uniformly, if held in the proper position. 
 
162 
 
 If this cannot be completely done in the cutting, it must be 
 done on a fine hone. 
 
 A new cut pen is sometimes too rough and affects the stone, 
 gets filled with dust at the point, and does not spread the ink. 
 This, however, generally ceases with the first lines drawn on 
 the stone, and it often arises merely from the unskilfulness of 
 the draftsman. If the points of the pen lose their proper 
 form, they may be mended by bending ; this, however, requires 
 experience. 
 
 The two points of the pen ought to touch one another at their 
 extremity, but not for the whole length of the slit, as this would 
 prevent their free movement ; it is, therefore, no defect if one 
 can see through the upper part of the slit. Some even, in order 
 to effect this, are in the habit of cutting a small piece out of 
 the upper part of the slit ; this, however, is very difficult, re- 
 quires a very fine pair of scissors, and often spoils the whole 
 cutting of the pen. 
 
 For drawing straight lines, common steel pens with a screw 
 may be used, if properly adjusted and prepared for the purpose. 
 But in most cases, as, for instance, in making the back ground of 
 a drawing, consisting of straight lines laid crossways,it is better 
 to use such a steel pen as has been above described ; for the others 
 are too apt to get filled with dust, and then they either refuse to 
 give out the ink, or produce lines of disproportionate thickness, 
 
163 
 
 ■ 
 
 by which the whole drawing is spoiled. Of all the different 
 operations occurring in pen and ink drawings on the stone, 
 none is more difficult than to draw very fine and straight lines 
 by the rule. I found that for this purpose a steel pen, elastic 
 only in a slight degree, and the points of which were cut so as 
 to touch the stone very equally, answered best. It scarcely 
 need be observed here, that the pen must be held so as to touch 
 the rule not with its flat front which contains the ink, but with 
 one of the smaller sides. 
 
 The Brushes. 
 
 Brushes are used for various purposes in Lithography, such 
 as cleaning, biting in, and colouring the stones. In this place, 
 however, we speak only of those fine camel-hair brushes used 
 for drawing or writing on the stone. For this the finest sort of 
 miniature brushes (sables) are used, but they must previously be 
 prepared for this particular purpose. For producing lines of un- 
 equal thickness, the brush in its natural state is quite sufficient. 
 Lines of equal thickness, however, can scarcely be produced 
 with it, and it must for this purpose undergo the following pre- 
 paration. The brush is laid on the table, its hairs separated 
 with a knife, then, on both sides, about the sixth part of an 
 inch is cut away ; the other side of the brush is then turned 
 up, separated, and the hairs on both sides are cut away. This 
 is continued till no more than ten or twelve hairs remain in the 
 
 Y 
 
164 
 
 middle, of their original length. These remaining hairs ought 
 neither to remain too close together, nor yet too far asunder ; 
 so that they may keep well together when the brush is filled 
 with ink, but not adhere so closely as to prevent the ink from 
 passing between them. With a brush well prepared in this 
 manner, the finest drawings can be made, fully equal to the 
 best engravings. 
 
 For coarser drawings, coarser brushes may be used, or more 
 hairs may be left standing in the middle. 
 
 The Etching Needles. 
 
 These instruments are only used in the etching and engraved 
 manner, and must be made of the best and hardest steel. Needles 
 of the form which engravers use, are the best ; at Munich penta- 
 gonal drills, such as watch-makers use, are sometimes employed ; 
 they are fixed into a piece of wood, then shaped like lead-pencils, 
 so that only a small part of the needle projects. They can thus 
 be more easily sharpened, if necessary. For thick lines that 
 require a certain pressure, stronger needles are used. For 
 making very fine lines, chiefly in different directions, the needles 
 are best when ground to a round shape. 
 
165 
 
 The Drawing and Copying Machine. 
 
 For copying drawings very accurately and in an inverted 
 sense upon the stone, they use at Munich a Pentagraph, so 
 contrived that the stone is fixed horizontally above the drawing, 
 with its surface towards it. The engraving needle is directly 
 opposite to that, which is conducted by the hand over the lines 
 of the original, and produces on the stone a perfectly similar 
 but inverted drawing. These machines may be had from 
 Messrs. Liebherr and Co., at Munich. This able artist has 
 invented another sort of copying machine, by which drawings 
 of any size may be copied on the stone in their original size, 
 or any other size, and either inverted or not, as may be thought 
 proper. 
 
 Various necessary Utensils. 
 
 The principal utensils are — A table for rubbing down and 
 polishing the stones ; a chest for the biting in and preparing of 
 the stones ; some rules ; a drawing table ; and instruments for 
 writing music, and for drawing the lines for the notes. 
 
 The table, for rubbing down and polishing the stones, must 
 be particularly strong and level, in order to resist the pressure 
 necessary for this purpose ; and must have a contrivance, by 
 which the stones can be well fixed upon it. If it is to stand in 
 
 y2 
 
166 
 
 a room, it will be well to have a hole in the midst of it, through 
 which the water can escape, and be collected in a proper vessel. 
 Its sides may be guarded by a rim or border, to prevent the sand 
 and dust from soiling the floor. 
 
 The vessel for biting in and preparing the stones is a qua- 
 drangular chest, well covered with pitch in the inside ; it has a 
 hole in its bottom, through which the liquid used for this pur- 
 pose flows and collects in a vessel placed beneath, out of which 
 it may be repeatedly poured over the stone. It must be of suffi- 
 cient size to receive all sorts of stones ; but they must not touch 
 the bottom, which may be prevented by nailing a small piece of 
 wood across it. 
 
 Besides the common rules, it is advisable to have one of a 
 peculiar construction ; it should be five inches broad, and half 
 an inch in thickness at one end, and the sixth part of an inch 
 at the other : a small piece of hard wood should be glued on 
 the thinner side. This rule serves to repose the hands upon 
 while drawing on the stone, particularly in those manners 
 where the stone must not be touched with the hand. Great 
 advantage may be derived from having a rim all round the 
 table, on which the rule may rest ; and from introducing in 
 the midst of the table a projecting platform on a pivot, by 
 means of which the stone can be turned in every direction. 
 
 A music pen is a small tube of brass or silver, the mouth of 
 
167 
 
 which forms the dot of the musical characters and is capable 
 of containing a sufficient quantity of chemical ink to make 
 about twenty dots, without taking fresh ink. In order to pre- 
 vent their taking; too much ink, a fine wire is fixed in the 
 middle, and the extremity is carefully ground to a horizontal 
 plane. In case of necessity, a small round piece of wood may 
 serve the same purpose ; but this has the inconveniency of re- 
 quiring more frequently a fresh supply of ink, though beginners 
 generally give it the preference. 
 
 We shall afterwards explain in what manner the small 
 brushes are to be used, when we come to treat of the splashed 
 manner. 
 
 Colour-cylinders or rollers, and printers' balls, are used for 
 charging the stones with printers' ink. The latter are quite the 
 same as those used in printing-offices, consisting of leather filled 
 with horse-hair, and form a large ball. The former are wooden 
 rollers about four inches in diameter, covered with flannel 
 or woollen cloth, rolled three or four times round, and then very 
 carefully covered with calf's skin. The leather must be sewed 
 together with silk thread, and not with linen or cotton, both of 
 which produce spots on the stone. The leather, before the 
 cylinder is covered with it, ought to be wetted. It is adviseable 
 to possess a moderate number of these cylinders or rollers, as in 
 using them they imbibe much water, lose their elasticity, and 
 cease to give good impressions ; and it is, therefore, necessary 
 
168 
 
 when they become wet, to lay them aside for dry ones. When put 
 by, let them be hung up perpendicularly and free all round, by 
 which means they will very soon get into good order again. 
 These cylinders have handles on each side, about four inches 
 long, and one inch in diameter, to which are fitted tubes of 
 thick leather for the handles to run in ; otherwise the printers 
 would soon blister their hands, and the rollers would not de- 
 liver the colour so equally and regularly without them. The 
 degree of pressure on the stone in using the roller, must neither 
 be too heavy nor too light, and it must vary according to the 
 nature of the design, the stone, or the ink. Experience and 
 practice alone will be the best instructor here. In preparing 
 the paper for printing, it is necessary to observe the following 
 directions : — Choose hard paper, such as vellum, drawing, and 
 other sized paper ; dip one sheet out of every six sheets in 
 water, and put it between the five dry ones ; and when your 
 paper is thus arranged, put it into a book-binder's or other 
 screw-press for eighteen or twenty hours at least, when it will 
 have received the proper moisture requisite to enable it to 
 receive the impression. 
 
 In preparing unsized paper, such as plate-paper, one sheet 
 out of every twelve is dipped in water, and proceeded with as 
 
 above. 
 
I 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Tlie PAPER. 
 
 There are three different sorts of paper, principally used 
 in Lithography, viz : — 1. The transparent paper ; 2. The 
 blotting or soft paper ; and 3. The printing paper. 
 
 The Transparent Paper, and the Art of transferring Outlines 
 
 to the Stone. 
 
 The principal use of transparent paper is for the tracing 
 of drawings, in order to transfer them to the stone in the com- 
 mon manner, or by way of retracing them. If good, it must 
 possess the following qualities : 1 . It ought to be perfectly 
 dry, so as not to soil any drawing if put upon it ; 2. It ought 
 to be perfectly transparent, so that the most minute parts of 
 the original can be seen and retraced ; 3. It ought to be capa- 
 ble of taking ink or black lead without running or leaving in- 
 tervals. The best sign of its good quality is, when a small 
 camel-hairbrush with Indian ink, or in case the drawing is to 
 be immediately transferred to the stone, with the soft chemical 
 ink, can be used upon it. 
 
1 
 
 170 
 
 When the tracing is thus completed, the other side of the 
 paper ought then to be rubbed with red chalk or black lead, 
 and fixed upon the stone ; and all the outlines must be marked 
 on the stone with a tracing needle, which however should not 
 be too sharp and pointed. If the needle is too sharp there is 
 reason to fear that it will hurt the surface of the stone. 
 
 The red chalk or black lead, with which the other side of 
 the tracing is covered, must be wiped off carefully, otherwise 
 the lines thus traced will become too thick and clumsy. Each 
 side of the paper, either that on which the tracing is made or 
 the other, may be covered or rubbed in with red chalk, accord- 
 ing to the way in which the drawing is to be transferred to the 
 stone *. In some cases it is necessary to transfer the drawing 
 immediately from the tracing paper to the stone, without using 
 the tracing needle ; and then the tracing must be made with a 
 soft black-lead pencil, placed for about one minute between two 
 damp sheets of paper, and afterwards placed on the stone and 
 passed through the press. If the outlines are drawn with 
 chemical ink, your drawing may be at once transferred to a 
 polished stone. In this case the paper must be prepared with 
 a thin starch, and a small portion of gamboge, and it is then 
 
 * It is hardly necessary to observe that only the outlines, and not every line in the 
 minuter parts of the drawing, ought to be copied ; for notwithstanding the greatest 
 care in tracing them on the stone, it would be impossible in many cases to avoid con- 
 fusion. Experience will here prove the best instructor ; and a good artist wants only 
 a very few outlines to produce a copy bearing a perfect resemblance to the original. 
 
/ 
 
 171 
 
 called prepared transfer paper, but in preparing this paper it 
 must first be fastened with gum round the edge on a board or 
 a strainer ; the latter mode is by far the best, and will allow it 
 to dry much more quickly. 
 
 In very small tracing, it is sometimes advisable to use gold- 
 beaters skin instead of transparent paper, of which it possesses 
 all the good qualities. 
 
 The Blotting or Soft Paper. 
 
 This sort of paper is used partly for the purpose of cleaning 
 the stones, but principally as a covering for the paper which 
 is to be printed. If a sheet of paper is to be printed on both 
 sides, as, for instance, in music, writing, fyc, it often happens 
 that some portion of the ink of the impression adheres to the 
 paper upon which it is put, with the side already printed ; and 
 it becomes, therefore, necessary to avoid using the same sheets 
 again, as it would spoil the clean impression ; and for every 
 new impression a new sheet of blotting paper ought to be used. 
 This blotting paper must not be coarse, for in that case it would 
 produce inequalities or even holes in the leather in the printing 
 frame, or in the rollers and scrapers. It is also advisable to 
 have a good quantity of it in store, to afford a supply till the 
 sheets which have once been used become dry again. To pro- 
 
 z 
 
172 
 
 mote the drying it is advisable to hang them up on lines fixed 
 at some distance under the ceiling of the room, upon which the 
 wet sheets can be easily exposed to the warm air of the room. 
 
 The Printing Taper. 
 
 All sorts of paper are not equally fit for Lithography, and in 
 general it may be said that this new art is in this respect very 
 much like letter-press or copper-plate printing ; the paper 
 adapted for the latter, is also the best for the stone, provided it 
 has no grains of sand or other hard substances in its texture. 
 Such inequalities have a very unfavourable effect upon the im- 
 pression, but more especially upon the leather over the printing 
 frame, and on the roller or scraper. 
 
 It is, therefore, necessary to examine the paper previously by 
 holding it against the light, when all those inequalities in the 
 texture will easily be seen. In general, a fine thick uniform 
 paper, either half sized, (or even not sized at all,) is deemed the 
 best for copper-plate printing ; the same may be said of Litho- 
 graphy, though it is still possible to take fine impressions from 
 sized paper. I have often seen impressions on sized paper 
 much superior to others on printing paper. The wetting of the 
 paper is of great consequence here ; copper-plate printing paper 
 is the best of all papers for Lithography. There is a sort of 
 English vellum paper, of a bluish colour, and perhaps too much 
 
173 
 
 sized ; I could not obtain impressions on it, though I took the 
 utmost pains to procure them. This sort of paper it is extremely 
 difficult to wet ; every sheet required to be wetted separately, 
 and when the water came in contact with it, it shrunk into 
 innumerable wrinkles. Some similar sorts of Dutch paper pre- 
 sent the same difficulties, for they do not easily take the colour 
 if not wetted to a certain degree. 
 
 I cannot here omit mentioning a circumstance which, if neg- 
 lected, would render all the exertions of a beginner perfectly 
 fruitless. There is a certain sort of paper used for printing, 
 which is very fine and white, equal, but a little rough on its 
 surface, and of a peculiar smell, partly resembling that of 
 honey, partly that of uric acid ; it bears generally the name 
 Hupnel freres, and is of French manufacture ; this paper pos- 
 sesses the quality of destroying the prepared surface of the 
 stone, and consequently of entirely spoiling it. Perhaps I may 
 succeed one day in discovering a remedy for this inconvenience, 
 but at present I have not leisure to make the necessary ex- 
 periments. This sort of paper can only therefore be used for 
 that manner of printing, where the paper is not wetted at all. It 
 is presumed that the singular quality of this paper arises from the 
 chemical process of bleaching it ; in fact, all papers chemically 
 bleached are more or less destructive to Lithography, and parti- 
 cularly where vitriol and muriatic acid is used for bleaching. 
 Swiss papers, I find, are the best adapted for Lithography, being 
 the purest or the least adulterated. A similar effect is produced 
 
174 
 
 by some sorts of coloured paper, if the colour contains a con- 
 siderable quantity of alumine or a preparation with soap ; in 
 this case, however, the effect may be easily accounted for. 
 
 The Process of wetting the Paper. 
 
 It is not always necessary that the paper for lithographic 
 printing be previously soaked or wetted ; in some instances it 
 is even necessary to use dry paper, as in printing vignettes 
 upon paper which is to be used afterwards for writing ; but 
 in most cases the printing paper ought to be previously wetted, 
 by which process it becomes softer and more apt to take the 
 colour. It might be thought from what we before stated, as 
 to the taking of the colour being prevented by wetting, that 
 liquid in general prevented the colour from adhering to the 
 paper ; experience, however, teaches us that it has a quite 
 contrary effect, and that it greatly promotes it. But this is 
 no exception from the general rule ; and upon closer examina- 
 tion, every principle laid down in the case of the stones, 
 applies here in its full force. Paper, perfectly clean and not 
 sized, if thoroughly soaked in pure water, does not take any 
 colour, like a prepared stone ; but the water, which acts here, 
 is not a sufficient means for preparing the paper ; by an ade- 
 quate pressure it is entirely extracted from the paper, which is 
 thus rendered dry, and takes the colour more easily, as the 
 
175 
 
 preventing cause is removed, and the pressure of the press 
 promotes the adhering of the colour. 
 
 Should the pressure, however, not be sufficiently strong to 
 free the paper entirely from the water, the water will still act 
 in its colour-repelling quality, and render the impression im- 
 perfect. The dryer the printing-colour or ink is, the more 
 it is counteracted by the water, and, consequently, the greater 
 must be the pressure of the press. 
 
 Long and continued experience has convinced me of the 
 truth of the following observations : — ■ 
 
 1. Every sort of paper, if not impregnated with grease, may 
 be prepared by water, in the same manner as the stones, so as 
 not to take any colour. In clean unsized paper, water is quite 
 sufficient ; its preparing quality, however, is greatly increased 
 by mucilaginous gum-like acid substances. — 2. But in order that 
 a sheet of paper so prepared may not lose its colour-repelling 
 quality, every sort of pressure upon it must be avoided. — 3. The 
 oil-colour or printing ink must be very thin and liquid, for if 
 too thick, it takes off with it small particles of paper. 
 
 These observations, applied to the theory of printing, lead to 
 the following conclusions : — 1. The paper used for taking im- 
 pressions, ought never to be too wet ; as, in this case, even the 
 strongest pressure cannot remove the water entirely. — 2. If the 
 
176 
 
 paper is too wet, the printed parts have a tendency to adhere 
 to the stone, and break when taken away, which spoils the 
 whole impression. This is most apt to happen when the 
 pressure of the press is not very great. When the scraper or 
 the stone are not quite level and even, those parts that are not 
 sufficiently pressed, are very liable to be torn off, as they are 
 not yet quite free from water. — 3. If, therefore, the colour or 
 printing ink is very strong and dry, the paper need not be 
 wetted much, partly on account of the tearing, partly not to 
 create greater obstacles than necessary. — 4. Paper too much 
 wetted expands in the act of printing, and causes the im- 
 pressions to be distorted and unequal. At the same time the 
 too great quantity of water prevents the colour from pene- 
 trating into the interior of the paper ; and in the engraved 
 manner, or when the stone is strongly charged, it is parti- 
 cularly apt to expand on the surface of the paper, and give a 
 double impression.— 5. The quality of the water makes no great 
 difference in the process of wetting, provided it is clean and 
 not putrid ; in the last case, it renders the paper rotten and 
 unsound. — 6. Nothing but experience can teach how much the 
 paper ought to be wetted, different papers being so different in 
 their qualities, and the size being frequently of the most material 
 consequence. In general, in well-sized paper, one soaked sheet 
 may be necessary for five dry sheets ; but in unsized paper, 
 one soaked sheet will do for ten or twelve sheets. 
 
 The wetting of the paper is best effected in the following 
 
177 
 
 manner : — Two or three dry sheets are put upon a level board ; 
 then another sheet is immersed in water ; when the water has 
 run off a little, this wetted sheet is put upon the others. Eight 
 or ten sheets of dry paper are then spread upon it; another 
 sheet, wetted in the above-mentioned way, follows ; then again 
 the same number of dry sheets ; and so on, till the quantity of pa- 
 per to be used for printing is exhausted. A smooth level board 
 is put at the top, and, if necessary, a stone plate over it. After 
 half an hour's time the pressure is raised to several hundred 
 weight, or the paper is compressed in a common press by means 
 of a screw. In this state it must remain at least twelve hours, 
 before it is fit for printing ; if time permit, 24 hours would be 
 better. For the aqua-tinta manner it must be more wetted ; 
 six dry sheets for one wet sheet will then be the proper 
 proportion. Paper of very strong size is best wetted if 
 every sheet, or at least every other sheet, is passed over by a 
 wet sponge. Sometimes it is necessary to put the wetted paper 
 on the other side, in order to remove the wrinkles on it. This 
 is done by dividing the paper into two heaps, and putting al- 
 ternately some sheets of the one upon some of the other ; by 
 which means the points of contact are varied, and the wrinkles 
 levelled. In some sorts of paper, the common manner of wet- 
 ting letter-press printing paper may be adopted, viz., drawing 
 a whole quire at a time through the water, and putting one 
 quire upon another. This process, however, requires great ex- 
 perience, otherwise the paper takes too much wet. The wetted 
 paper must be left for some time, in order to be thoroughly 
 
178 
 
 penetrated by the liquid, but not too long, as it is then liable 
 to become putrid and spotted. If the wetted paper is left too 
 long without being loaded by weight or pressure, the margin 
 of the paper becomes dry, and in printing makes folds, which 
 spoil the impression, and can only be removed by wetting 
 again the whole sheet. The reason of this is, because wetted 
 paper expands, and as it drys shrinks again. In those manners 
 of Lithography in which several stones are used for one draw- 
 ing, especially if they are of great size, dry paper only can be 
 used, otherwise the marks would not coincide perfectly. With 
 a great deal of care and management, even in wetted paper, 
 an equal degree of expansion may be produced ; but this re- 
 quires much experience, and, therefore, is not to be recom- 
 mended to a beginner. In general, tolerably good impressions 
 may be obtained upon dry, but unsized paper, (except in the 
 aqua-tinta manner), but the pressure of the press must be twice 
 or three times stronger, which exposes the stones to the danger 
 of breaking under it, if they are not sufficiently thick. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 PRESSES. 
 
 A COMPLETE description of all the lithographic presses hi- 
 therto used would fill a work more voluminous than the present, 
 and require a great number of drawings, which would infallibly 
 add to the price of the publication, without adding to its uti- 
 lity ; for I have already ascertained that even clever artisans 
 cannot, from the most minute drawings and description, con- 
 struct a perfect machine. Models ought to be procured either 
 from Munich, or from any other place where the art of Litho- 
 graphy is practised. In order, however, to render this Course 
 of Lithography as complete as possible, I shall here give suc- 
 cinct descriptions of the best lithographic presses. I believe 
 no press has yet been invented, which is not far from the per- 
 fection which might be wished for. The press, of which I 
 laid a model before the Royal Academy of Sciences at Munich, 
 in which the charging of the stone is done by the machine 
 itself, and which could also be worked by water, or any other 
 power, has not yet been constructed on a large scale ; so that 
 I shall avoid giving any opinion as to its value. I think myself 
 bound to declare, that I deem it one of the most essential 
 imperfections of Lithography, that the beauty and quantity of 
 
 2 A 
 
180 
 
 the impressions, in a great measure, depend on the skill and 
 assiduity of the printer. A good press is likewise an essential 
 requisite ; but an awkward printer, even with the best press, 
 will produce nothing but spoiled impressions. Till the volun- 
 tary action of the human hand is no longer necessary, and till 
 the impression can be produced wholly by good machinery, I 
 shall not believe that the art of Lithography has approached 
 its highest perfection. I myself am determined to carry into 
 execution, sooner or later, my ideas on this subject, and to 
 communicate the results to the friends of the art. 
 
 Qualities of a good Press. 
 
 The observation has often been verified that drawing, or 
 writing, looks better on the stone, than impressions from it, even 
 on the finest paper. This may arise partly from the colour of 
 the stone, which softens the whole by a half tint, and renders 
 the drawing more delicate and pleasing to the eye : an im- 
 pression, taken on yellowish stone-like paper, greatly resembles 
 the original drawn on the stone. The reason why impressions 
 on white paper do not look so well, is, that the colour does not 
 generally come equally off from the whole surface. The possi- 
 bility, however, of effecting this, is well proved by many perfect 
 impressions. If the stone is carefully prepared and worked, it 
 will take the ink cleanly and uniformly. The printer, however, 
 may put too much or too little ink on the stone, according as 
 
181 
 
 the ink is too hard or too soft, without being aware of it till 
 the impression is taken off ; and even if the stone is properly 
 charged with ink, the printing paper, either from being too wet 
 or too dry, may imperfectly take the colour. All these are cir- 
 cumstances which have an essential influence upon the beauty 
 of the impression, and it is impossible to give general rules as 
 to the quantity of ink to be taken, for this must vary according 
 to the different manners of Lithography. In most lithographic , 
 presses, the pressure is produced by the scraper. This is a 
 thin piece of hard wood about one inch thick, (usually pear- 
 tree, plane, or box) ; the edge with which the pressure is pro- 
 duced, is not thicker than the twelfth part of an inch, and by 
 the action of the press it is violently pressed against the leather 
 of the frame, under which the printing paper lies upon the stone. 
 In some presses the scraper is passed over the whole surface 
 of the stone, or it rests immoveable, and the stone passes under 
 it ; so that the pressure of the scraper successively acts upon 
 the whole surface of the paper. In this sort of scraper-press 
 the impression is not, therefore, produced at once, and perpen- 
 dicularly, as in the letter-press ; but successively as in copper- 
 plates ; with this difference, however, that in the copper print- 
 ing-press a cylinder rolls over the stone, and in this press a 
 rubber or scraper is drawn over it. The scraper acts with a very 
 considerable power, sometimes of three tons and more, upon 
 the leathern frame placed over the printing paper ; and it being 
 necessary that, notwithstanding this heavy pressure, it should 
 slide over the leather ; it is evident that a great friction must 
 
 2 a 2 
 
182 
 
 take place ; and though the leather is carefully strained over 
 the printing frame, and even rendered more slippery by grease, 
 it cannot fail to be considerably stretched by the passing of the 
 rubber. This stretching is communicated, in some measure, 
 to the paper under it, and effects a distortion in its parts, by 
 which all the lines of the drawing, in the direction in which the 
 rubber passes over it, become a little thicker. If the leather 
 - is of good quality, well strained in its frame, and sufficiently 
 greased, and if the soft paper under it is not too wet, the 
 above-mentioned distortion is very inconsiderable, and in writ- 
 ing or larger drawings, scarcely perceivable ; but in very 
 minute drawings, or in highly-finished chalk drawings, where 
 the space between the single lines or points is scarcely visible, 
 the smallest extension or distortion of the paper, is sufficient to 
 fill them entirely, by which the whole impression is totally 
 spoiled. This inconvenience can only be remedied by straining 
 and greasing the leather carefully ; by not overcharging the 
 pressure of the press ; by frequently changing the soft paper ; 
 and particularly by putting a piece of good silk taffety between 
 the soft paper under the leather ; for by this means the ad- 
 hering of the leather to the paper is prevented, and, conse- 
 quently, all distortion or moving of the paper. The taffety, 
 however, must be changed from time to time, as soon as it 
 begins to get wet. If the scraper, by careful planing, is made 
 perfectly parallel to the stone, the pressure of the press need not 
 be by any means so great, and all extension or distortion of 
 the paper is avoided. I have often observed that one scraper, 
 
183 
 
 even of the same wood, takes a more perfect polish than another, 
 and slips more easily over the leather ; this ought likewise to 
 be attended to. Besides the inconvenience of extending or 
 distorting the paper, the rubber has another imperfection, viz., 
 that of being easily injured, or even spoiled, if small hard 
 bodies occur in the paper. If in this manner an inequality is 
 produced on the edge of the stone, no subsequent impression 
 can be perfect, as a certain line will be less printed than the. 
 rest, all over the stone. As soon, therefore, as such a line is ob- 
 served in the impressions, the scraper must be taken out and 
 planed afresh, and carefully adapted to the surface of the stone. 
 In fine drawings of artists, which are commonly printed on 
 very fine paper, this seldom happens ; but in works where 
 coarse printing paper is used, it very frequently occurs. I 
 proposed to remedy this inconvenience by having scrapers of 
 brass ; but as these slide with less facility over the leather, 
 produce a greater friction, and consequently a greater ex- 
 pansion of the paper, I covered them with a piece of strong 
 paper, which, before it was worn out, served me at least for 
 300 impressions. The pressure of a metal rubber, as it yields 
 still less than wood, is more powerful than that of a wooden 
 one ; it has, however, this inconveniency, that no stone can be 
 printed with it, of which the surface entirely corresponds to 
 the edge of the scraper ; while a wooden one, in case of ne- 
 cessity, can be adapted to the stone, by planing off a little on 
 those places where the pressure is too great. 
 
 From the statements we have hitherto made, it appears that 
 
184 
 
 a perfect lithographic press must possess the following qua- 
 lities:—!. It must not alter the position of the paper, or 
 distort it when in the act of printing. 2. It must press uni- 
 formly upon all parts of the stone, and, consequently, give 
 impressions free from all defects. 
 
 The other qualities, which are not less desirable, litho- 
 graphic presses have in common with letter press and copper- 
 plate presses ; as for instance : — 3. The press must be strong 
 enough to give sufficient pressure. 4. With this quality, it must 
 also have the greatest possible quickness and expedition, and, 
 5. be easily worked so as not to fatigue the printers too much. 
 All these qualities, I venture to say, have not yet been found 
 united in any one press ; and we were satisfied with approxi- 
 mating in some instances, according to the different sorts of work, 
 to something like perfection. I make no doubt, however, that 
 in the course of time, this obstacle will be removed likewise, 
 when Lithography, from the rapidity of its progressive improve- 
 ment shall be honoured with the attention of the most skilful 
 mechanics, who, however, if they wish to produce any thing- 
 distinguished, must first begin to study the technical part of 
 Lithography. 
 
 Application of Letter and Copper-plate Presses to the Pur- 
 poses of Lithography. 
 
 When we examine attentively the process of Letter-press and 
 
185 
 
 copper-plate printing, we discover an essential difference be- 
 tween them, which has a material influence on the impression 
 produced. The types of the letter-press are elevated, the 
 copper-plates are engraved. It is evident that the former do 
 not require so great a pressure as the latter, to produce an im- 
 pression ; and, therefore, the construction of the presses for these 
 two manners are so different, that the press used for the one 
 could not serve for the purposes of the other. Lithography 
 uniting both manners, the elevated as well as the engraved, 
 the most natural way would be to preserve the principles of 
 both sorts of presses as much as possible, and to form a new 
 construction* out of both. 
 
 In letter-presses the pressure acts in a perpendicular direction 
 and simultaneously upon the whole surface of the sheet. The 
 copper-plate presses act only upon a single line of the plate at 
 a time, and the impression is produced successively, the plate 
 passing through the two cylinders lengthwise. As in the 
 former, the force acts upon the whole surface, it is evident that 
 
 * In general, all the lithographic presses hitherto used are of a description similar 
 to this, borrowing the successive mode of printing from the copper-plate presses, and 
 the construction of the printing frame from the others. This union would be still 
 closer, if one were to construct a common Letter-press, having a cylinder or rubber 
 fixed in the tympan of the Press, depressed by a screw, and this cylinder moving in 
 the common way by means of a lever over the stone. It is almost certain, that an 
 experienced artist might contrive such a press, which undoubtedly would be most 
 advantageous, as the construction of a letter-press admits of considerable quickness, 
 and common letter-press printers could easily be taught to use these presses for the 
 purposes of Lithography. 
 
186 
 
 each of the single parts of it receive only a small part of that 
 force ; in the latter, the force being limited to a small part of the 
 plate, every part of it, in succession, is acted upon by the whole 
 force of the press. From this it might be concluded, that letter- 
 presses are most adapted to the elevated manner of Litho- 
 graphy, and the others to the engraved ; some particular 
 circumstances, however, render an alteration necessary in both, 
 before they can be used. In the common letter-press printing 
 those parts only of the types that must be printed, are exposed 
 to the pressure, which do not fill the 4th part of the surface ; 
 the rest is so low as to offer no resistance at all to the pressure. 
 But in the stone the elevation is so inconsiderable, that the 
 surface offers a resistance in the printing four times greater. 
 It would, therefore, be necessary to produce four times greater 
 pressure than in a letter-press, in the case of a stone plate. By 
 the most accurate calculations, a stone plate, of the size of a 
 common folio sheet, requires a pressure of from 25 to 30 tons to 
 be printed horizontally, and such a pressure nothing but a very 
 thick stone placed carefully upon a horizontal foundation, is 
 able to resist. In this case, if the stone were rubbed down 
 with equal care on both sides, and if a cement could be dis- 
 covered, by which the stone could be passed upon the founda- 
 tion as easily as taken from it, I believe that the common 
 letter-press might be most advantageously applied to Litho- 
 graphy, at least to the elevated manner of it*. 
 
 * The science of mechanics offers more than one contrivance, by which a force 
 may be greatly increased, without requiring a greater exertion on the part of the 
 
187 
 
 Besides the additional expedition in printing which would be 
 obtained, the printers would be in less danger of spoiling 
 the impressions by any movement or distortion of the paper, 
 which, by the smallest negligence in placing the frame upon 
 the stone, so frequently happens in the common lithographic 
 presses. A common copper-plate press increases the evil of 
 displacing or distorting the paper on the stone ; this is gene- 
 rally caused by the efforts which the cylinder or roller makes, to 
 seize the stone and paper and pass it underneath ; but as soon 
 as this is the case the paper is no longer extended or distorted, at 
 least not so perceptibly as to produce an effect upon the im- 
 pression, for the cylinder or roller passes over the stone with- 
 out any sort of friction. This inconveniency is remedied by a 
 contrivance, as shewn by the annexed 
 drawing, of fixing standing blocks 
 against the fore and hind ends of the 
 stone, by which means the roller is £ 
 raised so as to pass along the stone 
 at a perfect level with the point where it begins the printing. 
 But as, on account of the process of putting on the colour, it is 
 necessary to remove the roller a good distance back on the 
 slanting block ; this requires great exertion on the part of the 
 
 workmen, but in general such a contrivance is an obstacle to quickness and expedition 
 in working. To remedy this, I should advise, in the present case, the making the 
 lever longer, and the employing of additional workmen to assist the printer in work- 
 ing it. The extra expense occasioned by this would be amply repaid by the ad- 
 ditional number of good impressions produced. 
 
 2 B 
 
188 
 
 printer, and causes considerable loss of time. The best con- 
 struction of all would certainly be the following : — Let the 
 upper cylinder be placed so high, that the stone without touch- 
 ing it can be introduced under it ; and when this is done let 
 the press be set to the usual degree, by means of a lever worked 
 by the foot. Let the principal construction be taken from 
 a copper-plate press ; let the upper cylinder with its two pivots 
 be attached to two iron levers, each of which, by means of a 
 screw, of an inch in diameter, may be attached to a piece of 
 wood. Each of these wooden pieces may be covered with tin, 
 and by means of two screws, raised or lowered. This is neces- 
 sary in order to give more or less force to the press. The two 
 other ends of the lever to which the cylinder is fixed, may be 
 moved up and down, so as to allow the cylinder to move in a 
 similar sense. Let two springs, or two weights, be so contrived 
 that the cylinder with its levers may continue always raised, and 
 in order to press it sufficiently down on every impression upon the 
 stone, let an iron bar pass through both side-frames of the press, 
 from which two pivots should project, so as to depress the levers 
 at least two inches, when the bar is turned the fourth part of a 
 circle, or 90 degrees. The cylinder being about the middle of 
 the lever, it may be depressed about one inch deep, which is 
 quite sufficient to leave space enough for the stone to be intro- 
 duced under it without difficulty, and as soon as this is done, 
 the greatest force may be given to the press. The upper cy- 
 linder ought not to be more than half an inch distant from the 
 stone, for the rest of the space is required partly to fill the 
 
189 
 
 space arising from the elasticity of all the parts, and partly as a 
 reserved space, to give still greater force or stress to the press if 
 necessary. On one end of the iron bar, let there be a lever, 
 attached by a connexion-rod to a pedal. This pedal may be 
 so contrived as to move up by itself. If the power to be ob- 
 tained by the press is to be sixty or more hundred weight, the 
 connexion-rod must not be attached immediately to the pedal, 
 as it is necessary to raise the force by a second lever, attached 
 to the side of the press. It will not be necessary to raise the 
 foot so high, as the two pivots of the great bar describe a cir- 
 cle, and are so placed as to produce the greatest effect of 
 power at the last moment, when the pressure is acted upon by 
 the greatest counterpressure ; and as the distance of the weight 
 towards the centre continually decreases, while that of the force 
 by which it is raised is immensely increased. Care must, 
 however, be taken, not to increase too much the elasticity of 
 the lever which presses downwards, as it would require too 
 long a motion of the pedal. It would be tedious to dwell 
 longer on the description of the press ; mechanics will un- 
 derstand me, and, perhaps, improve upon my project. In 
 my opinion, a press of this construction would have the ad- 
 vantage of avoiding the expanding and distorting of the paper ; 
 of producing a very great pressure ; of admitting of cloth, 
 or what printers call blankets, which contributes greatly to the 
 beauty of the impressions, particularly in the engraved manner, 
 and of rendering it easy to manage, and produce a great 
 number of impressions in a short space of time : this last cir- 
 
 2 b2 
 
190 
 
 cumstance is the more important, as it generally renders the 
 impressions more beautiful. In order to secure the stone from 
 breaking under such a press, the following precautions ought 
 to be taken. — 1. The stone must be rubbed down equally 
 horizontal on both sides. — 2. The two rollers of the press 
 must be turned perfectly cylindrical, so as to be of equal 
 thickness throughout. The board upon which the stone rests, 
 must be likewise horizontally true, and of equal thickness, but 
 that thickness must not exceed half an inch. In passing through 
 the press, the board is violently compressed ; the more, therefore, 
 the pressure falls on the middle, the more it takes a concave 
 form, and this is sometimes the principal cause of the breaking 
 of the stone. If the cylinders are perfectly true, and the stone 
 perfectly level on both sides, it is impossible to break the latter 
 by passing it through the former, without a board under it ; 
 if this, however, is very thin, it has no sensible effect. 
 
 Enumeration of Lithographic Presses hitherto used. 
 
 Most proprietors of Lithographic Establishments have en- 
 deavoured to invent presses for their purposes, which each of 
 them constructed according to his own principles ; but, upon the 
 whole,all were scraper orcylinder presses. I myself have formed 
 more than twenty projects, some of them more, and some less, 
 useful ; but as very few of them have been executed on a large 
 scale, I am myself at a loss to say which of them is the best : it 
 
191 
 
 frequently happens that the best contrived plan, by the fault 
 of an unskilful workman, is so disfigured in the execution as 
 to be entirely useless. My object here is only to enumerate 
 the best presses which have been hitherto invented, and ap- 
 plied to the purposes of the art. The sorts of presses which 
 are commonly used at Munich, are — the upright Lever Press — 
 and the Cylinder, or Star Press. 
 
 The latter denomination is generally given to it by the 
 workmen, because a star wheel is usually applied instead of 
 a lever. 
 
 I am besides acquainted with the Cylinder Press, as used 
 by Mr. Andre, and that of Mr. Steiner, at Vienna. Mr. Miiller 
 at Carlsruhe, and Mr. Ackermann at London, have, as I am 
 informed, contrived presses with paper-cylinders ; the con- 
 struction and composition of which are, however, unknown 
 to me. 
 
 The upright Lever Press, commonly called the Pole Press. 
 
 This was the first press which I applied with advantage 
 to Lithography, and it is still in use in establishments, for 
 printing all work which requires great dispatch. It would be 
 the most perfect and easy press of all, if its pressure could be 
 raised to more than six hundred weight, without exposing the 
 
192 
 
 printer to an immoderate exertion ; and for that reason it is 
 not easily applicable to very large stones, or such as require a 
 great pressure. For pen and ink drawings, of the size of a 
 common folio sheet, it is excellent ; and with two workmen, 
 one to put on the ink, the other to work the press, twelve 
 hundred impressions may be taken by means of it in one day. 
 
 In this press the pressure is produced by an upright lever, 
 from six to ten feet in length, to the under part of which the 
 scraper is fixed, and the upper part is suspended from the spring 
 of an elastic board. This board is fastened to a pedal, by which 
 it can be depressed so as to act with its usual force when the 
 scraper passes over the stone. The board fixed over the press 
 must be elastic, so as to rise at least one inch, as the scraper 
 in passing over the stone, describes a segment of a circle. The 
 pressure, therefore, at the two ends of the stone, is not so in- 
 tense as in the middle, and particular attention in the selection 
 of the wood is requisite, to obtain a spring that possesses suf- 
 ficient elasticity, as well as sufficient strength. I have generally 
 found that a board of young pine, properly seasoned, six feet 
 in length, eight inches in width, and from one and a half to 
 two inches thick, best answered my purpose. It is very dif- 
 ficult to meet with a good spring-board ; and I have often ob- 
 served that two presses, of the same construction, were very 
 unequal in their action, solely owing to the difference in the 
 degree of resistance of the board. This board must be of a 
 very elastic nature, not easily liable to warp or twist; but when 
 
193 
 
 by the action of the pedals it bends downwards to a certain 
 degree, it must yield at the same time at least an inch upwards, 
 to allow the scraper to make its circular motion on the stone. 
 At this moment great attention on the part of the printer is 
 required, as he has to prevent the scraper, in sliding from the 
 middle to the end of the stone, from passing too rapidly 
 over the leather, especially when it has been fresh greased. 
 The pole of the scraper consists of two parts, the shortest is 
 about sixteen inches long, to which the scraper is fixed by a 
 screw. The other part may be as long as the construction 
 of the press allows ; and the longer it is the more perfect 
 will be the effect of the press, as the line described by the scraper 
 approximates more to a straight line, has a more equal effect, 
 and can be worked with a considerably smaller power. 
 
 The annexed print (fig. J, J represents this press as prepared 
 for taking an impression, (fig- 2 J The frame or box enlarged 
 and laid open. A, a slight frame, by means of which and the 
 strings BBBB, with a small spring C, the paper is fastened 
 in its position on the leather D, which leather must be kept 
 tight by means of the screws E. F, the stone, which must be 
 fixed in the box with the wedges G. When the frame is shut or 
 put on the stone, the paper ought not to touch the stone, but 
 to be at least half an inch distant from it. But as soon as the 
 scraper is put on, (for which purpose it is necessary to divide 
 the scraper pole into two parts,) and the press is acted upon 
 by the usual degree of pressure, the leather with the sheet of 
 
194 
 
 paper put under it descends to the stone, and by the scraper 
 passing over it, receives the impression. If the paper touch 
 the stone when the frame is shut, the impression will be en- 
 tirely spoiled. As soon as the two parts that compose the pole 
 of the scraper are in one straight line, so as to form together 
 only one rod, the spring-board, by means of the pedal, is de- 
 pressed, and the printer draws the scraper over the leather of the 
 printing frame towards himself. Here I must not omit to add 
 the following observations : — 
 
 1 . The two constituent parts of the pole must be so linked to- 
 gether, by means of a double joint hinge, (fig. 3,) as to bend in 
 the manner of a joint ; but when drawn to a straight line, and 
 acted upon by the spring-board, they must preserve their perpen- 
 dicular position, and not bend themselves, (fig. 4t.J It is, there- 
 fore, advisable so to unite the parts that they may deviate rather 
 from the straight line, and incline a little to the inside. 
 
 In printing, the rod ought to be seized by the printer as 
 low down as possible, in order to keep the two parts of the pole 
 always in its right line. The printer ought to press with his 
 whole force against the table upon which the press stands, in 
 order to get a firm hold, for without doing so, he would scarcely 
 be able to move the scraper. 
 
 2. If a very great power is required, the opposite workman, 
 by pushing, may greatly assist the other. 
 
195 
 
 The scraper is a piece of hard wood, of which the length 
 must be regulated according to the size of the stone, four 
 inches high, and one inch thick. Where it touches the leather, 
 it ought to be planed obliquely, so as not to be thicker than one 
 twelfth of an inch at the extremity. Tt must be planed so as to 
 touch the stone in every part of its surface, rounded off a little, 
 and fastened to the pole by a strong screw, or bolt, to allow 
 it to be moved in all directions over the stone, which does 
 not always lie horizontally, either, as frequently happens, from 
 its being of an unequal thickness, or from the press not standing 
 upon a true level. If the scraper is well constructed, it can 
 easily be adapted to the position of the stone, even when the 
 pole does not fall perpendicularly upon the stone, which it is 
 not always possible to effect. 
 
 It is advisable to have scrapers of different dimensions in 
 store for every press. Lever-presses are usually so contrived, 
 that the printing-frame may be placed higher or lower, ac- 
 cording to the thickness of the plates ; in this case, a higher or 
 lower scraper must be selected. But if a store of shifting 
 boards, of different degrees of thickness, are kept, this double 
 change will not be necessary, and the printing-frame may re- 
 main always in the same position. Only when the scraper, by 
 frequent planing, becomes too low, it will be necessary to raise 
 the stone by means of shifting boards, in order to avoid the ne- 
 cessity of pressing the spring-board too far downwards, by 
 which it would lose its elasticity. 
 
 2 c 
 
193 
 
 The connexion of the spring-board with the pedal below, is 
 effected by a slender rod, attached to the board ; which rod, at 
 its lower extremity, is joined to a lever. This lever is, by 
 means of a piece of iron, connected with the pedal. In this 
 piece or plate of iron are several holes, for the purpose of raising 
 or lowering the pedal, in order to produce the necessary degree 
 of strength. 
 
 The leather in the printing-frame should be of strong calf 
 skin, or young ox hide ; it must be carefully strained, and its 
 upper surface, where the scraper moves, must be greased from 
 time to time. 
 
 At the outside of the frame two iron plates ought to be sunk 
 in the wood, with holes through them at short distances, ca- 
 pable of receiving small thumb screws, which are necessary to 
 fasten two iron cross bars that regulate the extent of the space 
 over which the scraper moves. 
 
 The Cylinder Presses. 
 
 When Professor Mitterer opened his Lithographic Esta- 
 blishment for the use of Sunday Schools, he was of opinion 
 that the lever-presses required too much human exertion, par- 
 ticularly in those cases where a considerable pressure was re- 
 quisite. He, therefore, endeavoured to construct a more con- 
 venient and easy sort of press, which he called his Cylinder, or 
 
197 
 
 Star-Press ; it has been altered, but not essentially improved, 
 by others ; and has been adopted in most lithographic esta- 
 blishments both in and out of Bavaria. The cylinder-press 
 might be called an inverted leVef-press, for Mr. Mitterer took 
 the first idea from this sort of press ; the impression is produced 
 by a scraper, but the scraper does not pass over the stone, but re- 
 mains immoveable, and the stone passes underneath it, by which 
 contrivance it bears some resemblance to a copper-plate 
 printing press. 
 
 This press has a cylinder of from ten to twelve inches in 
 thickness, of the best seasoned oak, with iron axles at the two 
 extremities, moving in brass sockets. A strong frame or box, 
 in which the stone is fixed, passes between the cylinder and 
 scraper. The scraper is attached to a long lever, raised by a 
 proportionate counterpoise. When the stone is charged with 
 the ink, and the paper fixed in the printing-frame, and put on 
 the stone, the scraper is lowered by means of the lever ; a 
 strong iron hook attached to the lever, now lays hold of a sort 
 of machinery connected with the pedal, by means of which the 
 lever can be pressed down to the necessary depth ; the cylinder 
 is now turned round by means of a star or cross, such as 
 copper-plate presses have, and the printing-frame passes under 
 the scraper as far as is necessary for the impression. For this 
 purpose two strong straps are attached to the lower part of the 
 box which contains the stone, revolves round another cylinder 
 at the extremity of the press, which forces the stone forwards. 
 
 2 c2 
 
198 
 
 [f the pressure is not too strong, a single workman may draw 
 the stone under the scraper ; but in order to facilitate this 
 operation when the stones are large, and a stronger pressure 
 is requisite, a corresponding star, or cross, is contrived at the 
 other side, so that the other workman may give his assistance. 
 It is scarcely necessary to add, that the other precautions above 
 mentioned as to the equality of the lever, straining of the lea- 
 ther, §'c, must be carefully attended to, in order to obtain 
 perfect impressions. 
 
 Another more simple press called the Hand-Press, is also 
 much used, which is remarkably handy for small and middle- 
 size stones. It is much the same as the one last described, but 
 less in size, and instead of a star, or cross, it has a hand lever ; 
 and instead of two straps, it has only one that comes from the 
 centre of the box, passes over a wheel of twenty-eight inches 
 diameter, to which the hand lever, of about three feet long, is 
 fastened ; and by the lifting it up, the box with the stone from 
 under the scraper is forced forward. This is a very handy press 
 for artists and amateurs. See Drawing. 
 
 Some other Lithographic Presses. 
 
 The Cylinder Presses of the Lithographic Establishment at 
 Vienna, would certainly be of the greatest advantage for litho- 
 graphic printing, if they had greater power. They are con- 
 structed as follows : — The stone and printing-frame are fixed 
 
\ 
 
199 
 
 on a table ; instead of leather, the frame is covered with felt. 
 To produce the impression, a cylinder of brass, eight inches in 
 diameter, is rolled over it. But as this cylinder, though per- 
 fectly solid, would not produce the requisite pressure, two iron 
 rods are attached to the pins of the cylinder, which pass through 
 the table, and have cases filled with iron or leaden weights sus- 
 pended to them. The space, however, seldom allows the ap- 
 plication of more than five or six hundred weight, which, in 
 most cases, does not produce a sufficient pressure for clear 
 and perfect impressions. These presses would be greatly im- 
 proved by being raised a little higher, to gain more space 
 underneath ; or if the levers could be made to pass through 
 the floor of the room, by which means space enough might be 
 obtained to add a weight of two tons and a half, or more, 
 without fatiguing the workman too much in turning the 
 cylinder. The press of Mr. Andre, of Offenbach, greatly re- 
 sembles the one in question, only the cylinder is much thinner, 
 being but three inches thick, and is not pressed upon the stone 
 by a weight, but by a corresponding cylinder under the table. 
 It admits, as well as the former, of great expedition ; but very 
 considerable pressures cannot be obtained. 
 
 Thus, I believe, I have communicated all that is necessary 
 relating to presses. Had I given even the most minute de- 
 scription of every particular, it would not be sufficient for those 
 who do not understand machinery ; and the sensible me- 
 chanician will, by a few words, be enabled to understand the 
 whole nature of the invention. 
 
200 
 
 At the close of this Chapter I wish to add, that, by collecting 
 together my ideas, and the results of my experience respecting 
 this subject, and applying them to one single point, I have, 
 by some successful experiments, been led to believe that I may 
 soon succeed in obtaining such a Lithographic Press, as shall 
 leave no wish unsatisfied. If my hopes are crowned with suc- 
 cess, it will give me particular pleasure to give a complete de- 
 scription of the press to my friends, or to supply them with 
 exact and well-constructed models of it. 
 
 END OF THE FIRST SECTION. 
 
M 
 
 SECTION SECOND. 
 
 Of the DIFFERENT MANNERS of LITHOGRAPHY. 
 
 The different manners of Lithography may be divided into 
 two principal branches, viz., the elevated and the engraved 
 manners. In the first, all those parts of the stone that are 
 covered by a greasy ink, resist the action of the acid poured 
 over the whole surface of the stone, by means of which the 
 other parts of the surface become corroded ; they stand, there- 
 fore, higher than the latter, as elevated from the plane surface 
 of the stone. In the second manner, all those lines or parts 
 of the drawing or writing which are to give the impression, are 
 engraved into the surface of the stone by means of a sharp 
 needle, or bitten into it by the action of an acid. Each of these 
 manners has a decided difference of character. The elevated 
 manner possesses this advantage over the engraved, that it 
 admits of greater expedition in taking the impressions, and 
 allows a greater number to be taken before wearing out ; 
 besides it is much easier for the artist, especially in chalk 
 drawings. The engraved manner, on the contrary, admits of 
 
202 
 
 greater nicety and expression, and in some particular cases is 
 of more easy execution to the artist. 
 
 In general, therefore, it is difficult, if not impossible, to say 
 which of these two manners is the most advantageous, as this 
 will depend, in a great degree, on the subject, and the feeling 
 of the artist. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 The ELEVATED MANNER. 
 
 The different subdivisions of this branch of Lithograph} 
 are — ], the pen, or hair-brush, drawing — 2, the chalk manner — 
 3, the transfer manner — 4, the wood-cut manner — 5, the 
 scraped manner — and 6, the sprinkled manner. 
 
 § 1. The Pen, or Hair-Brush, Drawing. 
 
 This is one of the principal manners of Lithography ; and, 
 perhaps, the most popular of all ; as it is applicable to many 
 purposes of common life. It not only imitates all sorts of 
 writing and printing, and in many cases even surpasses them 
 in elegance, but it is also applicable to all drawings where the 
 nicety of a well executed copper-plate is not required. The 
 expedition of the execution, and the short space of time in 
 which a number of impressions can be produced, highly re- 
 commend it. It requires but little penetration to foresee that, 
 at some future time, when more attention shall be paid to it 
 by experienced and clever artists, it will be used for the higher 
 productions of art. 
 
 2 D 
 
204 
 
 But advantageous as this manner is, it has hitherto been 
 only used for writing and music ; and it is difficult to persuade 
 people of its excellent qualities. A circumstance, apparently 
 trifling, is the cause of the small success of this manner with 
 artists. I have met with but two persons who, from the very 
 first day of their study, could reconcile themselves to the 
 use of the steel pens, used for drawing on the stone, and 
 were able to write with them ; these were my brother 
 Clement, and a gentleman of the name of Bonier ; all 
 other artists, without exception, had more or less to struggle 
 with difficulties, which generally exhausted their zeal and 
 patience at the end of a few days. In another part of this 
 work, I have already explained the manner of producing these 
 pens; and I shall, therefore, proceed immediately to the de- 
 scription of the manipulation of this manner. Here it is not 
 necessary to be very nice in the selection of a stone, for even 
 stones of a less perfect description may be used for it without 
 risk. The harder and finer, however, a stone is, the better it 
 is for it. If the stones have previously been used for other 
 drawings, it is necessary to rub them down till all vestiges of 
 the former drawing disappear. It is immaterial what sub- 
 stance is used in rubbing down the stone, provided it be- 
 comes perfectly smooth, so that the pen meet with no impe- 
 diment in drawing or writing upon it. In order, however, to 
 produce clear lines on the stone, a farther preparation is ne- 
 cessary, by which the spreading of the ink on the surface is 
 effectually prevented. One part of weak oil, dissolved in three 
 
205 
 
 parts of spirits of turpentine, forms a mixture, with which the well 
 polished and well dried surface of the stone ought to be washed ; 
 the stone ought then, as quickly afterwards as possible, to be 
 carefully wiped with clean linen, or blotting paper, so that 
 only a very thin coat of the mixture may remain on it, and it 
 will then be rendered easily accessible to the aqua-fortis. This 
 must be done some hours before beginning to draw, partly in 
 order to avoid the strong and disagreeable smell of the tur- 
 pentine, and partly because immediately after washing the 
 stone it does not receive the ink from the pen so well as it 
 does afterwards. Time does not annihilate the effect of this 
 preparation, and it may even take place some months before 
 using the stone ; which, in this case, requires only to be well 
 cleaned from dust by a brush, a precaution that must be re- 
 peated several times during the day, while at work on it, 
 otherwise dust will get into the pen. 
 
 A second manner of giving this slight preparation to the 
 stone is, however, upon the whole, preferable. 
 
 This manner consists in carefully washing the stone with a 
 strong solution of soap and water, and then drying it ; and in 
 order to clear the stone from the alcali which this solution con- 
 tains, I generally wash it a second time with pure water, which 
 ought to be carefully wiped off. The greasy parts of the soap 
 now adhere to the stone, free from all alcali. The solution of 
 soap must not be too weak, otherwise it is immediately de- 
 
 2 d 2 
 
206 
 
 composed, and leaves too great a quantity of grease on the 
 stone, which afterwards prevents the complete action of the 
 acid, and consequently spoils the whole drawing. In order to 
 avoid this, I would advise beginners to wash the stone even 
 after using the solution of soap-water, with the before-men- 
 tioned composition of turpentine and weak oil, and to clean it 
 carefully afterwards. 
 
 It must not be believed that this preparation is immaterial, 
 for long experience has convinced me that even the proper 
 composition of the ink, is not of greater consequence than the 
 proper preparation of the surface of the stone, and covering it 
 with a proportionate coat of grease ; for without this, clean and 
 strong impressions cannot be produced. The stone being thus 
 prepared, a sketch of the drawing may be made on it by means 
 of a blacklead pencil, or by tracing, or even by transfer. It 
 is necessary to dust the stone well, otherwise it will be difficult 
 to draw on it with the steel pen. The sketch being made, it 
 is necessary to rub down the stone with fine dry sand ; without, 
 however, injuring the drawing, merely to take off all super- 
 fluous grease, which in the act of etching would resist the acid 
 too much. The manner of transferring the sketch to the stone 
 by means of transferring ink, is, in some cases, so eminently 
 advantageous, that it well deserves to be particularly studied. 
 If a fear should be entertained of extinguishing entirely the 
 lines by rubbing them with sand, the object may be equally- 
 obtained by making a few impressions on blotting paper, which 
 
207 
 
 also takes off the superfluous grease ; and the sketch, before being 
 transferred to the stone, may be printed a few times on paper, 
 by which process it equally loses any superfluity of grease. 
 Sometimes a second transfer of a sketch on paper already used 
 for this purpose, may be wished ; this may easily be obtained, 
 or a fresh impression of the stone will serve the purpose ; but 
 the same precautions, respecting superfluous grease, ought 
 to be taken. I have elsewhere treated of the use of pen and 
 ink in drawing on stone, and I shall not, therefore, here repeat 
 my observations. 
 
 The drawing or writing with the chemical ink being com- 
 pleted and revised, so that no corrections or additions may 
 afterwards be necessary, the biting in or preparing of the plate, 
 may be commenced ; care, however, must be taken, that the 
 whole of the drawing be perfectly dry, otherwise it would not 
 resist sufficiently the action of the aqua-fortis. The first lines 
 of the drawing are generally dry before the whole is finished, 
 but the last lines are not for a short time after. An experience^ 
 eye will easily observe when the necessary degree of dryness is 
 attained, by the look of the ink, which is less brilliant when 
 dry than when wet. It does not injure the plate in the least, 
 if after the drawing is completed, it is left for years without 
 being etched, provided it is wqII secured against dust and dirt. 
 The biting in of the stone may be done in two different ways, 
 viz., by a flat varnish brush, or by effusion. The first has this 
 advantage, that it is the easiest, but can only be used for coarse 
 productions ; for by the act of drawing the brush over the stone, 
 
208 
 
 the finer lines might possibly be injured. Long experience 
 and practice, however, often overcome these difficulties ; and 
 the finest drawings may be bitten in by rubbing them over with 
 a broad camel-hair brush. This manner has another advantage, 
 it removes all uncleanness left on the stone by repeated cor- 
 rections. The composition used for this purpose consists of 
 three or four parts of water, and one part of aqua-fortis ; in 
 this composition let a fine broad brush of fox or badger hair be 
 immersed, and passed over the stone in a uniform manner. It 
 is necessary to immerse the brush frequently, as the aqua-fortis 
 soon loses its force, and thus some parts of the stone would be 
 left without the necessary preparation. After the operation, 
 the brush must be well washed, otherwise it will soon corrode. 
 The second way of biting in is used in the case of very fine 
 drawings, especially when they are not strongly expressed or 
 drawn with ink of a soft composition. To give this preparation, 
 a box pitched and well secured, is necessary, in which the 
 stone is placed upon two transversal pieces of wood, and a 
 composition of aqua-fortis, mixed with twenty, thirty, or forty 
 parts of water, is poured over it. It is of little consequence 
 how many parts of water are mixed with the aqua-fortis. If 
 it is very weak, it must be the oftener poured over it, and in 
 greater quantities. The action of it is likewise very unequal, 
 according to the greater or less degree of hardness of the stone ; 
 and in this manner the degree of preparation depends very 
 much on the circumstance of the points and lines being more or 
 less fine, as the coarser lines can bear a stronger acid than the 
 fine ones. If an aqua-fortis of the same strength is always 
 
209 
 
 used, a few experiments will be sufficient to teach the exact 
 proportion and strengths of acids. In order to distinguish 
 whether the stone be sufficiently bitten in, it is advisable to 
 look over its surface against the light, when it will easily be 
 seen whether all the lines are elevated a little above the rest of 
 the surface ; if this is not the case, the aqua-fortis mixture 
 must be poured over it again. If the coat of grease produced 
 by the first preparation is entirely etched away, and clean 
 water equally adheres to all parts of the surface ; if no spots or 
 uncleanness arising from corrections are to be seen, then the 
 stone is perfectly bitten in, and will produce clean and strong 
 impressions. Sometimes it may be~etched a little more than 
 this, for the sake of the greater facility in taking impressions, 
 and in making corrections, if necessary ; this will depend, how- 
 ever, on the fineness of the lines. In very fine drawings, 
 especially when made with the brush, the necessary degree of 
 biting in must not be exceeded, as the finest lines and points 
 are very liable to be injured. Coarser writing or drawing, as 
 for instance music, admits of a high degree of etching or biting 
 in. In no case, however, is it advisable to make the lines too 
 prominent, as they then soon become too sharp, take too much 
 colour, and this fills the intermediate spaces between the lines. 
 Some artists are too nice in determining the necessary degree 
 of strength of their aqua-fortis, in order to produce a perfect 
 and uniform action on their stone ; this, however, is neither 
 necessary nor material ; if a great quantity of aqua-fortis is 
 not possessed, what has been poured already over the stone, 
 
•210 
 
 may be used again with the desired effect. The stone being 
 thus well bitten in, it ought to be washed once more with clean 
 water, in order to take away all superfluous acid, and prepare 
 it for a covering with a solution of gum arabic in four or five 
 parts of water ; this may be done immediately after the biting 
 in, or the stone may be first left to dry, in order that the finest 
 points which have, perhaps, been a little too much acted on 
 by the acid, may get fixed sufficiently to the stone before they 
 are washed again. In drawings made with the pen, this pre- 
 caution is unnecessary ; but in hair-brush or chalk drawings, 
 it is of great utility. When this preparation with gum-water 
 is completed, the stone should be left untouched for some 
 minutes; then a few drops of water, and also a few drops of 
 oil of turpentine, should be poured on it, and perfectly spread 
 all over the surface ; and then by means of a woollen rag, the 
 whole drawing may be wiped off. If the ink is very hard, and 
 has long been on the stone, it will be advisable to take more 
 turpentine, as it will then adhere more closely to the stone. 
 This done, let the stone be immediately charged with printing 
 ink. The object of this operation is to render the stone more 
 capable of taking the ink uniformly, so that even the very first 
 impressions may be perfectly clean. If the original drawing 
 ink is left on the stone, it gets generally dissolved by the 
 printing ink, which is much softer ; and the stone being thus 
 overcharged with too great a quantity of colour, the impression 
 will be spoiled, as under the press the ink spreads very much 
 over the surface. It is necessary to charge the stone with ink 
 
211 
 
 immediately after its being rubbed with turpentine, as the latter 
 is very apt to evaporate, the consequence of which is that the 
 stone does not easily take the colour. The putting' on or 
 charging of the printing ink is, in this manner, effected as 
 follows : — A clean linen or woollen rag is soaked in pure water, 
 and afterwards well squeezed, so that little water remains in 
 it. With this the whole surface of the stone is well wiped, so 
 that it may every where be slightly wet. After this a well 
 charged printing roller is passed several times over the stone. 
 It is necessary to raise the roller frequently in passing it over 
 the stone, in order to vary the points of contact. To put on the 
 ink uniformly, it is advisable to hold at first the handles of the 
 roller very firmly, to press it well on the stone, and to pass 
 it in a somewhat oblique direction over it ; afterwards it is 
 passed a few times without great pressure, by which operation 
 the superfluous ink, if there should be any, is likewise re- 
 moved. It is not advisable to repeat the passing of the roller 
 too often, as the stone then gets dry, and is liable to be soiled ; 
 if this should happen, however, it must be carefully wiped with 
 a wet rag, till it is again perfectly clean. If this is neglected, 
 and the stone gets thoroughly dry, it will be very difficult, if not 
 impossible, to clean it again. In order to avoid this danger, it is 
 usual with beginners to wet the woollen rag a little now and then ; 
 this, however, produces other inconveniencies ; as all the fine 
 lines are soon wiped off, and the roller gets so wet, that it will 
 not produce a good impression, Hill it is sufficiently dry again. 
 For this reason, I would not advise beginners to use sponges 
 
 2 E 
 
212 
 
 instead of rags, as they leave too great a quantity of water upon 
 the stone ; in other respects they are very well adapted for this 
 purpose ; some practice will soon teach the proper use of a 
 sponge in this way. Some printers mix the water, with which 
 they wash the stone, with a little gum, and some drops of 
 aqua-fortis ; others mix it with small beer. I am, however, 
 of opinion that all these mixtures are useless, provided the stone 
 be weil prepared, and the printer's ink be of good quality. Pure 
 water I have always found the best in this particular manner 
 of Lithography. But respecting the ink, which in pen drawings, 
 or in the elevated manner in general, produces the best im- 
 pressions, I am at a loss to give a general and universal rule. 
 The following are the results of my manifold experiments : — 
 
 1. The stronger the varnish or burnt oil is, which enters as an 
 ingredient into the ink, the cleaner it will keep the stone. 
 
 2. The same thing happens, if it contains a great deal of lamp- 
 black. But in both cases the finer lines may easily be da- 
 maged, and too much lampblack produces lines of too great 
 strength and breadth. 3. The dryness or liquidity of the ink 
 must correspond to the strength of the pressure. The dryer the 
 ink is, the greater must be the pressure. Thin or weak oil is 
 no impediment to fine and clear impressions, but then the 
 pressure of the press must not be too great ; and particular 
 care must be used iu putting on the ink with the roller. 4. Very 
 solid varnish, or strong burnt oil, generally produces very line 
 lines ; but if once it gets into the intermediate spaces between 
 the lines, it cannot easily be removed by the motion of the 
 
213 
 
 roller, but produces an uncleanness which continually increases, 
 and finally entirely spoils the stone. If a strong ink begins to 
 adhere to the stone, there is generally no other remedy than 
 washing the stone well with gum-water and turpentine ; which, 
 however, if too often repeated, injures the preparation, and 
 spoils the clearness of the impressions. 5. Soft ink is more 
 liable to produce broad lines, but this is easily remedied after 
 such impression, by the washing of the plate. 6. Soft ink re- 
 quires a more damp or a better soaked paper, than strong ink. 
 7. Both soft ink, and dry and strong ink, if not provided with 
 a sufficient quantity of varnish or strong burnt oil, are liable to 
 shade, and thus produce soiled impressions. By the expression 
 " shade/' I allude to the following phenomenon. If, for in- 
 stance, a drop of oil falls into a basin filled with water, part of 
 it will immediately spread all over the surface of the water, and 
 produce rainbow-like colours. The law of gravity does not 
 seem to be the only cause of this phenomenon ; on the contrary, 
 it would appear, that though the oil does not mix with the 
 water in greater quantities, yet that a slight affinity between 
 them produces this spreading of a drop of oil. Varnish, whether 
 thick or thin, possesses the same quality, only in a less de- 
 gree. Before the ink can be put on the stone, it is necessary 
 to wash its surface with water. After the ink is put on it, a 
 considerable quantity of water still remains on the surface. 
 Now if the ink contains too great a quantity of weak varnish, 
 or oil, it will draw towards the water-drops nearest to it ; so 
 that every line and every point gets a sort of feebly-coloured 
 
 2 E 2 
 
214 
 
 margin, not unlike a shade, and from the resemblance, this de- 
 fect of the colour is called shade. As this effect is not produced 
 instantaneously, but gradually, it is not easily discovered if 
 the impression is made immediately after the putting on of the 
 ink ; and, therefore, it is not so great in the lever-press, as in 
 the slower cylinder-press. If, however, the exact quantity of 
 water has been used in wetting the stone, so that at the moment 
 when the roller has passed over the stone, the water is entirely 
 consumed, there is no fear of shading; and, if all other re- 
 quisites have been properly attended to, very clean impressions 
 may be obtained. But as this moment cannot always be easily 
 seized, and as the stone is apt to soil as soon as it has passed, 
 it requires great experience to avoid this defect, and it is there- 
 fore advisable rather to mix more lampblack with the ink, in 
 order to deprive the varnish of its excessive elasticity. 8. If by 
 mixing a great quantity of lampblack with the varnish or 
 strong oil, the ink is deprived of its fluidity, the defect of 
 shading is avoided, but other inconveniencies may arise from 
 it; as for instance, the finer lines, especially when rubbed off 
 in some degree, do not very easily take a very strong ink, and 
 other places retain too great a quantity of it, by which unequal 
 impressions are, of course, produced. On the other hand, an 
 impression made with too much lampblack, is more apt to 
 soil, than another where the varnish predominates in the ink. 
 It likewise never gets so black as the ink which has less lainp- 
 lolack, and does not produce, in the elevated manner, very black 
 and strong impressions, because the lustre of the varnish renders 
 
215 
 
 the colour much more brilliant. These considerations induced 
 me to endeavour to invent a proper composition, not liable to 
 shade, yet still compatible with a greater fluidity of the ink ; 
 the experiments which I undertook for this purpose, have not 
 yet been crowned with perfect success ; but I still entertain the 
 hope of attaining my object at last, being convinced that the 
 common varnish or burnt oil, when mixed with greasy and 
 bituminous substances, loses, in a great measure, its quality of 
 shading. An addition of a very small quantity of Venetian tur- 
 pentine communicates a greater fluidity to the ink. The fol- 
 lowing composition, however, is much to be preferred : — Six 
 parts of linseed oil, two parts of tallow, one part of wax, melted 
 together, till they produce a substance like the common oil 
 varnish or strong burnt oil, and of the same thickness. 9. The 
 internal quality of the stones, and the degree of temperature, 
 has likewise a great influence upon the impressions; and the 
 composition of the ink must be regulated accordingly. In 
 very hot and dry weather, a stone, especially when of a porous 
 nature, has much less internal humidity than in wet and cold 
 days, especially if it has been preserved in a dry place. In 
 this case the water, with which the stone is washed before every 
 impression, evaporates almost instantaneously, or at least in 
 some spots, so that it is very difficult to put the ink on the 
 stone ; the best expedient is, to use in this case a stronger and 
 dryer ink ; or to soak the stone, before it is printed, for some 
 hours in pure water, so that it may imbibe a sufficient quantity 
 of water. 10. If it is intended to promote the drying of the 
 
216 
 
 ink, which is sometimes necessary when the impressions must 
 soon be pressed or bound, it is advisable to mix a little pul- 
 verized minium with the ink. Pulverized litharge is still 
 more efficacious, but only a very small quantity of ink can be 
 mixed at a time with it, as in less than an hour it gets so solid 
 as to be unfit for use ; even the ink mixed with minium can 
 only be used for the day when it is made, for it is afterwards 
 liable to soil. 
 
 These are the principal results of my experience respecting 
 the ink for pen-drawings, and generally for the elevated 
 manner. 
 
 With respect to the process of printing pen and ink drawings, 
 I have the following observations to make. Even if the stone 
 has been well and uniformly charged with good ink, the sub- 
 sequent impression may, nevertheless, be spoiled in different 
 ways, viz., if the paper is put on too early ; if it has not the 
 necessary degree of dampness, in proportion to the quality of 
 the ink, and the degree of pressure ; if the degree of pressure, 
 and the consistency of the colour, are not in the correct pro- 
 portion ; if the roller is not equal ; or if the leather is not 
 sufficiently stretched. 
 
 The following points must, therefore, be strictly attended to : 
 
 1. The paper must not touch the surface of the stone, till 
 
217 
 
 the impression is effectually made by the scraper or roller ; for 
 as in this peculiar manner some parts are elevated, the paper 
 is soiled by the least contact, especially if the ink is of a soft 
 nature. It is not, therefore, advisable to put the paper on the 
 stone, as some do, but it ought always to be fixed in the printing- 
 frame, at least a quarter of an inch distant from the stone. 
 In order to retain it in this position till the roller presses it 
 on the stone, a second smaller frame should be contrived within 
 the larger, which, by means of strings or springs, may retain 
 the paper close to the leather. It cannot be denied, that, even 
 when the paper is put flat on the stone, very good impressions 
 may be obtained ; but then great care must be taken not to 
 alter in the least the position of the paper, and to prevent any 
 folds in it, and it requires more time, and does not admit of 
 positive accuracy. If two printers work together, the one 
 may fix the paper in the printing-frame, while the other puts 
 on the ink ; and then we may always be sure that the im- 
 pression will be made on the exact place where it should be. 
 2. The soaking or wetting of the paper is in this manner of 
 no very great consequence, provided it be not too wet, for then 
 the impression spreads, and becomes thick and unequal ; and 
 if the paper is too dry, it adheres to the stone, as above- 
 mentioned. In general it may be said, that the degree of wet- 
 ness must correspond to the degree of dryness of the varnish ; 
 the softer the varnish, the more the paper may be wetted. 
 For unsized Swiss paper, I take one wet sheet to nine or ten 
 sheets, which serves well for tolerably dry, or very dry, ink. 
 
218 
 
 As the soaking is only used to give the necessary degree of 
 softness to the paper, it is evident that it must vary according 
 to the quality of the paper, and this must be learned by ex- 
 perience. 3. As to the pressure of the press, it has already 
 been mentioned that, with very dry ink, it must be greater ; 
 and with soft ink, it must be considerably less. 4. The degree 
 of pressure must also vary according to the quality of the 
 scraper or cylinder ; if this is not very equal, and well adapted 
 to the stone, the pressure must be greater ; for sometimes the 
 defects of the scraper are so remedied. The sharper the edge 
 of the scraper is, the clearer and more perfect is the impression, 
 because its full power is then condensed into a smaller space. 
 But the scraper usually soon loses its sharpness, and then the 
 loss of power must be supplied by greater pressure of the 
 press. 5. If the leather is not sufficiently stretched, the im- 
 pressions are never perfect and clean ; particularly if the ink is 
 soft, and the paper very wet. It is, therefore, necessary to 
 stretch the leather from time to time, and to grease it well with 
 tallow. The paper, which is put under the leather, must 
 likewise be exchanged with other paper, from time to time. 
 
 Thus much as to the printing of the pen and ink drawings ; I 
 advert now to another point of great importance, viz., the cor- 
 rection of defects or mistakes made in the drawing or writing, 
 which, in different manners, must be differently treated. 
 
 It seldom happens that a drawing, or piece of writing, is 
 
219 
 
 quite faultless when finished ; and it would be a great incon- 
 venience to the art of Lithography, if accidental defects could 
 not be mended, or corrected. There are two different modes of 
 making corrections; 1st. when the defects are discovered before 
 biting in ; and 2d. when they are only discovered after the 
 first proofs have been taken. 
 
 In the first case, before the stone is bitten in, the corrections 
 may very easily be effected. It is then necessary to remove those 
 particular spots where the defects are, and to put the correction 
 in their place. Sometimes the defects are discovered as soon 
 as made, and before the ink gets dry, and in that case they may 
 be rubbed off with the finger ; if the ink is already dry, recourse 
 must be had to oil of turpentine. In both cases, it is necessary 
 to be very careful in wiping off the ink, that it may not after- 
 wards resist the acid too much, but be entirely taken off by it, 
 and that the subsequent correction with chemical ink may be 
 the better effected. If only some small points are defective, 
 they can be scraped off with a pen-knife ; and those places 
 where some superfluous lines only are to be taken away, without 
 substituting others in their room, may also be scraped off or 
 rubbed down with pumice-stone. 
 
 The second kind of correction, after the biting in of the stone, 
 is a little more troublesome, though not very difficult. In this 
 case, however, there is a material difference between the mere 
 removal of a defect, and the substitution of something new in 
 
220 
 
 its place, or the addition of something to the drawing, which 
 had been omitted ; and there is also a material difference 
 between an alteration of great extent, and one which merely 
 comprises a few lines or points. 
 
 If a part only of the drawing is to be erased, it may be suf- 
 ficient to make the erasure with a penknife. If the erasure is 
 of considerable extent, it will be advisable to rub it down with 
 pumice-stone, and then prepare it again with a composition of 
 six parts of water, to one of aqua-fortis, and one of strong gum, 
 applied by means of a hair-brush ; but in this operation great 
 care must be taken not to touch the adjacent spots, as they 
 would be liable to be affected by the aqua-fortis. If in place 
 of that which has been erased, something new is to be sub- 
 stituted, this may be done in the following manner : — Let the 
 stone be charged with colour, then washed with gum-water, 
 but very slightly ; after this, let it be left to dry, and then let 
 the defects be carefully rubbed down with pumice-stone. This 
 done, the corrected drawing may be substituted in place of the 
 other with chemical ink, which, when dry, must be bitten in, 
 and afterwards carefully prepared with gum-water. 
 
 Where something that has been entirely omitted is to be 
 added, the same process nearly must be followed. If the 
 addition is of no very great extent, it will be sufficient to 
 rub down the stone in the spot where the addition is to be made, 
 and then add the omitted parts with chemical ink, which, for 
 
221 
 
 fear of spreading, ought to be very thick. If the addition 
 is of considerable extent, the spot must be rubbed down, washed 
 with soap-water or spirits of turpentine, and then treated as 
 before. 
 
 Should, however, the number of corrections be so great as to 
 extend all over the surface of the stone, it will be better to 
 make a new drawing at once. As, however, in some cases it 
 may be preferable to correct the plate, I shall here com- 
 municate a very useful method, which I once used in cor- 
 recting a great geographical map, where numerous additions 
 and some alterations in the tracts of the roads were to be made. 
 The stone was charged with colour, and all defects were then 
 scraped off, or rubbed down ; the whole surface was now 
 washed several times with diluted aqua-fortis, * and then with 
 a great quantity of fresh water, in order to take off all acid, 
 and at last the stone was allowed to dry. In this state I was 
 enabled to insert with the pen all the additions and alterations. 
 After the ink had become perfectly dry, all the newly-drawn 
 spots were bitten in by a little stronger aqua-fortis with a small 
 hair-brush, in order to produce the necessary elevation, with- 
 
 * This was done partly in order to prepare the places that had been rubbed down 
 for the biting in, but principally in order to communicate to the stone a greater dis- 
 position to take the chemical ink. It is nearly impossible to draw on a stone already 
 prepared with gum and bitten in, on account of the running of the ink, w hich takes 
 place even after it has been cleaned with water. The gum creates a certain alteration 
 on the surface of the stone, which can only be taken away by repeated biting with 
 weak aqua-fortis. 
 
 2 f 2 
 
F 2 
 
 out which the lines that were not bitten in would have been 
 liable to spread. This done, the whole surface of the stone 
 was washed several times with aqua-fortis sufficiently diluted, 
 and then with pure water. The stone was left for some hours 
 to dry, in order that the ink in the finest lines, which, perhaps, 
 by the repeated biting in had been too much affected, might 
 settle and fix itself afresh. Lastly, the plate was washed with 
 gum-water, and printed off. 
 
 Besides these two manners of making corrections or amend- 
 ments before and after the biting in, sometimes a third is ne- 
 cessary, viz., when the stone, from improper management 
 during the printing, becomes defective ; as for instance, when 
 such spots as ought to remain white, take ink ; or when some 
 spots are rubbed off, or have been spoiled by the biting in, 
 and refuse to take colour ; sometimes both defects occur at the 
 same time. I shall here explain, in a very few words, the 
 manner of remedying these defects. If the surface of the stone 
 is soiled, which is not unfrequently the case, in the margins, 
 the soil may often be removed merely by the application of 
 gum-water, and spirit of turpentine ; if this, however, should 
 not be sufficient, the soiled spot must be wiped with a piece of 
 linen dipped in diluted aqua-fortis, or rubbed with the finger, 
 but very carefully, in order not to damage the drawing. If 
 the soiled spots can possibly be rubbed down without injuring 
 the drawing, this method ought to be adopted in preference to 
 all others. But if some spots are wiped off, or injured, through 
 
223 
 
 the acid, so as to refuse to take the ink ; this may, in many 
 cases, be remedied by the application of a soft ink : as soon as 
 the stone has imbibed sufficient grease, harder ink may be 
 used : sometimes this defect may be remedied by merely ex- 
 posing the stone to the open air. In some cases it may be 
 advisable to immerse the stone in a pail of clean water, and to 
 rub on the grease under the water with a linen rag. If this 
 operation has not the desired effect, recourse must be had to 
 rubbing, for which the necessary instructions have already been 
 given, and which can be done with oil, or with clean stones 
 and water. It is, however, a sign of the inability and inat- 
 tention of the workmen, or of defective instruments, when such 
 defects often occur ; and, without computing the loss of time 
 occasioned by the corrections, they require besides so much 
 attention and skill, that one can never be sure of a favourable 
 result ; so that in most cases it will be better, perhaps, to make 
 a new design altogether, and carefully to avoid committing 
 the fault by which the first was spoiled. 
 
 When the stone is put into the press, it will be necessary to 
 wash it carefully first of all with water and turpentine, if more 
 than one day has elapsed since the stone has been last printed ; 
 this is done in order to make it take the ink more uniformly, 
 and to render the impressions more perfect. The stone must 
 be fixed in its place by means of wedges. During the printing, 
 the following points ought to be particularly attended to — 
 uniform repartition of the water, and of the ink, on the surface 
 
224 
 
 i 
 
 of the stone ; repeated rolling of the ink-roller on the stone, by 
 which the ink is always kept in its proper state ; and the utmost 
 expedition and rapidity. The advantages of changing the 
 rollers occasionally, has been mentioned in another place. 
 • 
 
 The pencil hair-brush drawing does not essentially^ differ 
 from the pen and ink drawing ; its greatest difference consists 
 in the circumstance that hair-brush lines never can be of the 
 same strength as lines with the pen. A pencil hair-brush 
 drawing, therefore, does not bear the biting in so well as a 
 pen drawing, and v for this reason, must be very delicately 
 treated with acid. Much depends on the quality of the hair- 
 brush, and the chemical ink which is used. Sometimes an ink 
 which is excellent for the pen, and gives the finest lines, is not 
 equally suitable for the hair-brush, as the latter retains the ink 
 better than the pen does ; the ink, therefore, must be more 
 liquid for the hair-brush. A most excellent ink for hair- 
 brushes is prepared in the following manner : — Take two parts 
 of clean white wax, and one part of good tallow soap, melt both 
 together ; make no more than half an ounce at a time, as the 
 ink will lose its good quality when it gets old ; it cannot be 
 preserved for more than a few days. Let these two ingredients 
 be well rubbed together with a knife on a tepid, but not warm, 
 stone, and mixed with a few drops of water ; then divided into 
 small pieces, and diluted with rain-water. As soon as the water 
 begins to dissolve the mixture, let a small quantity of lamp- 
 black be added, and well mixed with it, till it gets solid. Let a 
 
225 
 
 quantity of this ink, sufficient for present use, be rubbed in a 
 clean cup, and diluted with rain-water, till it is fit to be used. 
 Though a great portion of this mixture consists of soap, it will 
 remain liquid for a long time, even after its solution in water, 
 and forms the best ink for hair-brush drawings ; but it would 
 be very unfit for the pen, as it runs too much. In preparing 
 this ink, it will be even better not to mix the two ingredients 
 over the fire, as by this process the ink becomes thick and dry. 
 With respect to the hair-brush drawing, the ink must be more 
 liquid ; whereas in pen drawings, a too great liquidity of the 
 ink must be carefully guarded against, by composing it in a 
 different manner, and by washing the stone with soap and 
 turpentine. It is evident that, for hair-brush drawings, it is 
 not necessary to furnish the stone with a thin coat of grease. 
 For some lines and points the pen is best adapted, whilst for 
 others, on the contrary, the pencil or hair-brush suits best ; as 
 for instance, curved lines or very fine lines running across 
 thicker ones ; so that in some cases it is better for the artist to 
 unite both manners, and in this case it would be necessary to 
 wash the stone with soap-water, and then to rub it gently with 
 dry sand, which does not injure its quality for the pen, and 
 makes it more fit for receiving hair-brush lines. For the sub- 
 sequent biting in, the acid must not be taken very strong. 
 
 In case a hair-brush drawing, for the greater facility in 
 printing, is to be etched till the drawing becomes elevated ; it 
 must at first be bitten in, but very slightly, and, as usual, pre- 
 pared with gum, and well charged with good etching colour. 
 
226 
 
 In this state the stone ought to be left for some time, in order 
 that the etching colour, or chemical ink, may settle, and be lit 
 to resist the action of the aqua-fortis ; then let the stone be 
 bitten in a second time, till it attains the wished-for degree of 
 elevation. After this, let the stone be washed with water, pre- 
 pared with gum-water, and left to dry. This last operation 
 serves to fix and retain all the fine lines ; it may then be 
 printed like a common pen drawing. If a drawing is com- 
 pleted with the pen and hair-brush together, the following 
 method must be observed, in order to be quite sure that even 
 the finest lines, however delicately put on, are not injured by 
 the biting in. 
 
 Take the well-polished stone, wash it several times with di- 
 luted aqua-fortis, (forty parts of water to one part of aqua-fortis ;) 
 then pour a sufficient quantity of pure water over it, to take 
 away the remaining acid, and leave it to dry. On a stone 
 thus prepared, it is easy to work with the pen, or with the 
 hair-brush ; but for each of them take the proper ink. The 
 drawing being completed and dry, let the stone be washed 
 over with weak gum-water. After the lapse of some minutes, 
 it may be charged with etching colour, and treated as before 
 mentioned.* The biting in for the second time, serves only to 
 
 * In order to be quite sure that the etching colour on the stone is strong enough 
 to resist the action of the aqua-fortis, it is advisable to use bolli a strong and a soft 
 colour. Let the strong colour be first put on the stone, then let it be wetted again, 
 and let a roller with soft colour, which can easily be prepared from the strong by adding 
 a small quantity of tallow, be passed several times over it. These two coats of strong 
 and soft colour, w ill resist the action of the strongest aqua-fortis. 
 
227 
 
 obtain good impressions, and is not indispensably necessary ; 
 but the stone is less liable to be injured when twice bitten in, 
 and, consequently, when the drawing- is a little raised ; as the 
 ink is then less inclined to spread sideways, or to penetrate 
 into the stone. As the sheets are printed, put one upon 
 another, till some hundreds are obtained, when they may be 
 removed, in order to make room for others. Great care must 
 be taken not to press these fresh impressions too much, for in 
 that case the colour of one sheet is very apt to soil the sheet 
 immediately above it. In the elevated manner, the danger of 
 soiling or communicating the colour, is not so great as in the 
 engraved manner ; because in the former the design is imprint- 
 ed into the paper, whereas in the latter, on the contrary, the 
 design projects on the surface of the paper, and is therefore more 
 exposed to soiling ; and as it is highly desirable to preserve the 
 impressions clean, one cannot be too attentive in this particular. 
 In case both sides of the sheet are to be printed, the point for 
 consideration is, whether or not the work requires such dispatch 
 that the reverse must be printed immediately, without waiting 
 till the first impression be perfectly dry. In the first case, a 
 sheet of blotting, or waste paper, perfectly dry, must be put be- 
 tween each impression ; in the second case, it will be better to 
 hang up the sheets after one side is printed, and soak them again 
 a few days afterwards ; when, if the ink is well prepared, it will 
 not come off any more, and it will not be necessary to put a 
 sheet of blotting paper over it. When the sheets are per- 
 fectly dry, they must be pressed for some time in a common 
 
 2 G 
 
228 
 
 press, for the sake of elegance ; or, if an opportunity offers, it 
 will be better to have them hot-pressed : in case they are not 
 yet perfectly dry, a sheet of waste paper ought to be placed 
 between each of the impressions. These precautions must be 
 attended to in all the different manners of Lithography. 
 
 § 2. TJie Chalk Manner. 
 
 The greasy chemical ink, in its liquid state, not only pene- 
 trates into the stone, communicating to those places to which 
 it adheres a disposition to receive the printing ink, but it may 
 be used likewise in its dry state on the stone ; and if cut into 
 small slices, pointed at the end, this dry ink serves for the same 
 purposes as black lead, or French chalk, on the paper. If the 
 stone is well polished, all the lines thus produced will be much 
 sharper, and more distinctly delineated, than those drawn with 
 liquid ink on the stone. The chalk, however, loses its point too 
 soon to admit of great nicety, or the imitation of pen-drawings ; 
 but if the stone is only roughly polished, so that its surface re- 
 sembles rough drawing paper, the impression from such a stone, 
 instead of clear anddistinctlines, will exhibit a number of points, 
 coarser or finer, according to the degree of force used in the 
 drawing, which will have nearly the same appearance as French 
 chalk on paper ; and by which this manner assumes a cha- 
 racter different from that of common pen-drawings. The use 
 of chalk being familiar to almost every artist, it does not require 
 
229 
 
 much practice to use the chemical chalk-ink immediately on 
 the stone. He has, besides, no difficulties to surmount, (such, 
 for instance, as often occur in pen and ink drawings,) and may 
 give the utmost scope to his genius. Many highly-finished 
 drawings have sufficiently convinced the Public, that this man- 
 ner is susceptible of the greatest degree of perfection ; and 
 that by means of it, the character of a drawing may, in a great 
 degree, be imitated ; and whoever has an opportunity of in- 
 specting the works of the eminent Bavarian artists, mentioned 
 at the end of this Treatise, will, I hope, be convinced of the 
 truth of my assertion. Another of its advantages is, that draw- 
 ings can neither be executed in soft ground on copper, nor 
 on paper, in less time than a design in chalk on stone. All 
 these circumstances justify the conclusion that the chalk man- 
 ner is a clear addition, and considerable acquisition to the art ; 
 and that every artist who attempts its improvement, will confer 
 a great benefit on the Public. I am not, therefore, afraid of 
 incurring the displeasure of my readers, if in the description of 
 this style I shall be somewhat more circumstantial and ex- 
 plicit than I have hitherto been, or might seem necessary ; as 
 this manner only differs from the preceding, in the treatment 
 of the drawing. 
 
 For the chalk manner, hard and clear stones must be se- 
 lected. They must be entirely new, or if they have been al- 
 ready used, they must be rubbed down till all traces of ink or 
 chalk which had penetrated the surface of the stone, have dis- 
 
 2 g2 
 
230 
 
 appeared ; so that we may be sure they will not take ink, though 
 the stone be only slightly bitten in. The stones being rubbed 
 down to a level surface, they must be prepared rough-grained ; 
 that is, their surface must be granulated with innumerable small 
 equidistant elevations, in order that the chalk may not produce 
 sharp lines, but rather lines of small points, which it will do 
 when used on a well-grained stone, without filling their 
 intervals. This preparation is effected in the following man- 
 ner : — 
 
 Put a small quantity of the finest gravel-sand* on the sur- 
 face of the stone ; take another plate of the same stone and size, 
 and rub them in all directions over each other, changing occa- 
 sionally the position of the stones, by placing the top one under- 
 most, and vice versa. This operation may be done either with 
 dry sand, or with the assistance of water. Soap-water is still 
 better, and the stone will become of a finer grain by it. But 
 in both manners, the dry or the wet, experience and a parti- 
 cularly fine and uniform kind of sand, is necessary, to produce 
 a perfect preparation, to avoid fissures or scratches, and to ob- 
 tain an equal and fine grain. The longer the stone is rubbed, 
 without the addition of fresh sand, the finer will the grain 
 be ; but if too fine, the number of impressions will be very 
 limited. A coarse grain does not admit of very delicate and 
 fine drawings, but for designs of a larger scale it is preferable 
 
 * The best sand of this kind comes from the neighbourhood of Frankfort. 
 
231 
 
 to all others. In general, much depends on the judgment of 
 every artist, who must select the sort of grain he thinks best 
 calculated for his drawing, and this must guide the person who 
 prepares the stone. I am even of opinion that, for some sub- 
 jects, it would be advisable for the artist's own self to prepare 
 his stones, and in different places to use different grains, which 
 could be done by means of smaller stones ; in the fore- 
 ground, for instance, a coarser grain would produce a good 
 effect, and contribute to the general beauty. Upon the whole, 
 I must observe, that the finer the grain is, the more it ap- 
 proaches to perfection, but it is also more difficult to print than 
 the coarser grain. 
 
 As soon as the stone has got its rough preparation, and is pro- 
 perly granulated, it must be carefully freed from sand and dust. 
 The best way is to pour clean water over it, and to wipe it off 
 with a spunge or clean rags. It is very essential to remove all 
 the fine dust arising from the rubbing with sand, because this 
 fine dust would afterwards prevent the chalk, in the finest and 
 most delicate shades, from penetrating to the stone ; which, in 
 the biting in, would infallibly spoil the whole stone. The 
 stone being now well cleaned and dry, the drawing ought to 
 be sketched upon it with black lead or red chalk, or the sketch 
 copied on it from tracing-paper ; it may even be transferred 
 upon it, only in this case the sketch made with transferring 
 ink, must be printed previously on other paper, in order that it 
 may lose its excess of grease, and not spoil the stone. The 
 
232 
 
 outlines must be drawn as fine and delicate as possible, in 
 order not to carry too much grease on the stone, by which 
 means the outlines would appear also in the impression ; for 
 chalk-drawings do not bear so much acid as pen-drawings. 
 
 For making the drawing, a greasy chalk, the preparation of 
 which has been fully described, page 125 is used. Some prac- 
 tice will easily teach the artist which of the different sorts of 
 chalk is most fit for the different drawings. Every artist 
 almost has his own manner of drawing ; one works in lines, 
 another more in shades. In very fine and delicate tints, 
 where the chalk should scarcely touch the stone, I would re- 
 commend stumps made of paper, or leather, such as are used 
 by artists and students in drawing with chalk on paper. In 
 the darkest, parts, if necessary, the white intervals may be filled 
 up and stipled in with chalk or ink, and where transparency 
 and evenness are required, the assistance of fine pointed, as well 
 as blunt, etching needles, will produce all the gradations of tints 
 that can possibly be wished for*. The union of pen or hair-brush 
 
 * The most tiresome thing in chalk-drawings is, the being frequently obliged to 
 point the chalk. In order to avoid this, some artists employ a lad to point a store of 
 chalk pieces. The point, however, of a piece of chalk, may be preserved for a very 
 lon^ time, by using a piece of coarse paper; and, as soon as the chalk begins to lose 
 its point, by rubbing it in a slanting direction over it. A blunt chalk is at times 
 equally useful, as some subjects require a more delicate, and others again a blunter, 
 point ; but all this must be left to the judgment of the artist. I am in hopes of 
 being able to contrive an instrument, the mere pressure upon which will be sufficient 
 to point the chalk. If another artist should be fortunate enough to get the start of me 
 in inventing a similar instrument, he will be justly entitled to the thanks of all those 
 
233 
 
 drawing with the chalk manner, in order to give sharp touches 
 with the chemical ink, is often productive of the best effect. 
 There is also a very easy and expeditious manner of drawing 
 very small subjects, such as vignettes for almanacks, fyc, in a 
 very short space of time, viz., by executing the outlines and 
 darkest shades with the hair-brush, and the rest with the chalk. 
 Mr. Strixner, a celebrated artist, has employed the sable-brush 
 with the greatest success, in making the hair in his drawings ; 
 and the chalk manner has the peculiar advantage, that one can 
 obtain single white lines, by scratching with a sharp etching- 
 needle through the spots which are more or less covered with 
 chalk. With the same good effect, in some cases where the 
 drawing admits of it, whole spots may be uniformly covered 
 with chalk, and the lights can afterwards be scraped in with 
 a fine knife, or tool for that purpose. But on all these sub- 
 jects no uniform rule can be laid down ; the judgment of the 
 artist must here serve as his guide. If some mistakes have 
 crept into the drawing, or if some spots have become too dark, 
 or have run together and form a blot, the etching needle may 
 be used to render the shades lighter. But if the defects are 
 more considerable, and if a great part of the drawing must be 
 altered, the whole of such parts may be washed out with tur- 
 pentine, and after the stone is well cleaned, and has had sufli- 
 
 who use chalk ; for, to produce fine drawings with more ease, is one of the principal 
 desiderata in this manner. The chalk, must, at present, be pointed with a very sharp 
 knife, and not towards the point, but from the point towards the handle, otherwise it is 
 very liable to break. 
 
234 
 
 cient time to dry, the correction may be substituted. The same 
 effect is produced when the defective part is well rubbed with 
 dry, or even with wet, sand, and then well cleaned with water ; 
 erasures with the penknife are not advisable, as they would 
 spoil the grain. After the drawing is completed, it is re- 
 quisite to leave the stone for a day, in order to allow the chalk 
 to penetrate thoroughly. The drawing may be left for any 
 length of time before it is etched in, without any bad conse- 
 quence. The etching is effected by pouring the acid over it, 
 which must be very weak. In general, to one part of aqua- 
 fortis, one hundred parts of water, may be taken, and this acid 
 ought to be poured several times over the stone. As it is of 
 great importance in this manner not to exceed the necessary 
 degree of etching, I would advise all beginners to try some 
 experiments, in order to convince themselves of the effect and 
 power of the aqua-fortis, and to be able to determine how 
 many times it must be poured over the stone, to give it a pro- 
 per degree of etching. The biting in, therefore, must be no 
 more than necessary ; and it will be advisable to bite in the 
 darker shades a second time by means of a flat hair-brush and 
 stronger aqua-fortis, till you obtain the necessary elevation. 
 Wash the stone with pure water after the biting in, and let it 
 be thoroughly dried before it is prepared with gum-water. 
 
 When the stone is prepared, it is not advisable to wash it im- 
 mediately with oil of turpentine, but let it first be filled in with 
 a weak colour. W T hen this is done, the stone mav be cleaned with 
 
235 
 
 turpentine and gum, and filled in with a stronger ink. In the 
 first filling in of the stone, the surface of it must be touched as 
 gently as possible with the sponge in wetting the stone ; other- 
 wise the most delicate touches are liable to be wiped off, before 
 they have taken ink, and it will afterwards be very difficult to 
 recover them again. But if, in spite of every precaution, the 
 more delicate parts of the drawing have been injured, the best 
 way to remedy the defect is the following: — 
 
 Wash the stone with gum-water, and wipe it with a dry clean 
 rag, till it gets perfectly dry ; then take a flat instrument of steel, 
 or pallet knife, well polished and smooth. Pass this instrument 
 over the defective spots, gently pressing in all directions, but so 
 as to touch only the elevated spots ; then letalittle grease, such as 
 linseed-oil varnish, be rubbed over them, and immediately after 
 washed away with gum-water. After this preparation, all the 
 parts which before did not take ink, will re-appear in their 
 primitive clearness, when the stone is filled in with ink. 
 
 A second manner of correction is the following : — Fill in 
 the stone with strong ink, wash it well with pure water, and 
 leave it to dry. Then draw the injured spots anew, taking 
 care that the chalk is properly managed, and touch no 
 other points but those that want correction. This manner 
 of correcting drawings is so easy, that an attentive printer may 
 recur to it without fear of spoiling the drawing. In another 
 
 2 H 
 
236 
 
 place, I shall treat more amply of the manner of correcting 
 very defective stones. 
 
 The printing of a chalk drawing is the most difficult process 
 in Lithography, and requires an attentive and experienced 
 workman ; for as the single points composing the drawing are 
 so very near to one another, the least spreading causes them 
 to unite, and to form one blot. On the other hand, these very 
 imperceptible points are very apt to be injured, or entirely 
 rubbed off. They require a soft ink, while the coarser parts 
 again require a stronger ink to prevent them from spreading ; 
 so that one might be disposed to believe that it was impossible 
 to produce a perfect impression from a chalk drawing. Ex- 
 perience, however, teaches us, that it is very possible to pro- 
 duce a good impression, provided the following points be 
 carefully attended to : — a, the proper degree of soaking the 
 paper — b, the proper degree of wetting the stone, so that it 
 may neither have too much, nor too little, water upon it ; for, 
 in the former case, the fine points will not take the colour well ; 
 and in the other, the stone is apt to get soiled — c, the stretch- 
 ing of the leather sufficiently, and greasing it repeatedly ; and 
 great attention must also be paid to the lining of the leather 
 in the inside with good sound paper, or silk — d, good ink, well 
 prepared, and not having too much lampblack in it — e, fine 
 and very dry rollers — -f } a sufficient pressure of the press ; — and, 
 lastly, g, great expedition and quickness in printing : this 
 
237 
 
 last circumstance contributes essentially towards producing 
 fine impressions, as the stone must not be too dry, but retain 
 a sufficient degree of moisture. In general, all precautions 
 which have been recommended in treating of pen and ink 
 drawings, are also applicable to chalk drawings, only much 
 more care and experience are required. Besides the blotting of 
 the darker parts, one of the most common defects of chalk 
 drawings is, that by a fault in the printing they get a tint, 
 which, like a black veil, spreads all over the stone, or that they 
 lose their character and keeping, and appear monotonous, when 
 the shades spread and become black and heavy. The first 
 defect is caused by biting in too feebly, or by the oil used for 
 the varnish in the ink being rancid, which disposes the ink to 
 adhere to those parts of the stone that, like the adhering- 
 colour, are prepared of varnish and litharge, and conse- 
 quently spoils the stone entirely. The same thing happens 
 when the ink contains soap, which some printers mix with it, 
 to enable them to fill it in more easily ; or when minium is 
 mixed with it, which does not dissolve entirely, and transforms 
 it into adhering colour. Paper prepared with alum, or of 
 Kiener's manufactory, of which I have spoken elsewhere, pro- 
 duces the same defect. The same thing is to be apprehended 
 when the stone by frequent use has, in part, lost its preparation, 
 and is afterwards cleaned with rags, or a sponge, soiled with 
 ink. The second defect may arise from various other causes. 
 I have observed that the stone may become monotonous in two 
 different ways. When a chalk drawing is suffered to get dry 
 
 2 H 2 
 
238 
 
 after the printing, and is not sufficiently washed with gum- 
 water, and the ink adheres to the points of the drawing, parti- 
 cularly if the stone is of a soft nature, it will spread laterally 
 in all directions, and produce a monotonous impression ; and 
 even when the stone is sufficiently prepared with gum-water, 
 the ink will spread, at least in the interior of the stone ; and as 
 soon as by frequent printing the very thin prepared surface is 
 worn off, the grease, hitherto concealed in the interior, will 
 appear and soil the stone. Both these defects of the chalk 
 drawings, viz., the acquiring a tint, and becoming monotonous, 
 may be avoided, or at least corrected, by using, for some time, 
 a stronger ink. But if this should be of no use, the following 
 treatment will produce the desired effect : — Fill in the stone 
 with ink as strongly as possible, put it in the vessel or trough 
 used for biting in, &ud pour over it once or twice a weak solu- 
 tion of aqua-fortis, wash it well with pure water, and prepare 
 it then with a solution of gum. Great care must be taken in 
 using the aqua-fortis, and it must be very weak, so that the 
 acid may scarcely be perceptible, otherwise the fine lines run 
 a risk of being injured. If the defect can be repaired at all, 
 without undergoing a thorough correction, this is the best and 
 only way of doing so ; and if properly gone about, it will not 
 injure the drawing. I would, therefore, advise the use of this 
 method, even with good stones, when they are to be printed 
 again after a long interval. Many chalk drawings I have 
 bitten in or etched twice, in order to make them stand longer. 
 This second biting in has the advantage of admitting of many 
 
239 
 
 corrections. This has induced me to devote my particular 
 attention to this subject, and I hope that if by the following 
 rules, the result of repeated experiments, I have not attained 
 the desired object, I have at least pointed out the way in 
 which, in this material point, the wished-for perfection may be 
 reached. 
 
 When an engraver has nearly finished his plate, he may 
 take a proof, in order to judge how his work succeeds ; and 
 it will then be always in his power to correct it, if he 
 deems this necessary ; the too dark shades can be rendered 
 lighter ; when they are not of sufficient strength, his needle 
 enables him to render them stronger, and more expressive. 
 All these advantages were considered as belonging exclusively 
 to the art of engraving, and as being a desideratum in that of 
 Lithography ; and the artists in this latter art, were satisfied 
 with seeing the impressions of their drawing just as they 
 made it ; which, indeed, were almost always nearly sufficient, 
 as on the stone the effect of the drawing can be very well foreseen, 
 though the artist is sometimes deceived by the colour of a half 
 tint, natural to the stone, that gives a softness to the drawing, 
 which he misses afterwards on the paper. But to obtain an 
 impression in all lines and points perfectly similar to the ori- 
 ginal, a number of seemingly trifling circumstances must be 
 attended to ; and very few chalk drawings, since the in- 
 vention of this art, have proved quite satisfactory and perfect. 
 The most common defect is, that the finer and more delicate 
 
240 
 
 spots grow too light, and the darker grow too dark, by which 
 the keeping of the drawing is materially altered. The cause 
 of the first defect is, that the finest points lose their quality of 
 taking ink ; and of the second, that the dark shades where 
 only a very small and almost imperceptible interval exists 
 between the single points, form one blot, either from the biting 
 in being too weak, by which the points are not sufficiently 
 elevated, or from the subsequent spreading of the ink during 
 the printing. Besides these, chalk drawings are liable to two 
 other defects ; the first is, that frequent, and sometimes very 
 large, white spots arise ; the second, that black spots or soiled 
 places appear, which, in the beginning, were not visible on 
 the stone. The white spots arise when the artist talks during 
 the drawing, by which some drops of saliva fall on the stone ; 
 this liquid covers part of the stone as if with a coat, which 
 prevents the penetration of the chemical chalk, so that in the 
 subsequent printing the spots so covered with saliva are wiped 
 away. If the saliva contains some particles of grease, the 
 same spots afterwards appear, but of a black colour. The 
 same effect is produced when the stone is touched by greasy 
 hands ; the form of the fingers, and of the skin, will then 
 appear on the stone. Of the other precautions in printing, I 
 have fully treated in the preceding section. 
 
 Let us now suppose that a drawing, which, before the biting 
 in, looked very well on the stone, appears subsequently in the 
 printing to have all the above-mentioned, defects, viz., that the 
 
241 
 
 fine shades have disappeared, or at least become very weak, 
 and that the darker shades look quite black or form one large 
 blot, that there are white spots in some parts and black spots 
 in others, besides marks of greasy fingers ; so that the drawing 
 is imperfect in every respect, and has altogether the appearance 
 of being quite spoiled. Two questions now arise : can all these 
 defects be remedied or removed ? and how is this to be done ? 
 To the first question I would answer, that it is my con- 
 viction, every one of these defects may be corrected ; but still 
 it will be for the artist to decide whether it would not some- 
 times be more expedient and require less time to make a new 
 drawing, as these defects can only be corrected by himself, 
 and not by the printer, and as this process requires great 
 skill, costs a great deal of time, and is very tiresome. In 
 answer to the second question, I would give the following di- 
 rections : — In the first place, let every thing be removed from 
 the stone which ought not to be on it. Where the shade has 
 become too dark, white points or lights must be introduced by 
 the etching needle ; for this purpose let the stone be charged 
 first with very strong, and afterwards with softer, etching- 
 colour ; and then all stains which are not in the drawing, but 
 merely disfigure the white margin of the paper, must be re- 
 moved by scraping, or rubbing with pumice-stone. In the 
 drawing itself neither erasures nor rubbing down can take 
 place, as this would spoil the grain, and render it impossible to 
 substitute afterwards the emendations in their place. Recourse, 
 therefore, must be had to a needle of good steel, with which 
 
242 
 
 the defective spots must be removed by dotting ; so that 
 after their removal, the surface of the stone may not lose any 
 part of its grain. If some points are too thick and coarse, 
 by a single white point engraved between them, or by a line 
 traced with the needle, they can be rendered as small as ne- 
 cessary, and pleasing to the eye. Here I must observe, that the 
 blotting of dark spots may also happen when the chalk dur- 
 ing the drawing slips occasionally over the plate, even though 
 it leaves no visible traces, which arises from the unequal mix- 
 ture of the lampblack in it ; or when in the re-touching the 
 drawing, by unskilful management the parts already finished 
 are wiped away, the grease of which has already penetrated 
 into the stone. As the subsequent biting in is but very weak, 
 this grease, which on the surface of the stone is not visible, 
 takes ink, and thereby renders the spots more dark than ne- 
 cessary ; in this case a judicious use of the needle mends not 
 only the defects, but renders the drawing more perfect than in 
 the beginning, as parts thus mended take a more pleasing tint, 
 and at the same time more expression, than those that never 
 were mended. When the stone is thus cleaned of all stains 
 and superfluities, let a weak solution of aqua-fortis be poured 
 several times over it, and then let it be washed with gum- 
 water. After a lapse of some minutes, let it be filled in with a 
 good strong ink ; it will then appear that all the light parts of the 
 drawing, by this second biting in, become a great deal lighter : 
 in order to remedy this, let the plate be washed with gum- 
 water, then wiped with a clean dry rag, so as to leave but 
 
243 
 
 a very weak coat of gum upon it. In order to be able to 
 see this well, it is advisable to mix a very small quantity of red 
 chalk with the gum. The stone being now dry, take a flat 
 steel and very elastic pallet-knife, or some similar instrument 
 free from all unevennesses, and rub it on the surface with 
 moderate pressure, and without injuring or erasing the ele- 
 vated points of the drawing. Care must be taken that the 
 knife be free from all humidity, nor must the exhalation of the 
 person performing this operation touch the stone ; otherwise 
 the exact contrary would be produced from that which was 
 intended, and the parts that ought to take no colour would be 
 prepared to take it. When all the defective parts have been well 
 touched, let the whole surface be rubbed gently with tallow 
 or linseed-oil, and afterwards washed with a weak gum-water. 
 This being done with great exactness, let the stone be charged 
 with a very soft ink, by which all the points that are lost and 
 have disappeared will be made visible again. But if the 
 pressure with the elastic knife has been too great, and the grain 
 has been injured, new stains will arise ; it will, therefore, be 
 necessary to proceed with caution, and rather to repeat the ope- 
 ration, if the first do not turn out quite satisfactory. It will now 
 be better to print with soft ink ; but afterwards, when all the 
 points are sufficiently saturated with grease, a stronger ink 
 may be taken. 
 
 Should any one feel disinclined to restore the strength of the 
 
 2 i 
 
244 
 
 places which are too light by this process, he may attain his 
 purpose by retracing them ; but for this he must choose a chalk 
 containing in its composition a great deal of soap, and the stone 
 must be well washed with a great deal of clean water. It will, 
 however, be advisable to complete this sort of correction as soon 
 as possible, and not to leave the stone for days without a coat 
 of gum ; because in that case it would be very liable to become 
 stained or monotonous, even if washed with gum-water before 
 the printing. Should, however, the corrections be of great ex- 
 tent, and require more time, the best way then would be to fill in 
 the stone well with etching colour, to wash it with water and 
 leave it to dry. It may then remain thus for several months, 
 but before printing it again, the above process must be repeated, 
 and a weak solution of aqua-fortis and gum-water applied sub- 
 sequently. Very small defects, such as little white spots, fyc, 
 are best corrected by re-touching them, during the first proof 
 impressions, with chemical chalk. A chalk drawing, already 
 bitten in, may likewise be corrected with the pen or with the 
 hair-brush. Spots of a too deep shade can be rendered lighter 
 by passing them over several times with a hair-brush dipped 
 in weak aqua-fortis, and by afterwards re-preparing them with 
 gum-water. These, according to my experience, are the best 
 rules for re-touching and correcting imperfect or defective chalk- 
 drawings, and I am sure, that by exactly observing them in 
 every respect, perfect impressions may be obtained ; and a 
 spoiled stone may be restored. — Some practice, however, is in- 
 
245 
 
 dispensably necessary. I shall conclude this article with the 
 following observations which will be found of utility. 
 
 1. I have had dogs' skins or very tender calves' skins prepared 
 for covering the rollers, which have answered very well on 
 account of their durability. An ink roller covered with this 
 sort of leather, the outside of the skin where the hair 
 originally was being outermost, (not the inside, though this is 
 the practice of some,) has a particular affinity to the ink, which 
 I suppose arises from its smoothness, and the elasticity of the 
 surface, that contribute very much to spread the ink uniformly 
 on the stone. This quality is still increased, when the roller, 
 before it is saturated with ink, is wetted a little with water ; 
 but if, during the printing, the stone is kept too wet, this will 
 render the taking ink difficult, for, instead of attracting the 
 ink, it will then repel it, leave it in too great quantity on the 
 surface of the stone, and cause unclean and spoiled impressions. 
 When the roller has been used very long, it loses likewise the 
 elasticity and smoothness of its surface, and is thereby rendered 
 unfit for good impressions, especially of chalk drawings. This 
 is the case in a still greater degree, when the roller has become 
 hard by the drying of the ink. In order to obtain tolerable 
 impressions with such a roller, the ink must be of a very hard 
 nature, and contain a great deal of lampblack, which, how- 
 ever, is only compatible with coarse pen-drawings, for in chalk- 
 drawings this would occasion imperfect impressions, and most 
 likely spoil the plate. By using again a very soft ink, con- 
 
 2 i 2 
 
246 
 
 taining a considerable quantity of varnish, the impressions 
 would spread. If, after having used for some time a roller of 
 this nature, it is changed for a fresh-covered one, the drawing 
 will not seem to be the same, so striking is the difference 
 between the impressions. I am, therefore, inclined to believe, 
 that the quality of the roller is of greater importance in 
 obtaining perfect impressions of chalk, or fine pen-drawings 
 than even the quality of the ink ; the best way is, to change 
 the rollers from time to time, and after using them, to rub them 
 well with linseed-oil or butter, in order to keep them the longer 
 soft and smooth. In chalk-drawings of great value, I would 
 recommend the incurring this trifling expense, and the giving 
 new coverings to the rollers. 
 
 2. I have already observed, that the colour of the stone often 
 deceives the artist in the just proportion of the tints, and that 
 in general the drawing on the half-tinted stone has a better 
 effect to the eye, than on the white shining paper. This in- 
 duced some artists to take impressions on a yellowish paper, 
 like the stone, which satisfied their utmost expectations. Some 
 difficulties, however, arose, for this paper is very expensive 
 when of the best quality, and the inferior kinds contained in- 
 gredients in the colour which soiled the impressions. Ex- 
 periments were therefore tried, to print the paper first and 
 afterwards colour it. But this likewise could not be effected 
 without difficulty ; so that after many fruitless experiments the 
 method of printing a yellowish tint by means of a second stone 
 
247 
 
 on the drawing already printed, obtained the preference. This 
 method was not only found the cheapest and most expeditious, 
 but it possessed this advantage, that the margins of the paper 
 could be left white, which contributes to heighten the effect of 
 the drawing. It had scarcely been used several times with com- 
 plete success, when Mr. Piloty, an eminent artist, suggested 
 the idea of printing in lights with white colour, in order to 
 render the impressions more like autograph drawings. The 
 experiments which I tried for this purpose, were not crowned 
 with success, as white oil-colour does not print lively enough ; 
 and I, therefore, proposed to leave white spaces for the lights 
 in the tint-plate, or to cut them into it, and thus produce the 
 light by the mere effect of the white untinted paper. This was 
 the origin of the manner of printing chalk-drawings with one 
 or more tint-plates, which has since become so generally ad- 
 mired, that amateurs of the art think it the triumph of Litho- 
 graphy. It will not, therefore, be unwelcome to my readers to 
 find here a detailed description of the manner of managing and 
 printing these tint-plates. I have devised several methods for 
 this purpose, but supposing that these different schemes will 
 be familiar to every one, who attentively peruses this treatise, 
 I intend to communicate here only the most perfect of all. 
 
 Take a middling good stone (it need not be of the first quali- 
 ty,) and prepare it in the same manner as for chalk drawing, viz., 
 uniformly rough, of a coarse grain. When clean and dry, let 
 the following chemical ink be spread over it very strongly, so 
 
248 
 
 as to resist fully the action of the aqua-fortis ; the ink must not 
 be too thick, otherwise the subsequent introduction of the lights 
 will become very difficult. Chemical ink for preparing the 
 tint-plates : 4 parts of wax ; 1 part of soap ; 2 parts of ver- 
 milion. The two first ingredients must be melted together, 
 over a moderate fire, in a clean vessel ; then let the vermilion 
 be mixed with it. Of this ink take as much as the size of a 
 hazel-nut ; rub it in a clean saucer ; dilute it with rain-water, 
 till it gets so fluid that, with a hair-brush, it can be spread 
 over the stone. The stone thus charged with ink should be 
 left to dry ; let an impression with rather soft ink be taken 
 from the drawing on the other stone, on well-sized, but suffi- 
 ciently soaked, paper. As soon as taken, and before the paper 
 has time to shrink by drying, let the tint-stone be put into the 
 press, and the impression just obtained be placed upon it. Then, 
 with a moderate force of the press, let a transfer impression be 
 taken, so that the whole drawing may be copied on the wax. 
 The paper, after this operation, will adhere strongly to the 
 stone ; in order to remove it without injuring the tint, let it be 
 soaked with a solution of aqua-fortis, till it dissolves, and is 
 easily wiped off. Great care, however, must be taken not to 
 injure the transferred drawing by too strong pressing and rub- 
 bing. This operation may be performed with still greater 
 ease, if a peculiar paper for transferring is prepared ; this is 
 best done by washing the side of the paper upon which the 
 impression is to be taken, with diluted starch ; the paper must 
 be well sized in this case ; a small quantity of gamboge may be 
 
249 
 
 mixed with the starch. This paper must be soaked very slightly, 
 otherwise it will refuse to take the impression. When trans- 
 ferred to the tint-stone, let the blank side of it be soaked with 
 diluted aqua-fortis, after which it will easily go off the stone, as 
 the starch when dissolved by the water does not retain the ink 
 any longer. The drawing being thus transferred to the tint- 
 plate, let the coat of wax which covers the stone be scraped 
 off, in all those places where lights are to be introduced, by 
 means of mezzotinto scrapers. The stone being prepared rough, 
 as if for chalk-drawing, in the beginning of the scraping a few 
 single points will appear, as only the most elevated points are 
 touched. By continuing this operation, the scraper penetrates 
 at last to the true surface, and produces a perfectly white light. 
 Whoever has acquired the necessary skill in this operation, 
 can imitate in these tint-plates the effect of India ink, and from 
 the most delicate light rise to the most brilliant and striking, 
 by which the drawing gains considerably in effect and perfec- 
 tion. The lights being thus introduced, the margins of the 
 drawing must likewise be scraped off, so as to remain white in 
 the impression ; let the whole plate then be washed several 
 times with aqua-fortis and water (twenty parts of water to one 
 of aqua-fortis,) and subsequently treated with gum-water. 
 When this is done it will be fit for printing. As to the act of 
 taking impressions, it is necessary to take very great care to 
 put the paper for the second impression exactly in the old po- 
 sition, so that the lights may appear in their proper places. In 
 order to effect this, the artist used formerly to mark two points 
 
250 
 
 on the plate containing the drawing, very near the margin, 
 with chemical ink, which were printed on every impression, 
 transferred to the tint-plate, on which they were likewise 
 marked by engraving. When the drawing was printed, the 
 margin of the paper was cut away just over the two marked 
 points, and with these points exactly coinciding it was put 
 upon the stone ; in this manner the paper was placed always 
 in the same position, and the impression of the two stones per- 
 fectly coincided. The only inconvenience of this manner was 
 that every impression required to be cut carefully off, other- 
 wise the impressions were deficient ; for proofs, however, it was 
 suitable enough. But when a great number of impressions 
 must be taken, it is more advisable to contrive a small move- 
 able frame, in the printing frame (which must be very care- 
 fully made, so as to shut always in the same spot, and never to 
 vary in the least,) in which two steel pins are fixed, which can 
 be put at certain distances from each other. The printing frame 
 being thus constructed, let the inside of the leather be rubbed 
 with wax, and a sheet of white paper put upon it. When 
 the tint-plate is fixed in the press, let an impression be 
 taken on this sheet of paper, so that the two points, serving as 
 guides, may be also printed. The two steel pins in the little 
 frame are placed so as to be exactly over the two marked 
 points. Now, if an impression of the drawing is put in the 
 frame, so as to be just under the needles, with its two marked 
 points, there is no doubt that it will be in the exact position 
 for the tint-plate, and coincide in all parts. As soon as the 
 
251 
 
 printing-frame fixes the paper on the leather, let the small 
 frame with the steel needle be removed, in order not to impede 
 the impression. The strings of the printing-frame must be 
 well stretched, so as to prevent any alteration of the position 
 of the paper. For printing the tint-plate take strong varnish, 
 mixed with umber or satinober, or any other colour. The 
 rollers for this purpose ought to be fresh covered, in order to 
 get an equal unspotted tint. 
 
 3. In giving the rough polish to the stones, it is very diffi- 
 cult to avoid coarse lines, or furrows, occasioned by sharp sand 
 grains. On a plate, thus disfigured, no drawing of very 
 great value should be made, as these defects always appear in 
 the impressions, and produce a very bad effect. If, however, 
 such a stone has been chosen, the most striking of these fur- 
 rows ought to be corrected, or concealed with chemical ink 
 and a fine hair-brush ; for with chalk, though pointed as sharp 
 as possible, it will be very difficult to enter. 
 
 4. One of the greatest difficulties is to preserve in chalk 
 drawings the proper keeping, as after the biting in, the light 
 spots appear lighter, and the dark ones darker than before ; I, 
 therefore, tried to draw the lighter parts on another stone, some- 
 what heightened in strength, and to print them afterwards with 
 lighter colours ; the success surpassed my expectations, and I 
 am induced to hope, that, by clever artists, true masterpieces 
 of art may be thus produced. 
 
 2 K 
 
252 
 
 5. When any one is well versed in the mode of printing with 
 two stones on the same sheet of paper, with perfect coincidence, 
 the transition to the art of printing with more than two plates, 
 and particularly to that of printing in colours, will not seem diffi- 
 cult. Even shortly after the invention of the art I tried to fill in 
 a chalk drawing with more than one colour, for which purpose I 
 used to cut out patterns, in the manner of card-makers. I took 
 on transparent paper as many impressions as the number of 
 colours amounted to which I wished to print. Then I cut 
 out in one all those spots which were to be coloured red, in 
 another all those that were to be green, and so on. When the 
 stone was wetted, the cut-out impression was put upon it, and 
 the uncovered spots charged with the colour. As soon as all 
 the colours were thus put on the stone, and during this process 
 the stone was wetted several times, I took the impression, 
 which in general had a good effect, though more like a sketch 
 of a coloured drawing than a real picture, because in no colour, 
 except black, vermilion, and dark blue, could I obtain the 
 necessary degree of strength, at least in proportion to the rest 
 of the colours. But by having recourse to more than one 
 stone, each of which must be drawn in such a manner as to 
 correspond with the greater or less degree of strength necessary 
 for the colour, very perfect impressions, similar to the English 
 coloured prints, may be obtained, especially when the pen, or 
 hair-brush drawing, and the chalk drawing are united. 
 
 6. The rough preparation of the stone can be also produced 
 
253 
 
 by acid, instead of sand, as above described ; this is done in 
 the following manner : Polish the stone as smooth as possible 
 with pumice-stone, wash it with a solution of aqua-fortis, and 
 afterwards with gum-water. Let it then be well cleaned with 
 water, and wiped with a clean cloth. After this, let a thin 
 but uniform coat of tallow be put over it ; a small quantity of 
 lamp-black may be mixed with it, in order to distinguish 
 more easily whether the greasy coat be equal on all the parts 
 of the stone. Take a roller covered with fine cloth, and pass 
 it over the stone, till the coat becomes perfectly equal through- 
 out. Let a few drops of diluted aqua-fortis be applied to a cor- 
 ner of the margin, and observe carefully whether this acid has 
 penetrated in an equal manner to the surface, and causes small 
 equidistant bubbles to arise on the surface. Some practice is 
 necessary, to determine the exact thickness of the coat ; it 
 must be very thin, and just thick enough to resist, in some 
 degree, the action of the aqua-fortis ; so that it may affect only 
 those spots which, by the friction of the roller, have been de- 
 prived of their coat. If the trial in the corner of the stone 
 answers expectation, let an elevated margin of wax be put 
 round the stone, such as copperplate-engravers make, and then 
 let a proportionate quantity of diluted aqua-fortis be poured 
 all over the stone, so as entirely to cover its surface. A very 
 weak solution of aqua-fortis, for instance, forty parts of 
 water to one of aqua-fortis, is better than too strong an acid, 
 which is very apt to affect the stone too much. As soon 
 as the bubbles attain the size of the heads of small pins, 
 
 2 k 2 
 
254 
 
 let the aqua-fortis be removed, and pure water poured in its 
 stead over the stone, in order to destroy the bubbles ; as soon 
 as this is effected, the water must be let off, and a solution of 
 aqua-fortis put in its place again ; this operation ought to be 
 repeated three, four, or five times, according to the size of the 
 grain to be produced, and then the stone ought to be cleaned 
 with oil of turpentine, in order to remove all remaining par- 
 ticles of grease. It ought next to be washed, first with a weak 
 solution of aqua-fortis, and then with a great quantity of water ; 
 and, lastly, it ought to be wiped clean with linen rags. When 
 thus prepared it is fit for use ; and, if this operation has suc- 
 ceeded, the grain produced will be much more equal and finer 
 than if it had been obtained by rubbing the stone with sand. 
 
 7. The operation just described explains the process of 
 drawing with chalk upon a stone previously prepared with 
 aqua-fortis and gum-water ; this process is not in the least 
 injurious to the durability of the drawing, provided the con- 
 nexion of the gum with the stone be perfectly destroyed by 
 the subsequent application of diluted aqua-fortis ; and the 
 effect of this acid be removed by frequent washing with pure 
 water. If the chemical chalk in its composition contains a 
 great quantity of soap, the success will be more certain ; be- 
 cause, after having been twice, and, including the intervals 
 between the elevated points, three times exposed to the action 
 of the aqua-fortis, the stone requires afterwards, in the finer and 
 more delicate shades, but a very slight degree of biting in. 
 
255 
 
 The biting in of the drawing, at least before it is washed with 
 gum-water, and charged with etching-colour, is altogether 
 unnecessary, and every one must decide from his own expe- 
 rience, whether in general it may or may not be advantageous, 
 previously to bite in the stones with weak aqua-fortis, after 
 having been prepared even with sand, and to clean them well 
 again with water,, before the chalk drawing is begun. 
 
 8. Some experiments, which I tried to bite in chalk-drawings 
 stronger than usual, convinced me, that though the finest spots 
 suffered some injury, yet by the application of a flat knife they 
 could be perfectly well restored ; and I thus obtained the ad- 
 vantage of having the stone better prepared, than can be ef- 
 fected by the common way of biting in too little. 
 
 9. Should a chalk-drawing by negligence or ignorance be 
 spoiled during the printing, the same observations which were 
 made with respect to pen-drawings, apply here. — As to the 
 corrections, the judgment of the artist must decide, which of 
 the proposed means and expedients are best suited for the 
 various cases. — In general it may be said, that the best manner 
 of mending such places as have been injured by rubbing, is to 
 re-touch them with chalk, and for such places as have become 
 soiled, the application of stronger ink, and subsequent charging 
 with etching colour, and then a weak application of diluted 
 aqua-fortis are advisable, which operation must always be 
 terminated by washing with gum-water. 
 
256 
 
 / 
 
 § 3. Transfer and Tracing ^Manner. 
 
 In Pen, or Chalk drawings, all the lines and points which 
 are to take ink and be printed, are drawn with a greasy matter 
 on the stone itself. But there is another manner in Lithography 
 where the drawing or writing with the same unctuous compo- 
 sition is made on paper, and is transferred from thence by arti- 
 ficial dissolution to the stone, and printed from it. This manner 
 is peculiar to the chemical printing, and I am strongly inclined 
 to believe, that it is the principal and most important part of my 
 discovery. In order to multiply copies of your ideas by print- 
 ing, it is no longer necessary to learn to write in an inverted 
 sense ; but every person who with common ink can write on 
 paper, may do the same with chemical ink, and by the transfer 
 of his writing to the stone, it can be multiplied ad in/initum. 
 At Munich, at Paris, and St. Petersburgh, this manner is 
 already used in the government offices. All resolutions, edicts, 
 orders, fyc, agreed to in the cabinet meetings, are written 
 down on paper by the secretary with chemical ink ; in the 
 space of an hour fifty impressions may be had and distributed 
 at pleasure. For circulars, and in general all such orders of 
 government as must be rapidly distributed, an invention like 
 this is of the utmost consequence ; and I am convinced, that 
 before ten years shall elapse, all the European governments 
 will be possessed of a lithographical establishment for trans- 
 
257 
 
 ferring writing to the stone. In time of war, this method is 
 of the greatest use for the general staff of the army ; it supplies 
 entirely the want of a field printing-office, and admits of greater 
 despatch and secrecy. The commanding officer may write his 
 orders with his own hand, and in his presence a number of im- 
 pressions may be taken from them by a person who can neither 
 write nor read ; or by placing the stone in such a manner that 
 the reverse is turned towards the printer, he may be prevented 
 from reading any thing. If plans of military positions or topo- 
 graphical sketches must be given, the engineer has only to 
 draw them on paper, and in a short space of time all the general 
 officers may be supplied with them. In commerce and trade 
 the transfer manner will, ere long, be generally introduced ; 
 especially in great commercial houses, where it often happens 
 that a quick and accurate multiplication of price lists, letters, 
 and accounts is of the utmost importance. Men of letters and 
 authors may by means of it multiply in a cheap and easy 
 manner their manuscripts, which they are often obliged to 
 transcribe with great pain and trouble to themselves. Music 
 printing will, by the introduction of this manner, receive new 
 life, as the expenses of engraving will be very greatly reduced. 
 In all countries, where type-printing is not yet introduced and 
 type foundries are unknown, the transfer-manner will obtain 
 the preference ; and even in European printing-offices, where a 
 number of books in the oriental languages are printed, in those 
 of the Bible societies for instance, it will be found highly advan- 
 tageous. — It will be of the utmost benefit to artists by enabling 
 
258 
 
 them to obtain fac similes of their drawings. From the most 
 sincere conviction of its utility, and not any motive of vanity, I 
 have thus detailed in a brief manner the various advantages of 
 transfer-printing ; it would indeed be an easy matter, by ex- 
 patiating on these advantages, to fill a whole book. I wish 
 from the bottom of my heart to gain friends to this manner, 
 and to point out the various important purposes to which it 
 may be applied, in order that clever artists may devote them- 
 selves to its improvement. 
 
 In the various methods which I have tried in the transfer 
 manner, in order to transfer a writing executed with chemical 
 ink to paper, I have used either hard or soft ink : and the 
 paper may either be prepared on purpose or not. The operation 
 of transferring may be effected either with warm or cold stones. 
 The writing may either be entirely dissolved, or only in part. 
 To describe all this, would lead to unnecessary digressions ; 
 and I have, therefore, chosen in the following lines to commu- 
 nicate only that method, which after many experiments, I am 
 of opinion is the best ; viz., that where soft ink is used for the 
 writing, and the stone is not warmed before the transfer, this 
 is the best, quickest, and surest manner, and possesses besides 
 the advantage of not spoiling the original. Take as much as 
 the size of a hazel-nut of the chemical ink described page 112, 
 dissolve it in a clean saucer, and dilute it with rain or soft river 
 water. The degree of liquidity should differ according to the 
 size of the characters ; if they are of a large size, the ink 
 
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259 
 
 ought to be made very fluid, in order that after the drying the 
 letters may not have too much body, which disposes them to 
 spread. It is not quite so easy to write with the chemical ink, 
 as with the common writing-ink prepared from gall-nuts and 
 vitriol of iron. This is owing to the following disagreeable 
 qualities which it possesses, viz., its tendency to run on the 
 paper and to affect very soon the writing pens, by rendering 
 their point soft, which causes them to require frequent cutting. 
 Perhaps, one day an ingenious chemist may obviate these incon- 
 veniencies by inventing ink of a more perfect composition. 
 Practice, however, is of great advantage in this respect, and 
 there are several copyists at Munich, who can write with chemi- 
 cal ink with almost as much ease as with common ink. The 
 best plan is to have a store of new-cut pens in readiness, and 
 to lay aside those which have been used for a time to dry. As 
 to the running, there are some sorts of writing paper, which 
 are not liable to this defect. But I have discovered a compo- 
 sition by which almost every species of paper may be rendered 
 fit for the use of the chemical ink. If a steel pen could be in- 
 vented, as flexible and elastic as a common goose-quill, this 
 would be attended with great advantage, and then the art 
 would be near its perfection. 
 
 The following is the composition for preparing the paper, 
 for very fine writing or very delicate drawings ; — Take half an 
 ounce of gum-tragant in a clean cup, and fill the cup with 
 water ; let this stand at least forty-eight hours : a week or two, 
 
 2 L 
 
2(>0 
 
 however, is still better. During this time the gum will be dis- 
 solved and form a kind of paste with the water, not unlike 
 common starch. Then work the mixture well together, and 
 press it through a clean cloth, in order to remove all unclean- 
 ness. After this, let one ounce of common joiners glue, and 
 half an ounce of gamboge, be dissolved together in water. 
 Then take four ounces of fine French chalk, half an ounce of 
 plaster of Paris, mixed with water and afterwards dried, and 
 one ounce of common starch. Let all these ingredients be well 
 pulverized and mixed with a proportionate quantity of the 
 above liquid, so as to form a fine paste ; let the rest of the 
 liquid composition be then added to it, and let the whole be 
 pressed through a fine cloth. Add a sufficient quantity of 
 water to make it so liquid, that with a hair-brush it may be 
 applied to the paper. The paper, by this operation, will take a 
 light yellowish colour; when dry, let it be put with the pre- 
 pared side on a smooth stone, and passed through the press 
 with a considerable pressure, in order to effect a still finer pre- 
 paration for drawing upon it in very delicate lines.* This com- 
 position must be used sparingly, or the ink will be apt to spread 
 in the print. 
 
 While the drawing is drying on the paper, take a very 
 
 * The fine French paper, called Papier de Satin, is very good for the above use ; 
 and for this paper, another composition, composed of glue dissolved in water and 
 Venetian sugar of lead, mixed with a small portion of hogs' lard, may be used. After 
 it is dry, let it be pressed through the press upon a smooth stone, to render it as 
 brilliant and smooth as before. 
 
261 
 
 clean stone, carefully rubbed down before-hand, and, in order 
 to be quite sure of the effect, let it be rubbed down a second 
 time with water and pumice-stone, so that no stain or par- 
 ticle of grease may be left in any part of it. Let the dust aris- 
 ing from the rubbing down be carefully wiped off with soft 
 waste paper ; let the stone then be fixed in the press, and 
 the scraper well examined, to ascertain whether it fits the stone 
 exactly. Great care must be taken not to touch the surface of 
 the stone thus prepared, even with the finger, and still more 
 not to soil it with grease or dust. Then examine the paper, 
 to see whether the whole of the lines composing the drawing 
 are perfectly dry ; if this is the case, let the reverse side of it 
 be sponged with very weak aqua-fortis, till it is thoroughly wet 
 and soaked. Then put it for some time between dry blotting 
 paper, in order to free it from the superfluous liquid, and ren- 
 der it uniformly moist ; for it must not be too wet, but only 
 soft, otherwise the ink in transferring would be liable to spread. 
 When the paper has thus obtained the proper degree of softness 
 or dampness, let it be placed on the stone with the side contain- 
 ing the drawing next the stone, but without moving it much, or 
 altering its position ; let two sheets of dry blotting paper be put 
 upon it, then a piece of silk cloth, then again a sheet of blotting 
 paper ; and let the stone, under a moderate pressure, be passed 
 two or three times through the press. In very large plates, 
 it is desirable to use a cylinder-press, instead of a lever-press. 
 After this the stone ought to be taken out of the press, and 
 left to dry for a minute or two. It must next be placed in the 
 
 2 l2 
 
262 
 
 preparing vessel or box, used for biting in, and let a weak so- 
 lution of aqua-fortis, one hundred parts of water to one of 
 aqua-fortis, be poured over it, as in chalk drawings, so as to wet 
 the whole of the surface. When this is done, let pure water 
 be poured in like manner over it until the paper is disengaged, 
 and the stone ought then to be put by for some minutes to dry. 
 If the work presses very much, the solution of gum, necessary 
 for the preparation of the stone, may be applied directly. 
 The drawing is supposed to be now on the stone, bitten in, 
 and prepared. But, in order to be sure of obtaining very clean 
 impressions, the ink must be well prepared, the stone charged 
 with etching-colour, and bitten in a second time, and more 
 strongly than before. Do this in the following manner : — Take 
 a small piece of linen or cotton, dip it in the colour which has 
 been spread on the stone, till the colour has every where ad- 
 hered to it ; rub the transfer on the stone all over with this, 
 till all the lines and points of it look jet-black. This must be 
 done while the gum is yet on the stone. I call this operation 
 the ink preparation ; and as in the course of this chapter I 
 shall have occasion to mention it repeatedly, I shall henceforth 
 suppose it known to my readers. 
 
 The transfer manner is not only applicable to pen drawings, 
 but likewise to chalk drawings. The chalk for this purpose 
 must be rendered very soft by adding a little tallow to it ; or 
 if hard chalk is preferred, the stone, before the transfer, must 
 be warmed a little. But the filling in of it, or the ink pre- 
 
263 
 
 paration, cannot be effected till it is quite cold again. For chalk 
 transfers a common well-sized drawing paper is necessary, 
 which must be soaked afterwards with a stronger solution of 
 aqua-fortis, in order to leave the chalk more uniform. The 
 rest of the process corresponds with that above described. 
 
 Besides these two sorts of drawings, the transfer manner is 
 applicable to all products of printing, either with types or 
 wooden blocks ; and a newly-printed sheet can immediately be 
 transferred to the stone, especially when the printer, instead of 
 his common ink, has used the above-mentioned etching-colour, 
 or ink. In order to obtain a perfect transfer, the printer ought 
 not to apply too great a pressure, by which the types make 
 impressions or small cavities in the paper ; if, however, these 
 cavities have been produced, the printed sheet, before being 
 transferred, must be passed through the press under a moderate 
 pressure, in order to become perfectly level and smooth, and 
 free from all impressions. But lest in effecting this, the ink 
 should be too much weakened, and afterwards unable to pro- 
 duce a perfect transfer, the best way is to soak the printed 
 sheet, to put it upon a perfectly wet stone which has been 
 previously well prepared, in order to diminish its tendency to 
 take ink, and pass it through the press with a very moderate 
 pressure. 
 
 The tracing-manner has a very great resemblance to the 
 transfer-manner, as the quantity of grease left on the stone is 
 
264 
 
 very trifling, and can only obtain the necessary strength by 
 subsequent ink-preparation. It is managed in the following 
 manner : — Take a piece of very thin bank post-paper, rub one 
 side of it with tallow and lampblack, and wipe it carefully, so 
 that only a fine coat may remain on the paper ; which, when 
 placed on a clean stone, will not soil it, provided it be not violently 
 pressed upon it. If on such a paper a drawing has been execut- 
 ed with a common lead-pencil, containing no hard particles or 
 sand-grains in its composition ; or with a composition of lead, 
 bismuth, and zinc ; the lines touched by this pencil must be 
 violently pressed upon the stone, which, in the parts thus 
 pressed, takes the grease, and can afterwards be printed. The 
 operation of biting in of a drawing thus traced, must be done 
 with a great deal of care, and the aqua-fortis must be very 
 weak and diluted. The rest of the process is the same as in 
 the transfer manner. 
 
 This manner holds a medium between the pen and chalk 
 manners. For sketches, or such drawings as are to be coloured 
 afterwards, [it is of great use, very easy, and takes but very 
 little time. 
 
 § 4. The Wood-cut Manner. 
 
 Here the dark parts of the design are covered entirely with 
 chemical ink. When perfectly dry, the lights are taken out 
 
265 
 
 with apointed and flat etching needle. As to the parts 
 which are more white than dark, and where very fine points 
 and lines occur, they are produced by the pen. The wood-cut 
 manner, therefore, differs principally in the management of the 
 darker parts from the common pen-drawing. The execution 
 of it on the stone is a great deal easier than on wood. Among 
 the specimens will be found one which shows how the wood- 
 cut and chalk manners may be imitated. 
 
 § 5. Two sorts of India-Ink Drawing. 
 
 One of these manners is in practice very like the wood-cut 
 manner, but the effect of it is more like that of scraped or 
 mezzotinto engravings. The following are the details of the 
 operation : — The stone is prepared of a coarse grain, cleaned 
 with water, washed with soap water, wiped and dried ; and, 
 lastly, a thin coloured-coat of grease is put over it. This last 
 is done by covering the plate either with etching ground (as 
 will be described elsewhere in the engraved manner,) or with 
 hard chemical ink. The previous biting in and preparing is 
 indispensable, in order that this coat of grease may not pene- 
 trate too deep into the stone, but remain only on the surface. 
 The drawing is now executed with the same tools which mez- 
 zotinto engravers use ; the more you scrape away, the stronger 
 the lights appear. This method is, therefore, perfectly similar 
 to that described for preparing tint-plates ; but it requires a 
 
266 
 
 greater degree of attention, as the plate in this case serves not 
 only to heighten the effect, but represents a finished drawing. 
 In this manner, contrary to the common way of engraving, all 
 must be worked from shade to light. The drawing being 
 completed, it is bitten in (this is best done with phosphoric 
 acid,) and washed with gum-water. A few drops of oil of tur- 
 pentine are then poured over it, and all the colour is wiped off 
 with a woollen rag, without rubbing hard. The stone may 
 now be filled in with a strong etching colour, and in printing 
 it, care must be taken not to press it so much as to cause the 
 spreading of the ink. Several experiments made by myself, 
 have convinced me sufficiently that, in this manner, very fine 
 india-ink drawings may be produced ; especially when the very 
 dark spots are engraved, and when the stone is not charged 
 with the roller, but filled in with linen rags, as will be more 
 fully described in the engraved manner. 
 
 The second manner, if carried to the degree of perfection of 
 which it is capable, would surpass even the chalk drawing. 
 As I have tried a great number of experiments in it, I shall 
 here communicate my method to my readers, in order to point 
 out a way by which the improvement and perfection of this 
 very interesting manner may be attempted. The stone, which 
 must be very clean, and free from all grease, should be pre- 
 pared of a coarse grain, washed with soap-water, cleaned with 
 turpentine, and left to dry. Then let a hard chemical ink, 
 which in its composition must contain a proportionally great 
 
267 
 
 quantity of soap, be dissolved in rain-water ; the drawing should 
 then be executed on it in the same manner as you would observe 
 in an Indian ink drawing on paper. When all is completed and 
 perfectly dry, let the whole surface be rubbed with a brush or 
 cloth, in order to produce small holes in the colour. But as 
 on those places where the ink is thinner, the effect of the rubbing 
 is greater than on those where the coat is of more consistency, 
 the aqua-fortis which is subsequently applied will bite them 
 in stronger, and will render them lighter in proportion to the 
 gradation of the different tints ; but much will depend on the 
 durability of the ink. It therefore requires some practice to 
 determine the necessary strength of the aqua-fortis, and of the 
 ink ; for this purpose it is advisable to prepare at once a 
 greater quantity of ink, and to write down the exact proportion 
 of the mixture of aqua-fortis with water, and make some 
 experiments, in order to be sure of success in subsequent ap- 
 plications. In no case, however, should the aqua-fortis, or 
 other acid applied, be too strong ; and the biting in must be 
 effected in the manner which is practised by engravers, by 
 surrounding the stone with a border or rim of wax, and not by 
 infusion or washing, for the effect of the aqua-fortis must be 
 equal and uniform on the whole surface. As soon as the bub- 
 bles are of the size of a small pin-head, let this aqua-fortis be 
 taken off, and fresh poured on, in order to destroy these bub- 
 bles. The number of times this is to be repeated, must de- 
 pend on the strength of the ink. The smaller the quantity of 
 lampblack it contains, the stronger it is, and the better it will 
 
 2 M 
 
268 
 
 resist the aqua-fortis. It remains to be observed, that to pro- 
 duce very dark shades, the strong touches must be twice passed 
 over with chemical ink, even after the plate has been wiped 
 with cloth, because by this rubbing or wiping the darkest 
 spots, if not very strongly expressed, are too much perforated, 
 and in the printing would appear too light. The washing of 
 the stone with gum-water after the biting in, is a matter of 
 course. The putting on of the ink is done with the cylinder, 
 or, as in the engraved manner, by rubbing in. The latter 
 method produces softer, but not very dark, impressions. So 
 much as to this manner, which I am sure deserves to be more 
 known and practised by artists, than it has hitherto been. I 
 conclude with the observation, that in this manner tint plates 
 may be very well prepared for chalk drawings. 
 
 § 6. The sprinkled Manner. 
 
 This easy manner will, I am sure, become one day very 
 general. It is practised in the following way : — The outlines 
 of the drawing are traced on a stone prepared for pen-drawing ; 
 then they are retraced four times, on different sheets of paper. 
 In each of these sheets, all those places which belong to one 
 of the four principal tints are cut out with a pen-knife, so that 
 these four sheets may serve as patterns, such as those which 
 card-makers use. The principal outlines of the drawing being 
 now traced on the stone with a pen or hair-brush, let one of 
 
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 the patterns be placed exactly upon it, and kept down with 
 some weight to prevent its moving ; the operation of sprinkling 
 may then be performed. This is done by dipping a tooth- 
 brush in chemical ink, and by passing it over the edge of a 
 knife, so as to sprinkle the ink on the stone. After this ope- 
 ration it is necessary to try the sprinkling a few times on paper, 
 to remove the superfluous ink, and to see whether the points 
 produced by it correspond to the degree of shade required. By 
 practice in this operation fine and uniform points may be pro- 
 duced, such as it would be impossible to make with the pen. 
 As soon as, by repeated sprinkling of the chemical ink on the 
 parts of the stone which have been cut out, the adequate tint 
 is produced, the stone must be left to dry; then the second 
 pattern should be placed upon it, and the above operation re- 
 peated. The greater the number of patterns which are made, 
 the more the drawing may be finished by sprinkling. Bat it 
 is not necessary to make too many, as, in general, the drawing 
 must always be finished by hand. This finishing is completed 
 by reducing the points which are too large with the needle, 
 and by uniting the different tints with the pen, and by thus 
 introducing the just proportion of the tints and tone. The pro- 
 cess in biting in and printing is the same as in pen-drawings. 
 
 § 7. India-Ink Drawing ; with several Plates. 
 
 This manner is a multiplication of tint plates ; drawings may 
 
 2 m 2 
 
270 
 
 be produced by it equal to those made in Sepia or Bister. 
 Great attention, however, is required in fitting and printing 
 the stones, each plate yielding a distinct tint or shade, which, 
 when properly fitted, in printing produces an admirable effect. 
 The outlines are drawn with chemical ink on the stone ; then 
 transfers of the same are printed upon four, five, or six other 
 stones prepared for pen-drawings, in which the two leading, or 
 marking points, for the exact fitting of one impression on the 
 other, as already described in the tint plates, must be likewise 
 printed. Then the darkest shades, or tints, are put on the 
 first stone, the middle tint on the second, the half tint on the 
 third ; and so on, till the whole drawing is completed. The 
 drawing must be executed with the camel hair-brush and flat 
 tools. The sharp lights are either pared or scraped out from 
 the lightest tint stone ; the dark touches, if any are required, 
 must have a separate plate or stone. One or more of these 
 stones may be done in chalk, in order to produce more gra- 
 dations of the tint ; but to imitate the effect of India ink cor- 
 rectly, the number of plates must be increased, in order to 
 conceal as much as possible of the chalk-drawing*. The biting 
 in is the same as in pen-drawings. In the printing, appropriate 
 ink must be chosen for every plate, answering to the tint 
 
 # This sort of India ink-drawings may be printed with transparent or opaque- 
 coloured ink, according to the choice of the artist. The first is prepared with strong 
 varnish, mixed with French chalk, and, according to the strength of the tint, with 
 more or less lamp-black. For the second, the same varnish, with white lead, mixed 
 with a proportionate quantity of ink. The latter has more resemblance to those 
 
271 
 
 requisite for that part of the drawing. It is hardly necessary to 
 mention that great care must be taken to make the drawings 
 on the different stones coincide perfectly with one another ; 
 and I would only observe, in recommendation of this manner, 
 that any seeming difficulty ought not to deter a person from 
 continuing it, as a small degree of practice will convince him 
 that no other is so fit for producing very finished drawings. 
 
 § 8. Manner o f Printing in Colours ivith several Plates. 
 
 This manner, in which the different colours are drawn with 
 the pen, with the brush, or with chalk, on several plates, has 
 in practice the greatest resemblance to that which has just been 
 described. The manner in which the artist executes the draw- 
 ing will determine whether it is to resemble a painting, or an 
 engraving printed in colours ; or, when the different colour- 
 plates are printed upon a black impression, which already con- 
 tains the whole of the drawing, whether it is to resemble an 
 engraving coloured by the hand. In other respects, the whole 
 process is like that just mentioned ; and I have only there- 
 fore to treat of the composition of the colours which I found 
 best to answer the purpose. For a red colour, take vermilion, 
 red-lake of cochineal, or carmine, mixed previously with 
 
 drawings which are commonly called gray neutral tint. If one wishes to obtain brown 
 impressions, a little vermilion, burnt umber, or red-lake, and a sufficient quantity of 
 lamp-black, may be added. 
 
272 
 
 Venetian turpentine, and then with varnish. The varnish must 
 be added after the turpentine, otherwise it will not unite 
 with the rest, and, when mixed with water, it will produce 
 a red tint all over the paper. For a blue colour, take Prussian 
 blue, or mineral blue ; of these colours, however, only a small 
 quantity can be mixed at a time, as they last but a few hours, 
 dry very quickly, and render the varnish too hard, so that it 
 must be diluted with linseed-oil. Fine indigo may likewise 
 be used. For green and yellow I have not yet been able to 
 discover good compositions. Verdigris is very difficult to ma- 
 nage, and will mix with very few colours, and is apt to soil 
 the stones. Schweinfurt green, a newly-discovered colour, is 
 much better, but not deep enough. Prussian blue, or indigo, 
 with crome yellow, or king's yellow, as also Prussian blue and 
 yellow ochre, make tolerably good dark greens ; but with the 
 latter colour a small portion of Venetian turpentine should be 
 mixed. For a fine dark yellow I have not yet discovered a 
 good composition ; in the meantime, however, till a perfect 
 colour for this purpose be found, recourse must be had to ochre, 
 terra di Sienna, Naples yellow, mineral yellow, crome yellow, 
 and Indian yellow. From quercitron, or some substance yield- 
 ing a similar yellow colour, a durable yellow lake may be pre- 
 pared. One which I tried to prepare from French berries has 
 a very good effect, but is very perishable, and does not stand 
 the effect of the sun. 
 
 The manner of printing in different colours is peculiar to the 
 
273 
 
 stone, and capable of such a degree of perfection, that 1 have 
 no doubt perfect paintings will one day be produced by it. The 
 experience which I have gained in this respect corroborates 
 my conviction ; and if my time were not so much taken up by 
 various occupations, I would justify it by some specimens. I 
 do not, however, give the matter up, but postpone the consi- 
 deration of it to a supplement, which I shall publish perhaps 
 very soon. 
 
 § 9. Manner of Printing in Gold and Silver. 
 
 This manner is very useful for ornaments, and is thus man- 
 aged: — Those lines, or points, which, on the impression, are to 
 appear in gold or silver, are drawn with chemical ink upon a stone 
 prepared for pen-drawing ; which, after the drawing is perfectly 
 dry, is bitten in and prepared in the common manner. It is 
 then printed with a grey colour, composed of hard varnish, fine 
 chalk, and very little lampblack. The paper used for this 
 purpose must be quite dry, and very smooth. The best is the 
 French papier de satin, or the glazed English plate-paper. 
 Soon after the impression is taken, the printed places are co- 
 vered with gold or silver leaves, such as are used in gilding. 
 They are pressed down gently with cotton, to prevent their 
 flying off, then a piece of paper is put upon them. The same 
 process is observed on the second impression, and so on with 
 
274 
 
 every succeeding one. More impressions ought never to be 
 made than what can be covered with gold or silver in two 
 hours ; for when the ink is too long on the paper before it is 
 gilded, or silvered, the colour will sink into or dry on the paper, 
 and not allow the adhesion of the metal. The impressions 
 must be left for some hours, or rather till the next day ; in 
 order that the ink may adhere better, and that in the subse- 
 quent pressing the colour, it may not shine through the metal 
 and spoil its effect. The pressing of these impressions covered 
 by metal, is effected by laying six or eight of them upon a 
 clean, dry, and very smooth stone, fixed in the press, and 
 by passing them through the press with the usual power of 
 printing. The degree of pressure must be regulated by the 
 consistency of the varnish which is used for the ink. It is, 
 therefore, advisable to make first an experiment with one single 
 impression, and if it should be observed that the metal does not 
 adhere sufficiently, the degree of pressure must be increased. 
 Let the superfluous gold or silver be then gently wiped off 
 with clean cotton, which may be done without difficulty, as it 
 adheres only to the printed spots, and not to the rest of the 
 paper. If gold or silver is to be introduced into drawings, 
 where other colours, or at least the black colour, is used, the 
 metal must be put on, and fixed first of all. When the opera- 
 tion of covering and cleaning has been performed, the other 
 colours may be printed in. The precautions with respect to 
 the fitting the different plates in printing, must be diligently 
 observed. 
 
275 
 
 I conclude this chapter with the sincere wish and hope, that in 
 my explanations and descriptions I may have been sufficiently 
 clear and intelligible, and have detailed every particular opera- 
 tion in such a manner that the exertions of artists can hardly 
 fail to be attended with success, if they have only patience and 
 perseverance, and will observe with judgment and accuracy 
 the rules laid down for them. 
 
 2 N 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 The ENGRAVED MANNER of LITHOGRAPHY. 
 
 The difference between the engraved manner and the elevat- 
 ed manner consists in this — that in the former, the greasy sub- 
 stance, which, on the stone, is to attract the printing ink, lies 
 beneath its surface, as the lines of the writing, or drawing, are 
 previously engraved into the stone by the needle, or etched in- 
 to it with an acid, and subsequently filled with grease ; so that 
 it remains fixed in the cavities, and though partly pressed out 
 in the printing, can always take fresh ink. Like the elevated 
 manner, it has several subdivisions, which, as they differ in 
 management, have a different character. The principal of 
 these are the following: — 
 
 § 1. The incised or engraved Manner. 
 
 This manner is one of the most useful in Lithography, and 
 is nearly equal to the best copper-plate-printing, (provided the 
 artist has acquired sufficient practice, and the printer the neces- 
 sary experience,) while the stone can be wrought rather 
 
277 
 
 more expeditiously and easily than copper ; for fine writing 
 and maps, it is peculiarly well adapted, as the number of litho- 
 graphic maps published sufficiently prove. It is equally fit for 
 vignettes and other small drawings, as may be seen from the 
 specimens after Callot, here given. The manner of line en- 
 graving may also be imitated by it. 
 
 js, The following is the mode of managing this manner : — 
 
 Let a hard and faultless stone, of the best quality, be selected, 
 rubbed down as smooth as possible, bitten in with aqua-fortis, 
 and prepared with gum-water. This at least was my first 
 manner of proceeding, which is still to this day in use in all 
 lithographic establishments. I have since discovered, that it 
 is rather better to prepare the stone only with gum-water, with- 
 out biting it in previously, as it may thus be more easily 
 wrought on. Immediately after the stone has been prepared 
 with gum (and not after a lapse of some hours, as is usual with 
 some under the idea that they will obtain abetter preparation,) 
 let the gum be washed off with clean water, lest it penetrate 
 too deep and afterwards prevent the finest lines from taking 
 any ink. The stone ought then to be covered with a thin 
 colour, prepared from a solution of gum and lampblack or 
 red chalk ; this may be done with a flat varnish brush. This 
 preparation is intended for the double purpose, first of giving 
 a fine colour to the stone, by which the lines subsequently en- 
 graved with the needle may appear more distinctly ; and second- 
 
 2 N 2 
 
278 
 
 ly, in order to cover its prepared surface with a preserving coat, 
 which may admit the greasy colour only on those spots where 
 it has been removed by the needle. It is evident, that it must 
 possess this latter quality in a proper degree. This covering 
 colour should contain but a very small quantity of gum, which 
 ought to be just sufficient to secure the covering colour from 
 being rubbed off during the etching or engraving. As this 
 depends on the quality of the lampblack, no specific quantity 
 can be prescribed. The proportion will be best ascertained 
 by a few trials, in which it will be seen that a greater quantity 
 of gum though it preserves the stone better, causes greater 
 difficulties to the artist, as it is not very easy to work through 
 it, and the needle is apt every moment to slip. For the red 
 colour a very small solution of gum is requisite ; as for instance, 
 for a stone of the size of a folio-sheet of writing paper, a single 
 drop of gum-solution, of the consistency of common honey, is 
 sufficient. Before this covering colour is used, let it be diluted 
 as much as is necessary for laying it easily on the whole surface 
 of the plate. Both colours, the black as well as the red, can 
 be preserved and kept dry in this state for years ; and thus 
 one may be always sure of having stones equally prepared. 
 Before any thing can be done with the stone thus prepared, red 
 or black, it must be perfectly dry, otherwise even the best pre- 
 pared covering colour is liable to be rubbed off. The drawing 
 ought then to be either traced by means of transparent paper 
 on the stone, or sketched with black lead, or copied upon it 
 with a pentagraph, which on the prepared stone produces 
 
279 
 
 shining lines, that may be easily distinguished : but the pin 
 or point of the pentagraph must not be too pointed or sharp, 
 because it would then penetrate into the stone. The drawing 
 being thus traced on the stone, the principal operation of 
 engraving or cutting in the lines may be begun. 
 
 For this operation no other rule can be given, than to choose 
 good and well-pointed etching needles of the hardest steel, 
 hard enough to cut glass, and that all outlines of the drawing 
 must be done as clean as possible ; to a strong pressure and in 
 broad lines to deep engraving is therefore not always advisable. 
 For very delicate lines the stone must be but gently touched ; 
 and when they appear perfectly white, and produce a very fine 
 dust, we may be sure that in the subsequent printing they will 
 make their appearance. Broad lines may often be produced 
 by a single stroke of a broad needle, but such lines are usually 
 traced by repeated and successive passing over with the needle. 
 If the stone in the subsequent printing is to be kept clear and 
 light, the lines must have no more depth, than necessary to re- 
 move the ground, as they are otherwise liable to spread ; but 
 in valuable works of art, where you wish to obtain their full 
 beauty and colour, the printing must be performed with a strong 
 ink and receive a stronger rubbing ; the depth of the lines 
 must be proportionate, as the impression will bedarker or lighter, 
 according to their depth or shallowness. — Some practice and 
 experiments will soon enable an artist to judge how he must 
 proceed, in order to produce a drawing as clean as possible, 
 
 ♦ 
 
280 
 
 without making unequal or foul lines. It now remains for me 
 to mention the defects which may be committed during the 
 drawing. Above all things, carefully avoid touching the stone 
 with unclean or greasy hands, because it is not only very diffi- 
 cult to engrave a plate thus soiled, but the grease may pene- 
 trate through the very thin coat of gum, and in the printing 
 will be very difficult to remove, and it may thus give rise to 
 many inconveniencies. It is still more injurious, to allow wet 
 in any manner to touch the stone, because this would dissolve 
 the gum, penetrate into the lines already engraved, and affect 
 them in such a manner that in the printing they would take 
 little or no ink ; it is, therefore, necessary, especially in winter, 
 to warm the stone a little before you begin to work upon it, 
 because the humidity in the room and your breath immediately 
 settle upon the cold stone and injure it. Even the perspira- 
 tion of the hands and the exhalations from the mouth mav in- 
 jure the stone, and it is, therefore, very advisable in every case 
 to expose the stone first to a moderate warmth ; if for instance, 
 a plate has become humid by exhalation from the mouth, it 
 must be left to dry before the working is renewed, and during 
 that time all touching it or rubbing on it must be avoided. The 
 fine white dust, arising from the needle, must be removed by 
 gently blowing it away, or by means of a hairbrush. As to 
 the correction or mending of defective places observed already 
 during the engraving, they must be erased as superficially as 
 possible, in order not to make deep furrows, or be rubbed 
 down with a very fine grained piece of stone ; then again be 
 
281 
 
 prepared, and covered with the necessary coat of gum, upon 
 which the requisite corrections may be made without difficulty. 
 If some small lines only are wrong, they may be merely 
 covered with a mixture of diluted phosphoric acid, gum, and 
 lamp-black or red chalk, by which they may be so prepared as 
 to take no ink when subsequently printed. On the drawing 
 being completed, the stone, in order to receive the ink in the 
 engraved lines, must be kept very dry, but in no case ought it 
 to be warmed, as this would render it liable to soil. A soft 
 ink, composed of thin varnish, tallow, and lampblack must be 
 rubbed all over the surface of the stone, into all its lines, and 
 immediately afterwards it must be wiped off, together with the 
 red or black covering-coat, with a woollen rag dipped in 
 gum-water. Thus the stone, previously coloured black or red, 
 will be rendered perfectly white ; and the first observation, 
 which will then force itself on the observer, will be, that all 
 the lines and points of the drawing look considerably finer 
 than they seemed before, for the white lines in the dark ground 
 look broader than they do in a light ground, which pheno- 
 menon arises from optical deception. It is therefore necessary 
 in the engraving, to make all the lines a little broader, than 
 the eye would seem to require, if a good effect is to be 
 produced. 
 
 In the printing of an engraved drawing, besides those 
 things which it is necessary to attend to in the printing of all 
 the different manners ; as for instance, the proportionate pressure 
 
 i 
 
282 
 
 of the press, the sufficient soaking of the paper, fyc, printing 
 ink of a good composition, is a matter of the greatest import- 
 ance. The engraved stones may be charged with ink in 
 different ways ; 1. by rubbing the ink lightly in ; or, 2. by 
 rubbing it more strongly in ; or, 3. by rolling it in. The first 
 manner is managed in the following way : — Prepare an ink 
 from thin varnish and well burnt lampblack ; the latter may be 
 taken in great quantity, but it must be very well pulverized 
 and without grains ; mix this ink with a solution of gum equal 
 to one half of the quantity of the ink ; the solution must not 
 be too liquid, otherwise it will not easily mix with the ink. In 
 order to promote the drying, a little fine pulverised minium 
 mav be added, but no more than what is wanted for one day 
 ought to be prepared at a time, as the minium would gradually 
 dissolve in the ink and change it into a soiling preparing-ink. 
 Prior to the minium and gum being added, the printing-ink 
 may be preserved for a very long time in well closed vessels, 
 without spoiling. Sometimes a skin is formed over it ; this is 
 always taken off, when part of it is taken out for use. For 
 charging the plate with ink, three clean rags of cotton or linen 
 are necessary. The first serves to wet the stone, and at the 
 same time to wipe it perfectly clean, when the ink is put on. 
 The second is charged with printing ink, and serves to commu- 
 nicate it to the stone by gently rubbing in all directions in all 
 the engraved lines. The third rag serves to wipe off the super- 
 fluous ink which may have adhered to the prepared spots. 
 The operation is finished by rubbing the stone perfectly clean 
 
283 
 
 with the first rag. All three rags must be wetted with diluted 
 gum-water, and the first and third must be washed several 
 times during the day in clean water, and freed from any 
 printing-ink adhering to it. 
 
 It is not so easy to rub in the ink at first, as when fifty im- 
 pressions or more have been taken ; and though the ink does 
 not adhere to any but the engraved places, provided the stone 
 has not taken a kind of tint by the first rubbing in of the 
 grease-colour, yet very often particles of ink almost imper- 
 ceptible adhere to the prepared spots, which though easily 
 wiped off", sometimes appear in other places. To remedy this, 
 it is necessary to use at first either more clean rags, or more 
 gum, than afterwards. If the stone, however, is perfectly po- 
 lished, this defect will not be perceptible at all, and will dis- 
 appear entirely in the progress of the work ; so that the same 
 rag with which the ink is rubbed in, might serve to wipe the 
 plate nearly as clean as is necessary. 
 
 The second manner of charging the stone with ink, in which 
 a stronger rubbing in is used, is for the purpose of wiping the 
 ink from the less deeply engraved lines, in order that they may 
 appear lighter, and thus heightening the effect of the darker 
 and deeper engraved places, in which a greater quantity of 
 ink remains. To imitate perfectly the full beauty of a well 
 engraved copper- plate print, it is necessary, as already ob- 
 served, to attend to the proportionate depth of the lines ; and 
 
 2 o 
 
284 
 
 in the printing, the manner of rubbing the stone must correspond 
 to the nature of its different parts. This manner is, in other 
 respects, perfectly similar to the preceding ; and I have only 
 to add, that with an ink prepared from stronger varnish, very 
 fine and brilliant impressions may be obtained, provided the 
 stone can bear the strong pressure of the press which then 
 becomes necessary. 
 
 The third method of inking the stone with a roller, is similar 
 to that used in the elevated manner ; and the only circumstance 
 necessary to be mentioned here is, that the ink must be softer, 
 and the roller charged with more ink, and that it requires some 
 practice to be able to introduce the ink into all the engraved 
 lines during the rolling. With these deductions this manner 
 is the most advantageous of all, on account of the expedition 
 of which it admits, and because it does not affect the stone so 
 much, by which means a greater number of impressions may 
 be taken. The impressions, however, are very often not so 
 delicate as those produced by the rubbing method. 
 
 The stone being now charged with ink in the etched manner, 
 the impression must be taken without delay, because the ink 
 would otherwise penetrate too much into the stone to produce 
 a clean and strong impression, and a repeated charging with 
 ink would become necessary. 
 
 The paper used for the impressions of an engraved drawing, 
 
285 
 
 must be soaked a little more than is necessary for a drawing 
 in the elevated manner, but not too much ; as this, if the ink is 
 soft, disposes it to spread, and if strong, prevents the im- 
 pression from taking it at all. The force of the press must be 
 in proportion to the size of the stones, but in general it must 
 be twice or thrice as strong as for an elevated drawing of the 
 same dimensions. In very delicate engraving, a still greater 
 degree of pressure is sometimes necessary, because it is much 
 more difficult to print fine lines than strong ones. The paper 
 may be put immediately on the stone, as the danger of soiling it 
 in this manner is not so very great ; but the operation is a good 
 deal quickened when the paper is placed in a frame, instead of 
 being placed on the stone. As soon as a clean proof is taken off, 
 it must be closely examined, to see whether in the writing or 
 drawing any errors or improper lines have crept in, in order 
 to correct them before the printing commences. Should there be 
 any such errors, the stone must be washed with a weak solution 
 of gum, and taken out of the press, and then the artist may 
 proceed in the following manner with his correction : — First of 
 all, the defective or erroneous spots which are to be removed, 
 should be erased with a sharp knife, or rubbed down with a 
 fine stone ; in both manners great care must be taken not _to 
 go deeper than necessary, and not to produce cavities or fur- 
 rows, but to make the unevenness which must necessarily arise 
 on the surface so soft and imperceptible, as to have no margins 
 at all to which, during the printing, the ink can adhere, and 
 produce stains. It is advisable to make these corrections 
 
 2o2 
 
280 
 
 shortly after the first proof has been taken, and before the ink 
 lias had time to penetrate considerably into the interior of the 
 stone. The places thus amended, must then be prepared by the 
 application of a composition of six parts of water, two parts of 
 gum and one part of aqua-fortis. If, besides the removal of 
 defective or erroneous spots, additions are to be made to the 
 drawing, the stone should be entirely washed with clean water, 
 then again covered with a coat of gum and lampblack, or red 
 chalk, as before described, but very thinly, so that the whole 
 drawing may be seen distinctly through the coat ; if the addi- 
 tions are only limited to a particular spot, it is sufficient to 
 wash only a part of the stone. As soon as the coat gets dry, 
 all the requisite additions may be inserted with the engraving 
 needle ; the stone must then be treated as before, charged with 
 the ink described in the first process, cleaned with gum-water, 
 put into the press and printed. 
 
 I shall conclude this subject with some useful and neces- 
 sary observations s — 
 
 I. It often happens that a stone, after the first rubbing in of 
 grease-colour, and the subsequent cleaning with water, takes 
 a sort of tint all over its surface ; or, in other words, takes ink 
 in some degree, and seems to have lost its original preparation- 
 The cause of this may be, that the coat used for covering the 
 plate did not contain a sufficient quantity of gum ; or that the 
 rubbing in the colour was performed with too much violence, 
 
287 
 
 whereby the coat was injured ; or that the greasy ink remained 
 too long on it, before it was wiped off with gum ; or, finally, 
 that the proportions in the composition of the greasy ink were 
 not well calculated. A similar effect may be produced from 
 the same causes in the second rubbing in of the ink, after the 
 correction of the defects. Negligently prepared ink, in which 
 small grains of sand are concealed ; or ink mixed with minium 
 which has become too old ; or pressing too violently with rags 
 impregnated with grease ; or rags which were not perfectly 
 cleaned from the soap used in washing them ; or many other 
 apparently trifling circumstances, by which the stone loses en- 
 tirely, or in part, its preparation, produce the same effect of 
 spreadinga gray shade, or tint, over the whole surface of the stone. 
 To remedy and remove this defect, more gum must be added to 
 the ink, and even to the water in which the rags are dipped ; 
 sometimes the application of a stronger ink removes it, which 
 must, when wiped off, be rubbed more violently ; by which 
 operation, this stronger ink takes with it at the same time all 
 the soil remaining on the stone. If this should not produce the 
 desired effect, there is no other remedy than to rub down gently 
 the whole surface of the stone, with a very fine-grained pu- 
 mice-stone and gum-water ; or, as this is not applicable to very 
 delicate drawings, where the fine lines have scarcely any depth 
 at all, the stone must be washed with diluted aqua-fortis, or 
 very weak phosphoric acid, applied by means of a rag very 
 sparingly dipped into it, till this unwished-for tint disappears. 
 It is good to add a little gum, and rub in the stone previously 
 
288 
 
 with etching ink, in order to prevent the acid from affecting 
 the drawing too much. 
 
 When by this operation, and repeated biting in, the tint is 
 removed, it sometimes happens that another defect arises, viz., 
 that the ink, after the rubbing in, cannot be entirely wiped off, 
 and that a quantity of small black points remain in different 
 parts of the surface ; this arises from the roughness produced by 
 the repeated biting in. It is, therefore, necessary to use at first 
 several clean rags and gum-water for wiping the stone, or to 
 pass the roller gently over the stone, after it is charged with 
 ink, by which operation all the little black spots are removed ; 
 in general, this defect very seldom occurs when the ink is put 
 on by the roller. As soon as several impressions are taken, 
 this roughness of the surface disappears, and the plate may be 
 wiped off, without leaving any black spots or points behind. As 
 I have observed, however, this roughness may be immediately 
 removed, by rubbing the surface gently with pumice-stone ; 
 but this is a dangerous operation, as the delicate lines of the 
 drawing may be easily injured by it. 
 
 2. A very fine line, of so inconsiderable a depth as to be 
 nearly on a level with the surface of the stone, may, by repeat- 
 ed printing and rubbing with the ink-rag, become gradually 
 as black as a deep engraved one ; and with a hard ink the 
 broader lines are liable to be so much overcharged with black, 
 as to spread considerably in the printing. If the roller is passed 
 over the stone a few times, it will take off the superfluous ink, 
 
289 
 
 but this is an unnecessary prolongation of the operation, as by 
 some practice in rubbing in the ink, and by using ink of a 
 good composition, the same purpose may be attained, without 
 any fear of the roller taking off too much ink from the 
 cavities of the engraved lines, as the ink in these is generally 
 of a much softer nature than that on the roller. If the roller 
 has been charged with too liquid an ink, this will not 
 happen, but then such an ink does not take off so well the 
 stains and impurities on the stone, for it is very apt to leave 
 small particles behind. 
 
 3. The best manner of putting the ink on an engraved draw- 
 ing, is to rub it first with a strong ink, in which a sufficient 
 quantity of gum must be mixed ; to wipe this away, and then 
 to rub the surface gently with a rag impregnated with softer 
 ink, without employing any pressure. A strong and dry ink 
 does not adhere well to the finest lines, and is very difficult to 
 manage in the printing. But in the manner just described, 
 the strong ink first employed will produce clean and distinct 
 impressions of the broad and deep lines ; and by the subsequent 
 addition of a softer ink, the fine and delicate lines will get the 
 necessary strength and blackness. The rag containing this 
 soft ink must not, however, be overcharged with it, but 
 contain just sufficient to make it black, otherwise the soft ink 
 would penetrate into the deep-engraved lines, and mix with 
 the harder ink already rubbed in there. When all is done, the 
 
290 
 
 stone must be wiped again with a perfectly clean rag, to take 
 away all the remaining spots or particles of ink. 
 
 § 2. The manner of Etching on Stone. 
 
 In this manner the lines of a writing, or drawing, are not 
 produced by the graver, but bitten in with aqua-fortis, or any 
 other acid ; and in tracing the drawing, no other pressure is 
 employed than what is just necessary to cut through the coat 
 of varnish with which the plate is covered. This manner, there- 
 fore, admits of greater liberty in the management of the needle, 
 and is particularly adapted for landscapes and drawings in 
 Rembrandt's style. The process to be observed in this manner 
 is very like the etching of copper-plates, and the effect pro- 
 duced in both is nearly the same. There is this advantage, 
 however, in the etching on stone, that, by a greater pressure 
 of the needle, the lines can be made stronger, by cutting them 
 in somewhat deeper ; so that, in the subsequent etching, they 
 grow considerably broader and stronger ; an advantage which, 
 in copper, it is impossible, or very difficult, to obtain. This 
 circumstance, and the increased expedition in printing, recom- 
 mend it particularly to the artist ; in other respects, little is 
 gained in labour, as nearly the same management is required 
 as in etching on copper. It is necessary, however, at all events 
 that a good lithographic artist should be familiar with it, as it 
 
Etched on Stone, 
 
291 
 
 is not only very useful in itself, but may, in conjunction with 
 other manners, be applied to the best and most excellent pro- 
 ductions, and may be regarded as the foundation of all the 
 other branches of the deeply-etched and engraved manner. 
 The following is the mode of treatment : — Let the stone be 
 rubbed down as smooth as possible, then washed with aqua- 
 fortis and gum, so that its surface may be perfectly prepared. 
 The aqua-fortis may be as strong as that used in the biting in 
 of the pen-drawing. The stone requires only to be washed 
 well with a sponge, dipped in stronger aqua-fortis ; but care 
 must be taken to do this uniformly, otherwise inequalities may 
 arise on its surface. When this operation has been performed, 
 the stone, after the lapse of some minutes, must be cleaned 
 with pure water and left to dry. Let it then be covered with 
 the etching-ground. This may be done in different ways; 
 the following deserve the preference : — 
 
 1. Let the stone be heated to a degree such as engravers re- 
 quire for laying an etching-ground on copper-plates ; so that 
 the etching-ground which has become liquid, may, with a 
 leather or silk ball, be spread all over the surface uniformly, 
 but very thinly. In heating the stone, care must be taken to 
 heat it equally in all its parts, in order not to expose it to the 
 danger of breaking. If there is any opportunity for heating it in 
 a baker's oven, this would be very desirable. After its first heat 
 is over, no particular preparation or contrivance will be neces- 
 sary. The stone being thus covered with etching-ground, let 
 
 2p 
 
292 
 
 it be turned upside down, when yet warm, and then smoked, 
 or blackened, with a common tallow or wax candle, in the 
 manner in which engravers blacken their copper-plates. In 
 order to do this on the heavy stone with ease, and without 
 danger, a particular contrivance is necessary. Take two per- 
 pendicular boards, which, according to the size of the stone, can 
 be placed at a greater or smaller distance from one another, 
 and let the stone be placed so as to rest upon thein at its two 
 extremities. A candle may then be easily introduced under it, 
 and thus it may be blackeued without difficulty. The stone 
 should now be left to cool, and care must be taken that no dust 
 gets upon it. When cooled, the dust will no longer injure it ; 
 and it may be preserved for any length of time, provided the 
 coat is not injured, but remains whole and undamaged. 
 
 2. The manner just described is certainly the most perfect ; 
 yet, as the heating of the stone is attended with some difficulty, 
 another manner, in which no heat is required, will, in 
 some cases, be preferable. In this second manner the com- 
 mon etching-ground is dissolved in oil of turpentine ; and then, 
 as in the preceding, it is spread upon the stone with a clean 
 printers' ball. The stone must then be preserved for a day at 
 least, in a place well secured against dust, in order to allow 
 time for the oil of turpentine to evaporate. The etching- 
 ground thus dissolved and rendered liquid, may also be spread 
 on the stone with a hair-brush, but it requires some practice to 
 spread it equally, and to avoid laying it in some places too 
 
293 
 
 thick, and in others too thin on. The surface of the stone 
 must be every where covered with it, thick enough to resist suf- 
 ficiently the action of the aqua-fortis, so long as it is not re- 
 moved by the needle, or tracing-instrument. In order to 
 colour the etching-ground, it may, as in the first manner, be 
 smoked, or a red or black colour, vermilion, or lampblack, 
 may be mixed with the etching-ground, previously to its being 
 spread on the stone. In order to be very sure that the aqua- 
 fortis do not penetrate the etching-ground, it ought, last of all, 
 to have a solution of hard chemical ink rolled over it. When the 
 stone has been covered with etching-ground in either manner, 
 the outlines of the drawing are traced upon it from transparent 
 paper, or transferred to it ; in the latter case, as soon as the trans- 
 fer to the stone is finished, a solution of chemical ink, in which, 
 however, there must be no lampblack or other colour, so that 
 it may be perfectly transparent, ought to be spread over it, 
 though very thinly. This is the more necessary, as the in- 
 equalities in the paper, and the force of the press, may produce 
 small holes in the coat, with which the stone must be covered, 
 in order to render it perfectly secure against the effect of the 
 aqua-fortis. 
 
 For executing the drawing itself, common gravers or etching 
 needles may be used, which must be moreorless pointed, accord- 
 ing to the nature of the lines. In those lines or points which are 
 to be very fine, the hand must not press too much, but just 
 enough to remove entirely the etching-ground from them. 
 
 2 p 2 
 
294 
 
 otherwise the aqua-fortis will not bite them in equally. Expe- 
 rience is here the best guide. I have often observed, however, 
 that very fine lines, drawn with a less pointed or worn-out 
 needle, after the etching was over, appeared much finer than 
 more delicately-drawn lines, effected with a sharp needle, bv 
 which the surface of the stone was cut in some measure ; for 
 in these the aqua-fortis had greater effect, and rendered them 
 hi the same space of time broader than those in which the 
 stone was not cut at all. It is in general necessary to know, 
 that the acid acts not only upon the depth, but likewise upon 
 the width, of the lines, and that a deeply-engraved line be- 
 comes broad in proportion to its depth *. 
 
 As the excellence of an engraving chiefly depends on the 
 proportion observed in the size of the different lines, this point 
 requires the most unremitted attention in this manner, which 
 comes so very near the copper-plate engraving. When, by re- 
 peated practice, one has acquired the knowledge of every spe- 
 cies of lines, produced either by merely removing the covering 
 etching-ground, or by cutting into the surface of the stone with a 
 
 * Other experiments have convinced me that, in some cases, lines drawn equallv 
 strong upon the stone, may be etched considerably deeper, without growing broader in 
 the same degree as on copper. Besides, as in this manner, the white colour of the 
 stone makes the lines of the drawing appear broader to the eye than the) really are, the 
 artist will be less easily deceived, and able to judge with more accuracy of the effect of 
 the impression before-hand, by accustoming himself to suppose the drawing placed in 
 a contrary light from that in which it then is; as in the impression all the lines appear 
 black, which in the drawing on the stone appeared white. 
 
295 
 
 sharp needle, it will be seen that this manner of etching in stone 
 has a great advantage over that of etching in copper. In 
 copper it is impossible to engrave, or cut in very deep, as the 
 needle sticks every moment, and the inequalities produced by 
 this have an unfavourable effect on the etching. In the stone 
 all the lines, by merely removing the etching-ground with the 
 needle, may receive any degree of sharpness or depth, and at 
 the same time the artist has the advantage, by pressing more 
 strongly with the needle, or by cutting in with it, of producing 
 all those lines which are to have greater expression, and a more 
 decided character, and which in copper can only be done by 
 the graver. 
 
 The drawing being now properly finished, the plate must be 
 etched with aqua-fortis, by which every line will acquire the 
 necessary depth. For this purpose, let the stone be placed in 
 the etching-box, or draught, and let diluted aqua-fortis be 
 poured over it repeatedly. This must be done as uniformly as 
 possible ; and it will be proper, after every application of the 
 acid, to wipe the stone gently with a piece of linen, in order to 
 remove all bubbles which may arise, and which may prevent 
 an equal action ; as in every place where a bubble arises, the 
 effect of the aqua-fortis is partially impeded and consequently 
 its action in the neighbouring places will be increased. The 
 number of times the acid must be poured over the stone, or its 
 strength, must depend on the depth intended to be given to 
 the lines. To judge whether a stone has been sufficiently etch- 
 
296 
 
 ed is altogether a matter of practice, which must be learned 
 by repeated experiments. If the etching is weak, the finest 
 lines may be produced ; and for this it is only necessary to 
 apply once or twice, with a degree of quickness, a solution of 
 one part of aqua-fortis, in 40 parts of water. If, however, these 
 fine lines are to be etched very deep, and consequently broad, 
 the infusion of aqua-fortis must be repeated more frequently, in 
 some instances 50, or more times. For stronger lines, if expe- 
 dition is a matter of consequence, a stronger solution of aqua- 
 fortis may be used. But, in general, the effect of an etched 
 drawing is much finer and more delicate, if etched only gra- 
 dually or slowly. The stones may also be etched in the man- 
 ner of engravers, by enclosing the square stone with a margin 
 of wax, and by leaving the aqua-fortis for some time standing 
 upon it ; but in this case the bubbles which arise must be care- 
 fully removed with a soft hair-brush, or the aqua-fortis must 
 be changed from time to time. The etching thus produced is 
 very equal and perfect. If, for the sake of a better and more 
 striking effect, soft and strong tints are to be produced by the 
 etching, the stone, after a repetition of the infusion a few times 
 (as often as is necessary for the finest lines*,) must be cleaned 
 well with water from all the particles of acid which adhere to 
 
 * In order to judge of the effect of every infusion of aqua-fortis on the stone, a 
 sort of scale, consisting of lines of different dimensions, may be contrived in one of it» 
 corners on the margin. By scraping off, from time to time, the covering coat over 
 these lines, and by rubbing them in with soft ink, it may be ascertained very distinctly 
 what degree of depth and etching the stone has already got. 
 
297 
 
 it. Then, with a small hair-brush, dipped in chemical ink, 
 let all those parts be covered which in the subsequent etching 
 are to be no more affected ; the chemical ink used for this pur- 
 pose must contain a little more soap than the common, in order 
 to give it a greater disposition to fill the cavities, and to leave 
 no intervals open. Great precaution must in general be taken in 
 forming the covering coat ; and too much, rather than too little 
 ink ought to be used, as it would entirely spoil the drawing, 
 should the aqua-fortis penetrate in some parts through it. 
 When all the proper spots are covered, and the ink is become 
 perfectly dry, the etching must be repeated, till the second 
 class of lines are bitten in sufficiently ; then let the cleaning 
 of the stone, and the application of the covering coat produced 
 by chemical ink over them, be repeated. 
 
 These operations ought to be continued in succession, till 
 all the lines are done. It is unnecessary to observe, that these 
 various and nice distinctions are not so necessary in those 
 drawings which have been very carefully executed by the 
 needle ; but those that are drawn with less care, and rather 
 monotonously, can only by these frequently-repeated etchings 
 get a fine and appropriate character. By repeating the covering 
 of parts, and the etching of the rest three times, a very good 
 effect may be produced ; but the oftener they are repeated, the 
 more delicate will be the effect of the single parts. The de- 
 termination in all these particulars must be left to the judg- 
 ment of the artist. This successive etching may also be effected 
 
298 
 
 in another manner, viz., by drawing the deepest shades first, 
 and then etching the stone ; then by adding the lighter shades 
 and etching again, and so on, till the whole drawing is finish- 
 ed. In this method it is not necessary to employ any covering 
 ink, as the darker shades, by being exposed more frequently 
 to the action of the aqua-fortis, are etched in the same propor- 
 tion as the finest, which are only once exposed to it. In this 
 method the artist has the advantage of introducing the fine 
 and light lines or shades between the darker and broader 
 which is not the case in the other manner of etching ; the 
 latter, however, is a little more difficult, and it requires more 
 practice to draw over and between the lines already etched and 
 consequently deeper. After every etching, the stone must be 
 left to dry sufficiently. 
 
 The stone being now well bitten in or etched, its surface 
 ought to be washed all over with clean water, and all that 
 remains yet uncovered, ought to be carefully "covered with 
 chemical ink. The covering-coal, applied before, served only 
 to secure the parts so covered against the action of the aqua- 
 fortis ; but the chemical ink, subsequently used for the same 
 purpose* by penetrating into the cavities of the lines, prepares 
 them also for the taking of the ink ; it is, therefore, necessary 
 to impregnate the remaining parts with the same ink before 
 the printing of the stone is begun*. The stone should then 
 
 * As the etching-ground covering the stone is very hard, there is no reason to fear 
 
299 
 
 be iaid aside to dry, and oil of turpentine ought afterwards to 
 be poured upon it, in sufficient quantity to dissolve the coat of 
 covering-colour, which may then be wiped off clean with a 
 woollen cloth and gum-water. This is done in the same way 
 as in the elevated manner, which I have described in its place. 
 I have now only to describe the manner of correcting faults or 
 defective lines in drawings done in this manner : — When an 
 error is discovered before the etching or biting in, the question 
 is, whether the wrong line is cut into the surface of the stone, 
 or only drawn in the covering-coat, without leaving any trace 
 in the stone. In the last case, the wrong line requires only to 
 be covered with chemical ink, and when dry it may be altered 
 and set right. But when cut into the stone, though it may 
 also be covered in the mean time, no alteration can be substi- 
 tuted in its place, and it must remain till the stone is bitten in 
 and rubbed in with ink. The defective or wrong lines must 
 now be scraped or rubbed away, with a small piece of pumice- 
 stone, then the spot must again be prepared with aqua-fortis 
 and gum, and the correction made with the etching needle. 
 If some lines or parts, which have been omitted, are only to be 
 added, this may be done subsequently, and without using aqua- 
 its being easily dissolved by the ink, provided the chemical ink is put on very gently ; 
 for, without great care in this respect, it might penetrate the covering-ground, and injure, 
 (or neutralize,) in part, the preparation of the stone, which would cause the above- 
 mentioned kind of tint, or veil, to spread all over the stone, or at least over the injured 
 places. Should the covering-coat have been injured by too strong rubbing with 
 chemical ink, the stone, after being charged with the ink, must be cleaned by the 
 process just described. 
 
 2q 
 
300 
 
 fortis. In some cases, certain lines or parts are omitted on 
 purpose, and afterwards put in with the etching needle, as 
 some parts may be more easily and better produced in this 
 manner. The contrary, however, is not unfrequently the case, 
 and a drawing executed by cutting in or engraving, is some- 
 times covered with etching-ground and certain parts are exe- 
 cuted, in the manner just described. When the engraved 
 lines have once been rubbed in with ink, it is not very easy to 
 draw over them, and it will be much better to cover the stone 
 with etching ground, to add the omitted lines, and to etch it 
 subsequently. This method is employed in Bavaria, in the 
 new survey of that country, for the purpose of more correctly 
 assessing the land-tax ; in the correction of the maps and topo- 
 graphical plans, mountains are invariably introduced after the 
 rest is completed, and after proofs are taken, by a second etch- 
 ing over a covered ground : for the purpose of introducing the 
 mountains and other delicate parts, the stone is covered with 
 etching ground dissolved in oil of turpentine, but to which no 
 lampblack is added. It is then of a brownish colour and 
 transparent, so that the rest of the drawing may be seen through 
 it, and the mountains which have been omitted may be inserted 
 in their appropriate places. 
 
 I shall conclude this part of the subject with the following 
 necessary observations. 
 
 1. A copper-plate may be covered white over the usual 
 
301 
 
 etching ground, by a composition of white-lead, ox-gall and 
 gum ; the copper being of a reddish colour, the etching 
 executed on this white ground looks like a drawing made with 
 red ink on white paper. This manner has the advantage of 
 enabling the artist to judge better of what he does, than if the 
 ground were dark, as the light and shade appear nearer to their 
 true effect and keeping ; for great practice, or I might almost 
 say a natural talent, is requisite, to judge well beforehand of 
 the effect of a drawing, when the proportion of light and shade 
 in the impression is exactly reversed, and when all that before 
 was light appears black, and what was black before white. It 
 is, therefore, natural that artists should greatly prefer working 
 upon a stone with white covering colour. Now, as the applica- 
 tion of this white colour would not do for the stone, as the lines 
 drawn in it would appear likewise white, I have tried to attain 
 the same object by giving to the stone a darker colour. This 
 may be done very easily, as the stone, when smoothly rubbed 
 down and prepared, takes very easily all vegetable colours or 
 dyes in which no acid is mixed. The stone may therefore be 
 coloured dark blue, for instance, with a decoction of blue wood, 
 or red with Pernambuco wood. These colours penetrate deep 
 enough into the stone, so that even the lines cut into its surface 
 do not appear white, but coloured. By subsequent washing 
 with vitriol of iron the dark-blue coloured stone might be easily 
 coloured quite black, but then it would be difficult to see in the 
 printing, whether the stone was sufficiently filled in with ink ; 
 it is therefore adviseable not to employ too dark a colour. 
 
 2 q 2 
 
.302 
 
 In the drawing it is only necessary to remove the coat which 
 covers the stone, and no lines require to be cut into it, the 
 colouring is superfluous, but this operation may be effected in 
 the following manner : — 
 
 ('over the stone with black etching ground, then spread the 
 white colour over it. I have found that well-ground white lead 
 mixed with gum, in quantity merely sufficient to bind the 
 colour, answers the purpose best, especially if a very little 
 potash is added, which renders the gum more viscous, so as 
 to adhere better to the colour. Ox, or fish-gall I have found 
 equally suitable. By the first application of aquafortis this 
 white ground is dissolved, and can be easily wiped off with a 
 small hair-brush. 
 
 2. An etching may, in some cases, be greatly improved by 
 printing it with a tint-plate, such as is used in the chalk man- 
 ner. This process requires, in the method already described, a 
 second plate ; but here in the etched manner, the tint may be 
 produced even on the same plate. For this purpose the stone 
 ought to be well cleaned with pure water, and then the whole 
 surface, or only those parts of it upon which a light tint is to be 
 produced, should be covered rather thickly with chemical ink 
 containing a good deal of soap. When lights are to be intro- 
 duced into this tint, they may be etched in after the application 
 of the ink, by means of a small hair-brush dipped in weak 
 aquafortis. In the printing of a plate, thus aquatinted, the 
 
303 
 
 black ink must first be rubbed in, after which the plate ought to 
 be wiped as clean as possible ; the tint spread over the surface 
 will then be too dark in general ; but this point depends on the 
 greater or less degree of consistency of the ink. A second rag- 
 must therefore be at hand, charged with a much softer ink, 
 diluted with oil or butter. This colour may contain white- 
 lead, yellow-ochre, yellow-lake, vermilion, satinober, Sfc. 
 according to the tint required. Let the rag be passed several 
 times over the plate in all directions, without pressing too 
 much, till the over dark colour of the tint lightens up and 
 changes into a milder colour. The only thing which requires 
 particular attention is, that stones for this manner must be 
 etched much stronger and deeper than usual, because the 
 finest lines would be lost in the tint, and in the impressions 
 would appear too weak and pale. Even deep and strong lines, 
 in a certain degree, lose their darkness, particularly when, 
 instead of white, they are printed on stained paper, and it is 
 therefore necessary to bite them in deeper, as by this they will 
 produce a very excellent effect. 
 
 3. In all the different subdivisions of the engraved manner, 
 the artist has the advantage of being able to render those places 
 which appear too dark, lighter, by fine and delicate scraping, 
 or rubbing down. The stone must be previously charged with 
 etching colour, in order that the drawing may not be injured or 
 spoiled by the subsequent preparation with aqua-fortis, neces- 
 sary for the preparation of the spots thus rubbed down. Who- 
 
304 
 
 ever has acquired a little practice in this operation of rubbing, 
 or grinding down with a piece of blue slate, or pumice-stone, 
 can, in etched stones, produce the finest gradations of shades, 
 and in less time, and with less difficulty, than is practicable on 
 copper. If the plate has shortly before been rubbed in for 
 the first time with ink, it is not necessary to etch again the 
 rubbed down places, but it is sufficient to wipe them well with 
 a rag dipped in gum-water, because the colour has not pene- 
 trated so deep as to re-appear in the subsequent printing. If 
 this operation takes place long after the stone's being first 
 rubbed in with ink, the repeated etching is advisable, on 
 account of the better preparation. 
 
 4. Even single lines or points, may be taken out, or rendered 
 smaller, in stones recently saturated with colour ; but when the 
 colour is of longer standing, this becomes a more difficult mat- 
 ter, as very small spots cannot so easily be prepared again, 
 without retaining a slight disposition to take ink. Now, as it 
 is very difficult to wipe the ink from those faulty spots, it is 
 almost impossible, in the printing of a plate where many 
 corrections have taken place, to prevent these spots from 
 appearing. It is, in this case, better to rub down at once the 
 parts alluded to, which can be done by care, and by avoiding 
 a haio, and to introduce afterwards the necessary corrections, 
 or improvements. 
 
/ 
 
305 
 
 § 3. Manner of Drawing' with Preparing, or Gum- Ink, and 
 the sprinkled Aquatinta manner. 
 
 If a few drops of a solution of gum are spread upon a very 
 clean stone, and the whole surface of the stone is rubbed with 
 printing-ink, all those parts of the stone which are covered 
 with gum will not take ink, or, in other words, the stone is 
 prepared in those places. If the gum has become dry, and the 
 ink is rubbed in, these prepared spots will become as black as 
 the rest ; but, by, washing the stone with water, and passing 
 it over with the ink roller, all the places prepared by the gum 
 will immediately re-appear white. This quality of the gum 
 induced me to make an ink prepared with gum, with which a 
 writing or drawing might be executed on the stone, and by the 
 preparing quality of which, in the subsequent printing, all the 
 lines drawn with it might appear white. The following is 
 the manner in which I proceeded : — With the gum-arabic, dis- 
 solved in water, mix an equal part of lampblack, and rub the 
 whole well together. If the gum is thick, the lampblack will 
 unite the better with it. This mixture will produce a sort of 
 ink, not unlike the Indian ink, which, when well dryed, can 
 be easily preserved. When it is wanted, it must be rubbed 
 in a clean saucer, with a little water, and then it will be fit for 
 use. With this ink write or draw upon a perfectly clean stone, 
 or, as it would be liable to run upon such a stone, wash 
 
306 
 
 it previously with a solution of weak aqua-fortis, mixed 
 with a small quantity of pulverised gall-nuts. The lines of the 
 drawing may be made still finer, if the stone, some days before 
 hand, is washed with oil of turpentine, which afterwards must 
 be carefully wiped off. But, in this case, it is advisable to mix 
 a drop of phosphoric acid with the water used for rubbing on 
 the ink, in order to be sure that the lines drawn with it are 
 perfectly prepared. 
 
 The drawing being dry, the whole surface of the stone must 
 be covered with printing-ink, and great care must be taken to 
 see that during this operation no water falls upon it. But after 
 being well covered, pour a little water upon it, and continue 
 to pass the ink-roller over it, till all the parts of the drawing 
 executed upon the stone with this preparing ink have become 
 perfectly white, and look clean. Now, impressions might be 
 taken from this stone, by treating it in the same manner as a 
 pen and ink drawing. But, in order to render the drawing 
 more durable, and to prevent some of the finer lines from run- 
 ning in the printing, so as to form one blot, the stone may 
 be well rubbed in with etching-colour, and, after the lapse 
 of a few hours, to allow it to settle well, and resist aqua- 
 fortis, the drawing may be etched in. The stone ought 
 then to be washed with gum, when a very great number of 
 impressions may be taken from it. In this manner we 
 have bitten-in lines prepared, which are printed white, 
 directly the reverse of the two preceding manners, in which 
 
I 
 
 307 
 
 the engraved, or bitten-in lines take the ink, and produce 
 black impressions. 
 
 The process, however, may also be inverted, that is to say, 
 the black surface of the stone may be made white, and the 
 drawing black ; for a stone covered with preparing ink, and 
 afterwards with etching-ground, is almost in the same predi- 
 cament, as if the drawing were etched in the etching-ground, 
 as described in Sect. 2. It is only requisite to fill the deep 
 etching lines with chemical ink, as in the foregoing manner, 
 instead of covering them with gum ; they will then take ink, 
 and the only circumstance which remains to be considered is, 
 that the stone is not, as in the other manner, in a prepared 
 state as to its surface, and, therefore, would be inclined to take 
 ink every where. But it is not now very difficult to clean the 
 surface, and to give it a full preparation, especially as it has 
 been polished very smooth. To effect this, let it be well rubbed 
 in with ink, which ought afterwards to be carefully and cleanly 
 wiped off; without, however, taking out the ink remaining 
 in the deep lines. In order to make the ink more liquid, 
 some tallow and Frankfort-black, may be added to it. The 
 same colour-rag with which the ink has been rubbed into the 
 stone, should now be dipped into a solution of twenty parts of 
 water to two parts of gum, and one of aqua-fortis, (or phos- 
 phoric acid) and with this let the surface of the stone be well 
 rubbed. The rag used for this purpose ought not, however, to 
 be charged with too great a quantity of ink, lest the finest 
 lines of the drawing should be too much deprived, during this 
 
 2 R 
 
.308 
 
 operation, of their ink, and then exposed too much to the 
 action of the aqua-fortis. An attempt should now be made to 
 ascertain whether the ink cannot be rubbed off the surface with 
 the finger; if this is not yet the case, the rubbing or washing 
 with the above described composition must be repeated, till 
 the surface is so far prepared by it that the covering coat and the 
 dark ground can, without difficulty, be removed with the wet 
 hand, or with a wet piece of leather. The stone must then be 
 charged in the usual way with strong ink, or with etching- 
 colour, which ought afterwards to be well wiped from the sur- 
 face, and the stone should be washed several times with weak 
 aqua-fortis, or diluted phosphoric acid, by which it becomes 
 well prepared, and in the subsequent printing is not liable to 
 soil, or to take ink in wrong places. If, however, this repeated 
 etching should appear too troublesome, as it requires some 
 experience and practice, the stone may previously be prepared 
 in the same way as in the foregoing manner. It must then 
 be well cleaned with water, to remove all the remaining par- 
 ticles of gum ; then it should be left to dry, and, for greater 
 safety, rubbed over once more with oil of turpentine. The 
 drawing being now quite completed, and the whole surface 
 covered with etching-colour, it ought to be left standing for 
 some hours before water is applied to it, and the subsequent 
 cleaning of the drawing by the roller, should be performed as 
 delicately as possible. If the etching-colour still adhere to the 
 stone, the remaining particles of it can then be easily removed 
 by repeated rubbing with gum-water and oil of turpentine, 
 
509 
 
 and by the application of a strong and hard ink. After this 
 treatment, the stone, on its being properly cleaned, may be 
 looked on as in the same situation with one executed in the 
 deep etched manner; and in the biting in, covering, rubbing in 
 with ink, and printing, must be in every respect treated in the 
 way already described. In general, this manner of drawing 
 with preparing ink, and afterwards etching in, in the way just 
 detailed, is very applicable to many subjects ; and the con- 
 clusion that it is superfluous because the same purpose may 
 be attained in a shorter way by having the whole plate covered 
 with etching-ground, and the drawing put on with an etching- 
 needle, would be very erroneous. This will be explained in 
 the following manner : — 
 
 The very finest lines and points may be very easily traced 
 in the etching ground by the etching needle, but the broader 
 lines are more difficult to manage, take much time, and require 
 great attention and practice ; the reverse of this is the case in 
 the second manner, where the strong and broad lines are very 
 easily executed with the pen. By applying now the process 
 just described, both advantages may be united; and those 
 parts only may be drawn with the pen, which are most easily 
 executed by it. The whole drawing, therefore, with the ex- 
 ception of the finest lines, may be executed with the above 
 described composition ink on the white stone ; the whole being 
 thus covered with etching-colour, and rendered white, as al- 
 ready mentioned, the finer and more delicate lines and parts 
 
 2 R 2 
 
310 
 
 must be traced in it with the' needle, or they may be left out 
 entirely, and be afterwards introduced with what is called the 
 dry point, that is to say, in the manner of engraving. In order 
 to obtain a stronger covering coat, which, in the subsequent 
 introduction of the finer lines may not be so liable to be injured, 
 instead of the etching-colour here mentioned, the usual com- 
 position of etching-ground, consisting of wax, mastic, and 
 asphaltum, dissolved in oil of turpentine, and mixed with fine 
 lampblack, may be used ; it will be found that this compo- 
 sition may be spread over the plate very uniformly, by means 
 of the roller. 
 
 Here 1 conclude my directions respecting this manner, the 
 advantages of which cannot fail to be seen in the application 
 of it. 
 
 I shall now advert to another manner, called sprinkled 
 aquatinta. 
 
 It is well known that in the aquatinta manner the engraver 
 covers his plate with a ground that resists the action of the 
 aqua-fortis, but as it covers the plate in the shape of innu- 
 merable little points or grains, the acid penetrates between 
 them, and acts upon the plate. The different gradations of 
 light and shade are produced by repeated covering of the 
 places previously etched, as in the deeply-etched manner. 
 The etching-ground used for this purpose should consist prin- 
 
311 
 
 cipally of rosin, which, in the form of a fine powder, is strewed 
 on the plate, and afterwards runs into small round points, when 
 moderately heated. The process of the engraving, however, 
 is not easily applicable to the stone, which does not bear well 
 the heat requisite to melt the rosin. But the same purpose 
 may be attained in another way, and the stone be covered with 
 an etching-ground, appearing in the form of little points, and 
 allowing the aqua-fortis to act between the intermediate spaces 
 on the stone, and produce the desired effect. This is done with 
 tallow and lampblack rubbed upon the stone by means of a 
 ball of cloth ; and I have described the process elsewhere, 
 in speaking of the manner of producing a grain in stones 
 for chalk drawing. It is my intention to explain here how a 
 similar aquatinta ground may be produced by sprinkling, much 
 better than the other, for the very dark and strong shades, 
 which cannot bear a very strong etching. 
 
 Let the outlines of the drawing be first etched into the stone, 
 with clean but very fine lines ; black printing ink should then 
 be rubbed into it, and afterwards well wiped off : it ought 
 next to be washed with clean water, in order to remove all the 
 remainder of the gum. When dry, dip a tooth brush in pre- 
 paring ink, and sprinkle the surface with small and almost 
 imperceptible spots ; this must be done with the same pre- 
 cautions as in the sprinkled manner, with chemical ink ; as 
 soon as these little points become dry, those that are too large 
 may be separated with the needle ; and in the parts where they 
 
312 
 
 are not in sufficient quantity, others may be added by the pen. 
 A dissolved etching ground should then be communicated by 
 the roller, which ground ought only to contain ink enough to 
 render the outlines of the drawing transparent, and the 
 sprinkled points will become visible by rolling it over with 
 water. Let the lightest parts of the drawing be then covered 
 and etched, then again covered and etched as described in the 
 etched manner, till all the different gradations of shade are 
 produced. The etching or biting in being thus completed, the 
 rubbing in of the ink, and the printing, may take place in the 
 manner already described. 
 
 § 4. Aquatinta after the manner of Engravers, and with 
 
 Etching-ground. 
 
 It has been mentioned in the foregoing Section that the ap- 
 plication of the aquatinta ground, in the manner of engravers, 
 is not very advantageous on the stone, on account of the great 
 heat which it requires. Should, however, an artist possess the 
 apparatus necessary for covering the plate with powdered rosin, 
 and also possess the necessary knowledge for this operation, 
 the stone when covered with this fine powder, may be heated 
 by a flame of burning spirit of wine, and the ground may be 
 melted upon it. The aquatinta engravers obtain a more con- 
 venient aquatinta-ground by dissolving rosin in spirit of wine, 
 which they pour in a state of solution on the plate ; small 
 
313 
 
 resinous particles form themselves as the spirit of wine eva- 
 porates, which constitute the required aquatinta ground. Both 
 these manners, however, are more fit for large and bold draw- 
 ings, than for high-finished ones ; for which it is much better 
 to use etching-ground dissolved in oil of turpentine, or the 
 common aquatinta-ground, composed of etching-colour or 
 merely of tallow, very nicely and uniformly daubed upon 
 the plate with a ball of woollen cloth. By this operation a 
 finer effect, more like that of the highly-finished India ink 
 drawing, is produced. As it is, however, more applicable to 
 the lighter, than the darker, parts, it is requisite to sprinkle 
 with chemical ink those parts which are to form a darker tint ; 
 this process takes place after the first and lightest tints have 
 been etched in, and charged with colour. The sprinkled 
 places are so prepared by this process, as to stand the strongest 
 etching without any danger of injury. 
 
 § 5. Aquatinta manner, with Chalk-ground. 
 
 This manner may be described as occupying a place be- 
 tween the aquatinta, and the scraped manners. It has this 
 advantage, that, in a very short space of time, very perfect 
 drawings may be produced by it. Take a stone prepared for 
 chalk-drawing, and cover it with red or black gum ground, 
 described in the engraved manner, without etching it previ- 
 ously. The outlines of the drawing must be slightly traced 
 
314 
 
 in with the needle, as they serve only to guide the artist in the 
 subsequent operation. Those lines which, in the impression, 
 are on the shadow side, and are to appear distinctly, must be 
 deeper than the others, in order to produce a proper effect. 
 The stone is rubbed in with ink, and cleaned with water, as in 
 the engraved manner. When it has been cleaned and dried, 
 all the lines traced on the stone will look black, while the rest 
 of the surface looks white. The drawing should now be closely 
 examined, and the different gradations of light and shade 
 divided into eight classes, four for the lighter, and four for the 
 darker tints. The four dark gradations must be entirely 
 covered with chemical chalk, so that the effect produced may 
 appear like a half tint. The object of this operation is to pro- 
 duce a tint of innumerable small and equidistant points on 
 these places, in order to resist the subsequent etching, or aqua- 
 fortis, by which a still coarser grain than the one already ob- 
 tained by its original preparation, will be produced. This 
 being done, let the light tints be covered with the chemical 
 ink ; the lights, and all those parts which are to remain quite 
 white, ought to be left untouched with either chalk or ink. 
 The stone being thus far prepared, must be bitten in for the 
 first time, and afterwards cleaned with water, and left to dry. 
 The least dark of the four darkest tints should now be covered 
 with chemical ink. As soon as the ink is dry, let the plate be 
 immersed in aqua-fortis, then in water, and left to dry ; the next 
 gradation should then be covered and treated as before, and 
 in this manner it is necessary to continue to cover, or stop out, 
 
315 
 
 and to etch, till the darkest tints are covered. A flat hair- 
 brush should be dipped in gum-water, with which all that is 
 to remain white must be passed over. 
 
 A few drops of oil of turpentine should now be applied to 
 the plate, by which the chalk, as well as the chemical ink, 
 will be dissolved, and ought to be wiped off ; let the stone be 
 then carefully cleaned with a woollen rag, and charged with a 
 soft printing ink. The drawing will then look as if a black 
 crape was thrown over it. Take a rag, dipped in a weak 
 solution of gum and phosphoric acid with water, and, during 
 the time that the lights are scraped in, or ground out with a 
 slate pencil, let this wet rag be passed repeatedly over the draw- 
 ing, by which it will be easy to judge how far the work gra- 
 dually approaches to perfection. In this manner the very finest 
 gradations of tints may be produced, as also great depth of 
 tints, equal to any India ink drawing. All this may be done 
 in a very short space of time. If the rag contains a small por- 
 tion of printing-ink, this will be of service. If the effect of the 
 etching in the darker spots has become too strong, they may 
 easily be rendered lighter by scraping or grinding. For 
 printing this, as well as all other aquatinta manners, soft and 
 liquid ink is required, and the paper must be soaked a little 
 more than what is usual in other manners. The press requires 
 more pressure, and the stones ought not to be too thin. 
 
316 
 
 § 6. Engraved or reversed Chalk, and Soft-ground manner. 
 
 The difficulty of producing impressions of a chalk-drawing, 
 which should not differ from the original, induced me to try 
 whether it was not possible to reverse the elevated chalk man- 
 ner, by sinking the grain in the stone, instead of causing it to 
 project. I was the more induced to make this attempt when*I 
 reflected that a chalk-drawing, in the engraved manner, is ca- 
 pable of greater expression in the darkest spots, and of greater 
 delicacy in the lighter, and that therefore it admits of easier 
 correction, and is less liable to be spoiled. I plainly perceived 
 that, if I succeeded in these experiments, I should likewise gain 
 a great advantage for the manner of printing in colours. In the 
 course of my experiments, I discovered that the two manners 
 were nearly related to each other, a discovery which I hope will 
 one day be worthy of the serious attention of all artists. Take 
 a stone prepared for chalk-drawing, and prepare it with aqua- 
 fortis and gum ; clean it well with water, and when dry, cover 
 it very thin and even with etching-ground, in the deep etched 
 manner. When the outlines of the drawings are traced upon it, 
 take a scraper of the best steel, and scrape all the gradations of 
 light and dark shades into it. At first the scraping instrument 
 touches none but the most elevated points of the surface, and 
 only by strong and repeated application produces larger points, 
 in the manner in which French chalk acts upon paper, only 
 
317 
 
 with the difference that the points produced on the black stone 
 are white. The whole plate being thus finished, let it be bit- 
 ten in gradually in the deep etched manner, and then cleaned 
 and printed in the same way. 
 
 If one chooses to etch the plate in all gradations, very 
 strongly, it may subsequently, when rubbed in with ink, be 
 gently ground with fine-grained pumice-stone, and with a piece 
 of black slate and gum-water, in order to render it perfectly 
 smooth, and remove the coarse grain arising from the first pre- 
 paration. Parts which appear too dark, may be rendered 
 lighter by gentle rubbing down, and light can also be corrected 
 by the dry point. The drawings executed in this manner are 
 fine and full of expression. The only thing to be wished for 
 is, that this manner might possess the great advantage of allow- 
 ing the drawing to be executed black upon white, as the in- 
 verted proportion certainly impedes the freedom of the artist. 
 
 Among the experiments tried in this manner there were two, 
 which principally answered my expectations. In the first of 
 these the stone was prepared with a rough grain, then pre- 
 pared with a solution of aqua-fortis and gall-nuts, cleaned with 
 water, and left to dry. Then I used to draw upon it with a 
 black chalk, prepared of oil of vitriol, cream of tartar, and 
 lampblack. In other respects, the whole was treated as des- 
 cribed in the article respecting the preparing ink. * 
 
 * I have not yet had sufficient time to compose a preparing-chalk, strong enough to 
 
 2 s 2 
 
318 
 
 In the second I prepared a certain colourless chemical ink, 
 of one part of wax, two parts of tallow, and one part of soap. 
 These ingredients I dissolved in water, and witli them I covered 
 the rough-grained stone, previously prepared with phosphoric 
 acid, gum, and gall-nuts, and cleaned with water ; the com- 
 position must be put on strong enough to withstand the sub- 
 sequent etching. As soon as the stone got perfectly dry, I drew 
 upon it with a black chalk, composed of cream of tartar, gum, 
 a little sugar, and sufficient lampblack ; or I used the Italian 
 chalk, or a fine English black-lead pencil. The drawing was 
 now etched or bitten in, washed with alum-water ; when dry, 
 I covered it with a fat ink, and cleaned the stone with oil of 
 turpentine and gum-water. If the surface was to be smooth, I 
 used to rub the stone gently down ; but in this case the draw- 
 ing required to be etched very deep, otherwise it would soon 
 have been injured by the rubbing down. In general, in the 
 etching of these manners , it ought to be constantly kept in 
 mind, that the aqua-fortis must first remove the elevated points 
 before it can act on the surface of the stone. 
 
 The success of these experiments, induced me to try the 
 application of the soft ground manner upon stone. By ad- 
 hering exactly to the rules which I am about to give, chalks, as 
 
 lose nothing of its preparing quality. The composition of vitriol, cream of tartar, 
 and lampblack, gives, however, a chalk which, after some days standing, answers very 
 well to work with. It has, moreover, the advantage that one can work it with a 
 stump composed of rolled paper, by which the finest gradations of shade may be pro- 
 duced. 
 
319 
 
 well as India ink drawings, may be perfectly imitated ; the 
 operation of the drawing is perfectly easy, and the printing 
 very elegant, so that I am inclined to class this manner as one 
 of the most interesting in Lithography. The following particu- 
 lars must be attended to :— Let the outlines of the drawing be 
 traced on the very thinnest and most uniform bank-post paper 
 which can be procured ; the thinner and more equal the paper 
 is the better. A very smooth polished stone should now be 
 prepared with aqua-fortis and gum, or with phosphoric acid, 
 gall-nuts, and gum, which answer still better ; then cleaned 
 with water, and left to dry. Let it be afterwards very thinly 
 covered with tallow , by means of a roller, or spread very even 
 and equal with the palm of the hand. 
 
 It is of great importance that the grease on the surface should 
 form a very thin, but equal and uniform coat. Let the stone 
 be then smoaked with six or eight wax tapers twisted together. 
 The durability of the ground depends upon this operation ; 
 for, without a coat of tallow, or weak linseed oil, the action of 
 the aqua-fortis could not be resisted. The stone is now per- 
 fectly prepared, and must not be touched any more with a 
 finger. Let the fine bank-post paper, on which the drawing 
 has been traced, be fixed by its extremities upon the stone, 
 without moving it, as the smallest friction on the ground would 
 be apt to injure it. Two slips of wood, a little higher than 
 the stone, should be placed on both sides of it, and a broad 
 and strong rule across them, in order to rest your hands upon 
 
320 
 
 while drawing, and without touching the surface. The drawing 
 itself ought to be executed with Italian chalk, or with a good 
 English lead-pencil. When all the lines and shades are 
 on the paper, and your drawing complete, on removing the 
 paper afac simile will appear on the stone, and in the sub- 
 sequent etching, the aqua-fortis acts upon the design only ; it 
 is bitten in and covered, as described in the deep-etched man- 
 ner, and the printing is managed in a similar way. By practice, 
 the artist may be certain of always producing a perfect prepa- 
 ration, and it is astonishing to what high perfection, and mi- 
 niature-like delicacy, as well as strength and expression, 
 drawings in this manner may be brought. This last described 
 process may be very advantageously used in conjunction with 
 the preceding deep-etched manner. 
 
 § 7. India Ink Drawing with Etching-Colour. 
 
 This manner serves very well to shade drawings already 
 deeply etched or cut-in ; and, on the other hand, to amend, cor- 
 rect, and finish, the different aquatinta manners. Mix juice 
 of lemons with a little lampblack, and with this composition 
 let the drawing be executed on the smooth polished and pre- 
 pared stone. This acid produces a beautiful grain on the stone, 
 and takes ink, provided the lemon-juice be well cleaned off as 
 soon as it has had the desired effect ; and the stone, when dry, 
 
321 
 
 be well rubbed in with unctuous ink. In order to produce 
 dark shades, the same process must be repeated ; and for the 
 lighter shades, the acid must be diluted with water. By means 
 of this process, drawings may be executed with the camel-hair 
 brush on stone, in the same way as with Indian ink on paper. 
 The advantages derived from this manner are incalculable. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 MIXED MANNER. 
 
 LITHOGRAPHY possesses a peculiarity of which no other 
 species of engraving or printing can boast, namely, that the 
 elevated, as well as engraved lines, may at once be printed 
 from the same stone ; and by mixing these two manners, 
 the finest effect may be produced. To give a description of 
 all the means of effect which this branch of the art possesses, 
 and the various subjects to which it may with advantage be 
 applied, would alone fill a thick volume. Supposing, how- 
 ever, as I do, every amateur of the art, after an attentive pe- 
 rusal of the preceding pages, to be tolerably well acquainted 
 with the nature and power of the new art, I leave it to his own 
 reflection to determine the occasions when the different man- 
 ners ought to be applied, and the mode of doing so with 
 success. I shall, therefore, now content myself with merely 
 pointing out the course necessary to be followed in the prin- 
 cipal mixed manners, by attending to which, little difficulty 
 will be felt as to the others. 
 
324 
 
 § 1. Pen-Drawing mixed with the Engraved JWanner. 
 
 This may be done in two different ways, viz., by first complet- 
 ing the pen-drawing, and by covering it after its being etched 
 with red gum-ground (as described in the engraved manner) and 
 then executing the finest lines with the graver, or needle.* In 
 printing, the very same process as in pen-drawing is observed. 
 The second way is, first to execute the engraved or etched-in 
 parts of the drawing ; and when the stone is rubbed in with 
 etching colour, cleaned and dried, to add the rest with the pen, 
 and with chemical ink. As soon as the drawing is perfectly 
 dry, it should be etched-in, and prepared ; in other respects it 
 ought to be treated like the common pen-drawing. In both 
 these manners the artist has the advantage of drawing only 
 those parts with the pen which are best adapted for it, and 
 reserving for the needle those for which the needle is better cal- 
 culated. The latter has a peculiarly excellent effect in very 
 line and elegant writing ; and above all in title-pages, where 
 the finest hair-strokes are drawn in first with the needle, and 
 the thicker, or shade-lines, added with the pen. 
 
 * A pen-drawing of this description, may likewise be covered with etching-ground, 
 and the omitted lines may be cut in, and afterwards etched in with aqua-fortis ; but 
 in the subsequent cleaning of the- stone, it requires some skill not to injure the pen- 
 drawing by rubbing. 
 
325 
 
 § 2. Engraved Drawing, with elevated Tint. 
 
 This manner, which consists likewise of a mixture of the 
 engraved and elevated manners, has already been fully de- 
 scribed in the deeply-etched manner, page 290. 
 
 § 3. Engraved and elevated Manners with several Stones. 
 
 As it may be seen, from the foregoing description, that the 
 elevated and engraved manners may both be printed from the 
 same stone, it may naturally be concluded that this must be 
 much easier than when the separate manners are assigned to 
 separate stones, and united only by the printing upon one and 
 the same sheet. Upon an etched-in drawing, for instance, one 
 or several elevated tint plates may be printed ; and to an ele- 
 vated pen or chalk drawing, tint plates in aquatinta manner 
 may be applied. How this must be done, has been already 
 described, and recourse must be had partly to the elevated, and 
 partly to the engraved, manner. 
 
 § 4. JWanner of changing an elevated Drawing into an 
 engraved one, and vice versa. 
 
 This operation, in some cases, may be applied with very 
 
 2 t 2 
 
326 
 
 great advantage, but the most essential requisite for suc- 
 cess, is the skill and experience of the artist ; and as it is the 
 most difficult in the whole compass of Lithography, demands 
 the most perfect knowledge of all the different manners and 
 rules, I think it will be best explained by some Examples. 
 
 First Example. — Manner of sinking a Transfer. 
 
 Let a well-polished stone be prepared with phosphoric acid 
 and gum, thoroughly cleaned with water and left to dry. 
 A drawing made with very soft ink, or chalk, or the recent im- 
 pression of the stone, or of a copper-plate, may then be trans- 
 ferred to it in the usual manner. Let the stone be then laid by 
 for some hours, in order to give time to the greasy ink to get 
 fixed and settled, to prevent its being easily rubbed off. Let 
 the stone be now washed with clean gum-water, and with a rag 
 dipped into etching-colour ; let so much ink only be rubbed 
 upon it as is necessary to preserve the drawing from the action of 
 the aqua-fortis. The biting in may now be effected with pure 
 aquafortis, with which a small quantity of pulverised alum 
 may be mixed ; let this composition be left upon the stone, till 
 the uppermost surface, prepared with phosphoric acid, is bitten 
 away, except on the places covered with ink. Let pure water 
 be then poured on the stone, which should afterwards be washed 
 with soap-water, and which must be left to dry on it. Let the 
 
327 
 
 stone be cleaned from the soap with oil of turpentine, rubbed in 
 with etching colour, and it will take ink all over its surface and 
 become entirely black. But as soon as it is gently rubbed with 
 a rag dipped in soap-water and weak phosphoric acid, the 
 whole drawing will re-appear white, as if this had been effected 
 with preparing ink. Let the stone be now charged again with 
 etching-colour, and treated as has been described in what was 
 said respecting preparing-ink ; by which treatment the drawing 
 that in the beginning appeared elevated will become etched 
 into the stone. This manner is susceptible of great perfection, 
 and when employed with sufficient experience and skill in the 
 transfer of drawings executed on paper, with chemical ink or 
 chalk, it will produce perfect masterpieces, especially when the 
 plate, thus deeply etched, is subsequently finished with the 
 graver. Even before the operation of changing the elevated 
 drawing into a sunk one, the lines and points which are too 
 thick may be rendered finer, and those which are too fine 
 stronger ; but this must be left to every artist's own judgment, 
 as in general this manner requires a perfect master of the art, 
 to whom only a few hints are sufficient to guide him in his 
 operations. 
 
 Second Example. — Manner of etching deeply a Drawing 
 executed with unctuous Chemical Ink or Chalk. 
 
 Let a fine-grained stone be bitten in and prepared with 
 phosphoric acid and gum ; let the drawing be executed on it 
 
328 
 
 with ink or chalk, and in the subsequent etching and all other 
 operations, let the process described in the first example be 
 observed. 
 
 Third Fxample. — JWanner of sinking an elevated Drawing . 
 
 In the two preceding examples the stone is etched with phos- 
 phoric acid, before the transfer or drawing is made upon it. 
 Now, as those places which are covered with grease are not 
 acted upon by the slight etching with aqua-fortis and alum, 
 they retain their preparation of the phosphoric acid, which by 
 the subsequent preparation of soap, is not easily removed ; on 
 the contrary, the etched places, when washed with soap-water, 
 are perfectly disposed to take ink. But in stones, prepared 
 and drawn in the common way, where the fat lines do not 
 rest only upon the prepared surface, but have penetrated to 
 some depth into the stone, the changing of one manner into 
 another is a little more difficult ; with some experience and 
 practice, however, the following treatment will ensure success : 
 Let the stone be washed with water, then covered with strong 
 soap-water, or chemical ink, and left to dry. Let the stone 
 be now well cleaned from the soap with oil of turpentine, and 
 charged with etching colour. A linen rag should then be 
 dipped in a solution of gum-water and phosphoric acid, and 
 with this let the ink be wiped off the elevated lines. Having 
 
329 
 
 passed the rag a few times over the whole surface of the stone, 
 endeavour with the finger to ascertain whether the drawing is 
 not disposed to separate from the ink ; and, if this is not the 
 case, let the rubbing with the acid be continued. Great care 
 must be taken that the ground be not injured by too violent 
 friction in rubbing. If the lines of the drawing are at last suffi- 
 ciently white, let the stone be charged with a strong etching 
 colour, and in other respects treated altogether as in the pre- 
 ceding examples. In this manner drawings, which in the ele- 
 vated manner, had failed in their keeping, by being changed 
 into deep etched ones, may be entirely corrected, and the most 
 delicate gradation of tints may thus be produced ; but, as I 
 mentioned before, this requires great skill and practice, other- 
 wise the stone may be entirely spoiled. 
 
 Fourth Example. — Manner of changing a deeply-etched 
 Drawing, into an elevated one, for the sake of greater 
 facility in Printing. 
 
 Writings and drawings may, by some artists, be more easily 
 executed with the graver than with the pen, in the elevated 
 manner. The pen requires more skill and diligence than the 
 art of using the graver. If, however, you require to have the 
 drawing or writing in the elevated manner, for the sake of in- 
 creased facility and expedition in printing, the method here 
 described may be of great use, especially as the process is much 
 
330 
 
 more easily learned than the preceding methods, being in its 
 character exactly the reverse of them ; for, in this case, all that 
 was before engraved must become elevated. To effect this, let 
 the stone be charged with good etching colour ; and, after the 
 lapse of some hours, let it be bitten in with aqua-fortis, in the 
 manner of a pen-drawing, till you see that the points and lines 
 become elevated. After this operation lay it aside for some 
 hours, till perfectly dry, then let it be covered with gum, and 
 printed as a common pen-drawing. 
 
 Here I conclude this Course of Lithography, with the sin- 
 cere conviction that I have faithfully described and explained 
 with all the clearness in my power, all the operations in the 
 different manners of Lithographic Printing, the knowledge of 
 which I have obtained by unremitted study and innumerable 
 experiments. In the annexed Supplement will be found some 
 useful observations, which do not exclusively belong to Litho- 
 graphy ; but which, notwithstanding, are nearly related to it, 
 and therefore will not, I hope, be unwelcome to the amateurs 
 of this important and interesting art. 
 
SUPPLEMENT, 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 Printing with Water and Oil Colours at the same time. 
 
 A STONE which has been wrought either in the elevated or en. 
 graved manner, when it has received an oil colour, may be afterwards 
 coated over with one water-colour only, or illuminated by parts with 
 various colours, and then printed off. For this purpose, take two parts 
 of gum-arabic and one part of sugar, and mix them with the water- 
 colour which you may wish to use ; and in colouring the stone, it is 
 only necessary to see that the colours are properly dried before the 
 impression is taken, for without this precaution the impressions would 
 be stained and dirty. 
 
 If however it is wished that in this process each colour should retain 
 its own peculiar shade, and that the drawings should bear a resemblance 
 to the French or English coloured engravings, the following particulars 
 must be attended to: — 
 
 2 u 
 
332 
 
 All the various shades of each colour must be pretty deeply etched 
 into the stone in the engraved dotted manner ; for example, in one of 
 the aquatinta manners already described. After the etching, the stone 
 must be washed with gum-water, that its hollow parts may take no 
 colour. The ground, or chemical ink, should then be removed by 
 means of oil of turpentine, and the whole stone must be prepared, if 
 a preparation has not already been given to its surface. Let it then be 
 covered with a red gum ground, and let all those strokes, which are 
 to appear black be immediately cut or scratched in. The colour ought 
 then to be rubbed in, and the stone cleaned, so that it may every where 
 appear white, except in the strokes which have been cut into it. If the 
 stone is then inked, it will take colour every where but in the lines or 
 strokes which have been cut, and the remaining places which have been 
 deepened, namely, the various shadowings of the colours, will remain 
 white, because they are prepared. If each part is now coated over 
 with its proper water-colour, this colour will be denser and consequently 
 darker, where the deepenings are greatest and most numerous. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 Printing in the Chemical and Mechanical Manner at the same 
 
 time. 
 
 If a pen drawing is of such a nature that the single lines or strokes 
 are quite close to each other, and that it contains no spot entirely white 
 of a greater diameter than half an inch at most ; this drawing may be 
 inked and printed in a manner altogether mechanical, and without 
 receiving any preparation, if the etching has only been executed in as 
 
333 
 
 elevated a mode as is compatible with security, from the danger of 
 exposing the finer touches to corrosion. If the strokes or touches 
 therefore are not too fine, the operation is attended with little difficulty, 
 and in order to lay the colour on the elevated strokes, in a perfectly 
 pure manner, notwithstanding the slight degree of their elevation, it 
 is only necessary to have a colour-board, which must be prepared in 
 the following manner : — Plane a small board of tender wood, of 
 about eight inches in length by six inches in breadth, so thin that 
 it shall not exceed a twelfth part of an inch in thickness. To this 
 board glue a piece of fine cloth or felt, of the same length and 
 breadth. Above this glue another board of very dry wood of the 
 same magnitude, but only one quarter of an inch in thickness, after 
 it has been previously planed extremely even, or polished by a 
 smooth stone with sand, which is still better. The thickest of the two 
 boards must be furnished with a handle, and when the whole is dry, let 
 this colouring board be polished on a very level stone, with fine sand 
 and oil till it becomes as smooth and even as possible. To colour a 
 stone drawn and etched in the elevated manner, the colouring board 
 must be previously made black or red, in a delicate and uniform 
 manner, by a leathern ball, which has been worn smooth by printers' 
 ink. Let the whole surface of the stone, which ought to be cleaned 
 before-hand with oil of turpentine, be now cautiously touched by this 
 instrument, holding it all the while as horizontally as possible, till the 
 colour is every where well distributed. 
 
 This manner of printing is in itself of no great advantage, when 
 compared with the chemical ; but then, by the union of the two manners, 
 three colours may be printed on one stone. The mode in which this 
 may be done is shown in the following 
 
 2u2 
 
334 
 
 Example : — 
 
 If a drawing consist of black, bine, and red, colours, and these 
 colours are all to be communicated at the same time to the same stone, 
 then a stone, fit for a pen drawing" must be taken, and prepared in the 
 first place with phosphoric acid, an infusion of gall-nuts and gum-water, 
 and afterwards purified with water and left to dry. Whatever is to be 
 red, must be drawn on it with chemical ink, which ought to contain no 
 more soap than is absolutely necessary for its solution. When this 
 drawing is dry, it must be highly etched, and the higher this can be done 
 the better. After the etching, the stone ought to be prepared with gum 
 purified again with water, and again left to dry. Let it then receive a 
 coat of etching-ground, dissolved in oil of turpentine, and let all that 
 is to be black be drawn between and over the highly-etched strokes. 
 Let what has been drawn be afterwards pretty strongly etched down, 
 then purified with water ; let alum-water be next poured over it, after 
 which it may be dried. When the stone is thoroughly dry, the printers' 
 ink must be rubbed into it, and then it should be cleaned with a 
 woollen rag, gum-water, and oil of turpentine. A fter this it will again 
 be every where white, except in the deepened lines where it has taken 
 the printers' ink. On being again purified with water, and subse- 
 quently dried, all those strokes, which are to be blue, may be drawn 
 on the stone with a chemical ink containing abundance of soap. This 
 again must be well dried and the stone purified with gum and oil of 
 turpentine, and then it will be ready for receiving the colour. 
 
 The process of laying on the colours properly, is as follows : — 
 
 The black colour must first be rubbed in, agreeably to the directions 
 for the engraved manner. In the parts which are very deep, the stone 
 
335 
 
 will become very black, but in the level parts last drawn, it will merely 
 be grey, if the colour is only well rubbed in, which may be very much 
 promoted by gum, and more particularly by wiping with a woollen 
 rag ; for the tone of the colour which remains on the even places, 
 which have been drawn with chemical ink is so faint, that it can do no 
 injury to the blue colour ; dip a rag in blue colour, and rub the stone 
 softly with it backward and forward, till it has sufficiently taken all that 
 is to be blue. Take the colouring-board, which has been prepared 
 with a red colour, and apply it to the stone, which in the mean time will 
 have become dry, and the uppermost lines will receive the red colour, 
 after which a tri-coloured impression may be taken. Further colouring 
 must always take place in the same manner. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 Application of the Stone to Cotton Printing. 
 
 Engraved copper-plates have long been applied to cotton printing, 
 but as the ordinary oil colour could not be used, and the proper etching 
 colour could not be managed in the same way, as from its fluidity it 
 was rubbed by the rag out of the sunk part of the copper-plate, another 
 method was devised of filling in the plates with water-colours. The 
 whole plate received a coat of colour, and then a sort of rule was 
 drawn over it, which removed all the colour from the surface, and 
 allowed it to remain only in the hollows. 
 
 The same method is applicable to engraved stone drawings, and it is 
 only necessary that the stone should be very level and very polished. 
 
336 
 
 The colour, however, which is used, must be one which will come 
 easily away, and the rule must be very equal and sharp that it may 
 take off the colour well *. 
 
 Starch paste, or gum, mixed with etching materials, for instance, 
 with acetate of iron, comes easily off, and in printing is not apt to 
 spread, if it is of due thickness f. 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 Printing of Colours by the Application of the Rule. 
 
 This manner of covering the stone with colour, and removing it with 
 the rule, is very applicable to paper for hangings, tapestry, 8$c. Al- 
 most all the engraved stone manners may be very beautifully printed 
 in this manner, if the colour is good. 
 
 * A broad and very thin piece of steel plate, ground extremely straight, and highly 
 polished on the side which lies on the stone, will be still more serviceable than a wooden 
 rule. 
 
 f For the purpose of drawing on a stone-plate, or cylinder, I have invented a peculiar 
 machine, by means of which, the most difficult design may be completed in two days. I 
 will communicate this machine, along with a press adapted to the printing of cotton, to 
 amateurs, in a separate treatise ; as I am convinced that the stone is peculiarly fit for this 
 branch, and deserves preference to a considerable degree over copper, both on account of 
 the rapidity with which the drawing may be executed, and its cheapness, especially, if my 
 artificial stone covering is to supply the place of the natural stone. 
 
337 
 
 Starch-paste, or gum mixed with coarse starch, or fine flour, and 
 with the necessary colour, suits extremely well for all sorts of printing in 
 the tapestry manner, especially if the paper used is unsized and slightly 
 wetted. 
 
 New cheese or fresh curds, mixed with soap, potash, linseed oil 
 varnish, and a suitable colour, form an excellent composition, with 
 which all the engraved manners (even aquatinta), if the stone is even, 
 may be very beautifully printed, and is of the most essential service 
 in the printing of colours either with one or more stones. 
 
 When a drawing, in the engraved manner, is properly executed for 
 this purpose, the colours may be laid on with the pencil in a very coarse 
 manner, without regarding whether they are thick or thin on the stone ; 
 provided only, they do not extend beyond the limits of the places to 
 which they belong, in case several colours are to be printed with one 
 stone. When the stone is dry, all the colours may be at once removed, 
 without fear of stains, though they should be drawn over one another. 
 
 A drawing coloured on the stone in this manner, is more beautiful 
 than when coloured on paper, and the operation requires much less 
 time. 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 Printing of Oil Paintings by Transfer. 
 
 Impressions resembling oil paintings may be produced by the print- 
 ing of colours with several stones, if the paper has received a ground, that 
 
338 
 
 is, if it has been run over with an oil colour ; but perfect oil pictures 
 can only be multiplied in the following" manner : — ■ 
 
 Take unsized paper and run it over with a thin coat of starch-paste 
 or common paste — Prepare a tolerable quantity of paper in this man- 
 ner — On this take (he separate impressions of each colour stone. If 
 the picture itself is to be composed of these separately printed coloured 
 parts, then take a piece of canvass grounded for painting in oil, and 
 lay on it a wet impression, on which there is a particular colour ; for 
 example, the red colour. Let this be put through the press, under a 
 slight pressure, and when the paper is taken off, the colour will have 
 been communicated from it to the canvass. Lay then another wet im- 
 pression of another colour on it, observing accurately the place where 
 it ought to be put, and press it in the same manner, and so on till all 
 the colours have been gone through. The pressing the paper on the 
 canvass, may even be effected without a press, by the mere hand, or in 
 a variety of ways ; for it requires no great force, as the colour comes 
 m ith great ease from the paper, and attaches itself to the canvass. 
 
 As to the colours which require to be laid fresh on one another, and 
 those which must be previously dried, and the mode in which the 
 >eparate colour-stones must be drawn, all this must be left to the judg- 
 ment of the artist, who wishes to avail himself of this Highly important 
 manner. 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 
 Stone Paper. 
 
 This name is generally given to a substitute for the natural Solen- 
 hofer stone, of my invention. 
 
339 
 
 For a long time I had been making experiments with the view of dis- 
 covering a composition bearing a resemblance to stone, and equally 
 fit for impressions. — The parchment, used for tablets, would have an- 
 swered this purpose, were not its coat soluble in water ; to prevent this 
 1 mixed it with lime and fresh curds, allowing the mixture to be suffi- 
 ciently saturated with carbonic acid from the air before using it ; and I 
 had recourse to a mixture with chalk, gyps, and glue, which I afterwards 
 dipped in a solution of alum and gall ; and I succeeded so far that 
 I could use it for coarser works, of which too many impressions were 
 not wanted. 
 
 My expectations, however, were not completely realized till I made the 
 observation, that spots of grease, produced by oil on a stone plate, and 
 also that drawings which were printed with oil alone, after a few weeks 
 would no longer take colour, if even the slightest degree of preparation 
 was given to them. — I concluded from this that the oil experienced a 
 change in the air, and that while it was probably uniting with acid, it 
 lost its fat and received a more earthy quality. Whether this con- 
 clusion was correct or not, it induced me to try to use oil as a connect- 
 ing medium of various earths ; as I supposed, with reason, that such a 
 composition would be indissoluble in water. The great point was to 
 ascertain whether, notwithstanding the oil which entered into the mix- 
 ture, it could receive a preparation ; that is, whether there could be com- 
 municated to it a disinclination towards other fats. 
 
 The result corresponded so much to my hopes, that I am convinced, 
 such a stone-like substance can be formed by means of various compo- 
 sitions of clay, chalk, linseed oil, and metallic oxides, that when paper, 
 canvass, wood, 8$c. are coated over with it, plates may be obtained 
 
 2 x 
 
340 
 
 capable of supplying the place of stone as a printing material, and in 
 many cases possessing considerable advantages over it. 
 
 I shall in like manner soon communicate to the world, in a separate 
 work, the experiments which I made with so much success in this 
 respect ; and, thereby, perhaps supply our skilful chemists with the 
 means of perfecting my discovery still more. 
 
 SECTION VII. 
 
 Application of Chemical Printing to metal Plates. 
 
 All metals have a great affinity to fat ; however, when they are quite 
 pure, for instance, when ground with pumice-stone or rubbed with 
 chalk, they may be prepared like stone ; that is, they receive by various 
 modes of treatment, a disinclination to take oil colour, by which means 
 they are rendered fit for the purposes of chemical printing." 
 
 Iron and zinc may, like stone, be prepared with aqua-fortis and gum. 
 
 Tin and lead may be prepared with aqua-fortis, gall, and gum. It 
 may be still better prepared by the addition to this mixture of a small 
 quantity of blue vitriol ; and the more coppery it is rendered by the 
 application of this liquid, the preparation will be the more complete. 
 The most durable preparation for tin and lead, is a mixture of aqua- 
 fortis, sulphuret of potash or soda, gum, and nitrate of copper. 
 
 Brass and copper are best prepared with aqua-fortis, gum, and 
 nitrate of lime, mixed in due proportions. 
 
341 
 
 Lime and gum, as also potash with salt and gum, form a good means 
 of preparation for all metals. 
 
 The alcoline preparation is, however, only applicable for the en- 
 graved manner ; for the raised, the acid manner is much better. 
 
 I have lately applied the chemical printing of metal plates, to a 
 new species of copper machines, in which all that is drawn with che- 
 mical ink or chalk on paper, is taken off by the press in a few moments, 
 and may be multiplied many hundred-fold. His Majesty, the King of 
 Bavaria, had the goodness to give me a patent for this invention for 
 six years. 
 
 Hitherto I have been prevented by the publication of this work, from 
 giving any extension to this subject ; but now that I am again at liberty, 
 I shall endeavour, with the utmost assiduity, to have a store of them 
 executed ; and it will be worth while to open a subscription, to enable 
 me to deliver them at a very low price, which would afford me the 
 more gratification, as the general utility of my inventions constitutes my 
 highest reward, and the object that 1 have most at heart, to promote 
 which, I have in this work laboured with all the pains and assiduity 
 in my power. 
 
 1 have been somewhat less circumstantial in the concluding" sheets, 
 from an idea that those who thoroughly understood the preceding di- 
 rections, would not require so many words to understand the remainder, 
 the essential points of which are always correctly laid down. 
 
 Had not the demand for this book, which perhaps was too early 
 
342 
 
 announced, been so very urgent of late, that it was impossible to delay 
 any longer the publication of it, I should have endeavoured to render the 
 specimens of the various manners more worthy of the elegance of the 
 printing. But I leave this to a supplementary volume which will soon 
 follow the present, in which my principal object shall be to describe 
 with greater minuteness the manners that remain still unknown, and 
 to furnish each of them with a specimen of real merit, as a work of art. 
 
 I now close my instructions, and wish from the bottom of my heart 
 that my work may find many friends, and produce many excellent 
 Lithographists. — May God grant my wish. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 Printed by W. CLOWES, Northumberland-court, Strand, London. 
 
Directions to the Binder for placing the Plates. 
 
 Page 
 
 1 Specimens of Black Letter, facing the Title. 
 
 2 Portrait of Alois Senefelder 1 
 
 3 Upright Lever Press, commonly called the Pole-press 193 
 
 4 Hand-press 198 
 
 5 Etruscan Figure, in Pen and Ink 203 
 
 6 Chalk-drawing of a Cottage, by Prout 228 
 
 7 Chalk-drawing of Ornaments 232 
 
 8 Transfer from paper in Pen and Ink, by Prout 256 
 
 9 Ditto, ditto, Lines written by the author of Dr. Syntax 258 
 
 10 Imitation of a Wood-cut 264 
 
 1 1 Part of an unrolled Papyrus, from Herculaneum 269 
 
 12 St. Matthew, after Callot, etched on stone 290 
 
 13 Ditto, with Tint-plate 302 
 
 14 Etruscan Figure, with border and black ground 305 
 
LIST OF MATERIALS 
 
 AND 
 
 UTENSILS FOR LITHOGRAPHY, 
 
 FURNISHED BY 
 
 R. ACKER MANN. 
 
 English and German Stones, ready prepared for Chalk or Pen and Ink- 
 Drawing, for Etching and Engraving. 
 Pumice Stone. 
 Spunges. 
 
 Gravers, Scrapers, and Etching-Needles. 
 
 Plat Varnish Brushes, Sables, and Camel Hair-brushes. 
 
 Steel Pens. 
 
 Rollers for the filling in the stones with ink. 
 French Tracing-paper. 
 Prepared Paper for Transfers. 
 
 Chemical Ink to draw or write with, in boxes or bottles. 
 
 Autographic Ink for Transfers. 
 
 Chemical Chalk, soft, middle, or hard quality. 
 
 Printing Ink. 
 
 Burnt Oil, strong. 
 
 Ditto weak. 
 
 Gum Arabic. 
 
 Rectified Aqua-fortis, proper for Lithography. 
 Printing and Blotting-Paper, proper for Lithograph}. 
 
 V* R- Ackermann offer s his services as Printer to amateurs and artists . 
 
 V 
 
»5 
 
 1 THE GETTY CENTEk 
 f LIBRARY