ART OF PRINTING FROM STONBi gU 



off one design at Vienna, and the last whs as beautiful ad 

 the first. This is intended to be carried still farther, for the 

 purpose of printing bank notes. The most expert music Bank notes* 

 engraver can scarcely execute four pages of music on pew- 

 ter in a day, but the engraver on stone can finish twice as 

 much in that time* 



To enter into the particulars would take up too much Cheapness* 

 room, but experience has shown, that this mode saves two 

 thirds of the expense of engraving on copper or pewter. 



After having mentioned the advantages of printing from Disadvantages, 

 stone, it is juft to point out its disadvantages* These are, 

 the difficulty of giving that diversity of tone, which is ad- 

 mired in engravings. Thus for instance, the finest prints Best specimen; 

 that this art has yet produced are unquestionably those, that 

 have been executed at Munich* from those celebrated 

 drawings, which from a whim, in which painters are apt 

 enough to indulge, Albert Durer made in a prayerbook. 

 These prints are executed with spirit, and the stroke is fre- 

 quently clean; but it is uniform, so that the print is some- 

 what gray and monotonous. The difference is still better 

 perceived, on comparing these prints with those etched by 

 the different masters themselves* 



The same inconvenience is found in music, the uniformity 



that prevails rendering the music less easy to read. 



We must not too hastily conclude however, that this new f . . . 

 , improvement 



art is not important : we should endeavour to find means of to be attempt* 



remedying the inconveniences, that appear to arise from the ed * 

 mode employed* If such means be discovered, which we 

 may hope from experience showing, that the manner of ap- 

 plying the acid and of drawing upon the ston^ are the points 

 most important to improve, this mode of printing will com- 

 bine a saving both of time and expense. The great num- 

 ber of copies too, that may be taken off, is not one of its 

 lead advantages. 



It remains now to notice the differences, that appear to Differences la 

 exist in the chemical printing offices of different cities* At dlfferent 

 Milan a little nitric acid is poured over the stone, as at 



* Albrecht Durers Christlich mythologischc Handzeichnungen. Strix- 

 ner, Munich, 1808. Different inks have been used for prints, as black, 

 ked, violet, and green. 



F2 Vienna; 



