A. COTTAM ON AUTOGRAPHIC LITHOGRAPHY, &C. 7 



To draw well on stone requires a long apprenticeship, as the draw- 

 ing has to be reversed, and the surface is not easy to work upon. 

 To overcome the difficulty of reversing, there has been a transfer 

 paper in use for a long time, on which a drawing could be made the 

 right way, which could afterwards be transferred by pressure from 

 the paper to the stone, and then be printed from the stone in the 

 usual way. 



Lithographic stones are of two kinds, some have a smooth face, 

 and others a grained surface. Lithographic chalk can only be used 

 upon the latter kind ; upon a smooth stone a drawing must be made 

 with ink alone. 



The old transfer paper has a smooth face, and like a smooth stone 

 can only be used for a drawing in ink. The face of the paper is very 

 greasy, is not a good colour, and is almost as difficult to work upon 

 as the stone itself. It has the further disadvantage, that ink lines 

 drawn upon it almost invariably spread in the process of transfer 

 to the stone, and the print is consequently much coarser than the 

 drawing. 



The " Autographic " Process, which I now wish to introduce to 

 your notice, is simply a transfer paper with a grained instead of a 

 smooth surface. This grained face enables you to draw with the ink 

 as finely as upon the stone, as well as to use crayon for shading, and 

 it has this immense advantage over the smooth paper, that if the 

 ink lines are drawn with ink not too thick, they will be transferred 

 to the stone as finely as they are drawn, the tendency of lines to 

 spread being almost entirely got rid of. The paper is a beautiful 

 colour, and with very little practice is as easy to draw upon as upon 

 ordinary paper. 



The " Autographic" paper is made for, and is sold by Messrs. 

 Maclure and Macdonald, of " The Turret" Printing Offices, No. 97 f 

 Queen Victoria Street, City. Lithographic Ink is sold in sticks 

 like Indian ink. The proper crayon to use is Lcmercier's u Crayon 

 Copal." I believe both the ink and crayon can be obtained at 

 Barbe's, 90, Regent's Quadrant. 



A few words as to the modus operandi. The paper must be kept 

 free from grease, and should not be touched with the hand more than 

 necessary, as all greasy finger marks (and the skin is generally more 

 or less greasy) will print. You may outline your work upon the 

 paper with a fine hard pencil, but it should be used lightly. To 

 prepare the ink, heat a saucer over a spirit lamp, and while it is 



