112 REPORT or NATIONAL, MUSEUM, 1922. 



Several fine old books were loaned by Earle W. Huckel, including 

 the only specimen of incunabula in the collections of the division, 

 Lockniayr's Tlieology, published at Hagenau in 1497. This loan in- 

 cluded another early book, a beautiful example of printing, " Missae 

 Novae in Missali Romano," published in 1696 by the famous printer 

 Balthasar Moretus, and several old Bibles. 



In the first century of the history of letterpress printing there was 

 great beauty in the printed page, but in modern times little artistic 

 Avork had been produced. To William Morris belongs the honor of 

 reviving the interest in beautiful typography and presswork. He 

 started a printing press in 1890 with the idea of making har- 

 monious and beautiful books and published 53 volumes, each 

 a gem. His ideas were based upon the best that had been done 

 in the past. The books that he turned out were beautiful in 

 every way; type, design, paper, and presswork, and the binding all 

 came up to a high artistic standard. The division was fortunate in 

 recently coming into possession of an excellent copy of " The Well 

 at the World's End," by William Morris, published in the spring of 

 1896, the last j^ear of Mr. Morris's life. The exhibits of letterpress 

 printing should be nearly complete in another year, material show- 

 ing modern methods of type making and the process of printing a 

 newspaper having been promised. Exhibits of printing ink, hand- 

 made paper, and early type making are already in place. 



Several recent contributions have added materially to the educa- 

 tional and artistic value of the collotype exhibit. The Campbell 

 Art Co., of Elizabeth, N. J., donated a technical series showing their 

 method of printing in color, consisting of four plate-glass printing 

 plates, progressive proofs, and the original water color by the Eng- 

 lish artist, Frank Wasley. They also donated several fine reproduc- 

 tions of paintings. Other excellent large examples of the process 

 were received from Foster Bros., of Boston, and from the Medici 

 Society of America (Inc.). Six small prints made in Vienna were 

 donated by Rudolf Lesch, of New York Cit3\ All of these arcj 

 equally fine and the best work being done to-day. 



The principle upon which this method of printing is based was 

 discovered and patented by Poitevin in 1855, but was not used 

 extensively until about 1870. Albertype, autotype, artotype, helio- 

 type, lichtdruck, indotint, and phototype are some of the names 

 by which the work is known. Photogelatine is a name which 

 is now coming into common use. The collotype process is purely a 

 photomechanical method in which the printing is done directly from 

 a gelatine film. Tliere are no screens, acids, or engraving; the print- 

 ing plate is prepared by exposing a bichromated gelatine, which is 

 either on plate glass or metal, under a negative. This film becomes 



