

324 Stereotype Printing. 



my return, and had no leisure to forward the scheme of the society. 

 But that hurry being now near over, I purpose to proceed in the 

 affair very soon, your approbation being no small encouragement to 



me. 



I cannot but be fond of engaging in a correspondence so advanta- 

 geous to me as yours must be. I shall always receive your favors as 

 such, and with great pleasure. 



I wish I could by any means, have made your son's longer stay 

 here as agreeable to him, as it would have been to those who began 

 to be acquainted with him. 



I am, Sir, with much respect, 



Your most humble servant, 



Dr. Colden. B. FRANKLIN. 



The mode of printing above described is now known by the term 

 Stereotype; and it is a curious fact that the stereotype process, said 

 to have been invented by M. Herhan, in Paris, and now practised by 

 him in that city, under letters patent of Napoleon, is precisely the 

 same as that spoken of by Dr. Colden more than sixty years ago. 



It is more than probable that when Dr. Franklin went to France, 

 he communicated Dr. Colden's " new method of printing" to some 

 artists there, and that it lay dormant till about sixteen years since ; 

 when Herhan, a German, who had been an assistant to M. Didot, 

 the printer and type founder of Paris, but then separated from him, 

 took it up in opposition to M. Didot. We have conversed with gen- 

 tlemen who have seen M. Herhan's method of stereotyping, and they 

 describe it to be exactly what Governor Colden invented. This fact 

 established, there can be no doubt that M. Herhan, is indebted to 

 America for the celebrity he has obtained in France. 



Since the above papers fell into our hands, we have endeavored 

 to obtain information respecting the different methods of stereotyping 

 now in use. The following is the result of our inquiries. 



By a book published in Paris, about ten years since, by M. Camus 

 of the French National Institute, we find that a Bible was printed 

 in Strasburgb, by one Gillet, more than a hundred years ago, with 

 plates similar to those now used by Didot and Herhan, but not by 

 any means so perfect. Gillet's moulds were made of a fine clay and 

 a particular kind of sand found only in the neighborhood of Paris. 

 It is also stated that a number of other ingenious men had at various 



