LITHOGRAPHY. 



LITHOGRAPHY. 



. and when thia i removed, if a sponge n.I water t* applied to 

 Mi aortaee, M before supposed, the drawing ii found to bo no longer 

 ibli. beeauae to* chalk with which it ii executed is now no 

 <Juble in water. In this state the work i* ready for the 

 u later, who obtain* impressions by the following proceaa. 



Having with a aponf* filled with water, to which an extremely amall 

 quantity of acid ha* been added, wetted, or rather damped, the whole 

 surface of the atone equally, the printer find* that the water haa been 

 imbibed by the atone only on thoae parta not occupied by the drawing. 



rlv 

 ch 



i wet, from the antipathy of oil and 



Bat the part* occupied by the drawing being, aa we hare 

 MB, dry and greaty, hare an affinity for the printing-ink, which there- 

 in* paase* from the roller and attache* itaelf to the drawing. In this 

 ateto it i* aaid to be charged, or rolled in. Damped paper ia then put 

 over it. and the whole being paaaed through a prow, the printing-ink 

 u transferred from the atone to the paper, and this constitutes the 

 n. By repeating in this manner the operations of damping 

 and rolling in the drawing, an almost unlimited number of 



;. omy on uoae pan* not occupied oy ute drawing, 



which beiw greaqr repel* the water and remain* dry. A roller properly 

 covered with printing-ink ia now pased over the whole atone, whicb 

 will not area be aotled where it ia wet, from the antipathy of oil and 



impre-ions may be obtained. 

 Now, * i 



typographic 

 Another 



i we hare aaid, the mode* of lithography are various, but the 

 illustration just given will explain the principle of them all. It con- 

 sist* in the mutual antipathy of oil and water, and the affinity which 

 the (tone has for both, that is, in its power of imbibing either with 

 equal aridity. But, as will be inferred, to ensure complete success, 

 great nicety U requisite in the preparation of all the agents employed 

 in thia art, and in the process of printing, aa well aa in making the 

 drawing on the atone. 



Imitation* of etching* or pen and ink drawings, writing*, &c., executed 

 with the chemical ink upon a poluktd atone, are prepared and printed 

 in precieely the aame manner. 



Trwujer htkoyropky, or A utoyrapfiy, from the facility of its execution 

 and iU great utility, claim* especial notice. A paper called trantfrr- 

 paper or "autographic paper," ia used to receive the writing in this 

 mode of lithography. This paper ha* previously had a liquid gummy 

 preparation washed over one aide of it, which, when dry, constitute* 

 ita face, and the writing being performed with a modification of the 

 chemical ink already deacribed, rest* upon this gummy surface, and 

 doe* not penetrate to the paper beneath. When the writing or 

 drawing done on the transfer-paper U dry, the back of it in wetted 

 lightly but equally with a sponge and water ; and the paper being very 

 thin, the gum preparation on the front of it becomes at once partially 

 dissolved. In this state the paper U laid, with ita face downwards, on 

 a polMed atone, and being paaaed through a press, the transfer-paper is 

 found strongly and closely adhering to it. The back of the transfer- 

 paper is now well wetted, and, one corner being first raised, it will 

 readily peel off, leaving the gum preparation, and of course also the 

 writing which waa above it, attached to the stone. The gum i* then 

 washed off with water, and the preparation and printing proceed in the 

 manner already explained. This mode of lithography being eminently 

 calculated to facilitate the despatch of business, ita great utility haa 

 been sensibly felt in the commercial departments of the country and 

 in several of our government offices, a* by ita mean* one written 

 can be multiplied at pleasure, without delay or the riak of 

 cal error*. 



style of lithography is commonly called " ttrhitty," or 

 "eugrurimg o* itoxt," although it must by no mean* be inferred that in 

 thia procea* the atone i* incised, but that the result* correspond with 

 the clean-cut line* of the graver or etching-needle. A coat of gum- 

 water, with some lamp-black or vermilion mixed with it, to give it 

 colour and render the work visible, U thinly but evenly rubbed over a 

 fnluMfd atone, and, when dry, effectually protects it from any applica- 

 tion of grease. On thia gum ground the design U executed with an 

 etching-needle, precisely the aame a* in etching upon copper ; and 

 wherever the needle panes, of course the atone is laid bare, and it ia 

 beat to cleanly remove the gum ground without cutting into the 

 tone. After this acme oil ia rubbed over the whole surface, and ia 

 imbibed by the atone wherever the needle haa passed and exposed ita 

 surface by removing the ground. The gum ia then washed off, and 

 the work may be at once rolled in and printed, without any previous 

 .v ' .-. 



Thus we see that grease anyhow applied to the atone will yield 

 impneaiona, but that the character of the impression depend*, 1st, on 

 the 7 wi/i/y of the grease; 2dly, on the quantity of grease ; andSdly.on 

 the manner in which the grease U applied. Aa illustrations, we refer 

 to the mode* already enumerated, in which the application of the I 

 chemical preparation in the ahape of a nlid dutlk, of fivid ink. and of | 

 p*n oil, directly applied to the (tone, have been pointed out, and the 

 effect* arising from each explained. It ia the grease therefore which 

 prints, aixl the lampblack introduced into the lithographic materials U 

 of no other ua* than to enable the artiat to judge of the quantity of 

 grew imparted to the atone. That it doe* not in the (Lightest degree 

 contribute to produce greater darkneei in the impression, is proved by 

 a very curiou* phenomenon. The design may be (and often U, in the 

 progress of printing) washed out with turpentine, so as to become 

 quite invisible ; and a looker-on, unacquainted with the subject would 

 suppose the work to be completely destroyed ; but it U the Moot only 



which Uaa disappeared; the grratt remain*, and on being rolled in 

 again, the drawing re-appears uninjured. 



The variation in the quality of the tint*, arising from the mode in 

 which the grease is applied, may be further illustrated by reference to 

 the dabber, which ia an instrument by which tints of exceeding 

 delicacy may he produced. It is made of very smooth leather, being 

 lewhat round on ita face, and stuffed with cotton wool 



On the face 



of the dabber a lithographic preparation, softer than the chalk, is 

 evenly and thinly applied with a hard brush, and afterward* imparted 

 to the stone by repeated blow* with the instrument. The dabber was 

 formerly much in use, particularly for delicate akies ; but as lithography 

 ha* been longer cultivated among us, our artists have acquired greater 

 manual dexterity, and produce tints of the greatest delicacy with the 

 hand alone, which have the recommendation of standing better than 

 thoce produced with the dabber. Another mode of applying the 

 greasy material, which waa introduced some yean back, and was found 

 in skilful hand* to produce very effective results, wa* by mean* of a 

 itump, as in crayon drawing [CRAYOXS], to which the procea* is very 

 similar. Again, with a modification of the ink already described, 

 drawings were made by washing, or laying in tint*, with brushes (or 

 camel-hair pencils) much as drawing* are ordinarily made with India- 

 ink or sepia. By both these mean* almost perfect facsimiles of 

 artists' sketches may be produced : indeed, aa is evident, lithography 

 admits of any mode of manipulation which may suit the habits, taste, 

 or style of the artist, so that it be consistent with the main principle of 

 the art 



The printing from two or more stones, which was practised with 

 indifferent success almost in the earliest stages of lithography by 

 Senefelder and other*, has within the last few years been very exten- 

 sively practised. In this style, when all that is desired is to imitate a 

 drawing made on tinted paper, with the high lights laid on with white, 

 the drawing is first made in the usual way, with chalk on a grained 

 stone, but more slight, the sky and other delicate tints being omitted, 

 and these are superadded from the " lint itone." The tint is executed 

 with facility by the printer on another stone (polished), with a modified 

 preparation of chemical ink, and thus much labour is saved to the 

 artist. The extreme lights are then scraped out on this tint stone, and 

 the printer superadds the impressions from it to thoae already taken 

 from the drawing on the other stone ; of course taking great care that 

 the two fit well, or " remitter," as it is technically called. 



But the most important application of this process is in the pro- 

 duction of copies of coloured drawings and paintings ; a process known 

 as chrnnw-tit/io<jraphy. The object here being to produce as nearly aa 

 possible foe-similes in colour, touch, and texture, a* well as in drawing 

 and light and shadow, of pictures from the pencils of painters of the 

 highest standing, it has been found necessary to employ a large number 

 of stones, in order to produce the almost infinite varieties of tint* 

 which are found united in a single picture ; every stone giving a sepa- 

 rate impression in ita own particular colour or tint. The mode of pro- 

 cedure is somewhat as follows. First, an outline of the entire subject 

 in made by means of transfer paper, or otherwise, on a stone which ia 

 called the outline or key-stone of the work. This stone yields impres- 

 sions which are transferred as guides to all the other stones. On a 

 second and third stone which serve as the basis of the print the general 

 effect of the drawing is washed in, and from these are printed what may 

 be called the chiaroscuro, in a faint tint of sepia and of a neutral- 

 colour or gray : corresponding in fact very nearly to the neutral or 

 dead-colouring of a water-colour drawing in the method adopted by 

 the early water-colour pointers. The stone* which follow are each 

 charged with a particular colour or tint, and each leave* its impression 

 on only a particular portion of the print : one stone printing only the 

 parts which are intended to be yellow or a modification of yellow ; 

 another red, another blue, and so on. Other stones charged in parta 

 with grays or secondary colours serve to blend and harmonise the crude 

 colours ; others follow which modify these, and finally, one give* the 

 sharp dark touches, and is usually followed by another which supplies 

 a sort of glaze or finiliing wash, and subdues and harmonises the 

 whole. Of course, we have only broadly indicated the general method. 

 It will be understood that the sequence of the colours in the printing; 

 the special quality and strength to be given to each particular tint ; 

 the effect to be produced by their superposition, and many <>tln i- 

 particulars, have all to be token into account in planning the arrange- 

 ment of the colours on the stones ; since a sequence in some respecta 

 different, and an entirely different modification of colours, have to be 

 employed for the works of most artista ; and it hap]ns that much of 

 the colour on each of the earlier stones is covered by that of succeeding 

 stones, and that thus only can the broken tints of the original be 

 imitated. It is in fact only by watching the progress of a print through 

 all ita stage* that any clear idea can be obtained of the beauty and 

 accuracy of the whole process, of the prevision that must be exercised, 

 and of the skill, core, and taste required at every step to carry it to a 

 successful termination. For some of the more elaborate prints one 

 or two after Turner, for instance from thirty to forty stones have 

 been required to produce a finished print. And in order to produce 

 this print, it must be borne in mind that each sheet of paper has to 

 be passed aa many time* through the press as there are stones, since 

 each (tone imprints upon it only ita own particular section of the 

 work. Of course, in proportion to the increase in the number of the 



