490 



LITHUCHROMICS LITHOGRAPHY. 



repeated distillations, is resolved into ammonia, nitro- 

 gen, and prussir arid. 



LTTHOCHROMICS ; the art of painting in oil 

 upon stone, and of taking impressions on canvass. 

 'J las process, which is designed to multiply the 

 n>;i-ter-pieces of painting, was invented some years 

 ago by Mulapeau, in Paris, who received a patent 

 tor In-' invention, and lias an establishment for litho- 

 chromic productions, which have been popular in 

 Paris since 1823. Tins process is a substitute for the 

 copying of portraits ; it also served as a cheap means 

 of ornamenting walls. This art, however, is still in 

 its infancy. The lithochromic printings yet pro- 

 duced, are less valuable than the poorest copies. 

 A similar, but much superior invention lias been made 

 by Senefelder, which he calls mosaic impression. 



LITHOGRAPHY (from \ifas, stone, and y^aipi.y, to 

 write) . * The art of printing from stone, was invented 

 at Munich, between the years 1795 and 1798, by Alois 

 Senefelder. Peter Senefelder, the father of the inven- 

 tor, was an actor at the theatre royal in that city, and 

 intending to bring up his sou to the law, placed him 

 at the university of Ingolstadt. The dramatic incli- 

 nation of young Senefelder, however, displayed itself 

 in private theatricals ; and, in 1789, he composed 

 and printed a little comedy, called ' Die Madchen- 

 icenncr,' for which he obtained some applause and 

 profit. This success, and the death of his father, by 

 which he was placed in reduced circumstances, fixed 

 his determination of quitting the university, and at- 

 taching himself to the theatres. For two years he 

 seems to have experienced all the miseries of a life of 

 green-room vicissitudes, and then to have taken up 

 Uie no less uncertain profession of authorship. 



As a play which he had written could not be got 

 ready in time for the Easter book fair at Leipsic, 

 his second publication produced but barely sufficient 

 to pay for the printing, to accelerate which he had 

 passed much time in the printing-office, an anxious, 

 and, as it will appear, no inattentive spectator. " I 

 thought it so easy," says Senefelder, in his work on 

 Lithography, " that I wished for nothing morej,han 

 to possess a small printing-press, and thus to be the 

 composer, printer, and publisher of my own produc- 

 tions." 



After a variety of experiments made with the 

 view of carrying this wish into effect, in the course 

 of which Senefelder was compelled to substitute 

 materials less expensive, or to him more manage- 

 able, for those commonly used by printers, he acci- 

 dentally invented an art which will hand his name 

 down to posterity. Among the materials employed 

 by him were polished blocks or slabs of Kellheim 

 stone, and on these he endeavoured to etch his com- 

 position, in imitation of the manner of copperplate 

 engravers, with very imperfect success. 



" I had just succeeded (he himself says) in my little 

 laboratory in polishing a stone-plate, which I had in- 

 tended to cover with etching ground, in order to 

 continue my exercises in writing backwards, when 

 my mother entered the room, and desired me to write 

 her a bill for the washer-woman, who was waiting for 

 the linen. I happened not to have even the smallest 

 slip of paper at hand, as my little stock of paper had 

 been entirely exhausted by taking proof impressions 

 from the stones ; nor was there even a drop of ink in 

 the inkstand. As the matter would not admit of 

 delay, and we had nobody in the house to send for a 

 supply of the deficient materials, I resolved to write 

 the list with my ink prepared with wax, soap, and 

 lamp-black, on the stone which I had just polished, 

 and from which I could copy it at leisure. Sometime 



For the historical portion of thi article we are indebted 

 to the " Koruigu Review," No. VH. 



after this, I was going to wipe this writing from the 

 stone, when the idea all at once struck me to try 

 what would be the effect of such a writing with my 

 prepared ink, if 1 were to bite in the stone with aqua 

 fortis ; and whether, perhaps, it might not be possible 

 to apply printing ink to it, in the same way as to wood 

 engravings, and so take, impressions from it." 



The result of the subsequent experiments was the 

 art of printing from stone, the principle of which it 

 may be here necessary briefly to explain. Its foun- 

 dation is the fact known to every one, that grease 

 will readily adhere to grease, and be repelled by 

 water. 



The lines required to be printed are drawn on 

 stone with a greasy composition formed of tallow, 

 bees' wax, shell-lac, and common soap, in equal parts, 

 which will not unite with or be affected by water : 

 previously to printing, the surface of the stoive is 

 wetted, and it is, therefore, prevented by the moisture 

 from receiving the printing ink when applied, except 

 on those places covered with the greasy composition. 

 A roller charged with printing ink (which it need 

 hardly be stated is greasy) being passed over the 

 stone, the printing ink readily adheres to the greasy 

 lines of the drawing, but does not adhere to the other 

 parts of the surface which retain the water. The 

 print is obtained by pressure, which removes the 

 printing ink from the lines of the drawing ; and be- 

 tween each impression the operation of wetting the 

 stone with a sponge, and applying the roller charged 

 with printing ink is repeated. Such is a broad out- 

 line of the process of lithographic printing, but like 

 every other art, simple as the general principle 

 appears, a knowledge of the numerous details neces- 

 sary to make a skilful practitioner can only be 

 acquired by experience, and must be gained by manual 

 execution. 



Unable, from the want of pecuniary resources, to 

 pursue his discovery, or obtain any advantage from it, 

 Senefelder, tempted by a bounty of two hundred 

 florins, determined to enlist as a private soldier in the 

 artillery, with the enthusiastic expectation that this 

 small sum might ultimately enable him to bring his 

 invention into practice, and secure to himself an 

 honourable competency and reputation. The feelings 

 of an ingenious mind under the circumstances of 

 Senefelder must be interesting ; but his situation, at 

 this time, was one rather of romance than of ordinary 

 life, and cannot be better told than in his own words, 

 nor will any one who reads the plain and manly nar- 

 rative published by him, entertain a doubt of the 

 uncoloured truth of the relation. 



" I was quickly resolved, and on the third ilay after 

 forming my resolution, I went to Ingolstadt with a 

 party of recruits to join my regiment. It was not 

 without some feelings of mortification and humbled 

 pride that I entered this city, in which I had formerly 

 led the independent life of a student, but the con- 

 sciousness of my own dignity, and enthusiasm for my 

 new invention, greatly contributed to restore my 

 spirits. I slept in the barracks, where I was not a 

 little disgusted by the prevailing filth and vulgar jests 

 of a corporal. The next morning I was to enlist, but 

 to my great disappointment the commander of the 

 regiment discovered that I was not a native of Bava- 

 ria ; and, therefore, according to a recent order of 

 the Elector, could not serve in the army without 

 obtaining a special license. Thus my last hope failed 

 me, and I left Ingolstadt in a state of mind bordering 

 on despair. As I passed the great bridge over the 

 Danube, and looked at the majestic river in which I 

 had been twice nearly drowned while bathing, I 

 could not suppress the wish that I had not been then 

 saved, as misfortune seemed to persecute me with the 

 utmost rigour, and to deny me even the last prospect 



