493 



LITHOGRAPHY. 



to its capabilities, fell readily into the same opinion ; 

 iisi-ribing as inhemit defects of the invention what 

 ought to have been iittributcil to their own incompe- 

 tem-y ; lor it was unfair to expect that any of them, 

 liiiurvci eminent in their peculiar practice, should 

 with a >iii It- ellort obtain a perfect result. As a body, 

 tlio Hriiij.ii artists appear to liave resigned lithography 

 t.) it-- late, with the teeling that it would never satisfy 

 the expectations which its announcement had excited. 



The first effort, therefore, to introduce the art into 

 Britain by Andre completely failed, and he left the 

 country. Lithography was next practised in London 

 by two Germans, named Volweiller and Kergenrader; 

 but they were equally unfortunate with Andre, and 

 lithography would have been a second time driven 

 out of Britain, had not the late Colonel Brown 

 (assistant quartermaster-general) met with specimens, 

 which convinced him that at least it was peculiarly 

 well adapted for military and official purposes. 



The quartermaster-general authorized the purchase 

 for a hundred pounds of the secret (as it was then 

 railed) of stone printing, with the materials from 

 Volweiller, who, with his partner, returned to Ger- 

 many in 1807. Owing to colonel Brown having mis- 

 understood or forgotten part of the process, and 

 perhaps also from the natural timidity attendant on a 

 first essay in an occult art, the attempts made by him 

 at printing were abortive ; and the practice in Bri- 

 tain must have been abandoned, had not lieutenant 

 Pawley accidentally discovered the man whom both 

 Andre and Volweiller had employed to prepare the 

 stones and assist in working the press. This person, 

 whose name is Redman, had acquired a knowledge, 

 or rather had picked up a smattering of the general 

 process, and with his aid the experiments at the 

 Horse Guards became tolerably successful. The first 

 map (a sketch of Bantry bay) was produced in the 

 beginning of the year 1808 ; but previously to the 

 appointment of Sir Willoughby Gordon as quarter- 

 master-general, in 1811, the art was only used as an 

 auxiliary to the military depot. From that date, 

 lithography became of importance in the hands of 

 the British government ; and on a representation to 

 the secretary at war, it was applied to printing the 

 circulars of his office. At the present time the 

 quartermaster-general's department executes litho- 

 graphic printing for the treasury, war, commander- 

 in-chief's, adjutant-general's and army pay offices ; 

 the home department, military asylum, commissariat, 

 army medical department, office for military boards, 

 recruiting department, &c. Plans and maps to a very 

 large number have also been drawn and printed occa- 

 sionally for both houses of parliament, with several 

 laborious surveys relating to the new lines of roads 

 through England, for the general post office. 



Lithography is now, even in the hands of an infe- 

 rior printer, no longer an imperfect art, as the sup- 

 posed impossibility of repairing an injury, or correct- 

 ing a fault, after impressions have been taken, is 

 obviated by an important discovery made by Mr 

 Coindet, the head partner of the house of Engelmann, 

 who, in 1827, opened a lithographic establishment 

 in London. This gentleman, acting on some experi- 

 ments made at Mulhausen, was enabled, after a great 

 deal of difficulty, to give to artists the power of re- 

 touching their drawings, after they had been etched. 

 Several British artists have employed this method of 

 retouching with success, some, indeed, in changing 

 the composition of their drawings ; others in altering 

 the effect. 



In France lithography was first introduced about 

 the year 1807, by M. Andre, who disposed of f 'the 

 secret" to whoever was willing to purchase it, for 

 such sums as he could obtain. 



In 1810, the French government refused M. Man- 



lich, keeper of the king of Bavaria's pictures, per- 

 mission to form a lithographic establishment at Paris; 

 and it was not until 1814 that the art seems to have 

 obtained popular notice in France. 



\\ e shall now proceed to give a description of the 

 material! employed. 



The stone best adapted for this kind of printing, 

 and that used for the finest work, is procured from 

 quarries situated along the banks of the Danube, in 

 Pappenheim in Bavaria. They are of a calco-argil- 

 acious nature, and contain a little flint. The colour 

 is a grayish-yellow. The grain is very fine, and 

 being nearly of the same hardness as marble, they 

 take on a very fine polish. AVhen wetted, they have 

 the property of retaining the water for a considerable 

 time, on which depends their great use in lithography. 

 Stones of an inferior description have been found at 

 Chateauroux ; they are not uniform in the grain, and 

 are, moreover, in large blocks, which must be sawn 

 into thin plates, whereas the Bavarian stones are 

 found in flat strata, uniform in thickness, and almost 

 ready for use. Stones fitted for printing have like- 

 wise been found at Corston, near Bath, and also at 

 Stony Stratford ; but they also are inferior to the 

 German. The thickness of the stone must increase 

 in proportion to its surface, varying from one inch 

 and a half to two inches and a half, which last 

 thickness is quite sufficient for a stone of ten square 

 feet. When good stones cannot be had, a substitute 

 may be formed by a mixture of lime and fine sand, 

 together with the caseous or cheesy part of milk, so 

 that the compound whey, when dry, may be about 

 the hardness of marble. 



A table is necessary, in order to lay the stone on, 

 and keep it steady when it is grinding or polishing 

 (operations which will afterwards be described) : it 

 may be formed of stone, metal, or wood, having 

 ledges round the edges, and holes to permit the es- 

 cape of water. 



A drawing table is also required, of such a size as 

 to contain the stone, and having pieces of wood at 

 each end, in order to support a roller, or flat bar, that 

 lies across the table, and above the stone, so that the 

 draughtsman's hand may not come into contact with 

 the surface of the stone. 



The ink table is usually made in the form of a 

 box, on the upper surface of which the ink is spread 

 and taken off by a roller covered with soft leather, 

 and made elastic by stuffing. The interior of the 

 box is occupied by various small articles required in 

 the process of printing. 



A mould for fashioning chalk pencils is used. It is 

 commonly formed of brass, and contains about twenty 

 holes, into which the composition is poured while in 

 a soft state. The nature of the chalk composition, 

 as also of the ink, will be afterwards described. 



Steel pens are used in preference to quills, because 

 they make much finer work, although they cannot be 

 handled with so much dexterity. They are made of 

 watch springs, or steel ribands made for the purpose. 

 The pen is first formed by cutting the steel with a 

 pair of scissors, and then brought to the proper 

 degree of fineness by means of a hone. This done 

 the pen is fashioned into a semicylindrical form by 

 beating it with a small hammer, and in this state is 

 fixed on a handle by means of a bit of quill. 



Various other articles are used, such as lining and 

 scratching knives, points, gravers or burins, fine hair 

 pencils, brushes made of badgers' hair, &c. 



The most improved form of the lithographic prill- 

 ing press is represented in the annexed wood engrav- 

 ing. The construction is much more simple than the 

 presses usually described in articles on this subject : 

 the action of the press is at least equal to these, and 

 it is far less liable to go wrong. The stand of the 



