46 



Processes and Schools o f Engraving . 



H. LITHOGRAPHY, AND SURFACE PRINTS FROM 

 METAL PLATES. 



Process. 



A lithograph is a surface print taken from stone. The essence of the 

 process is the natural antipathy of grease and water, and the readiness of 

 certain kinds of stone to absorb grease and water equally. The stone 

 most used, on account of the uniform surface quahty it offers, is quarried 

 at Kelheim and Solenhofen, in Bavaria. By the most direct method, 

 the artist draws his design on the polished surface of the stone in 

 specially-prepared lithogra]phic chalk of a greasy substance. Preparatory 

 to printing, the stone is washed with water, which is only retained by 

 the stone in the parts not touched by the chalk. The stone is then 

 inked with the roller, the ink being rejected by the damp stone and only 

 adhermg to the parts covered with the greasy chalk. The paper being 

 laid on the stone, and covered, is passed through the scraper press to 

 yield the hnpression. 



The main principle being adhered to, a great variety of effects can be 

 obtained beside that of the ordinary texture of a chalk drawing. The 

 chalk might be laid over the whole, or a considerable part of the surface, 

 either dhectly or with the aid of a stump. This black ground might 

 then be scra]3ed like a mezzotint, to bring out the high lights (scraped 

 lithograph), or the white lines might be drawn with a point. Another 

 characteristic method is to make a solution of the lithographic chalk and 

 lay this on with a brush. The effect will be that of a washed drawing 

 {lithotint), and here too, if required, white lights can be worked out by 

 the scraper or point. The solution might also be used with the pen, 

 to give the appearance of a pen drawing. 



Stone is not the most essential factor in the process. Various metals, 

 such as zinc or aluminium, have been found to answer the requirements 

 which render surface printing possible. If zinc is used, one sometimes 

 uses the term zincography, and a general term, surf ace printing on metal, 

 might be applied, to include other metals, but it is simplest to include all 

 under the title lithography, just as metal-cuts are classed with woodcuts. 



A metal surface generally needs washing in special solutions, to make 

 it more readily absorbent, and even then is seldom so uniform in its 

 work as the best stone. Zinc plates have also been made, coated with a 

 special composition corresponding to the stone, but they have not been 

 largely used. 



We have described the drawing as being done dhectly on the stone. 

 It can also be done on specially prepared pa]5er, and then transferred to 

 the sm-face of the stone in the jjress. The essential element of transfer 

 paper is a gum surface easily soluble in water. The drawing being made 

 on this surface with the lithographic chalk, the paper being placed 

 drawing downwards on the stone, thoroughly damped, and put through 

 the press, the chalk is detached from the paper and adheres to the stone. 



It is often difficult to say from the inscriptions on lithographs whether 

 the artist has done the drawing on stone or only a drawing for transfer. 

 It is not a very important distinction, in fact, considerably less important 

 than the distinction between designer and cutter of black-line woodcuts, 

 where (as with Diirer) we freqaently only know the designer and not the 

 cutter. The lithographic printer, even granted that he makes the transfer, 

 is of little interest in the study of the subject on the artistic side. 



