Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

LITHOGRAPHY (Gr. MOOS, a stone, and y...

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V16, Page 789 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

LITHOGRAPHY (Gr. MOOS, a See also:stone, and ypakecv, to write)  , the See also:process of See also:drawing or .laying down a See also:design or See also:transfer, on a specially prepared See also:stone or other suitable See also:surface, in such a way that impressions may be taken therefrom . The principle on which See also:lithography is based is the antagonism of grease and See also:water . A chemically pure surface having been secured on some substance that has an equal See also:affinity for both grease and water, in a method hereafter to be described, the parts intended to See also:print are covered with an unctuous See also:composition and the See also:rest of the surface is moistened, so that when a greasy See also:roller is applied, the portion that is wet resists the grease and that in which an affinity for grease has been set up readily accepts it; and from the surface thus treated it will be seen that it is an easy thing to secure an impression on See also:paper or other material by applying suitable pressure . The inventor of lithography was Alois See also:Senefelder (1771–1834); and it is remarkable what a grip he at once seemed to get of his invention, for whereas the invention of See also:printing seems almost a See also:matter of See also:evolution, lithography seems to come upon the See also:scene fully equipped for the See also:battle of See also:life, so that it would be a bold craftsman at the See also:present See also:day who would affirm that he knew more of the principles underlying his See also:trade than Senefelder (q.v.) did within See also:thirty years of its invention . Of course practice has led to dexterity, and the See also:great See also:volume of trade has induced many See also:mechanical improvements and facilities, but the principles have not been taken any further, while some valuable methods have been allowed to fall into desuetude and would well repay some experimentally disposed See also:person to revive . Lithography may be divided into two See also:main branches—that which is See also:drawn with a greasy See also:crayon (rather illogically called " See also:chalk ") on a grained stone, and that which is drawn in " See also:ink " on a polished stone . Whatever may be thought in regard to the See also:original See also:work of the artists of various countries who have used lithography as a means of expression, there can be little doubt that in the_ former method the See also:English professed lithographer has always held the pre-See also:eminence, while See also:French, See also:German and See also:American artists have surpassed them in the latter . Chalk lithography subdivides itself into work in which the See also:black predominates, although it may be supported by 5 or 6 shades of modified See also:colour—this See also:branch is known as "black and tint " work—and that in which the black is only used locally like any other colour . Frequently this latter class of work will require a dozen or more See also:colours, while some of the finest examples have had some twenty to thirty stones employed in them . Work of this description is known as chromo-lithography . Each colour requires a See also:separate stone, and work of the highest quality may want two or three blues with yellows, reds, greys and browns in proportion, if it is desired to secure a result that is an approximate rendering of the original See also:painting or drawing . The question may perhaps be asked: " If the well-known three-colour process" (see PROCESS) " can give the full result of the artist's See also:palette, why should it take so many more colours in lithography to secure the same result?" The See also:answer is that the stone practically gives but three gradations—the solid, the See also:half tint and the See also:quarter tint, so that the See also:combination of three very carefully prepared stones will give a very limited number of combinations, while a moderate estimate of the shades on a toned See also:block would be six; so that a very See also:simple mathematical problem will show the far greater number of combinations that the three blocks will give .

Beyond this, the chromolithographer has to exercise very great See also:

powers of colour See also:analysis; but the human mind is quite unable to See also:settle offhand the exact proportion of red, See also:blue and yellow necessary to produce some particular class say of See also:grey, and this the See also:camera with the aid of colour filters does with almost perfect precision . Notwithstanding these disadvantages, lithography has these strong points: (r) its utility for small See also:editions on See also:account of its, at present, smaller See also:prime cost; (2) its suitability for subjects of large See also:size; (3) its superiority for subjects with outlines, for in such cases the outline can be done in one colour, whereas to secure this effect by the admixture of the three colours requires marvellously See also:good See also:registration, the See also:absence of which would produce a very large proportion of " See also:waste " or faulty copies; (4) capacity for printing on almost any paper, whereas, at the See also:time of See also:writing, the tri-colour process is almost entirely limited to printing on coated papers that are very heavy and not very enduring . With regard to the two branches of chalk lithography, the firms that maintained the English supremacy for black and tint work in the See also:early days were Hulemandel, Day and Haghe and See also:Maclure, while the best chromo-lithographic work in the same See also:period was done by See also:Vincent See also:Brooks, the See also:brothers Hanhart, See also:Thomas Kell and F . Kell . In reference to the See also:personal work of professed lithographers during the same period, the names of See also:Louis Haghe, J . D . See also:Harding, J . Needham, C . Baugniet, L . Ghemar, See also:William See also:Simpson, R . J . See also:Lane, J .

H . See also:

Lynch, A . Maclure and Rimanozcy stand for black and tint work; while in chromolithography J . M . Carrick, C . Risdon, William Bunney, W . See also:Long, See also:Samuel See also:Hodson, See also:Edwin Buckman and J . See also:Lewis have been conspicuous among those who have maintained the See also:standard of their See also:craft . In the foregoing See also:list will be recognized the names of several who have had admirable See also:works on the walls of the Royal See also:Academy and other exhibitions; Mr Lane, who exhibited lithographs from 1824 to 1872, was for many years the See also:doyen of lithographers, and the only one of their number to attain See also:academic See also:rank, but Lynch and See also:John See also:Cardwell See also:Bacon were his pupils, and Bacon's son, the painter John H . F . .Bacon, was electedto the Royal Academy in 1903 . In the first See also:decade of the loth See also:century the number of firms doing high-class work, and the artists who aided them in doing it, were more numerous than ever, and scarcely less able, but it would be outside the present purpose to differentiate between them .

The raison d' are of " stipple " work is its capacity for re-transferring without serious loss of quality, for it can scarcely be contended that it is as See also:

artistic as the methods just described . Retransferring is the process of pulling impressions from the original stones with a view to making up a large See also:sheet of one or more small subjects, or where it is desired to print a very large number without deterioration of the original or See also:matrix stone . The higher class work in this direction has been done in See also:France, See also:Germany and the See also:United States, where for many years superiority has been shown in regard to the excellence and rapidity of retransferring . To this cause may be attributed the fact that the See also:box tops and See also:Christmas See also:cards on the English See also:market were so largely done abroad until quite See also:recent times . The work of producing even a small See also:face in the finest See also:hand stipple is a lengthy and tedious affair, and the English craftsman has seldom shown the See also:patience necessary for this work; but since the American invention known as See also:Ben Day's shading See also:medium was introduced into See also:England the trade has largely taken it up, and thereby much of the tedium has been avoided, so that it has been found possible by its means to introduce a freedom into stipple work that had not before been found possible, and a very much better class of work has since been produced in this See also:department . About the See also:year 1868 grained paper was invented by Maclure, See also:Macdonald & Co . This method consists in impressing on See also:ordinary Scotch transfer or other suitable paper a See also:grain closely allied to that of the lithographic stone . It appears to have been rather an improvement than a new invention, for drawing paper and even See also:canvas had been coated previously with a material that adhered to a stone and See also:left on the stone the greasy drawing that had been placed thereon; but still from this to the beautifully prepared paper that was placed on the market by the See also:firm of which the See also:late See also:Andrew Maclure was the See also:head was a great advance, and although the first use was by the ordinary craftsman it was not long before artists of eminence saw that a new and convenient mode of expression was opened up to them . On the first introduction of lithography the artists of every nation hastened to avail themselves of it, but soon the cumbrous See also:character of the stone, and the fact that their subjects had to be drawn backwards in See also:order that they might appear correctly on the paper, wore down their newly-See also:born zeal, and it was only when the grained paper See also:system was perfected, by which they could make their drawings in the comfort of their studios without See also:reversing, that any serious revival took See also:place . Although excellent work on grained paper had been done by Andrew Maclure, Rimanozcy, John Cardwell Bacon, Rudofsky and other crafts-men, the See also:credit for its furtherance among artists must be given to Thomas Way and his son T . R . Way, who did much valuable See also:pioneer work in this direction .

The See also:

adhesion of such artists of eminence as See also:Whistler, See also:Legros, See also:Frank See also:Short, See also:Charles See also:Shannon, Fantin Latour, William See also:Strang, Will Rothenstein, See also:Herbert Railton and See also:Joseph See also:Pennell, did not a little to aid lithography in resisting the encroachments of other methods into what may still be considered its See also:sphere . As a means of reproducing effects which an artist would otherwise get by See also:pencil or crayon, it remains entirely unequalled, and it is of obvious See also:advantage to See also:art that twenty-five or fifty copies of an original work should exist, which, without the aid of lithography, might have only been represented by a single See also:sketch, perhaps stowed away among the possessions of one private See also:collector . In regard to grained paper work, undue stress has often been placed upon the rapid deterioration of the stone, some contending that only a few dozen first-class proofs can be taken; this has led to the feeling that it is unsuited to See also:book See also:illustration, and damage has been done to the trade of lithography thereby . It may be mentioned that quite recently about too auto-lithographs in black and three colours, the combined work of Mr and Mrs Herbert Railton, have been treated by the Eberle system used, and the operation is known as " passing," while the plates are of See also:etching described below, and although an infinitesimal loss of quality may have arisen, such as occurs when a See also:copper etching is See also:steel faced, some 2000 to 3000 copies were printed without further deterioration, and an edition of vignetted sketches was secured, far in advance of anything that could have been attained from the usual See also:screen or half-toned blocks . Grained paper is much used in the ordinary lithographic studio for work such as the See also:hill shading of maps that can be done without much working up, but the velvety effects that in the hands of Louis Haghe and his contemporaries were so conspicuous, cannot be secured by this method . The effects referred to were obtained by much patient work of a " tinter," who practically laid a ground on which the more experienced and artistic craftsman did his work either by scraping or accentuation . Where See also:fine See also:rich blacks are needed, artists will do well to read the notes on the " aqua-tint " and " See also:wash " methods described by Senefelder in his well-known See also:treatise, and afterwards practised with great skill by Hulemandel . Lithography is of great service in educational matters, as its use for diagrams, See also:wall pictures and maps is very See also:general; nor does the See also:influence end with schooldays, for in the See also:form of pictures at a moderate See also:price it brings art into homes and lives that need brightening, and even in the form of posters on the much-abused hoardings does something for those who have to spend much of their time in the streets of great cities . According to the See also:census of 1901, 14,686 See also:people in the United See also:Kingdom found their occupation within the trade, while according to a See also:Home See also:Office return (1906), 20,367 persons other than lithographic printers were employed by the firms carrying on the business . As it may be assumed that an equal number are employed in France, Germany, the United States of See also:America and the See also:world at large, it is clear that a vast See also:industrial See also:army is employed in a trade that, like letterpress printing, has a very beneficial influence upon those engaged in it . Technical Details.—The following description of the various methods of lithography is such as may be considered of See also:interest to the general reader, but the serious student who will require formulas and more precise directions will do well to consult one of the numerous See also:text-books on the subject . Stone and Stone Substitutes.—The quality of stone first used by Alois Senefelder, and discovered by him at the See also:village of Solenhofen in See also:Bavaria, still remains unsurpassed .

This See also:

deposit, which covers a very large See also:area and underlies the villages of Solenhofen, Moernsheim and Langenaltheim, has often been described, sometimes for interested motives, as nearly exhausted; but a visit in 1906 revealed that the output—considerable as it had been during a period little short of a century—was very unimportant when compared to the great See also:mass of carbonaceous See also:limestone existing in the neighbourhood . The strong point in favour of this source of See also:supply, in addition to its unrivalled quality, is the evenness of its stratification, and the fact that after the removal of the surface deposits, which are very thin, the stones come out of large size, in thickness of 3 to 5 in., and thus just suited for lithographic purposes and needing only to be wrought in the See also:vertical direction . Other deposits of suitable stone have been fcund in France, See also:Spain, See also:Italy and See also:Greece, but transit and the absence of suitable stratification have restricted them to little more than See also:local use . Beyond this, few of the deposits other than in the neighbourhood of Solenhofen have been of the exact degree of See also:density necessary, and the heavier varieties do not receive the grease with sufficient readiness . The See also:desire to find other See also:sources of supply has been stimulated by the social conditions existing in See also:southern Bavaria, for the quarries are largely owned by See also:peasant proprietors, who have very well-defined business habits of their own which make transactions difficult . Among other things, they will seldom supply the highest grades and the largest sizes to those who will not take their proportion of See also:lower quality and smaller sizes; and this, in view of the very expensive transit down the See also:Rhine to See also:Rotterdam, with a railway See also:journey at one end and a See also:sea journey at the other, is a source of difficulty to the importer in other countries . The earliest substitute for lithographic stone was See also:zinc, which has been used from early days and is now more in demand than ever; it requires very careful printing as the grease only penetrates the material to a very slight extent, and the same must be said in regard to the water . From this cause, when not in experienced hands, trouble is likely to arise; and when this has occurred, remedial methods are much more difficult than with stones . When put away for storage, a dry place is very essential, as corrosion is easily,set up . At first the plates were quite thick, and almost invariably grained by a zinc " mailer " and See also:acid; now a See also:bath of acid is more generallyquite thin, which renders them suitable for bending See also:round the cylinders of rotary See also:machines . So far we have been dealing with See also:plain zinc, but See also:variations are caused, either by the oxidization of the surface or by coating the See also:plate with a composition closely allied to lithographic stone and applied in a form of semi-See also:solution . This class of plate was first invented by Messrs C .

Phoenix-squares

& E . Layton, and a modification was invented by Messrs Wezel and See also:

Naumann of See also:Leipzig, who brought its use to a high See also:pitch of perfection for transferred work such as Christmas cards . A treatment of See also:iron plates by exposing them to a high temperature has recently been patented, and has had some measure of success, while the See also:Parker printing plate, which is practically a sheet of zinc so treated as to secure greater porosity and freedom from oxidization, is rapidly securing a good position as a stone substitute . Preparation of the Stones.—In this department the cleanliness so necessary right through the lithographic process must be carefully observed, and a leading point is to secure a level surface and to ensure that the front and back of the stone are strictly parallel, i.e. that the stones stand the test of both the straight edge and the callipers . A good See also:plan to ensure evenness on the surface is to See also:mark the front with two See also:diagonal lines of some non-greasy substance till the See also:top stone (which should not be too small, and should be constantly revolved on the larger one) has entirely removed them . The application of the straight edge from time to time will end in securing the desired flatness, on which so much of the future printing quality depends . The usual method is to rub out with See also:sand, and then rub with See also:pumice and See also:polish with water of See also:Ayr or snake stone . For chalk work, the further work of graining has to be done by revolving a small stone See also:muller on the surface with exceedingly fine sand or powdered See also:glass . Many appliances (some very expensive) have been devised for doing the See also:principal See also:part of this work by See also:machine—none more effective than those methods by which a disk of about 12 in. is kept revolving on a See also:rod attached to the See also:ceiling, guided by hand over all parts of the stone; but for large surfaces the ceiling needs to be rather high so as to allow of a long expanding rod reaching the surface at a moderate See also:angle . When this machine is fitted with See also:friction disk See also:driving, very wide variations of See also:speed are possible, and the machine can be driven so slowly and evenly as to secure a very See also:fair (but not first class) grain, in addition to speedy rubbing out, which is the See also:chief aim of the apparatus . Preparing a Subject in Chalk or Chalk and Tints . This branch of work is much less in demand than formerly .

A grey stone having been selected and finely grained with sand or powdered glass passed through a See also:

sieve of 8o to 12o meshes to the lineal See also:inch, and the artist having made his tracing, this tracing is reversed upon the stone with the interposition of a piece of paper coated with red chalk, and the chalk See also:side towards the surface; the lines on the tracing are then gone over with a tracing point, so that a See also:reproduction in red chalk is left upon the stone . It will then be desirable to secure a stock of pointed See also:Lemercier chalks of at least two grades, hard and soft: the pointing is a matter that requires experience, and is done by the worker drawing a See also:sharp See also:pen-See also:knife towards him in a slicing manner as though trying to put a point upon a piece of See also:cheese . Care should be taken that the falling pieces are gathered into a box, or they may do irreparable See also:mischief to the work . The work of outlining is done with No . 1 or hard chalk, and until experience is gained it will be well to depend chiefly on this grade, securing rich dark effects by tinting or going over the stone in various directions and then See also:finishing with litho-graphic ink where See also:absolute blacks are required . This ink (Vanhymbeck's or Lemercier's are two good makes) needs cargul preparation, the method being to warm a saucer and rub the ink dry upon it, then add a little distilled water and incorporate with the See also:finger . It is of great importance not to use any ink left over for the next day, but always to have a fresh daily supply . When the drawing is thus completed, it will require what is termed etching, by which the parts intended to receive the printing ink, and already protected by an acid-resisting grease, will be left above the unprotected surface . The acid and See also:gum mixture varies in accordance with the quality of the work and the character of the stone . A patiently executed specimen will, for instance, stand more etching than a hastily drawn one; while a grey stone will require more of the nitric acid than a yellow one . This is one of the most important tasks that a lithographer has to perform . A proportion of 1.5 parts of acid to too parts of a strong solution of gum arabic will be found to be approximately what is required, but the exact proportion must be settled by experience, a safe course being to See also:watch the See also:action that occurs when a small quantity is placed on the unused margin of the stone .

Many put the etching mixture on with a See also:

flat See also:camel-See also:hair See also:brush, which should be of good width to avoid streaks . The present writer's own preference is to pour the mixture on to the stone when it is in a slanting position; or it is perhaps better to have an etching trough, a strong box lined with pitch, with bearers at the bottom to prevent the stone coming in contact with it, and a hole through which the diluted acid may pass away for subsequent use . The etch- See also:ing is then done with acid and water poured over the stone while in a sloping position, and the subsequent pouring of a solution of gum arabic completes the preparation . The late Mr William Simpson, whose See also:Crimean lithographs are well known, once stated at the Society of Arts that in his See also:opinion Mr Louis Haghe's reproduction i6 of See also:David See also:Robert's great picture of " The Taking of See also:Jerusalem " was the most important piece of chalk lithography ever executed, and that he well remembered that it took two years to execute it, and that all the combined See also:talent of Messrs Day & Haghe's See also:establishment was utilized in its etching . He stated that, notwithstanding every precaution, it was under-etched, and that after half a dozen impressions the great beauty and brilliancy of the work had departed . This incident indicates sufficiently the serious nature of this part of the lithographer's work . If the chalk drawing has to have tints, it will be necessary to make as many dusted offsetts as there are colours to be used; in this class of work there are generally only two,—one warm or sandy shade and the other a quiet blue.—and these, with the black and the neutral colour secured by the superposition of the two shades, give an excellent result, of which Haghe's sketches in See also:Belgium may be taken as a leading example . In making such subjects suitable for present-day printing in the machine, the paper will require to be of a good " rag " quality, See also:free from size and damped before printing . To secure accuracy of See also:register the paper must be kept in a See also:damp See also:cloth to prevent the edges drying, and other machines should be kept available for each of the tints so that all work printed in black in the See also:morning may be completed the same See also:night . In this way large editions might be printed of either original or retransferred work at prices rendering, the prints suitable for high-class magazines . Preparing a Chromo Lithograph.—For this purpose the proceedings will be much the same as those suggested for the black and tint work, but the preliminary tracing will be done in lithographic ink on tracing transfer paper or scratched on gelatine, the lines being subsequently filled in with transfer ink, and will be used as a " See also:key," a See also:guide stone that will not be printed; and the number of stones necessary will probably be much more numerous . The initial point will be to consider if the work is to have the edition printed from it, or whether it has to be transferred after proving and before printing; generally speaking, large subjects such as diagrams or posters will be worked See also:direct, while Christmas cards, postcards, handbills or labels, will he repeated many times on larger stones .

For the former class a much wider range of methods is possible, but many of these are difficult to transfer, and the deterioration that arises makes it desirable to limit their use when transferring is contemplated . There-fore, chalk-rubbed tints, See also:

varnish tints, stumping, wash, See also:air brush, are the methods for original work, while work that has to be transferred is limited to ink work in See also:line or stipple on a polished stone with the aid of " mediums " as before described, and ink " spluttered " on to the stone from a tooth brush . It should be mentioned that work done on grained paper is more suitable for retransfer than ordinary chalk work, and so is often very useful when a chalk effect is desired from a polished stone . In proving, opaque colours will be got on first, and it will often be found a good plan to put the black on early, for it gives a good See also:idea of how the work is proceeding, and the strength of the touches (for the black should generally be used sparingly) is often pleasantly softened by the semi-opaque colours which should come on next . It is desirable to pull impressions of each colour on thoroughly See also:white paper, and beyond this in important work there should be a progressive colour See also:pattern that will show how the work looked when two, three or more colours were on, for this may at the finish be invaluable to show where See also:error has crept in, and is in any event an immense aid to the machine minder . In regard to paper, a description made of rag or rag and See also:esparto is most desirable for all work on grained stones, but for work in ink and consequently from polished stone a good coated paper with sufficient " size " in it is frequently desirable; this paper is generally called " chromo " paper . There is at the present time very little encouragement for the high class of chromo-lithography that was so much in See also:evidence from 1855 to 1875, but there is little doubt that the work could be done equally well by the present-day craftsmen if the demand revived . Belonging to the period mentioned, distinguished examples of chromo-lithography are " Blue See also:Lights," after See also:Turner, by Carrick; " See also:Spanish Peasants " and the Lumley portrait of See also:Shakespeare, by Risdon; " See also: