It was six months before we obtained the requisite stone. During this period it struck me that perhaps the cylinder did not need to be stone, but that we might use copper cylinders, as in England. Herr Thornton objected that copper cylinders must be engraved with the graving tool, and that patterns for cotton should not be etched, since, if etching were practical, the English, who understand etching perfectly, no doubt would etch the cylinders.
To be sure, I could not answer this argument, but I was convinced that a deep-etched stone would print as perfectly and handsomely as the best copper plate. Why, then, could it not be done with copper, since copper permitted itself to be etched so well? I made a little experiment at once, and it succeeded perfectly. Herr Thornton proposed to make completely sure. He had a small model press from England, the cylinder of which had been engraved by the best cotton copper engraver of England. Though it was only six inches long and three inches thick it had cost twenty pounds to engrave. He proposed to have an exactly similar cylinder made, which I was to etch in the same design, so that competitive impressions could be made with both cylinders. The proposition was accepted. To save money, it was decided to make a cylinder from zinc instead of from copper.
After a few days it was ready and I drove with Herr von Hartl to Pottendorf, where we arrived at half-past ten o'clock in the morning. I started eagerly to do the drawing. As I perceived immediately, it consisted purely of circular lines, and therefore I succeeded in preparing the cylinder, drawing the design, and etching it before two o'clock, at which time we were to have luncheon.
Mr. Thornton, who had expected that I would need at least eight days, was astonished by my speed. To all appearances, the etched cylinder was as good as the engraved one, and now it was merely a question of the printing. He made the first impression with the copper cylinder, which, of course, produced a very pretty piece of work. But when mine was adjusted and the first impression came out, the astonishment of all present reached its maximum, for the impressions were exactly as clear, but at least twice as strong and therefore more beautiful. The reason for this was that the engraving became narrower at the bottom, and therefore held hardly half as much color as the etched lines.
The practicability of my etching process was settled; and Herr von Hartl waited only to lay the matter before the society at the next general meeting before proceeding to its exploitation on a large scale.
Truly it was high time for him to get some returns for his many expenses. The stone-printery had cost him at least six thousand gulden to this date. In return for this investment he had a good quantity of stones, several presses, and a great stock of Gleissner's music, which represented an income of twenty thousand gulden, if it could be sold.
At last we obtained the long-sought franchise (in 1803), and Herr von Hartl decided to begin the business. I proposed to him to rent a shop and engage an experienced man to manage it. But he replied that I was merely suggesting another burden of nearly two thousand gulden a year, with no certain prospect of a penny's income. Rather, said he, I was to give the finished work to the dealers and let them sell them on a percentage, so that we could see how the public liked stone-printing.
Herr von Hartl was trying at this time to rid himself of all expenses that were not absolutely necessary. He was growing more and more dissatisfied with Mistelbauer, his health was poor, and irritating business troubles were anything but good for him. He expressed his regret many times because he had undertaken so many things. His many enterprises, which up to this time had proved anything but profitable, took so much of his time that he had to give up his far more advantageous interests as Imperial Court Agent, and thus lost heavily in that direction also. The stock of spun wool kept piling up in the company's magazines, and this, too, seemed to promise no greatly satisfactory results.
However, I could see that I could expect only small sales in Vienna if I depended on the dealers, who were my opponents and would hardly be very eager to aid my success. Therefore, I conceived the thought, equally unpractical, as it turned out, of putting our work into the hands of a book publisher; and as I had just observed much empty space in the shop of Peter Rehm's widow, I agreed with her to turn over our stock to her at twenty-five per cent discount.