Drawn on transfer paper and transferred to stone direct.
Thrown on his own resources at the age of eighteen, he turned to his father’s profession, but met with little success. Writing for the stage, he found difficulty, owing to his poverty, in getting his writings published, and it was in trying to find out some ready process to attain this end that he arrived at what we now term the Art of Lithography. Senefelder lived to perfect his art to a high degree, and to see it brought into general use, but without bringing much profit to himself. Since his time many advances have taken place, and new developments in various directions, as in the beautiful art of chromo-lithography and photo-lithography.
The term Lithography is derived from the Greek, lithos, a stone, and grapho, to write. Lithographic stone is a species of limestone, the best qualities of which are obtained from the quarries at Solenhofen, near Munich, and from Papenheim, on the Danube. The stones are cut into slabs or blocks of various sizes to suit the work required; to print an octavo page, quarto, etc., up to sixty inches by forty, and even larger. The thickness varies from an inch and a half in the smaller, to four or five inches in the larger sizes. The stones are ground perfectly level with sand and water, and finished off with a fine stone until a perfectly smooth polished surface is produced, when it is ready to receive the drawing, or to have transferred to its surface a drawing or writing made upon specially prepared paper (lithographic transfer paper). For chalk or crayon drawings, the smooth surface of the stone is grained with sifted silver sand, which gives a beautifully even granular texture, and the drawing is made upon it with lithographic chalk. For drawing upon the smooth stone, or upon transfer paper, lithographic ink is used.
The principle underlying the process of Lithography is simply this:—The nature of the stone is such that it retains with great tenacity the resinous and oily substances contained in the ink or the crayon employed to form the design. The lithographic stone also absorbs water freely; this, combined with the peculiar affinity between resinous substances and their mutual power of repelling water, causes the ink on the printing roller to adhere to the design and to leave untouched the damp surface of the stone.
Drawn on transfer paper and transferred to stone direct.
The process of Lithographic Printing is as follows:—After the drawing on the litho. stone is completed, it receives a wash of dilute acid and gum arabic, and this, by removing the alkali from the ink, leaves the design on it in a permanent form, at the same time that it etches away a minute portion of the surface of the stone, and renders it more absorbent of water. After etching, all trace of the acid is removed with a sponge and water, the stone is rubbed over with a damp muslin cloth to equalise the moisture upon the surface, the lithographic roller charged with printing ink is passed over the surface, the lines of the design alone taking ink; the paper is then laid upon the stone, and a copy is obtained by means of the lithographic press. The damping of the stone and inking is repeated for every impression.
Lithographic Writing and Drawing Ink and Lithographic Crayons for chalk drawing on stone, are similar in composition, but different in proportions, suited to the particular kind of work, white wax, shell-lac, hard soap, tallow, and lamp black being the chief ingredients. For writing and drawing all kinds of line work on stone or transfer paper, the ink is made in sticks, and rubbed down with water to a proper consistency for use, and used with a pen or sable pencil. For chalk drawings upon a grained stone, the ink is cast into the form of crayons, and used in a port-crayon for convenience in drawing, sharpening the point as required.
Chalk Drawing on Stone is rarely used for such small work as book-plates. We need not therefore more particularly refer to it, than to say that excellence in this department of Lithography may be attained more readily than in fine-line work, for which constant practice, and a very delicate handling of the implements, the lithographic pen and fine sable pencil, is required.