to a luckless perpetuity of remembrance—one Lauder, who thought to write down Milton-one Rymer, who tried to write down Shakespeare-and one Zoilus, who, somewhat earlier, made the same experiment upon Homer. Mr. Brougham's name and talents are far beyond the reach of being immediately forgotten; but his friends should most devoutly pray, that the 'inaugural discourse' may be consigned to the speediest oblivion-if this have not already taken place.

ART. II.-1. Das Geheimniss des Steindrucks in seinem ganzen Umfange practisch una ohne Rückhalt nach eigenen Erfahrungen beschrieben von Liebhaber. 4to.

2. Manuel du dessinateur Lithographe, par G. Engelmann, Directeur de la Société Lithographique de Mulhouse. Third Edition. Paris. 8vo. 1829.

THIS is the age of wonders of gas, steam, and lithography! How little did our grandfathers dream, as they sat by their cheerful fire-side of a winter's evening some fifty years' since, with the kettle boiling for tea, and the well-buttered muffins standing on the hearth;-how little did they-good easy souls -dream that the hissing smoke which now and then flickered from a partially heated coal, was destined to give a new and brilliant light to the world,-that the vapoury cloud which ascended from the simmering kettle would proudly assert its triumph over the elements of air and water,-and that in the simple occurrence of an unmannerly cat upsetting the plate of buttered muffins, but a moment before the kettle had boiled over on the hearth-stone, should be revealed the secret, as it was called, of lithography-that grease and water will not combine.

With gas or steam, as may be judged from the titles of the works placed at the head of this article, we have nothing, at present, to do, except as the former may be useful in lighting a printing-room, and the latter in working a printing-press; but of the origin, progress, and present state of lithography it is our intention to give some account, in a popular and general, rather than a scientific and detailed manner.

Lithography, or the art of printing from stone, was invented at Munich, between the years 1795 and 1798, by Alois Senefelder. Peter Senefelder, the father of the inventor, was an actor at the theatre royal in that city, and intending to bring up his son to the law, placed him at the University of Ingolstadt. The dramatic inclination of young Senefelder, however, displayed itself in private theatricals; and, in 1789, he com

posed

posed and printed a little comedy, called 'Die Mädchenkenner,' from which he obtained some applause and profit. This success, and the death of his father, by which he was placed in reduced circumstances, fixed his determination of quitting the University, and attaching himself to the theatres. For two years he seems to have experienced all the miseries of a life of green-room vicissitudes, and then to have taken up the no less uncertain profession of authorship.

I

As a play which he had written could not be got ready in time for the Easter book fair at Leipzig, his second publication produced but barely sufficient to pay for the printing, to acceÎerate which he had passed much time in the printing-office, an anxious, and, as it will appear, no inattentive spectator. thought it so easy,' says Senefelder, in his work on Lithography, that I wished for nothing more than to possess a small printing-press, and thus to be the composer, printer, and publisher of my own productions.'

After a variety of experiments made with the view of carrying this wish into effect, in the course of which Senefelder was compelled to substitute materials less expensive, or to him more manageable, for those commonly used by printers, he accidentally invented an art which will hand his name down to posterity with a less questionable fame than that of Finiguerra and others. The account shall be given in his own words, but it is necessary to state, that among the materials employed by him were polished blocks or slabs of Kellheim stone, and that on these he had endeavoured to etch his composition, in imitation of the manner of copper-plate engravers, with very imperfect

success.

I had just succeeded in my little laboratory in polishing a stoneplate, which I had intended to cover with etching ground, in order to continue my exercises in writing backwards, when my mother entered the room, and desired me to write her a bill for the washerwoman, who was waiting for the linen. I happened not to have even the smallest slip of paper at hand, as my little stock of paper had been entirely exhausted by taking proof impressions from the stones; nor was there even a drop of ink in the inkstand. As the matter would not admit of delay, and we had nobody in the house to send for a supply of the deficient materials, I resolved to write the list with my ink prepared with wax, soap, and lamp-black, on the stone which I had just polished, and from which I could copy it at leisure. Sometime after this, I was going to wipe this writing from the stone, when the idea all at once struck me to try what would be the effect of such a writing with my prepared ink, if I were to bite in the stone with aqua fortis; and whether, perhaps, it might not be possible to apply printing ink to it, in the same way as to wood engravings, and so take impressions from it."

The

The result of the subsequent experiments was the art of printing from stone, the principle of which it may be here necessary briefly to explain. Its foundation is the fact known to every one, that grease will readily adhere to grease, and be repelled by water.

The lines required to be printed are drawn on stone with a greasy composition formed of tallow, bees' wax, shell-lac, and common soap, in equal parts, which will not unite with or be affected by water: previously to printing, the surface of the stone is wetted, and it is, therefore, prevented by the moisture from receiving the printing ink when applied, except on those places covered with the greasy composition. A roller charged with printing ink (which it need hardly be stated is greasy) being passed over the stone, the printing ink readily adheres to the greasy lines of the drawing, but does not adhere to the other parts of the surface which retain the water. The print is obtained by pressure, which removes the printing ink from the lines of the drawing; and between each impression the operation of wetting the stone with a sponge, and applying the roller charged with printing ink is repeated. Such is a broad outline of the process of lithographic printing, but like every other art, simple as the general principle appears, a knowledge of the numerous details necessary to make a skilful practitioner can only be acquired by experience, and must be gained by manual execution.

Unable, from the want of pecuniary resources, to pursue his discovery, or obtain any advantage from it, Senefelder, tempted by a bounty of two hundred florins, determined to enlist as a private soldier in the artillery, with the enthusiastic expectation that this small sum might ultimately enable him to bring his invention into practice, and secure to himself an honourable competency and reputation. The feelings of an ingenious mind under the circumstances of Senefelder must be interesting, but his situation, at this time, was one rather of romance than of ordinary life, and cannot be better told than in his own words, nor will any one who reads the plain and manly narrative published by him, entertain a doubt of the uncoloured truth of the relation.

'I was quickly resolved, and on the third day after forming my resolution, I went to Ingolstadt with a party of recruits to join my regiment. It was not without some feelings of mortification and humbled pride that I entered this city, in which I had formerly led the independent life of a student, but the consciousness of my own dignity, and enthusiasm for my new invention, greatly contributed to restore my spirits. I slept in the barracks, where I was not a little

disgusted

disgusted by the prevailing filth and vulgar jests of a corporal. The next morning I was to enlist, but to my great disappointment the commander of the regiment discovered that I was not a native of Bavaria; and, therefore, according to a recent order of the Elector, could not serve in the army without obtaining a special license. Thus my last hope failed me, and I left Ingolstadt in a state of mind bordering on despair. As I passed the great bridge over the Danube, and looked at the majestic river in which I had been twice nearly drowned while bathing, I could not suppress the wish that I had not been then saved, as misfortune seemed to persecute me with the utmost rigour, and to deny me even the last prospect of gaining an honest subsistence in the military career.'

On Senefelder's return to Munich, chance threw in his way Mr. Gleissner, a musician of the Elector's band, to whom he had formerly been known, and who was about to publish some music. Senefelder communicated to him his invention of printing from stone, and it was soon determined that by this new method Gleissner's music should be given to the world. The composing, writing on stone, and printing of twelve songs was accomplished in less than a fortnight, and one hundred and twenty copies taken at the expense of about thirty florins. In a short time the entire impression was sold for one hundred florins, thus leaving a profit of seventy florins, or rather more than two hundred per cent.

In addition to this prosperous commencement, Count Torring having laid a copy of the work before the Elector Charles Theodore, Mr. Gleissner received a present of one hundred florins, with the promise of an exclusive privilege for this method of printing. Two or three other publications, one of which was Cannabick's Ode on the Death of Mozart,' respectively yielded some profit, and Senefelder saw his invention established with every appearance of successful results. But, amidst these bright prospects, his ardour seems to have been damped at the recep tion of a communication which he made to the Electoral Academy of Sciences, explanatory of his mode of printing from stone. In this he stated its peculiar advantages, and dwelt at some length on the cheapness of the means by which it was performed, and instanced his own printing-press which had not cost more than six florins. Von Vachiery, the Vice-President, presented him with twelve florins, intimating that his Memoir' had been very favourably received; and adding, that as the expenses of the press, according to his own statement, did not exceed six, he hoped that a double compensation would satisfy his expectations. I, indeed,' says Senefelder, expected a very different treatment from the guardians of science and art, whose duty it is to investigate the value of every new inven

6

tion, and if approved to submit it to the notice of their government.'

This was in 1796. As employment increased, Senefelder set himself to work to construct an improved press; but a defect, apparently of the most obvious kind, occasioned a variety of embarrassments. A clumsy manual operation was substituted for a press, and by this means Senefelder hoped to be able to fulfil the engagements which he and Mr. Gleissner were under. 'I employed myself,' says he, in writing upon the stones; the printing began with six printers' and then he groans forth, Oh the uncertainty of human expectations! not one of all the six printers could make himself master of the simple process of rubbing the surface of the stone. Out of ten impressions scarcely one was perfect, and if they even succeeded in printing three pages of a sheet perfect, the fourth was sure to fail and spoil the whole. Thus out of three reams of the best paper only thirty-three perfect sheets could be produced.' The consequences were obvious. The new art lost almost all its credit and reputation, and even the privilege which the Elector had promised was refused.' The early profits were consumed, debts were incurred, and the ridicule of those who had regarded the first trials with jealousy followed.

Mr. Falter, a music seller at Munich, notwithstanding this failure, employed Senefelder to write and superintend the printing from stone an arrangement of Mozart's 'Zauberfläute,' but this effort was likewise unfortunate. The art, however, had become publicly noticed; by some the invention was attributed to Professor Schmidt, who published a letter in the Anzeiger für Kunst und Gewerbfleiss,' stating that he had derived his idea of lithographic printing from a grave-stone, which he had observed in the Cathedral of our Lady at Munich, with raised letters and figures; that he supposed this to have been effected by aqua fortis, and expressed his conviction that an impression may be taken from it. There is, we believe, nothing very new in this idea. But to return to Senefelder; amidst disappointments of various kinds, this very notice of his art probably excited him to perseverance, and he tells us, that

A musical composition on the "Conflagration of New Ötting, in Bavaria," which he printed for Mr. Lentner, with a vignette representing a house in flames, induced Mr. Steiner to have some small drawings for a Catechism printed on stone. As drawings they were but indifferent, but he nevertheless encouraged me to try whether the new invention might not be applicable to the higher departments of the art. This gentleman, with the exception of Mr. André, of Offenbach, was the only person who thus reasoned. Lines and points of any degree of fineness and strength can, according to this new

manner,