“Lithography is the art of drawing or writing upon stone.” The best
lithograph stone is found in Bavaria, and is usually cut from three to
four inches thick, varying in size from six by eight inches to
forty-four by sixty-four. The larger sizes are very rare. It is said
that drawings may be removed and one stone used as many as two hundred
times. Sometimes zinc or aluminum plates are used as a substitute.
The drawing must be reversed and should be drawn direct upon the stone,
although transfer paper is sometimes used. The ink or crayon used is
made of fatty substances, and when the drawing is complete the stone is
bathed with a solution which fixes the lines permanently and gives them
a greater attraction for fatty substances, such as printers’ ink. The
spaces between the lines, however, do not attract the ink, so that when
a roller of ink is passed over the stone, only the lines are affected. A
piece of paper is then pressed upon the stones by the aid of the
printing press, and every line of the drawing is reproduced.
The art of engraving on metal plates is not new. It is mentioned in the
Bible in the twenty-eighth chapter of Exodus, thirty-sixth verse. The
Israelites probably learned the art from the Egyptians, for they, as
well as the Assyrians, engraved upon both stone and metal. Copper
engravings have been found in mummy cases. The Egyptians do not seem to
have thought of printing from these plates, however. In India and China
the art dates back to remote times. Marco Polo describes money made in
China by stamping it with a seal covered with vermilion.
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