Vigo County Historical Society
Historical Treasure Article
July 3, 1988
By David M. Buchanan
Vigo County Historical Society
Lithography made pictures possible before photography
The year 1988 marks the 100th anniversary of the destruction of the original Indiana State Normal building pictured in this lithograph at the museum.
But this article has nothing to do with that spectacular fire, nor with the building itself. Instead it’s about the lithographic process.
Before the invention of the printing press, man had to rely on artists for pictures. Each rendition was an original and no original was exactly the same as another. The early Greeks, when describing herbs and plants to be used in medicines, tried to have their scribes copy drawings of the plants in addition to their written descriptions. They soon discovered that each new copy subtly changed, and soon the newest copy looked nothing like the original. Drawing the plants was abandoned; only written descriptions could be copied accurately.
The printing press allowed scholars and artists to begin working together to accurately produce both written and visual descriptions, beginning with carved wooden printing blocks. But wood splintered and broke, fine lines were almost impossible, and the plates quickly clogged with ink. Pressmen began looking for other methods of producing plates.
The process of etching a metal plate with acid and using it as a printing plate was replacing the woodcut by the 15th century. Acid etching, always improving, remained the primary form of making printing plates for the next three centuries.
In 1799 Alois Senefelder patented an invention called Lithography. It means “stone-drawing.” A specially prepared flat stone was drawn upon using a special type of greasy crayon. The stone was then soaked in water. After it removed from the water, ink was placed on the surface. The remaining water repelled the ink which the greasy crayon remained coated. Paper was then placed over the inked stone and the design was transferred to the paper. The very difficult and sometimes dangerous process of acid etching was no longer necessary. Many artists and commercial establishments quickly took advantage of its commercial possibilities.
Lithography in American was introduced in the early 1800s. One of the first commercial successes was a portrait of George Washington. The print was modeled after a painting by Gilbert Stuart and was from a series called “American Kings.” The series was produced by the Pendleton brothers of Boston.
One of the greatest success stories in commercial lithography was the firm of Currier and Ives. They made more than 7,000 different prints of famous personalities, places, social comments, special events, and current progress in American life. These prints could be found handing in homes in almost every part of the country. The firm referred to their works as “Cheap engravings for the Public.”
From the 1820s to the 1850s the industry rapidly grew. Many immigrants came from Europe with knowledge of the latest techniques and advances in the lithographic industry. They not only worked in the established lithographic firms, but they formed many of their own. Lithographic pictures even helped immigrants because, though not able to speak English, they learned much about their new country through the cheap and easily produced prints.
Politicians and maps, Bibles and portraits, the Wild West and women’s latest fashions, letterheads and playbills, scientific discoveries and native American habits and customs--the list of depictions seemed endless. Lithography was used to reproduce almost anything.
Photography was invented in the late 1830s. Many lithographers quickly made use of the new invention to give them models for their artists. The half-tone plate, using photography, as a form of printing was invented in the 1880s. Photographs as illustrations were possible and lithography for commercial use was doomed.
So many lithographic images were made during the 19th century that they are quite easy to find today. Though the process required they be printed in black and white, many were hand-colored in delicate tints. Some, like Currier and Ives prints, have become very collectible nationwide. Others, like this picture of the Indiana State Normal building, are of local interest. Even a hundred or more years after their production they still are showing Americans their country, its places of interest, its history and its style.
The Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley, 1411 S Sixth St., is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.