I left Vienna with Herr Gleissner and his family in October, 1806. First we traveled to Cloister Atl near Wasserburg in Bavaria, which Freiherr von Aretin had bought recently, and where Abt Vogler awaited us. He proposed to erect the printery in the cloister; but when he saw that I was not at all pleased with the idea, he started with us for Munich.

Hardly had we arrived there before Abt Vogler suggested several plans which all contemplated only his own profit, and which would have redounded to Freiherr von Aretin's disadvantage. When he realized at last that we would not agree to his demands, and when Freiherr von Aretin insisted that Herr Vogler pay his share of the capital at once and in cash, instead of paying it by furnishing music whose value he set very high, he severed his connection with our company. There was also the added reason that the Royal Academy of Sciences did not reËlect him as a member, a fact which made him wish to leave Munich as soon as possible.

At this time a former workman of my younger brother Karl, a man named Strohhofer, commenced a printery. Madame Gleissner stopped this unlawful violation of our rights with the aid of the royal police, and this impelled Strohhofer to seek Abt Vogler, probably in order to gain his intercession with Freiherr von Aretin.

Vogler thought that he had made an important discovery, as the man knew how to speak very impressively of his knowledge and skill. He imagined that he could publish his works without our aid, perhaps even without cost. Therefore he promised to assist Strohhofer, made an appointment with him for a future day, and suggested to him how he could support himself meantime by selling the secret of the art. Stuttgart was one of the towns suggested to him. Strohhofer circulated a pompous proclamation there, boasting of his talents and offering his services to anybody and everybody. Thus he came into communication with Herr Cotta. The inferiority and incompleteness of his knowledge were perceived very soon; but as even the imperfect results hinted at the importance of the new printing process, the result was that finally, through the assistance of an art-lover, Herr Rapp, the book, The Secret of Stone-Printing, was published by Herr Cotta. It was the first publication that showed true appreciation publicly of the art.

Immediately in the beginning of our establishment in Munich, our enterprise gained brilliant aspects through Freiherr von Aretin's activity. Several presses were operated, for music, for governmental work, and even for art. Then came the publication of Albrecht DÜrer's Prayer-Book, which gave us an honorable reputation. This work was acclaimed by all art-lovers, and the conviction gained ground everywhere that the new process which hitherto had possessed few friends, was not so unimportant as had been believed generally.

The professor of the Feyertag School, Herr Mitterer, had done important preparatory work in Munich to gain a favorable decision. My brothers had imparted to him the entire process. He had found that the so-called crayon process, of which I had shown proofs as early as 1799, was best adapted for his purpose of reproducing elementary drawing-lessons, and he had succeeded in inducing the Government to establish a lithographic institute under his direction, in which my brothers were employed as lithographers. To be sure, this was a violation of my franchise; but the reason was that the authorities supposed my brothers to be the owners of the franchise, both on account of the name and because they had conducted the Munich printery for some years in my name.

Freiherr von Aretin counted on the sole use of the franchise, which he had believed to be unassailable when he formed our company and advanced the necessary money; but when in time he complained because the Royal Government as well as private persons established printeries, he received the reply that the art had long ceased to be a secret,—as if a condition of the franchise had been that a useful process must be kept secret. In that case I could not have employed any man either for drawing or printing, as that would have involved the loss of secrecy and thus the loss of the franchise.

My connection with Freiherr von Aretin lasted four years. During this time I turned out a great amount of government work, such as circulars, statistical tables, charts, etc., besides many specimens in various forms of art. At that time the idea was first conceived for the present text-book of lithography, and, indeed, we published the first installment of the sample plates. Still, our enterprise was far less successful than Freiherr von Aretin and I had hoped.

It was very difficult to obtain skillful workmen, especially writers and artists. Even Strixner and Pilotti, whom we had engaged and who worked at producing facsimiles of the Royal Manual Drawing Cabinet, were very slow to gain the necessary perfection and speed. And again we lacked the manager, namely, a man who understood business and knew what to produce and how to sell it.

I myself was heavily burdened, as I had not only to exercise continual supervision of the five presses, but also was practically the only one who could prepare the plates for those presses. Added to this was the fact that the printers were almost all uneducated men, some of whom could not even read, and they spoiled many plates that I had to reproduce. This caused so much loss of time that already was insufficient, that it is no wonder that several presses came to a standstill frequently. Luckily there were government jobs at times that demanded fifteen thousand and more impressions. This enabled me to prepare new material while the presses were busy. On the whole, however, this work had the disadvantage of demanding such speed that usually all the five presses had to work at it, so that, when it was done, they were all at a standstill together, sometimes for weeks; and then the wages, etc., consumed the previous profit, so that in the end little or nothing was left.

Thus it was natural that Herr von Aretin, who was being annoyed at this time by other affairs, began to lose his enthusiasm for lithography. Therefore, when he had to go to Neuburg as Governmental-Director, and could not participate personally any more, and when, at the same time, Herr Gleissner and I obtained situations with the Royal Tax Service, he sold the establishment to Herr von Manlich, the Director of the Royal Gallery, and to Herr Zeller, a merchant.

Although our connection was broken in this manner, and despite the fact that we had not won the expected results, still stone-printing had attained respect and support through Freiherr von Aretin's patronage. We had to thank him for the fact that our institution was praised by the most celebrated native and foreign statesmen, and even by their Royal Highnesses, the Crown Prince of Bavaria and his most noble sister Charlotte, present Empress of Austria. Our beloved Crown Prince wrote on paper with the so-called chemical or stone-ink, "Lithography is one of the most important inventions of the century." And his noble sister wrote the short but eloquent words, "I honor the Bavarians!" These lines were printed on the stone in their presence.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince exhibited so much interest in this Bavarian invention that he condescended to order the sculptor, Kirchmeier, of Munich, to model my bust in plaster, so that in the future, when lithography should have attained an honorable place in the whole public estimation, it could be carved in stone and erected among the most celebrated artists of Bavaria.

In general my connection with Freiherr von Aretin had given me several well-founded prospects for an active and honorable future. He promised that, when his circumstances permitted, he would put me into position to use my entire time only for making useful inventions, for which purpose I should have all the material and workers that I might need. We would then investigate all branches of art and industry, to discover possibilities of improvement. He possessed the true viewpoint, appreciating how I could best be useful to the fatherland, and perhaps to all humanity. I shall ever consider it as my greatest misfortune that circumstances made it impossible to carry out this plan, and thus to justify the great confidence that he reposed in my inventiveness and ability. A second beautiful hope arose in France, where I was encouraged by Freiherr von Aretin to expect the management of an imperial lithographic institute, with a great financial allowance, Herr von Manlich, and the French artist, Herr Denon, who was in high favor with Napoleon, having made strong efforts to that end. This hope also met disappointment owing to the circumstances of the times.

A third hope of no less importance was to erect a cotton-printery in Munich or Augsburg in association with His Excellency Count von Arco, Court Chamberlain of Her Royal Highness the widowed KurfÜrstin of Bavaria. This was ruined by the clumsiness of a Munich wood-turner, who made such uneven cylinders that we could not produce any satisfactory specimens. Although I made arrangements at once for a large English machine, like those used by Mr. Thornton, its manufacture was so slow that two years elapsed, and during this time our entire lithographic establishment was dissolved.

The idea of a cotton-printery was an unfortunate one, which not only cost much time and a great sum of money, but also had the unpleasant result that I could not fulfill my contract with the Faber brothers and thus, in addition to the resultant personal financial loss, had the pain of appearing before these most noble men in a poor light.

All this trouble was caused as follows. On invitation of Count von Arco, his brother-in-law, Count von Montgelas, Royal Minister of State, visited our institution and examined our work. At the request of Freiherr von Aretin I made an experimental printing with the little model cotton-printing press that I had brought from Vienna. It won his approval. Freiherr von Aretin intended to ask for a franchise for this process in Bavaria, where it had not yet been introduced. The Minister promised this and also held out the hope of a considerable financial assistance from the Government. Then I was foolish enough to try to increase his interest by telling him of the value that foreign lands set on this process, and thus I informed him of my contract with the Fabers. But this had an unexpected result. His Excellency heard the information most ungraciously, and said that I must not hope for the least assistance in Bavaria if I permitted myself to be used for the advantage of another state. He even declared that there was a royal rescript forbidding Bavarian subjects from using an art in foreign lands if its exclusive use were of importance for Bavaria. This rescript, said he, fitted my case exactly, and it was forbidden to me, under pain of highest disfavor, to proceed farther with the Austrians.

This embarrassed me mightily. Freiherr von Aretin and Count von Arco promised to urge the Minister to permit me to go to Vienna, on the ground that this method of printing cotton was no invention of mine, having been used long ago in England and for some time in Austria. But Freiherr von Aretin was not very desirous that I should absent myself for several months in the very beginning of our enterprise, and thus time passed without the hoped-for permission.

As the Fabers pressed me earnestly to fulfill my agreement, I devised a subterfuge that might permit me to keep my promise and still not lay myself open to too great a responsibility. I wrote to them advising them to have their correspondent in Munich demand through the court that I be forced to fulfill the contract. I considered that the city courts in Munich would have no particular knowledge of the royal rescript or, at least, that they would not immediately remember it, and that, when I admitted the existence of the contract, they would command me to keep it at once. Then I would obey immediately, and afterward could justify myself with the Bavarian Government by pointing to the court's decree.

It would surely have succeeded had not the correspondent of the Fabers failed in business after bringing suit, owing to which the matter got into another lawyer's hands. This man immediately adopted a new strange course. Instead of demanding a fulfillment of the contract, he sued for twelve thousand gulden damages for their loss of time. Of course I had to fight for my skin now; and as he refused to content himself with my agreement to fulfill the contract, I was forced at last to defend myself by falling back on the royal rescript. Thus I escaped by merely repaying the money already advanced; but I lost the considerable sum that would have been assured to me had I been permitted to spend only two months in St. Polten. Thus none of the good prospects that opened themselves through my connection with Freiherr von Aretin proved so good as I had been justified in hoping: nay, it seemed as if I had only labored day and night to give others the benefits accruing from my painful labors, while I barely supported existence.

Freiherr von Aretin wished that the management of the business be in the hands of a man who possessed his own fullest confidence, but whom I did not consider at all suitable, as he was a royal official and as such could not do business in a public shop. Consequently the trade was carried on in his own residence, which was known to only few people and where nobody looked for the manifold things that we could have produced to good profit. This at last lowered our establishment to a mere job printery, which finally could not maintain itself, because more and more similar establishments were started in Munich, and the prices for work became lower and lower through their hungry competition.

It may not be uninteresting to tell briefly how so many printeries happened to be undertaken.

The first was established by Gleissner and myself, and was continued afterward in my name by my brothers Theobald and George, until 1805. They sold the secret to the Feyertag School, where an excellent art institute developed gradually under Herr Mitterer.

Strohhofer learned the elements of the process from my brother Karl, and associated himself, in 1806, with Herr Sidler, royal court musician, who had studied first with my brothers, then with Madame Gleissner, and then in the Aretin printery. When Strohhofer left Munich, Sidler erected a stone-printery for the Government, and after he had obtained an official permit before the expiration of my franchise, he established his own institution, producing very good work.

During this time Madame Gleissner had petitioned the Government frequently for sufficient work to assist her, and had obtained the promise through His Excellency the Minister of State, von Montgelas. Then it happened that the chief of a newly organized bureau, Freiherr von Hartmann, having a great deal of writing to do in beginning his new work, decided to introduce lithography for the purpose of saving labor. His intention was to have it all done in our institution. No doubt he had communicated this plan to von Montgelas; for as he met Madame Gleissner about this time, and she asked again for work, he said that he had given Senefelder enough work to keep ten presses busy, and if he had not yet received it, he would get it soon through Freiherr von Hartmann. There evidently was a misunderstanding here on account of the name. When Freiherr von Hartmann sent one of his subordinates to call Senefelder to him, he brought my brother Theobald, who immediately got orders to establish a lithographic office, and shortly afterward was appointed Inspector of Lithography. Beside a considerable salary, he received the following other incomes, first, excellent pay for all work that was turned in; second, an agreement that if his ten presses could not be sufficiently employed by the bureau, he might work for other governmental bureaus and for private persons. Thus he received a great deal of work, among other jobs the printing of passports for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which earned large sums for him in a short time and placed him in very good circumstances.

He could not conceal his good luck, and so it came that many people imagined that stone-printing was a means for getting rich quickly, which resulted in a disproportionate growth of new shops. Out of his own there sprang two, namely, those of Helmle and Roth, who erected their own printeries under the permit of the police.

At the same time a lithographic institution was erected in the Royal Asylum for the Poor on the Anger; and a Herr Dietrich, of a government bureau, also established one.

My own prospects became worse and worse toward the year 1810. Though I may flatter myself that I perfected myself very greatly through unceasing practice and thousands of experiments, still, without a fortunate accident, it might well have happened that I would have been forced to think it lucky if I could obtain work under one of my former apprentices.

I even suffered the insult of having the papers declare that though I had invented the art roughly, I had kept it secret for a long time through selfishness, and had never understood how to use it for anything except merely printing music. The falsity and humiliating character of this statement were bound to pain me the more bitterly, since all other stone-artists and stone-printers had learned only from me, and not one (not even Herr Mitterer, the most expert and, perhaps because of that, the most modest) possessed the art as a whole, in all its parts, as perfectly as I did. I hope that my text-book will prove this.

So far as the secret was concerned, the statement was an evident falsehood. Since the moment when I received the exclusive franchise in Bavaria, in the year 1799, I had made no secret of any part of my process toward any living being. I showed the whole manipulation to my workmen as well as to all strangers. Those who knew me more intimately and realized, therefore, that I could not resist the desire for communicating anything that I discovered to benefit mankind, often censured me severely for my frankness, saying that I could have been a millionaire had I kept my art a secret. But this was equally erroneous. I never could have succeeded to any degree with my own means.

The false belief that I desired exclusive enjoyment of the results of stone-printing, is in direct contradiction of the fact that the lack of secrecy was held to invalidate my exclusive franchise. The idea may have arisen, at least partly, through the circumstance that several of my former workmen, or others who learned something of the art, made a wonderful secret of it, in order to be considered more important. This was carried to such an extent that some traveled from place to place and sold their knowledge to many people for large sums under the seal of confidence. I pity those who thus received in exchange for their money something of little or no use, when they could have learned from me for practically nothing, as it always was my greatest delight to converse with intelligent men about those subjects that interested me so deeply as inventor.

After making this little excursion, which was needed for my justification, I return to my story.

There were, then, in 1809, six public printeries in Munich besides mine, without reckoning those which several artists had made for their own use. The foremost among the latter was Herr Mettenleithner, Royal Copper Plate Engraver. He was one of the first to whom I had shown specimens, as early as 1796, of the new process, but he had paid little attention to it. Partly through various very excellent specimens from Herr Mitterer's print, and partly through the work of Strixner and Pilotti, he was induced to make experiments. A son of Herr von Dall' Armi, who was taking lessons just then in drawing and copper etching for his own pleasure, interested himself in the process. As a result, the latter established a lithographic institution in Rome, which, so far as I know, never achieved any decided success.

Soon afterward Herr Mettenleithner, in association with one of the best of the Aretin printers, a man named Weishaupt, laid the foundation for the stone-printery of the Royal Tax Commission (KÖnigliche Unmittelbare Steuer-Kataster-Kommission), which is now the most important of all the lithographic institutions of Munich. A little later a similar institution was founded for reproduction purposes by the Royal Privy Council, through Herr Mettenleithner's son-in-law, Herr Winter.

Herr Mettenleithner was appointed director of the great establishment, which employed some thirty engravers, to etch the plans of the Steuer-Kataster, which received fifteen to twenty thousand impressions each. At this time the Kingdom of Bavaria was being charted in great detail for tax-regulation purposes, under the management of Privy Councilor von Utzschneider, the man who has done so much for Bavaria's home industries. There were required at least two exact copies of each map, and close calculation proved that it would be possible to etch the charts on stone and make several hundred impressions for the money that these two copies would cost if done by hand. In addition, each of these impressions was good enough to serve as an original.

The lithographic institution of the Royal Steuer-Kataster had been in operation for some time when a trivial occurrence had the most important effect on my fate.

It became necessary to print a sheet of such great size that there happened to be no stone in Munich large enough. Weishaupt remembered that he had seen stones in my possession which I had purchased partly for map-work and partly for printing cotton and tapestries. He sent a printer to me with a letter from Royal Tax Councilor von Badhauser, requesting that I sell the Government a stone of the necessary dimensions. Herr von Badhauser was a friend of my father, and I myself always had entertained the highest respect for him. He was also a friend of Herr Gleissner, and had done many things to oblige him. I embraced the opportunity of doing him a favor with joy, and the matter probably would have had no further consequences, had not Madame Gleissner arrived just as the stone was being taken away.

She suspected that the stone might be desired for a purpose other than the one stated, and sought Herr von Badhauser to ascertain the truth. On this occasion she complained to him that the Government, not content with infringing our franchise by erecting its own printeries, also took away our workmen after I had trained them with much labor and expense.

Herr von Badhauser was surprised. He said that Privy Councilor von Utzschneider had wished to turn work over to me, but that my reply to his proposal, which had been laid before me by a designer named Schiesl, had been that it was against my arrangements to collaborate with any other establishment, and that, on the contrary, it was my intention, with the assistance of Freiherr von Aretin, to press our suit against the Government for infringement.

This Herr Schiesl, a pupil of Herr Methleithner, had worked for us occasionally, and, indeed, was one of the first to use the new process for drawings, especially pen-drawings. As he was rather adept and showed great interest, I gave him full instructions in everything, and he knew all my circumstances exactly. Thus he understood thoroughly that my future depended on the turn that Freiherr von Aretin's affairs might take, and that our situation was precarious, owing to the competition of so many establishments. Therefore, I cannot understand how he came to utter a statement so contrary to the truth.

Madame Gleissner hurried to Herr von Utzschneider and explained my real intentions to him. He promised to consider the matter earnestly.

Herr Professor Schiegg, an excellent geometrician and astronomer, was member of the Steuer-Kataster-Kommission, and had the supervision over the entire institution. He was not well satisfied. Too many costly proof-prints were being made, and the impressions did not please him. Accidentally he saw my receipt for payment for the stone which I had furnished, and he observed that I did not ask more for it than the Commission had to pay for stones only half as large. Also I charged only twenty-four kreuzer for polishing, whereas the Commission had been paying one gulden for stones of four square feet. He took occasion to represent to the Commission that it might be well to give me the management of the establishment.

Herr von Utzschneider sent for me and asked for a proposition. After discussion with Freiherr von Aretin I proposed that the Commission let me print their etched plates for two kreuzer per impression, in return for which I would pay the workmen, defray the cost of all printing material, and also keep the presses in repair, pull necessary proofs without charge, and bear the cost of all imperfect work.

This plan seemed very fair to me, as the Royal Commission would save two thirds of the expenses it had defrayed hitherto; but it met with such opposition that Herr von Utzschneider advised me to make another proposition, preferably one that involved a good salary for myself and Herr Gleissner, which, probably, would be received with more favor. He added the flattering statement that the Royal Commission would be proud to have me, the inventor of the art, in its employ, and thus to reward my struggles in the name of the fatherland. The excellent man fulfilled the expectations thus raised, and became my greatest benefactor and founder of my fortune; for through him I won the prospect of an unvexed old age, and was placed in a position where I did not need any longer to consider my art merely as a livelihood. Everything useful that I have invented since then, and I hope it is not inconsiderable, is due to the serene and happy position in which I was placed through his goodness.

At the time I thought also that, if we were both employed by the Royal Steuer-Kataster-Kommission, it would save Freiherr von Aretin the burden of supporting us, without causing him damage, as according to the preliminary promise of the Commission we should have time enough left to manage his institution. So I agreed to assume supervision over the Commission's printery, to give it my best knowledge, and give the workmen complete instructions and training, for which there was to be a salary for life of one thousand five hundred gulden for me and one thousand gulden for my friend Gleissner, with the rank of Royal Inspector of Lithography, and with the right to maintain and conduct our own printery. My terms were graciously accepted, and in October, 1809, we received our appointment.

Only in the beginning were my personal services especially necessary. Later, as the workmen grew equal to their tasks, I found more and more leisure for dedicating myself to inventing improvements. I was rather fortunate in this endeavor, and the various processes invented since 1809 would now be generally known through the publication of many interesting works, had Freiherr von Aretin not been forced to leave Munich to assume his new duties in the Royal Service. This left my art without his assistance, and our partnership reached its end just as it was beginning to attain fruit. My own circumstances did not permit me to continue the establishment on its former scale; therefore, Freiherr von Aretin turned over part of it, especially the art-branches, to von Manlich, the Director of the Royal Gallery, and another part to Herr Zeller. The latter soon gave up the printing business as incompatible with his other interests, but he did a great deal for domestic art and industry later by opening a warehouse for its products, also by publishing a paper and issuing many lithographic art productions.

I kept one or two presses for myself, and as I married the daughter of the Royal Chief Auditor Versch in January, 1810, I hoped to teach my wife to manage a small business. In the very beginning I obtained a large order for passports from the Royal Commission of the Isar, which kept the presses busy for a month. At the same time I contracted with the Royal War Economy Council to furnish all their printing. Besides this, I had many orders from another Royal Commission and from Herr Falter, so that my little establishment was very busy. Unfortunately it happened that I was not paid at once by the Royal Commission of the Isar, but only after four years. Added to this, after some months I had to support my workmen in idleness for several weeks, because there happened to be no work for them. This gave my wife so ill an idea of the business that she kept at me till I promised her to give up the whole thing.

Madame Gleissner was not so timid. She offered to take over my men if I would turn over to her the government work that I had. At first she did very well, because just then orders came from many directions. She might have made a great success, had her husband not been stricken with paralysis, which rendered him so miserable that at last he lost his mind. Then came the ever-growing competition and at last the government bureau installed its own plant. Her daughter lost her eyesight almost wholly at this time, so that the family fell into a woeful condition, which would be still worse now if they were not sustained by faith in the mercy and grace of our best of kings, who will surely reward their efforts for lithography, which art, according to the belief of all experts, will ever remain a beautiful flower in the shining wreath of the noble Maximilian.

As soon as I did not need any longer to give up my time to earning a mere livelihood, I began seriously to plan publication of my lithographic text-book, the first number of which had appeared previously and been well received. But the skill of the various lithographers made noticeable advances every day, so that I was not content with the specimen pages that had seemed so satisfactory a year earlier. At last I fell under the delusion that it was absolutely vital to my honor that everything that might appear in my text-book must represent the non plus ultra of the process. Therefore I decided to suppress the first number entirely, because there were sample pages in it that represented a style which had been done much better since then.

However, many obstacles opposed me. For instance, good artists are very costly, especially if they must learn new methods and practice them. I felt, also, that many of my inventions still demanded many improvements before I could intrust them to the hands of any artists. Still, I hoped finally to accomplish my plan for publishing a splendid work which should be unique, because I invented improvements and perfections daily. When my dear friend Andre came to Munich in 1811, I laid my project before him and he was so taken with it that he offered his cordial coÖperation. We agreed that the work was to be done by Frankfurter artists and printed there. But when I journeyed to Offenbach some months later, I discovered that the right kind of artists were not so easy to find as Andre had led me to hope. Some, who might have been competent, demanded such exorbitant terms that the work would necessarily have been published only at a huge loss. "Copper-etching," said they, "we understand. Stone-etching we must learn. The latter seems to us, who are unpracticed in it, three times as difficult. Therefore it is but fair that we shall be paid three times as much." This sort of reasoning led me to return to Munich to print the work there.

Now two years passed with many experiments. Many a plate was made, printed, and discarded because meantime I had found something better. Then I lost my beloved wife in child-bed, and in my anguish over this loss, irredeemable as I thought at the time, I forgot all my projects till my second wife, a niece of our worthy Choir-Master Ritter von Winter, reconciled me with Providence, notably through her truly motherly behavior toward the son left behind by my first wife. I considered it my duty now to publish my work, that in case of my death their claims to honor should be established. Without this incentive, it would have been much more indifferent to me what men might think of my art or its inventor.

In 1816, Herr Andre came to Munich again, and I imparted to him many of my recent inventions in regard to lithography. On this occasion we decided ultimately which of our plates should be put into the work and which should be discarded. I promised to get seriously to work and we looked forward so confidently to the completion of the entire publication that Herr Andre circulated a preliminary notice of it in the Easter-Messe at Leipsic, whither he went after leaving Munich.

Despite this, there came many delays, the chief one being caused by my meeting Herr Gerold, book-dealer and printer of Vienna, who invited me to establish a printery for him. As my presence in Vienna would be needed for only three months, I believed that this would cause no delay in the publication of the text-book, because the plates ordered from the Munich artists could be completed during that time, while I could furnish the text as well in Vienna as in Munich. But I had the misfortune of becoming seriously ill soon after reaching Vienna. A great weakness remained as result, and this made it impossible for me to undertake the return voyage in the bad weather that marked the winter of 1816-17.

Lithography did not progress particularly with Herr Gerold during my stay, because he could not obtain the franchise, though he had petitioned for it a year ago. The greatest blame for this was due to Herr Steiner's opposition. This man, who had done but little for the art in the entire time during which he enjoyed the exclusive Austrian franchise that I had turned over to him, did this from pure ill-will, because he had suffered similar ill-luck, as he said.

So Gerold could not establish so complete a printery as I wished, without going into expenses based on an uncertainty. However, various drawings were made that served to show art-lovers what could be done with lithography. It would be easy to perfect this art immensely in Vienna, because there is no lack of excellent artists. Among those who interested themselves at the very beginning in Herr Gerold's undertaking were Herr Colonel von Aurach, Herr Captain Kohl, and Herr Kunike, the drawing-master for the family of Prince von Schwarzenberg. They convinced themselves with many experiments that lithography was eminently suitable for the easy reproduction of many styles of drawing, and recommended the method to all their acquaintances. Through the experiments of Herr Kunike I gained the conviction that one could print true originals by using a method of touching up the impressions.

The crayon method in combination with one or two tint plates is the method that is easiest for the artist to handle. Now this method is very difficult to print, demanding great practice if good, strong, and clear impressions are to be produced. Since there are as yet no complete printeries where an artist can have his own plates printed without danger of damage, there is nothing left except to print them himself, which causes many imperfect impressions that must be destroyed for the credit of the artist. Herr Kunike had this experience; but he took his imperfect impressions, when they were not entirely spoiled, and worked them over with black crayon. It developed that twelve impressions could be so well touched up by hand that they would fittingly pass as originals, in the time which would be required to copy a single picture properly. As this treatment of illustrations produces their value only by merit of the final finishing, they may be considered as being the same as copies that are made by an artist of his own work, wherein it happens often that the copy turns out better than the original.

Just as I was preparing to leave Vienna I received several numbers of the Anzeiger fÜr Kunst und Gewerbfleiss, in which Herr Direktor von Schlichtegroll, General Secretary of the Royal Bavarian Academy of Sciences, had inserted several letters suggesting an inquiry into the invention of lithography. He had used the information obtained from my brothers and from other inhabitants of Munich. On my arrival there I visited him at once to thank him for his patriotic endeavors, and to make some corrections of the story told by him. I had the fortune to win him as a steady friend, who became continually interested in giving my work a greater field.

The completion of this text-book is due to his steadfast encouragement. He furnished me with the opportunity to meet many worthy men and also to demonstrate my many improvements before the Royal Academy of Sciences, the Polytechnical Union, and at last even before their majesties, our most gracious King and his most highly venerated spouse, that illustrious connoisseur and protectress of the arts. Never to be forgotten by me will be the moment when the gracious applause of the royal pair rewarded me for all the exertions of my life. Oh! If only human life were not so limited, if it were granted to me to execute only one tenth part of my designs, I would make myself worthy of this great honor by making many another useful invention! But the time passes swiftly during our helpless wishing and striving; and when twenty or thirty years have been lived, there remains for us only amazement at beholding how little has been done of all that which glowing imagination and fiery energy painted as being so easy to carry out.

When I saw before me the first successful impressions from a stone, and conceived the plan of making the invention useful for myself, I did not think that it would demand the greatest part of my life. Rather, because it seemed to be a cheap process, I considered it merely a first step toward putting me into a position where I would be able to make inventions far more useful and important. I must, however, count myself fortunate among thousands, because my invention received such thorough recognition during my lifetime, and because I myself was able to bring it to a degree of perfection such as other inventions generally attained only after many years and long after the inventor himself was dead.

Herr von Manlich, the Director of the Royal Gallery, has had his skilled pupils, Strixner and Pilotti, copy many collections in the Royal Drawing Cabinet (KÖnigliche Zeichnungs Kabinett), and many of these sheets are so good that competent critics have declared them to be perfect facsimiles.

But on the whole the publication of the Royal Gallery of Paintings is still more excellent and has aroused general attention, which would be even greater if the printers had been as expert as the artists were. Many of these pages would leave nothing to be desired if the pictures appeared on the paper in perfection equal to the perfection of the drawings on the stone.

The method used for these illustrations is the crayon method, with one or more tint plates. It is the easiest method for the artists because it demands little previous experience. To give it its correct emphasis, however, one must know especially how to get the best effect out of the tint plates. If this is done just right, and if, of course, the drawing bears the impress of a masterly hand, and if the printer understands his art, the impression will be perfectly like an original drawing, so that the most skilled etcher in copper hardly can attain the same effect. Therefore this method, which has the further advantage of being a quick one, is excellently well adapted for copying paintings.

Hereby I wish to express my deepest gratitude publicly to the worthy Herr Direktor von Manlich and his industrious pupils for the service they have done for the fame of lithography by utilizing my inventions. To their labors, as well as to those of Herr Professor Mitterer, is due the ever-growing sympathy and interest of the public.

Herr Mitterer now has attained such perfection, especially in the simple crayon method, that many of his productions probably will remain the non plus ultra of this method. Lithography also owes to his unresting energy the triumph of having been become the mother of many useful works of instruction, which are so cheap that they only require the active work of a good art-dealer or book-dealer to become widely circulated.

Besides this, Herr Mitterer is the inventor of the so-called cylinder or pilot-wheel press, which he has improved so much lately that it does almost everything that one can demand from a perfect press in point of power, speed, and ease of operation.

Since 1809, I have dedicated myself almost uninterruptedly to improvements, and to the work of reducing all manipulation and processes in all branches to their simple elementary principles. Thus some of my earlier inventions—such as transfers from paper which has been inscribed with fatty inks, and the transfers from new and old books and copper-plate impressions—have been brought to a high degree of excellence through my manifold experiments, so that one can make lithographic stereotypes in the easiest manner.

Furthermore I have made such progress in color printing that, besides pictures illuminated with colors, I can also produce pictures quite similar to oil paintings, so that nobody can discover that they have been printed, because they possess all the distinguishing points of paintings.

At the same time I have invented a new method for printing pictures, wall tapestry, playing-cards, and even cotton, which enables two men to make two thousand impressions of the size of a sheet of letter-paper daily, even though the picture may contain a hundred or more colors. Incredible as this may seem, I surely shall produce extraordinary and amazing proofs of this in a few years if I remain alive and well.

Among the other methods that I have invented since this time the most excellent are some aqua tint processes, the spatter-work method, the intaglio crayon method, the conversion of the relief method into intaglio and vice versa, and the machine-written text for editions de luxe.

Among other things I also sought to remedy the difficulty which arises from the great dependence on the skill and industry of the printers. Therefore I planned a printing-machine wherein the dampening and inking of the stones should be done not by hands but by the mechanism of the press itself, which, in addition, could be operated by water and thus work almost without human intervention. With this invention I believed that I had set my art on the pinnacle of completion; and when in 1817 I exhibited a model of this press (which also was adapted by me for utilizing the principles of stone or chemical printing on metal plates) before the Royal Academy of Sciences in Munich, I was so fortunate as to receive its golden medal in sign of universal approval.

But the most important of all my inventions since my employment in the service of the Royal Government was, without question, the invention of a sufficient substitute for the natural limestone plates, which often incurred well-founded censure because of their unevenness, weight, and fragility, and have the further fault of demanding a great deal of storage room.

Before the Royal Academy of Sciences, and also before the Polytechnical Society of Bavaria, I demonstrated that chemical printing could be utilized with advantage on metal plates; but that still more useful was a composition of artificial stone which could be painted on metal, wood, stone, and even on plain paper or linen, and used in all processes exactly like the natural Solenhofen stone.

The countless experiments that I have made in the past four years with this substitute (or, as some call it, stone-paper), in order to prove its usefulness under all circumstances, have filled me with the absolute conviction that it replaces the natural stone completely without having the many faults that in the nature of the case are inseparable from the use of the latter. In many respects it is far superior. The fragility of the Solenhofen stone requires the use of thick slabs for printing. If the impression is to be letter-sheet size, the stone must be at least one and one half inches thick if it is not to crack under pressure. If the stone is to be used for more than one job, the thickness must be two to three inches. To be sure, it can be ground and used over again some hundreds of times, a valuable consideration in view of the capital invested in a stone. But such a stone weighs from sixty to eighty pounds, sometimes more, and occupies considerable space. Add the investment necessary for laying in any great number of stones, and it becomes a difficult matter financially to undertake work that requires that the stones be held for a number of years, to be used for new impressions according to the sales of the work. Therefore it is necessary, generally, to print a maximum quantity at once, so that the stones may be ground and used for new work.

If the stones are of thickness correctly proportioned to their area, the danger of cracking under the press is fairly remote; still, it does happen occasionally that a stone incurs damage through clumsiness of workmen. It can occur also through careless warming, or through sharp frost. In such cases even a strong stone will crack, especially if the workmen apply undue pressure.

Besides, the necessary stones are not to be found in all places, so that the cost of transportation prevents the establishment of lithographic shops in many regions.

All these objections are overcome by the invention of stone-paper. The material advantages of it are as follows: (1) The cost is much smaller than that of a stone of equal size. (2) The weight is inconsiderable; a plate of letter-sheet size weighs scarcely four ounces. (3) Hundreds of such plates piled on each other require scarcely as much space as a single stone, and can, therefore, be stored or shipped easily. (4) They resist the most powerful press better than do stone, copper, and even iron plates. Their inner elasticity supports the most extreme pressure without alteration if only they are handled properly. (5) The application of fatty inks, and also engraving with the steel graver is easier. Indeed, because of the great toughness of the stone-paper, the engraving process approaches copper engraving more closely. (6) Inking and printing are easier, and demand no such powerful pressure, because the artificial stone receives and imparts color more readily, than does the natural stone. (7) Finally, they are so excellent for all methods of printing that it is possible to reproduce the original plates at will merely by transferring a fresh imprint to another plate. And this can be done with such accuracy that none of these plates can be distinguished from the original, so that the stone-paper surely must become of enormous importance for stereotyping in the book-printing trade.

These advantages, and others to be described on suitable occasion, elevate this invention unquestionably to the highest importance in the art of chemical printing, despite all that may have been said recently by a certain writer whose lack of knowledge forbade correct judgment. The matter already has attained a degree of perfection that makes every further improvement unnecessary, nay, almost impossible.

My many employments, mostly caused by the publication of this text-book, thus far have prevented the erection of my own manufactory for making these artificial stone-plates or stone-paper. I hope to do it soon, and then everybody can convince himself of the truth of my assertions, if he will use the material according to my instructions.

This invention will facilitate the introduction of lithography in all places, because one can make the stones himself. However, lithography has expanded very considerably in its present form, and has been brought into use in the foremost cities of Europe. For instance, it was introduced into France and England, first by Herr Andre, in latter days by the Count von Lasterie in Paris and Herr Ackermann in London, being utilized for many kinds of printed work. In Berlin, Herr Major von Reiche has erected a great institution. In Petersburg the art has existed for some years, and is being especially well cultivated now by Freiherr von Schilling. The art has entered even Philadelphia, and, more extraordinarily, Astrakan, and, so far as I can learn, has been welcomed heartily.

I desire that soon it shall be spread over the whole world, bringing much good to humanity through many excellent productions, and that it may work toward man's greater culture, but never be misused for evil purposes. This grant the Almighty! Then may the hour be blessed in which I invented it!