Chapter III: Part I: From 1796 to 1800 (2)

I had been assigned to write a prayer-book on stone for the Schul-fond. It was mostly in a style of writing in which I was least expert. When I wrote music notes, our method, proved best by experience, had been to write the entire sheet in reverse on the stone with lead pencil to serve as pattern. This was mostly Herr Gleissner's work, and being a musician he had achieved great perfection. For me this preparatory work was far less agreeable than the final execution with the stone-ink. Therefore, as ever in my life, when a difficulty or a burden was before me, I studied for some way to make it easier for me. Previously I had found that if one wrote on paper with good English lead pencils, then moistened the paper, laid it on a polished stone and passed it through a powerful press, a good impression was the result. I had used the method on various occasions. I wished that I possessed an ink that could be used the same way. Trials showed that fine red chalk needed merely to be rubbed down gently in a solution of gum, and that even the ordinary writing-ink of nut gall and vitriol of iron would serve when mixed with a little sugar. But this did not satisfy my ambition, which always demanded the best and most perfect. The gum in one and the vitriol in the other did not agree well with the stone-ink. In addition, the impression often squashed. Therefore I tried a mixture in water of linseed oil, soap, and lampblack which met my demands better. I had a music-writer write notes correctly on note-paper with this ink, printed it on the stone, and thus had an accurate pattern, which was at the same time reversed, as was necessary.

I now planned to do this with the book. But why could I not invent an ink that would serve on the stone without making it necessary to trace over it with the stone-ink? Why not make an ink that would leave the paper under pressure and transfer itself to the stone entirely? Could one give the paper itself some property so that it would let go of the ink under given conditions? So reflected I, and it seemed to me not impossible. At once I began to experiment. I had observed that the stone-ink at once began to congeal and stiffen when it came into contact with ordinary writing-ink, because of the action of the vitriol of iron, which devoured the alkali that the stone-ink needed to keep it in solution. Therefore I wrote with ordinary ink, into which I put still more vitriol of iron. After it was dry, I dipped the sheet into a weak solution in water of my stone-ink. After a few seconds I withdrew it and washed it very gently in rainwater. I found that the ink had fastened itself on the written places, and pretty thickly, too. I allowed the paper to dry slightly and transferred the writing to the stone. The impression was fair, but not sufficiently complete. I tried it repeatedly but could obtain no transfers that were sharp and uniform enough to represent a handsome script. So I tried another way. I painted the paper with gum solution in which vitriol of iron was dissolved. After it dried I wrote on it with my ordinary stone-ink and dried it again. Then I dampened the paper and let it lie a while to soften, after which I transferred it to the stone, which had been treated with strong oil varnish diluted in oil of turpentine, laid on so lightly that it was only like the blurring from a breath.

These attempts were far more successful, but it was impossible to write as delicately on this paper as I desired. Therefore I made new experiments. I changed the mixture of my ink. I tried to make it more adhesive with mixtures of resin, oil varnish, gum elastic, turpentine, mastic, and similar substances. In short, I do not exaggerate when I declare that this matter cost me several thousands of experiments. I was rewarded sufficiently by succeeding. And at the same time through these investigations I discovered the chemical printing on stone of to-day.

As the transfer from paper to stone depended mainly on the greater or lesser powers of adhesion between one material and another, it was natural that in my many experiments with such various ingredients I should observe that a mucous fluid, as, for instance, the gum solution, resisted the adhesion of the greasy ink. Nearer still to the new invention did the following experiment bring me: I noticed that if there happened to be a few drops of oil in the water into which I dipped paper inscribed with my greasy stone-ink, the oil would distribute itself evenly over all parts of the writing, whereas the rest of the paper would take no oil, and especially so if it had been treated with gum solution or very thin starch paste. This fact led me to investigate the behavior of paper printed with common printing-ink.

A sheet of an old book was drawn through thin gum solution, then laid on a stone and touched carefully everywhere with a sponge that had been dipped into a thin oil color. The printed letters took the color well everywhere and the paper itself remained white. Now I laid another clean white sheet on this, put both through the press, and obtained a very good transfer, in reverse, of course. In this manner, if I used great care, I found I could make fifty and more transfers from the same sheet. If I allowed such a transfer to dry thoroughly and then treated it like the original sheet, why should it not produce transfers that are like the original, not reversed? So thought I, and the result showed that I had not been wrong! Only for the first transfer I needed to use a somewhat stiffer color that had been dried more with litharge of silver, and then to let the transfer dry for at least four or six days.

So I came to find that I could print without a stone, from the paper alone; and this process, depending solely on chemical action, was totally, fundamentally different from all other processes of printing.

Old books could be republished in this manner easily and without great cost. New ones also. I needed only to invent a fatty ink, similar to the printing-ink and drying thoroughly, and I could use every sheet of printed paper instead of type. I invented this ink soon. Resin, finely pulverized litharge of silver, lampblack, thick oil varnish, and potash properly diluted with water gave me a good ink for the purpose. The only obstacle that prevented me from using this process at once on a large scale was the fragility of the paper, which tore into pieces under the slightest carelessness in handling. The natural and simple thought that was bound to come to me under the circumstances was this, Could not a stronger material, perhaps the stone plate itself, be so prepared that it would take ink or color only on the parts covered with fatty ink, while the wet parts of the stone resisted it? I feared that the stone might not absorb the grease sufficiently, and this really is the case with many stones, such as slate, pebble, grindstone, glass, porcelain, etc.; but experiments showed that exactly the opposite is true in the case of the Solenhofer limestone. This stone has a great affinity for fat, which often is absorbed so deeply that in many cases even extensive grinding will not remove it.

I took a cleanly polished stone, inscribed it with a piece of soap, poured thin gum solution over it and passed over all with a sponge dipped in oil color. All the places marked with the fat became black at once, the rest remained white. I could make as many impressions as I pleased; simply wetting the stone after each impression and treating it again with the sponge produced the same result each time. The impressions became somewhat pale, because the color on the sponge was too thin; but I obtained perfectly black and handsome impressions as soon as I used an ink roller of leather stuffed with horse-hair.

I hurried to write a sheet of note music at once to print it in the new way; but the ink flowed too much on the polished stone. Previously I had corrected this by rubbing the stone with linseed oil or soap-water, which checked the trouble entirely. But I knew that I could not do that in this new method, because then the stone would have a coating of grease all over, and would take color on the entire surface. However, I was able to take this coating away after writing, by etching with aqua fortis, though etching would not have been necessary otherwise in this chemical form of printing. However, it was easy to see that a drawing etched into relief would be easier to print from than one not etched at all. It did not require much etching, and I saved a great deal of acid, while the stone, also, remained useful for new work for a much longer period. Therefore, without making further experiments, I adhered to my old method, first washing the stone lightly with soap-water, drying it well, writing on it with wax ink, and then etching with acid before I finished it for printing by pouring gum solution over it.

At first I imagined that I might do without the gum entirely; but I found soon that it really formed a sort of chemical union with the stone, making its pores more receptive to the grease and closing them more effectively against water. I found also that neither aqua fortis nor gum was so valuable alone as when both were used in the process.

I needed to make only a few more experiments to obtain the proper consistency of ink, and the new process would be practically perfect so far as the fundamental principle was concerned. And, in fact, I made such handsome, clean, and strong impressions after three days of trial that few better ones have been made since. Now it was necessary merely to train skillful workmen and artists as quickly as possible for this new art, that was susceptible of innumerable valuable uses, as I could see at once.

It made no difference now whether the design was worked in relief or intaglio, as good impressions could be obtained even when the drawing was perfectly level with the surface of the stone. But all three methods could be combined on one stone, if desired. If I reversed the method, by rubbing oil over the stone instead of water, while for printing I used an ink prepared with gum solution (of which I will describe the best composition afterward), then the greasy places would resist color while the wet ones took it, and thus I could print with all water colors, and this is necessary sometimes with colored pictures because of the greater height of the colors. The inscription with dry soap gave me the logical idea toward crayon work, which I used afterward. My previous experiments with etching, that recurred to my memory, now assumed entirely different aspects and I could understand many things that had puzzled me then.

It was a simple step now to the etched method, in which the stone is prepared first with aqua fortis and gum, after which the design is engraved in intaglio without first being treated with aqua fortis. Indeed, this method was used for the first work that I undertook.

A piece of music by Herr Gleissner (which afterward was greatly praised in the musical paper) had been completed before I invented the new process. Only the title-page remained to do. As I wished to make this as handsome as possible, since Herr Gleissner intended to dedicate the work to Count von Törring, I chose this new intaglio style, because I hoped to do my best work in it. Any one who still possesses a copy of this symphony can see by slight examination that the printing was done from an etched engraving. Therefore Herr Rapp in Stuttgart is mistaken when he assumes that he is the first who treated the stone in this manner. As early as the year 1800 I deposited in the archives of the Patent Office in London a full description of this and several other methods, some of which have not been used yet generally, and in 1803 I had to submit my descriptions to the Austrian Government when they gave me a franchise.

A year before this, I had invented the lever press, with which I could make several thousand of the handsomest impressions during a day. This, combined with the new treatment of the stone, enabled me to enlarge my operations greatly. I took in two of my brothers, Theobald and George, who had been in the theatre hitherto, and taught them to write and etch on stone. Also I took in two boy apprentices, sons of poor parents, to train them properly. Herr Schulrath Steiner and Herr Falter, with several others, gave me various orders, and a pretty good outlook began to appear for me and Herr Gleissner.

Until now we had been forced to suffer much grief, disappointment, deprivation, and poverty. Herr Gleissner's salary was only three hundred gulden a year. A yearly deduction of one hundred gulden was being made from this by the Government to pay debts. Then there were new expenses to repair the printery and keep it in some sort of order. My support and that of the family Gleissner,--which consisted of five persons,--then a larger residence, on account of the room needed for stones and for printing, also had to be paid for. My own yearly earnings were barely a few hundred gulden, as most of my time was used for experiments. It is no wonder, then, that during this sad period of two years, we spent almost all that could be spent of Herr Gleissner's estate, and still made new debts, despite all imaginable economies.

I can say for the honor of this man, and especially his wife, that, despite all their losses and despite the warnings and inciting of their friends and relatives, they remained unshaken, and by making all kinds of sacrifices they enabled me to win at last. On my part they saw faithful and eager will, and a restless endeavor that went so far that I hardly took any time for eating or sleeping, but thought only of improving my art.

Now, however, our condition was changed at once. Many days we earned as much as ten to twelve gulden; and at the same time we received an exclusive franchise for fifteen years through the favor of King Maximilian Joseph, who began his glorious reign then. This privilege gave us the right to print and sell exclusively in all of Bavaria, while infringers were liable to a fine of one hundred gulden and confiscation of all stock and apparatus.

We were determined to do our utmost, to work day and night, to establish an honorable reputation for our printery at last, though we foresaw many obstacles, owing to the entire lack of assistance. Already I had half-determined to contract with the Schul-fond, permitting it to establish a lithographic press for its own use, when an accidental circumstance gave our whole undertaking a new direction.

Depending on the protection given to us by our franchise, we were making no further secret of any part of our process. We were quite content with having the monopoly in Bavaria, and cared little that other printeries might arise in other countries. Indeed, this expectation flattered my vanity as inventor, and I thought that in time I might make commercial connections with such establishments. For this reason I was very hospitable toward every stranger who came to visit us. I hoped that perhaps I might induce some such visitor to participate in our undertaking, and therefore I exhibited all the advantages of the process and permitted them to see the manipulations with their own eyes.

Just then Herr Andre of Offenbach visited Munich on business. He read about the grant of our franchise and asked his friend Falter about the process. That gentleman showed him some sheets of music printed by us and offered to introduce him to our printery, where, as technical expert, he could decide for himself as to the value or worthlessness of the new art.

Herr Andre, who possessed an extensive musical publishing institution and owned a large zinc-plate printing-plant, was delighted with the beauty of our print, and was especially impressed by the fact that the color did not off-set when rubbed with the hand, as was the case with zinc printing. He accepted Herr Falter's offer at once and was introduced as a merchant. The attention with which he noted even the slightest operations led me to conclude at once that this man had some especial interest in printing. I took particular pains to display the whole process to the best advantage.

Several plates that were already inscribed were etched and printed with beautiful results. The speed (seventy-five sheets in a quarter-hour, two being printed simultaneously each time), the quickness of drying, the economy in color, were things that increased his interest to a high pitch. He told who he was and proposed to me that I teach him the entire art for an adequate remuneration. I accepted at once and agreed to go to Offenbach within a few months, erect a press, and train men in all branches of the process. For this he promised me the sum of two thousand gulden, of which he paid down three hundred gulden on the spot.

This change from poverty to comfort made me happy mainly on Herr Gleissner's account. We could furnish our printery properly now and pay our old debts. We were assured, also, of enough work to permit enlargement of the establishment in future. What was there left to wish?

In the very beginning, however, the behavior of my own family gave me great displeasure. My mother demanded that I share my profit with my brothers, as they had a better right than Herr Gleissner and his family. I could not quite see this; therefore my mother ordered a press for my brothers and bought the necessary stones. They went to Herr Falter and asked him for his work, representing that I had made my fortune through Herr Andre, whereas they were unprovided for. They offered at the same time to furnish each plate for thirty kreuzer less than I charged. Herr Falter permitted himself to be convinced, and when Madame Gleissner discovered it she was intensely angry, and did not rest till the Government ordered my brothers to refrain from utilizing the process in Bavaria for their own account.

My brothers went to Augsburg to erect a stone-press for Herr Gombart. They must have been unequal to the attempt or there must have been other difficulties: in brief, I know only that, after Herr Gombart had incurred many useless expenses, he discarded printing from stone.

During the three months before my journey to Offenbach I practiced my art busily, and especially studied to attain thoroughness in one branch that was of importance to Herr Schulrath Steiner. I have spoken already of his idea for pictures for children. As soon as I had invented the new chemical printing, I thought of inking an etched copper plate with a composition of tallow, soap, lampblack, and oil varnish, making an impression, laying this on stone, and putting it through the press. The picture transferred itself to the stone as I had expected. Then I poured the water and gum solution over it and inked it with the ink roller. The design took the color well; and thus, if the stone was very clean in the beginning and the proof from the copper had been made very carefully indeed, I could print several thousands of copies which resembled the original so closely that only a slightly greater degree of sharpness, clearness, and strength gave the copper etching an advantage over the stone impressions. At last I succeeded in perfecting the process so that actually my best impressions from the stone were better than those that had been made with less care from the original copper plate.

The main requisite in this process was that the ink be firm enough not to spread in printing, and still so greasy and tender that the very finest lines would come out. The copper plate had to be washed with extraordinary care, for the least bit of grease that should off-set on the white paper would, of course, transfer itself to the stone and make that part take color.

This latter circumstance was intensely difficult to overcome. It occurred to me to treat the copper plate chemically, like the stone, so that its surface would resist the ink. I succeeded, as, in future, I succeeded with other metals. The fundamental principle in each case remained the same. Only in the choice of materials for each metal was there a difference. I discovered soon that there are two kinds of preparations, one acid and one alkaline, for all solid bodies which have the property of taking and absorbing oil colors. The alkalines seemed to be best for use on copper plate, and I obtained such clean impressions that the stone did not take on even a vestige of ink in any spot except the design. At the same time I found that chemical printing does not limit itself to stone, but can be done on wood and metal, as well as on paper, as stated already. Yes, though apparently it is incredible--even fats, such as wax, shellac, resin, etc., can acquire the attribute, under certain circumstances, of resisting color, and, therefore, are available for chemical printing. This fact gave me hopes of discovering a sort of artificial stone some day, which might be less costly, less massive, and less fragile; and, as a matter of fact, I succeeded in inventing an artificial stone-paper in 1813, a stony mass that is smeared on paper or linen and looks somewhat like parchment.

Since the illustrations on etched copper plates were so readily transferable to the stone, Herr Schulrath Steiner could now let the best masters etch his pictures. The sales of the original impressions as works of art always covered the costs. He paid me five gulden for each transfer that I made from the copper to stone. For this extremely small sum he obtained a stone plate from which there could be made countless impressions, which, although not so fine as those from the copper, answered his purpose of circulating good pictures by making them extremely cheap. Lively prosecution of this process was prevented only by the delays of copper etchers, so that we were able to utilize it only five times on a large scale before I had to leave Munich.

Herr Gleissner, who wished to visit a friend in Frankfurt, accompanied me on my way to Offenbach. I started at once on the new work and within fourteen days I pulled the first proof on Herr Andre's own press. He was so well satisfied, and, besides, had so thoroughly considered the advantages of stone-printing, that he proposed to me to leave Munich entirely and, with him as associate, extend the art in the best possible way. He had three brothers, none of whom was engaged in a fixed occupation. He intended to bring these into the partnership. Two were in London, the youngest and the eldest. The latter was to return soon. One brother had lived long in Paris, and was well acquainted with that city as well as with French affairs. So he laid out the following plan. We would try to obtain exclusive franchises in Paris, London, Berlin, and Vienna. Then a stone-printery and art publication house was to be opened in each city. His brothers should manage affairs, one each in London, Paris, and Berlin, while I was to take the management in Vienna. Offenbach and Frankfurt would remain under Herr Andre's management and be the centre of control and union.

The plan seemed to be easy to realize, as there was no lack of means. I could look for one fifth of the profits which would be earned by the combined, very considerable capital of the Andre family. In addition, Herr Andre possessed all the requisite knowledge and owned a great business already. Therefore I agreed gladly, after making the condition that Herr Gleissner was to remain a partner of mine and receive a decent remuneration till the business was in working order.

Herr Andre was well content, for Herr Gleissner could be used as compositor, corrector, and writer in the business, which was to consist largely of music publication in the beginning.

Herr Gleissner and I returned to Munich to arrange our affairs there. He intended to ask for three years' leave of absence. I planned, in order to save Herr Steiner any embarrassment, and also to maintain our privilege in Bavaria, since one could not tell how the Andre undertaking might turn out, to so arrange that our work could be printed properly during our absence, whether done by the Schul-fond, the Government, or private persons. It gratified me also to have an opportunity to satisfy my mother's wishes in regard to my brothers; and I gave my brothers, Theobald and George, my press, my stones, and everything else that was on hand, also the two trained apprentices, and only stipulated for myself that I should have one fourth of the net profits, leaving the accounting entirely to their sense of honor. They promised to keep accurate books and work steadily and economically, and they received from me minute instructions about transferring from the copper for Herr Steiner. I taught them also how to handle the crayon process, which promised an early harvest.

As soon as all was done I went to Offenbach with the whole Gleissner family. A good quantity of stones had arrived there, and a few men, previously trained, had been practicing in transcribing music. We were able to begin on a large scale at once. Herr Andre had ten copper- and zinc-plate presses at work. He stopped five and used the workmen for stone-printing. He went to London, partly for business, partly to get his youngest brother and to inform himself thoroughly about the procedure necessary to obtain English patents.

One of our chief speculations in England was to be the application of stone-printing to cotton. Once, when Herr Steiner conceived the idea of illuminating pictures with stencils in the way used by card-makers, I had made many experiments in that line. I cut out the parts to be colored in oil-soaked paper, laid this on the picture, and passed a roller over it with the desired color. The color was more even than with a brush, but not everything could be cut out, because the stencils had to have the necessary connection. Therefore I needed two stencils for every color shade. Again, these thin stencils easily slipped out of place, a defect that displeased me. Now, it happened that at times when I was a little careless, the whole stencil would roll itself up on the ink-roller. I found that it was possible to work even more surely when this happened, provided one found the exact beginning of the stencil and applied it minutely. But it was not possible to make more than twelve impressions. Then the stencil had to be taken from the roller that the latter might be inked again.

In this work the stencil paper often tore. To overcome this there was only one remedy, which was to make the roller hollow and feed it with color from inside. I did not have the time to try this and worked out another plan. I cut out the places to be colored in felt or leather, applied paste to their obverse sides, laid them face down on the exact parts of the picture which were to be colored, rolled a perfectly round roller over them, and the pieces adhered to the roller in their right places. Then the roller was inked with the required color, and of course took it only in the elevated parts. At both ends the roller had a strip of leather of the same thickness as the cut-outs, thus making it certain that it would not touch the ink except in the proper places. In this way pictures could be illuminated very quickly, and several shades of color could be obtained if the pieces were of different qualities of leather, or of leather, cloth, and cotton, according to the shades desired. A very moderate pressure sufficed for good and even work.

What could be more natural than that I should deduce that this sort of printing might be utilized for cotton? Once inked, the roller was good for ten to twelve impressions, if the operator merely used a little more pressure as he proceeded. I saw also that the roller could easily be colored by attaching another to revolve with it and convey the ink. That would give us a form of cotton-printing that would proceed automatically.

The idea was too important to be left untried. I took a little roller, two inches in diameter and six inches long. I glued a piece of calfskin completely around it and then cut a design into it. Then this roller was so adjusted with relation to another of exactly the same dimensions that both touched perfectly. On this second one, which was to convey the color to the other, there rested a little box without a bottom, so that the roller itself represented the bottom as soon as the box was pressed on it, which was most easily done with two screws. The color was poured into this box. Now when the lower roller was passed over linen or cotton which was stretched on an evenly planed board with an under layer of cloth, a continuous print was obtained, without off-set, and with such celerity that it could be reckoned easily that with this process several thousand yards a day could be produced.

When I invented the chemical printing afterward, I held that a stone roller could be used for this work as well as a wooden one. I had too little knowledge of the industry at that time and believed that cotton print was done with oil-colors; for I thought that water-colors would wash out. I was a complete stranger to this work. Therefore, I drew a pretty cotton pattern on a stone plate and printed from it with oil varnish and finely pulverized indigo. The impressions turned out very handsome, so that I considered the matter settled and made no further experiments. I imparted this idea to Herr Andre, who saw its importance at once and determined to obtain a patent for it specially.

However, we had much to learn. As soon as he arrived in England he discovered that rollers with the design on them were in general use in England. So I had imagined mistakenly that my invention was new. However, printing from stone was in itself valuable for a patent, but Herr Andre unfortunately received the incorrect information that the inventor himself must appear in England, and he decided to send me there. I did not care to go; firstly, because I was vexed at the failure of my hopes in regard to cotton-printing; and secondly, because I wished to go to Vienna. However, I yielded to his representations, and within a few weeks journeyed to London with one of his brothers who spoke English.

We went through Hamburg to Cuxhafen and thence in an English packet-boat to Yarmouth, where we landed after a six days' stormy passage.

My sojourn in London did not achieve its purpose, which was to establish printing from stone. The exaggerated caution and precision of Herr Philip Andre, who had been named as the man who was to manage the London negotiations, caused a waste of seven months, during which nothing was done to reach our object.

We lived with Herr Philip and he kept me at home most of the time, for fear that I might betray our purpose, in which case some speculative spirit might take out a patent before us and then compel us to buy him off for some heavy sum. He did not reflect that a mere declaration is not sufficient in England, but that an exact description of a process must be deposited with the Patent Office.

As he could have rendered all these fears unnecessary by simply taking out the patent, I could not understand why he delayed from month to month, and at last I voiced my suspicion that he was not honest with me and had some unknown designs. I declared that nothing would keep me longer in England, which had become wearisome to me owing to my constant seclusion; and my suspicions were increased by the entire lack of all news from the Gleissners and from my family. When Herr Philip Andre realized that I could be held back no longer, he went to work at last, and in twelve days we had the patent in our hands. As I had trained Herr Philip already in the art of stone-work, there was nothing to keep me longer, and I began my homeward voyage at once with my former companion, Herr Friedrich Andre.

My seven months' sojourn in London had the following results for myself and for lithography:--

First, I had decided in Offenbach to use my spare time entirely for the study of chemistry. Particularly did I want to learn everything that was known about color, that I might use stone for cotton-printing. I bought the best books and worked steadily, testing the teachings by experiment.

Second, I made many experiments with stone-ink, to find the very best composition. The ingredients which I utilized in course of the time were about as follows:--

Soap--_a_, common tallow soaps; _b_, Venetian soap.
B, wax.
C, tallow, butter, and other animal fats.
D, spermaceti.
E, shellac.
F, resins and Venetian turpentine.
G, gum elastic.
H, linseed oil.
I, the fat contained in chocolate.
L, various resinous products, such as mastic, copal, dragon's
blood, gum elemi, quajac pensoe, etc.

Then I used various solvents besides the soap, such as--

M, vegetable alkalies, among them tartaric acid.
N, similar mineral alkalies.
O, animal lyes, spirits of sal ammoniac, and sal volatile with
spirits of ammonia.
P, borax.
Q, various metallic solutions.

It is evident that with these substances an endless number of experiments can be made, not to count the variety of proportions. Certainly it is not exaggeration when I say that during that time and later I made many thousands of experiments, only to confirm my experience that accidentally I had discovered the best compositions during the first twenty or thirty investigations, and that my time after that had been wasted, unless I counted the knowledge I had gained of chemistry.

Thirdly, I made my first attempts at that time in the aqua-tint style, and also practiced printing with several plates, which I had begun previously under suggestion of Herr Steiner. The son of the Swiss idyllic poet, Gessner, was in London at that time and was a good friend of Herr Philip. He made some neat sketches for us in the crayon process, which I had invented in Munich immediately after my invention of chemical printing. I had exhibited the process to Professor Mitterer at that time, and he thought that it might become valuable for art.

Thus my residence in London was not unimportant for lithography. The complete lack of disturbance, the adequacy of all needed material, enabled me to discover more than I might have learned in Offenbach. I left England with a certain satisfaction, gained from the certainty that I had raised my art to a high degree of perfection.

I am satisfied even to this day that the world would have many masterpieces as the result, had I come into contact at that time with an enterprising art publisher who would have engaged the needed artists and undertaken interesting works. As it was, however, and as I shall show, circumstances forced me into untoward positions, so that little or no opportunity was left me to use my knowledge practically and in an important way.

Immediately on my arrival in Offenbach, I received the displeasing news that Herr Andre had sent Madame Gleissner to Vienna to claim the exclusive franchise for the new printing process, and to enter lawsuit against my mother, who had gone to Vienna with the same purpose.

The reason for this was as follows: My two brothers, Theobald and George, who could not earn enough in Munich, had been engaged as lithographers by Herr Andre in Offenbach on my request. In a confidential mood I told them that I hoped to go to Vienna and open a great printing establishment and art publication house with assistance of Herr Andre, and that this establishment should make my fortune as well as that of my family.

Probably they did not believe my promise, or they did not care to depend on my fraternal feeling for something which they believed they could get for themselves: enough, they wrote to my mother that it was unfair to let Herr Andre become exclusive proprietor of the new process everywhere, and as I was well established in London anyway, she would better travel to Vienna and ask for a franchise. They sent her several good proofs from the Andre press.

Would to Heaven this plan of theirs had succeeded! I should have been spared many a succeeding sorrow, and I would have been glad for their sakes. The world was large enough for me, and certainly it was not thoroughly fair that they, the nearest relatives of the inventor, should be shut out by the far-reaching plans of Herr Andre to obtain exclusive franchises everywhere. To be sure, I had told them that I would give them the Bavarian franchise; but as they had enjoyed it for several months with little profit, this did not seem to them a tempting equivalent.

The news of my mother's journey to Vienna had been brought to Madame Gleissner quite accidentally, and it made her almost frantic.

When she used to charge me with depending so completely on Herr Andre's promises, without possessing anything in writing, I used to comfort her by pointing out his righteous character, and also by reminding her that it was all agreed that I and Herr Gleissner should undertake the printery in Vienna as part of the general enterprise, and that we were to obtain the necessary advance funds as soon as I returned from England. The repeated complaints that she made, many of them in the presence of my brothers, possibly helped to give them the idea of trying themselves for a franchise in Austria. They may have thought, "If our brother is careless enough to depend on empty words, we will be wise enough to obtain a certainty. It remains open to us always to share our fortune with the inventor."

Madame Gleissner had entertained great hopes about living in splendid Vienna and having means enough to take part in its brilliant life. This made the news about my mother's errand all the more irritating. She did not consider that an Imperial franchise is not easily obtained by women who are not even well informed on the case at issue. She succeeded in imparting her fears to Herr Andre, and as he himself was prevented from going, he entered into her fool's counsel to send her to Vienna at once. She had strong hopes of success, because as a matter of fact the Bavarian franchise had been obtained entirely through her efforts, and she also calculated that the Austrian Government would pay more heed to the inventor himself than to his brothers, who could not equal his attainments.

Herr Andre had kept it all, even to the journey of Madame Gleissner, a secret from me, presumably because he wanted to save me annoyance and also to prevent my hasty return from England.

Unfortunately I had conceived some suspicions in England, and these were increased when I received this unexpected news on my arrival in Offenbach. What was worse, Herr Gleissner gave me a letter from his wife, in which she adjured me to hurry to Vienna with all speed, as Andre was planning to deceive me and set me aside as a mere tool as soon as I had founded his own fortune.

This letter, which contained no evidence but only lamentations, was accompanied by another from her landlord in Vienna, a very reputable merchant. It seemed to bear her out, for he warned me in it to be cautious in my relations with Andre and to hurry to Vienna if I wished to obtain the franchise, which could not escape me as a most influential man had come to our support and it depended merely on the evidence to be furnished by me.

Greatly as my suspicions were increased by this, I hoped that everything was due merely to misunderstanding, and I proposed to Herr Andre to let me go to Vienna, where I would inform myself thoroughly and make strong efforts to obtain the franchise. He denied my request, saying that there was nothing more to do in Vienna, as the Government had turned both women away, and the whole plan was spoiled as the whole art and copper-etching trade had become apprehensive and was united in opposition to the new process. He said that I should rather go quickly to work to transfer his music from zinc plates to the stone, because he had an excellent opportunity to sell his entire stock of zincs, which would give us a new capital of forty thousand gulden for the greater enterprises.

I realized the good sense of this, but would not admit that a delay of three or four weeks could interfere with it, as the entire transfers could not be completed in less than a year, and the slight delay, therefore, could be made up by additional work or by engaging a few more assistants. I insisted on my demand, all the more as I had spent seven months in England on his account. In the heat of the succeeding dispute he reminded me of the helpless position in which he had found me, and said that as partner in his business, I owed him all my present fortune. Conscious as I was of my honest intention to help him to the best of my ability, and also of the unbounded trustfulness with which I had imparted to him far more than was called for in our contract, I was so deeply hurt that I forgot myself and tore up our agreement, which had been signed only the day before and which assured for me one fifth of all profits of the Andre business. I threw the pieces down with the exclamation that I did not wish to make my fortune through his means.

This was one of the most important moments in my life, and in the process of lithography. It gave my work an entirely new direction, hurled me into a mass of troubles, and brought it about that Herr Andre himself did not gain anything like the expected profits from the new art. Indeed, he lost heavily in London and France, whereas, had we remained together, lithography might now be highly perfected in both these countries and produce no small wealth for its users.

When Andre saw that I was determined to go to Vienna, he yielded, but assured me that I would go in vain and achieve no result.

The lawsuit between Madame Gleissner and my mother, which Herr Andre considered the greatest obstacle in his way, still continued; and in order to get it out of the way once and for all, I took my brothers, George and Theobald, who had been dismissed by Herr Andre, to Vienna with me to combine with me. Andre told me afterward, after our relations had reached final rupture, that this act had annoyed him most, and that it was the main reason for giving up all dealings with me, because it was inconceivable to him how any one, without the utmost weakness of character, could forgive such treachery as theirs. He did not reflect that I, who knew selfishness only by name, had not felt their affront so keenly, and that my brotherly affection excused it and made me trust that it never had been their intention to shut me out entirely from any gains they might make.