The Fremont weekly journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio) 1867-1877, 1867-12-27

Ihe last impression IS nlsae Dy an
engraved stone, which produces that
resemblance to canvas noticeable in all
of Mr.. PIang's finer specimens. English
and German chromos, as rule, DO not
attempt to ogiye, this delicate final touch,
although it would seem TO he essential
in order to make perfect imitation Of
a painting.
The paper used is white heavy ''plate
paper,p of the best quality, which has
to pass through heavy press, sheet by
sheet, before is surface is fl 20 receive
an impression. ~ f,4-
The process thus briefly explained,
we need hardly add, requires equally
great skill and Judgment at every stage.
A single error is instantly detected by
the practised eye in the finished speci-
men. The production Of a chrome, if
it is at all complicated, requires several
months-sometimes several Years-of
careful preparation. The mere draw
ing of the different and entirely-detach-
ed parts on so many different stones is
of itself awork that requires an amount
Of labor and degree Of skill which,
to a person unfamiliar with the process,
would appear incredible. Still more
difficult, and needing still greater skill
is, the process of coloring. This de-
mands knowledge which artists have
hitherto almost exclusively monopoliz-
ed, and, in addition to it, the practical
familiarity of printer with mechanical
details. "Drying" and registering
are as important branches Of the art of
making chromos as drawing ard color
ing. On proper registering, for ex-
ample, the entire possibility Of pro-
ducing picture at every stage of its
progress depends. " Registering "is that
part of a pressman's work which con
sists in SO arranging the paper in the
press, that it shall receive the Impress
ion ON exactly the same spot of every
sheet In book work, each page must
be exactly opposite the page printed
on the other side of the sheet, in order
that the impression, if on thin paper,
may not show through" In news
paper work this is Of less importance,
and often is not attended 10 with any
special care. But in chTomO-lthography
the difference of hair's-breath would
spoil picture; for it would hopelessly
mix up the colors.
After the chrome has passed through
the press it is embossed and vanished,
and then put up for the market These
final processes are for the purpose of
breaking the glossy light, and of soft
ening the hard outlines which the
picture receives from the stone, which
impsrts to it the resemblance Of
painting on canvas. 81
Mr.. Prang began his business in the
hdm6iest way, but has rapidly ineressr
ed his establishment, until he now en-
ploys fifty -Workmen,-RsaEly Ely-alE of
them artists and artisans of the most
skillful class,Aand is preparing TO move
into a larger building at Roxbury. He
uses eighteen presses and his sales are
enormous. His catalogue now embraces
large number Of Album Cards, about
seventy sets. of twelve in each set; a
beautiful series of illuminated g Beati-
tudes and "Scriptural Notices Pan
endless list Of our great men, and of
men not so great after all of Juveniles,
notably, a profusely illustrated edition
of sold Mother Hubbard y aud of half
chromos and chromos proper, TSt's
" Chickens" "DuckEDgs, and "Quails"
we're the first chromos that met an in
slant and wide recognition. Nineteen
thousand copies of the Chickens"
alone were sold. Bricher's (" Early
Autumn on Esopus Creek" is one Of
the best chromos ever made on small
scale. The fBulfnch and the Lin
net latter Cruikshank) are admirable.
There are other chfomos which are less
successful, and one or two that are not
successful at all; but they are nearly all
excellent copies of the originals, with
which the defects must be charged.
The chromos of Bricher's paintings
are really wonderfully accurate. ia-sl .'t
Mr.. Prang's masterpiece, however, is
not yet published, although it is nearly
ready for the market. 1t entirely sur
passes all his previous efforts It is
Coreggio's MagdaIena," and can
hardly fail, we think, to command a
quick sale and hearty recognition.
Like every modern discovery, chrome
lithography has its partisans and de-
tractors, who claim for it per-
hsps impossible capabilities, and those
who regard it as mere handicraft,
which no skill can ever elevate into the
dignity of an art. We do not care to.
enter into these disputes. Whether an
art or handicraft, chromo-lithography
certainly re-produces charming little
pictures vastly superior to any colored
plates that we have had before; and it
is, at least, clearly entitled to be regard
ed as means of educating the popular
taste, and thereby raising the national
ideal of art.
A correspondent, looking at chromos
from this point of view, thus indicates
tit may be somewhat enthusiastically
their possible influence on the culture
of the people:
"What the discovery of the art of
printing did for the mental growth of
the people, the art of chromo-lithO-
graphy seems destined to accomplish
for their ;esthaetic culture. Before types
were first made, scholars and the
wealthier classes had ample opportuni-
ties for study; for even when Bibles
were chained in churches, and copies
Of the Scriptures (then aptly so-called)
were worth herd of cattle, there were
large libraries accessible to the aristocra--
cy of rank and mind. But they were
guarded against the masses by the
double doors of privilege and ignorance.
A book possessed no attractions for the
man who could not read the alphabet;
and, because they we're rare and hard to
get at, he had no incitement to master
their mysteries. Made cheap and COM
mon, the meanest peasant, in the course
of few generations, found solace for
his griefs in the pages of the greatest
authors of his time and of all time.
Mental culture became possible for
whole nations; and democracy, with its