Delaware tribune. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1867-1877, 1867-12-26

ly implied when chromos are spoken Off
the art of producing oil paintings. Wher
chrome is made by competent hand i
presents an exact counterpart of tho origina
painting, with the delicate gradations O
tints and shades, and with much of the spiri
and tone of a production of the brush ani
pallet.
To understand how chromos are made
the art Of lithography must first be briefly
explained. The stone used in lithographine
is a species of limestone found in Bavaria
and is wrought into thick slabs with finely
polished surface, The drawing is made up.
on the slab with sort of colored soap, which
adheres to the stane, and enters into chem.
ical combination with it after the application
OF certain acids and gums. When the draw
ing is complete the slab is put on the press
and carefully dampened with n SPONGE The
oil color (or ink is then applied with o
common printers roller. Of course, the
parts Of the slab which contain no drawing
being wet, resist the ink; while the drawing
itself being oily repels the water but retains
the color applied. 1t is thus that, without q
raised surface or incisions,-as in common
printing, wood-cuts and steel engravings,-
lithography produces printed drawings from
a perfectly smooth stone.
In chrome the first proof is light ground
tint, covering nearly all the surface. 1t has
only faint, shadowy resemblance to the
completed picture. It is in fact rather a
shadow than an outline. The next proof,
from the second stone, contains all the shades
of another color. This process is repeated,
again and again and again; occasionally as
often as thirty times. We saw one proof in
a visit to Mr.. Prang's establshment-a
group of cattle-that had passed through
the press twelve times; and it still bore a
greater resemblance to spoiled colored
photograph than to the charming picture
which it subsequently became. The num-
.ber of impressions however does not neces-
sarily indicate the number of colors in a
painting, because the colors and tints are
greatly multiplied by combinations created
in the process of printing one over another.
In twenty-five impressions, it is sometimes
necessary and possible to produce a hun
dred different shades.
The last impression is made by an en- gra-
we'd stone, which produces that resemblance
to canvass noticeable in all of Mr.. Prang's
finer specimens. English and German chro-
mos, as rule, do not attempt to give this
delicate final touch, although 1t would seem
to be essential in order to make perfect
imitation of a painting.
The paper used is white heavy s'plate
paper" of the best quality, which has to
pass through heavy press, sheet by sheet,
before its surface is fit to receive an impress
sion.
The process thus briefly explained, we
need hardly add, requires equally great skill
and judgment at every stage. A single err
ror is instantly detected by the practised eye
in the finished specimen. The production
of "A chrome, il it is at all complicated, re-
nt1ir fi,,,p apnl
years-of careful preparation. The mere
drawing Of the different and entirely de-
tached parts on so many different stones,
is of itself work that requires an amount
of labor and degree of skill, which TO .
person unfamiliar with the process would
appear incredible. Still more difficult, and
needing still greater skill, is the process OF
csloring. This demands a knowledge which
artists have hitherto almost exclusively mo-
nopOlized: and in addition to il, the practi-
cal familiarity of a printer with mechanical
details. "Drying" and Registering are as
important branches of the art of making
chromos as drawing and coloring. On
proper registering, for example, the entire
possibility of producing a picture,
at every stage Of Its progress, depends.
"Registering is that part Of pressmans
work which consists of so arranging the
paper in the press that it shall receive the
impression 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 newspaper work this
is of less Importance, and often is not atten-
ded to with any special care. But in chro-
mo-lithography the difference of hairs
breadth would spoil a picture, for it would
hopelessly mix up the colors, lN
After the chrome has passed through the
press, it is embossed and vanished and then
put up for the market. These final pro-
cesses are for the purpose of breaking the
glossy light, and of sottcning the hard out.
lines which the picture receives from the
stone, which impart to 1T the resemblance
of q painting on canvass.
Mr.. Prang began his business in the hum
blest way, but has rapidly increased his es.
tablishment until he now employs fifty work
men-ncarly all of them artisans of the first
class-and is preparing to move into larger
building at Roxbury. Nearly all his force
are Germans, He uses eighteen presses,
and his sales are enormous. His catalogue
now embraces a large number of Album
Cards-about seventy sets of twelve In each
set-a beautiful series of illuminated "Bcati-
tudes and Scriptural Mottoes'-an endless
list of our great men, and men not so great
after ALL OF juveniles, notably, profusely
illustrated edition of 'sOld Mother Hub
bard;" and of half chromos and chromos
proper. Taits "Chickens,' ssDucklngs
and EQUALS" were the first chromos that
met an instant and wide recognition. Nine
teen thousand copies of the "Chickens'
alone were sold. Bricher's ss..Early Autumn
on Esopus Creek, is one of the best chromos
ever made on small scale. The 'Bul-
finch" and the ''Linnet" (after Cruikshank)
are admirable. There are other chromos
which are less successful, and one or two
that are not successful at all, but they are
nearly all excellent copies of the original,
with which the defects must be charged.
The chromos of Bricher's painting are
really wonderfully accurate.
Mr.. Prangs masterpiece, however, is not
yet published, although it is nearly ready
for the market. II entirely surpasses all his
previous efforts. 1t is Correggio's ''Magda-
lena," and can hardly fail, we think, to
command quick sale and ready recognition.
Like every modern discovery, chrome
lithography has its partisans and detractors
those who claim for it perhaps impossible
capabilities, and those who regard it as a
mere haDdicraft, which no skill can ever
elevate into the dignityspf an art. We dc
not care to enter into these disputes.
Whether an art or handicraft, chrome
lithography certainly re-produces charming
little pictures, vastly superior to any CO.;
ored plates that we have had before, and il
is at least clearly entitled to be regarded as d
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 Gt may bt
somewhat enthusiastically their possible
influence on the culture of the people:-
"What thu discovery of the art of printing
did for the mental growth of the people, thu
art of o-lithography seems destined tt
accomplish for their aesthetic culture. Be
fore types were first made, scholars and til,
l wealthier classes had ample opportunitie
for study-for even when bibles were chain
| cd in churches, and copies of the Scripture
! Qhen aptly so-styled) were worth heard 0
cattle, there We're large libraries accessibl,
to the aristocracy of rank and mind. Blu
they We're guarded against the masses by tn,
double doors of privilege and ignorance.
book possessed no attractions for the maj
who could not read the alphabet, and be
cause they were rare and hard to get at, III
had no Indictment to master their mysteries
Made cheap and common the melnest peas
SAINT, in the course of few generations
found solace for his griefs in the pages o
the greatest authors of his time and of al
time Mental culture became possible fol