The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1868-09-26

lhe hotele are CROWDED Win people from
Ill parts Of the county, especially the Ten.
,essee, kept by that staunch Republican, D.
3. Hollars There ara few better Houses in
Lee county. ~.
How Chrenes are AaAs.
Chrome Lithography is the art Of printing
pictures from stone in colors. The most diff.
6cnlt branch of (which 10 now generally
implied when chromos are spoken offs the
art OF reproducing oil paintings. Whom
chrome 10 made by , competent hand, it pre-
sents IN exact counterpart Of the original
painting, with the delicate gradations Of tints I
and shades, and with MUCK Of the spirit and .
tone Of . production Of the brush and pallet. I
art Of lishogrsphy must FIRST be briefly ex |
planned. Tho stone used in lithographing Is I
species Of limestone found in Bavaria, and |
is wrought into thick slabs with finely pol
ished surface. The drawing il made upon |
the slab with sort Of colored soap, which
adheres to the stone, and enters into chem |
icsl combination with it after tho application
Of certain acids and gums. When the draw.
ing is complete, the slab il put on the press,
and carefully damped with sponge. The
oil color Tor ink is then applied with com
mon printers roller. OF course, the parts
Of the slab which contain no drawing being
wet, resist theink while the drawing itself, be-
ing oily, repels the water, but retains the color
applied. 1t is thusthat, without raised surface
or ,ncision--as in common printing wood cuts,
and steel engravings-lithography produces
printed drawings from . smooth stone. In
tint, covering nearly al the surface. 1t has
only faint, shadowy resemblance to the
completed picture. It 10 in fact rather .
shadow than an outline. The next proof, from
The second stone, contains ell the shades Of
another color. This process is repeated again,
and agais, and again ]; occasionally - often
Is thirty times We saw one proof, in .
visit to Mr.. Prang's establishnent,-s group
Of cattle-that had passed through the press
twelve times and it still bore = greater re-
| semblance TO . spoiled colored photograph
than to the charming picture It subsequently
became. The number of Impressions. how.
ever, does not necessarily Indicate the num-
| Der of colors in painting, because the col
ors and tints are greatly multiplied by com
bina.ions created in the process Of printing
one over another. In twenty-five impres'
sions it is sometimes necessary and possible
| to produce one hundred distinct shades. The
last impression is made BY an engraving stone,
en- produces that resemblance to canvass
noticeable in oil of Mr.. Prang's fner speci-
mems. English and German chromos, o. rule,
do not attempt TO give this delicate FINAL touch,
| although il would seem to be essential in or
der 10 make perfect imitation Of painting.
The paper used is white, heavy "plate pa
per- of the best quality, which has to pass
through heavy press, sheet by sheet, before
| it's surface is fit TO receive an impression.
The process tins briefly explained, We need
hardly add. requires equally great skill and
Judgment at every stage. A single error il
Instantly detected BY the practiced eye in the
finished specimen. The production Of .
chromo,if il at oil complicated, requires
several months sometimes several years
Of careful preparation. The mere drawing
/ Of the different and entirely detached parts
on'so many different stones, is Of itself : work
that eqrires IN amount Of labor and . de-
gree Of skill, which to person unfamiliar
with the process would appear Incredible.
i, The l process Of coiorinr. This demsnds :
knowledge which artists have hitherto almost
exclusively monopolized, and, in addition to
| it, the practical familiarity Of printer with
mechanical details. Drying and 'reRis.
terng' are az important branches Of the
At Of making ohromos % drawing and col
oring. On proper registering, for example,
the entire possibility Of producing . pic
ture At every stage Of It's progress depends
Registering is that part Of the pressman's
work which consists in so arranging the paper
sion on exactly the Same spot of every sheet
In book work each page must be exactly op-
poste the page printed on the other side Of
the sheet. In chromo-lithography the differ.
ence Of hair s-breadth would spoil pic>
ture, for it would hopelessly mix up the col.
ors. After the chrome has passed through
the press 1t is embossed and vanished, and
then put up for the market. These final pro-
lc9sses arc for the purpose Of breaking the
glossy light, and softening the hard outlines
which the picture receives from the stone,
which imparts to 1.-THE resemblance to . paint
ing on canvas. Mr.. Pnng commenced his
business in the humblest way, but has rapidly
increased his establishment until now he em>
ploys fifty workmen, nearly al Of them artists
and artisans Of the most skillfui class, and il
preparing to move into larger building Ut
Roxbury. He uses eighteen presses, and his
sales arc enormous. His catalogue now en-
braces Q large number Of album cards. about
20 sets Of II in each set; beautiful series OF
illuminated "Beatitudes' and Scripture
Notices. IN endless list of our great men,
and OF men not 90 great after oil; Of Juveniles,
notably, . profusely illustrated edition OF
uld Mother Hubbard, and Of half chromos
and chromos proper. Tait's Chickens, Duck
llinss and Quails were the 6rst chromos tia,
met an instant and vide recognition; 10000
copies Of the "Chickens" we're sold. Bril-
cher's s'Early Autumn on Esopus Creek," is
ono Of the best chromos ever made on small
scale. The .'Bulfnch' and the "Linnet, y
latter CruikshAnk] are admirable. There
are other chromos which are less successful,
land one OF two which are not succsssful at
|all but they are nearly eli excellent copies
Of tho originals, with which the defects
must be charged. The chromos Of Bricher' 8
paintings are really wonderfully accurate.
Mr.. Prans's master. piece, however, il not
yet published, although it 10 nearly ready for
the market. It entirely surpssses MI pro-
vious efforts. II is CorrsGRio's MAZDA.
Lena, and can hardly fail, " think, to
command 1 quick aale and hearty recogni.
tion.
Like every modern discovery chrome lith-
Iogrsphy has its pArtisans and dstractors-
those .ho claim for il perhaps impossible ca.
pabiIities, and those who regard il q mere
hand.s--a. which no skill can ever elevate
into the dignity Of an art. We do not care
Tor hAndicraft, chromo-lithography certainly
reproduces charming little pictures, vastly
!sursrior to any colored plates ,hat W have
had before; ana il is, ct least, clearly entitled
Ito be regarded - means Of ednsatins the
popular taste, and thereby raising the nation.
IL ideas Of art A correspondent, looking at
chfomos from this point Of view, thus indi.
OATES 1t may be somewhat enthusiastically
their poesible influence on the cultnss Of the
people "Whas the discovery OF the oS4 Of
4 nrintine did for tho mental sYovth ~ thn