Middletown transcript., 1871-11-18
Correspondence Of Ms Midiidown 7raaseript.
FROM NEW YORK.
A Centenary iu the Arts--CeIcisration of the
nirsh of Lishessa phy--lsissory and Pres.
ent State Of the Art.

Centenary iu the Arts--CeIcbration of the |
nirsh Of i.ishssrap phy--Ilsssory amd Prss-
snt State Of shc Art.
THE sgSEfgLpER csxTgxARy
was so unfortunate iu its tutc MS 10 fail OF
tho public attention which II deserved.
The centenary birthday Of Alois Scnefcldcr,
the inventor Of lithogrnphy falling on No
vember 9th, was celebrated on the very
eve of the election. and much that was re-
markablc in the occasion was necessarily
overlooked by the newspapers. Our great
American li,hogrnphic houses took part in
the festival aud Francis Endicott the head
of the Oldest existing house in this coun-
try, presided. But thrcc.fourths Of the
nearly one thousand men engaged in lith-
ography in this city are Germans, and tho
affair derived its color largely from that
element The festival at Irving Hall in
cludcd fine concert in the afternoon, with
addresses in English and German. follow
cd By superb aud grand ball in the even
ing.
TlE ADDRESS or ). W. OSBORNE, ESQ,
inventor Of the photo.li,hographic process,
was production Of rare historical research
aud scientific judgment. Much OF the ro-
nance usually attached to the first discov-
cry, Mr.. Osborne found reason to discrcd-
it. lie regarded SSncicldcr as a true in
ventor, owing something TO accident, but
by no means the sport Of accident. The
true story he affirmed to be that Scncfcld-
cr was in,cligcn,iy laboring for definite
end, method of engraving by means OF
acids acting around but not upon design
drawn with obayinous ink that he intcn
lionally experimental on the scdimcninry
limestone of Bavaria (whcrc he livcd) as
a convenient, fine. easily worked and pol
ishcd material, susceptible to the chemical
agent which he employed; and ,ha, the
only accident in the operation was the dis
covcry of the still unexplained manner in
which weak acid sets the lax in n perma-
ncnt and insoluble combination with the
stone. The latter fact was the discovery
OF lilhography |, only remained to OBJ
serve what Sencfeldcr could not help OBJ
serving. that the oily fixed design repealed
water nnd received ink, while the rest oi
the stone surface welcomed water. and
when wet repcllcd ink.
Mr. Osborne exhibited aud distributed
interesting t;,c siniilid Of the earlier spcci-
.rcus Of the art produced in Germany and
.\nerca, reproduced by the photo -li'hc-
era, HE process. Among these was the
nrst E,. avn specimen of American lilhog-
rnphy. vi. ;rii was introduced to the public
by Prof Sil,,wru in the American Jour
nal Of Arts and Sciences (sincc known a'
Siliman's journal, urbllshed a' Yale Col
lcgc in February. ls.2 1T consists oI
mathematical diagrams, a..d hears the i'm.
print Of Barnett 4 boolitile No q l.um'
her Street, New York Noihin,, further
is known of these first pioneers in t.'e
nitcl States, who appear TO have z, ,",
place in ls:.j To Antoine lnhcrt,a French.
man In The same year, w ). Pendle-
ton (who was present ut the festiyal) start
ed the business in Boston. The date oI
the first invention. MS should have men.
tened. VA. Munich, lI9s. II WAS intro.
duccd in london in ls01, in Paris il
1914. and in New Yorl; at least in ls2l
as appears ly the specimen already teirr.
cd to-thrcc intervals Of seven years cnch
In ls2s-a fourth scptcnnal--Endieott 4
SWEET. now Endicolt X Co., commenced
business in Ibis city. Nathaniel Curricr
the photographic print dealer So long csinb
l:shcl in the Trae, House. Nassau street
is the Oldest practical lihograper in New
York, aud was an apprentice of Pcndlctor
in Boston in 1928 lie also participated
in the celebration. Among those whC
have advanced the ar, to its present grca
scope and refinement, promincn, credit il
due to two parties: Sarany, Major
Knapp. ,hrour 81, the artistic skill Of Saro
ny, led in the production of tho finest en-
I craving, riyalline copper plate and sub
scauantly, in lS5s. Introduced the frs
steam hthographic press ,and made it sue
ccssful by pcrscvcring Improvement
= Steam presses were, however, NJ, brongh
into general use until about four year
ago. The lead in this line Of progress
including the ife.sizc full.length portrait
anl colossal heads of distinguished stag
c artistes, and other prints Of unprcccdcn,c'
i. magnitude aud beauty, requiring large
9 power presses than bad ever before bee
/ bull, in this or any other country. ha
c been taken by Mayer 4 Sons, or rather b
/. Mr.. Norman J. Mayer, whose encrgic
c and abilities advanced tha, firm to th
d front rank in the trade within n remarku
T. bly, short period Of time. The most prom
+ incn, photographic stand in the city is j
|. the magui,icen, parmly building On til
,t corner of Broadway aud Maiden Lane, AN
ID belongs to the new firm of Norman j
r. Mayer Il Duncan B. Cannon. The Ia,
he gcst li,hographic power press in the worl,
in it is said, belongs to the Mayors, and W,
ic built in 1870 under the direction of NJ
r. Norman J. Mayer, by Hughes 4 Kimb,
Or in London The total number of stca
al photographic presses now running in Il
c, city is forty five in all the United State,
&c ia. There nrc l67 photographic oiiic
&C in all, Of wsich forty-six are in this cit,
Three thousand mcn are employed in iii
he ography, and $50 hand presses whcr
al Of New York employs respectively. 81
In and $50. This includes, however, Ch