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Home > Catholic Encyclopedia > S > Aloys Senefelder


ALOYS SENEFELDER

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Principally known as the inventor of lithography, b. at Prague, 6 Nov., 1771; d.
at Munich, 26 February, 1834. His father, an actor at the Royal Theatre of
Munich, was playing at Prague at the time of the birth of his son. The young
Senefelder studied at Munich, and received a scholarship of 120 florins a year
for his diligence, which enabled him to study jurisprudence at Ingolstadt. The
death of his father in 1791 forced him to cease his studies in order to help
support his mother and a family of eight sisters and brothers. After attempting
to become an actor, he took up dramatic writing, at which he was at first fairly
successful. Because of difficulty in finding a publisher, he tried to devise
means for printing his productions himself, and began a series of experiments
with etching and copper-plates until he discovered, in 1796, that Kilheim
lime-stone could be used for the purpose. He soon found that etching was not
necessary, owing to the fact that grease and water do not mix. By his method the
marking is done upon the stone with a greasy composition of soap, wax, and
lamp-blark, and then the plate is washed over with water, which soaks into the
unmarked parts of the stone. The printing ink is I then applied and I adheres
only to the marked places, while the water protects the rest of the plate; a
number of impressions can then be obtained. This process he called "chemical"
printing. The numerous improvements and developments of the art made by him were
rewarded in later years by the gold medal of the "Society of Encouragement" of
England, the highest medal of the "Polytechnische Verein fur Baiern", the gold
honorary medal of the order for Civilverdienst of the Bavarian Crown, and
various other prizes.



In spite of great financial difficulties, continued discouragement, and repeated
disappointments, he remained unselfishly devoted to high ideals. In his
autobiography (introduction to "Lehrbuch") he expresses the desire that his
invention "may bring to mankind manifold benefits and may tend to raise it upon
a nobler plane, but may never be misused for an evil purpose. May the Almighty
grant this! Then blessed be the hour in which I made my invention!" His
principal publication was "Vollstandiges Lehrbuch der Steindruckerei" (Munich
and Vienna, 1818). This was translated into French (Paris, 1819), English
(London, 1819), and Italian (Naples, 1824).


SOURCES

ENGELMANN, Lithographie (Leipsig, 1843); NAGLER, Aloys Senefelder and Simon
Schmidt als Rivalen (Munich, 1862); SCHLOTKE, Senefelder Album (Hamburg, 1871);
PFEILSCHMIDT, Aloys Senefelder (Dresden, 1877); RICHMOND, Grammar of Lithography
(London, 1885); HOLLAND, Allg. Deutsche Biogr. XXXIV (Leipzig, 1892), 8-23:
PENNELL, Lithography and Lithographers (London, 1900); CUMMINGS, Handbook of
Lithography (New York, 1904).


ABOUT THIS PAGE

APA citation. Fox, W. (1912). Aloys Senefelder. In The Catholic Encyclopedia.
New York: Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13714b.htm

MLA citation. Fox, William. "Aloys Senefelder." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol.
13. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912.
<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13714b.htm>.

Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Joseph E.
O'Connor.

Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. February 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, D.D.,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.

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