Alois Senefelder
Encyclopedia
Johann Alois Senefelder (6 November 1771 – 26 February 1834) was a German
actor
and playwright
who invented the printing
technique of lithography
in 1796.
where his actor father was appearing on stage. He was educated in Munich
and won a scholarship to study law
at Ingolstadt
. The death of his father in 1791 forced him to leave his studies to support his mother and eight siblings, and he became an actor and wrote a successful play Connoisseur of Girls.
. He then discovered that this could be extended to allow printing from the flat surface of the stone alone, the first planographic process in printing.
He joined with the André family of music
publishers and gradually brought his technique into a workable form, perfecting both the chemical processes and the special form of printing press
required for using the stones. He called it "stone printing" or "chemical printing", but the French name "lithography" became more widely adopted. And with the composer Franz Gleißner
he started a publishing firm in 1796 using lithography.
He secured patent rights across Europe and publicized his findings in 1818 in Vollstandiges Lehrbuch der Steindruckerei which was translated in 1819 into French and English. A Complete Course of Lithography combined Senefelder's history of his own invention with a practical guide to lithography, and remained in print into the early 20th century.
Senefelder was also able to exploit the potential of lithography as a medium for art
. Unlike previous printmaking
technique such as engraving which required advanced craft skills, lithography allowed the artist to draw directly onto the plate with familiar pens. As early as 1803 André published in London
a portfolio of artists lithographs, entitled Specimens of Polyautography.
In 1837, lithography had been further developed to allow full colour printing from multiple plates, and chromolithography
was the most important technique in colour printing until the introduction of process color.
and a statue of him stands in the town of Solnhofen
, where lithographic stone is still quarried. A statue of Alois Senefelder by sculptor Rudolf Pohle was erected in 1892 in what was then known as Thusneldaplatz in Berlin. The name of the square was changed to Senefelderplatz in 1894. An U-Bahn
station named Senefelderplatz
was opened in 1913.
Alois Senefelder's contribution ranks alongside William Ged
's invention of stereotyping, Friedrich Koenig
's steam press and Ottmar Mergenthaler
's linotype machine
in its innovative effect. It made printing more affordable and available to more people, and was important in art and newspaper printing. Senefelder lived to see his process become widely adopted both for art printmaking and as the dominant method of pictorial reproduction in the printing industry. He died in Munich
, where he is buried in the Alter Südfriedhof
.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
who invented the printing
Printing
Printing is a process for reproducing text and image, typically with ink on paper using a printing press. It is often carried out as a large-scale industrial process, and is an essential part of publishing and transaction printing....
technique of lithography
Lithography
Lithography is a method for printing using a stone or a metal plate with a completely smooth surface...
in 1796.
Actor, playwright
Born Aloys Johann Nepomuk Franz Senefelder in PraguePrague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
where his actor father was appearing on stage. He was educated in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
and won a scholarship to study law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
at Ingolstadt
Ingolstadt
Ingolstadt is a city in the Free State of Bavaria, in the Federal Republic of Germany. It is located along the banks of the Danube River, in the center of Bavaria. As at 31 March 2011, Ingolstadt had 125.407 residents...
. The death of his father in 1791 forced him to leave his studies to support his mother and eight siblings, and he became an actor and wrote a successful play Connoisseur of Girls.
Discovery, development of lithography
Problems with the printing of his play Mathilde von Altenstein caused him to fall into debt, and unable to afford to publish a new play he had written, Senefelder experimented with a novel etching technique using a greasy, acid resistant ink as a resist on a smooth fine-grained stone of Solnhofen limestoneSolnhofen limestone
The Solnhofen Plattenkalk is a Jurassic Konservat-Lagerstätte that preserves a rare assemblage of fossilized organisms, including highly detailed imprints of soft bodied organisms such as sea jellies...
. He then discovered that this could be extended to allow printing from the flat surface of the stone alone, the first planographic process in printing.
He joined with the André family of music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
publishers and gradually brought his technique into a workable form, perfecting both the chemical processes and the special form of printing press
Printing press
A printing press is a device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium , thereby transferring the ink...
required for using the stones. He called it "stone printing" or "chemical printing", but the French name "lithography" became more widely adopted. And with the composer Franz Gleißner
Franz Gleißner
Franz Johannes Gleißner was a German lithographer and composer. Late in the 18th century, he met Alois Senefelder, and ran a producing association for about the next three decades...
he started a publishing firm in 1796 using lithography.
He secured patent rights across Europe and publicized his findings in 1818 in Vollstandiges Lehrbuch der Steindruckerei which was translated in 1819 into French and English. A Complete Course of Lithography combined Senefelder's history of his own invention with a practical guide to lithography, and remained in print into the early 20th century.
Senefelder was also able to exploit the potential of lithography as a medium for art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
. Unlike previous printmaking
Printmaking
Printmaking is the process of making artworks by printing, normally on paper. Printmaking normally covers only the process of creating prints with an element of originality, rather than just being a photographic reproduction of a painting. Except in the case of monotyping, the process is capable...
technique such as engraving which required advanced craft skills, lithography allowed the artist to draw directly onto the plate with familiar pens. As early as 1803 André published in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
a portfolio of artists lithographs, entitled Specimens of Polyautography.
In 1837, lithography had been further developed to allow full colour printing from multiple plates, and chromolithography
Chromolithography
Chromolithography is a method for making multi-color prints. This type of color printing stemmed from the process of lithography, and it includes all types of lithography that are printed in color. When chromolithography is used to reproduce photographs, the term photochrom is frequently used...
was the most important technique in colour printing until the introduction of process color.
Awards, legacy
Senefelder was decorated by King Maximilian Joseph of BavariaBavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
and a statue of him stands in the town of Solnhofen
Solnhofen
Solnhofen is a municipality in the district of Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen in the region of Franconia in the Land of Bavaria in Germany. It lies within the Altmühl valley....
, where lithographic stone is still quarried. A statue of Alois Senefelder by sculptor Rudolf Pohle was erected in 1892 in what was then known as Thusneldaplatz in Berlin. The name of the square was changed to Senefelderplatz in 1894. An U-Bahn
Berlin U-Bahn
The Berlin is a rapid transit railway in Berlin, the capital city of Germany, and is a major part of the public transport system of that city. Opened in 1902, the serves 173 stations spread across ten lines, with a total track length of , about 80% of which is underground...
station named Senefelderplatz
Senefelderplatz (Berlin U-Bahn)
Senefelderplatz is a Berlin U-Bahn station located on the .The station is situated under Senefelderplatz, named after the inventor of the printing technique of lithography, Alois Senefelder....
was opened in 1913.
Alois Senefelder's contribution ranks alongside William Ged
William Ged
William Ged was a Scottish goldsmith who invented stereotyping.Ged was born in Edinburgh, where he carried on business as a goldsmith...
's invention of stereotyping, Friedrich Koenig
Friedrich Koenig
Friedrich Gottlob Koenig was a German inventor best-known for his high-speed printing press, which he built together with watchmaker Andreas Friedrich Bauer....
's steam press and Ottmar Mergenthaler
Ottmar Mergenthaler
Ottmar Mergenthaler was an inventor who has been called a second Gutenberg because of his invention of the Linotype machine, the first device that could easily and quickly set complete lines of type for use in printing presses...
's linotype machine
Linotype machine
The Linotype typesetting machine is a "line casting" machine used in printing. The name of the machine comes from the fact that it produces an entire line of metal type at once, hence a line-o'-type, a significant improvement over manual typesetting....
in its innovative effect. It made printing more affordable and available to more people, and was important in art and newspaper printing. Senefelder lived to see his process become widely adopted both for art printmaking and as the dominant method of pictorial reproduction in the printing industry. He died in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, where he is buried in the Alter Südfriedhof
Alter Südfriedhof
The Alter Südfriedhof is a cemetery in Munich, Germany. It was founded by Duke Albrecht V as a plague cemetery in 1563 about half a kilometer south of the Sendlinger Gate between Thalkirchner and Pestalozzistraße.-History:...
.