When lithography appears only two processes are known to reproduce text and illustrations : relief and intaglio engraving.
      The first one, the oldest, uses wood engraving and typographic block letters. Ink is laid on the upper surface of the wood or the letter and by pressure prints the paper.
     Intaglio engraving appeared later on. It consists of laying ink in the furrows incised on a metal plate and of bringing the paper into contact with the ink when both pass between two metal rollers.
     In 1796 a printer from Prague settled in Munich, Aloys SENEFELDER, invents lithography (from the greek lithos: stone) or " flat engraving ".
     This process is based on the incompatibility between grease and water: ink, which is a greasy substance, does not settle on a moistened surface but is attracted by a greasy one.
      Drawing with ink or soft lead pencil directly on stone, the artist greases the stone in some places. Once the theme has been drawn he uses different products (nitric acid solution, gum arabic, turpentine) to fix the drawing on the one hand, and to obtain a better hydrophily from the uncovered parts on the other hand. After having cleaned the stone with a moistened sponge, an ink roller is passed.Ink settles on the drawings without touching the encovered parts.

      Then one just has to lay a sheet of paper on the inked stone to print the drawing.

SENEFELDER also looked for a metal with the same properties as stone. After some testing he selected zinc. Both materials are still used nowadays. As for the other engraving processes it is necessary to draw on as many stones or zinc plates as there are colors. This is what is called the " lithography color breakdown " which is illustrated here.
      Lithography immediatly caught the interest of painters as it allows them to use their brushes, pencils and nibs whereas engraving requires the learning of a technique and the mastering of specific tools.
      Artists as different as Goya, Gericault, Delacroix, Daumier, Toulouse-Lautrec, Steinlen ... have ennobled it.