1880 DRAKELOWE HALL Historical Castle View Print English Full Color Lithograph

Publisher/Printer: William Mackenzie, London, Plate printed by Benjamin Fawcett (1808-1893)

Painter/Engraver: Alexander Francis Lydon (1836-1917)

Engraving Style: Original Color Lithograph (Chromolithography)

Approx. Overall size (inches/Cm): 10 5/8" wide x 8 1/4 tall, 26.9cm wide x 20.9cm tall

Approx. margin depth: 1 5/8" all around

Description: 

This is an authentic and original vintage color lithographic engraved print. From "A Series Of Picturesque Views Of Seats Of The Noblemen And Gentlemen Of Great Britain And Ireland", 1880 by Rev. Francis Orpen Morris(1810-1893). Stone lithograph(Chromolithograph) on one sheet(blank on reverse as issued). Excellent impression, strong colors. Printed on thick wove paper stock. Singlepage impression. It is being sold as a singlepage sheet, not mounted, matted or framed as shown in the picture. May have light marks/wear. Overall a very nice print which would mat and frame up very well. The picture shown is of the actual print being sold. 

These series of color lithographs are considered some of the finest ever produced showing the prominent estates of England, Ireland, and Scotland. The 8-color stone lithographic process was one of the most expensive and detailed processes for reproducing paintings ever used! Each of these prints is considered a work of art in itself.

Included is an original page containing a brief but detailed history of the Estate and the original families who owned this wonderful home.

Lithography is a method of printing originally based on the fundamental antipathy of oil and water. Printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by German author and actor Alois Senefelder as a cheap method of publishing theatrical works. Lithography can be used to print text or artwork onto paper or other suitable material.

Lithography originally used an image drawn with oil/fat/wax on the surface of lithographic limestone plate, which after being treated with a mixture of acid (etching) and gumaribic, and then with water, did attract ink, but only in the drawing's sticky areas and not in the wet etched areas clear of oil/fat/wax, which application prevented etching. The ink was then transferred to a blank paper sheet producing a printed page.

Chromolithography:  The process of chromolithography is chemical, because an image is applied to a stone or zinc plate with a grease-based crayon. (Limestone and zinc are two commonly used materials in the production of chromolithographs.) After the image is drawn onto stone, the stone is gummed with gum arabic solution and weak nitric acid, and then inked with oil based paints and passed through a printing press along with a sheet of paper to transfer the image to the paper. Colours may be added to the print by drawing the area to receive the colour on a different stone, and printing the new colour onto the paper. Each colour in the image must be separately drawn onto a new stone or plate and applied to the paper one at a time. It was not unusual for twenty to twenty-five stones to be used on a single image. Each sheet of paper will therefore pass through the printing press as many times as there are colours in the final print. In order that each colour is placed in the right position in each print, each stone or plate must be precisely ‘registered,’ or lined up, on the paper using a system of register marks.

I have other items similar to this up now as well. Please see the images of the actual item above for a better idea of the condition. The winner will pay postage and tracking, which is included in the shipping total. The item will weigh less then a pound packed and will ship ground advantage mail. I will pack in cardboard to insure the item arrives safely. I am always happy to combine shipping whenever possible.

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10 2723 AA10, bag #2