About the Exhibit

From the Fine Arts Collection of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston

View of Merchatnts Exchange, State Street, and the Poposed Post Office on Congress Street

Between 1949 and 1954 the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston purchased nineteenth century lithographs to display in its offices at 30 Pearl Street. These lithographs are fine examples of the kind of work that was produced by early American lithographers.

During the nineteenth century, Boston was a prominent center for lithographic printing. It is, therefore, particularly appropriate that the Bank chose lithographs for its offices. Many of the lithographs were produced by the print shops that flourished along Washington Street. Upon careful inspection, you will find the names of such respected Boston lithographers as William Sharp, T. Moore, L.H. Bradford, J.H. Bufford, Lane & Scott, L. Prang & Co., Prang & Mayer, Tappan & Bradford, B.W. Thayer & Co. and Pendleton’s. In addition, the collection contains several lithographs that were drawn by well-known artists such as Fitz Hugh Lane and Edwin Whitefield, as well as by one of Boston’s women artists, Margaret Clark Snow.

Boston Beginnings
During the early nineteenth century, Boston, New York, and Philadelphia were major centers for lithographic printing. Boston’s first lithographic printing shop was established in 1825 by John and William S. Pendleton, copperplate engravers by trade. Pendleton’s Lithography became not only the most commercially successful of all the early American lithographic shops, but also the longest in operation.

Meeting House Hill, Dorchester

The Pendleton brothers secured some of the most talented artists available to work in their shop. They also encouraged women to work as draftsmen. These women probably worked at home, drawing on stones supplied by the shop. The Pendleton shop was known for the high quality work of its artists, and business grew steadily. Many apprentices and draftsmen who started at Pendleton’s Lithography went on to become successful lithographers and artists in their own right. Among those who trained at Pendleton’s were Nathaniel Currier, Benjamin Nutting, Fitz Hugh Lane, John W. A. Scott, John H. Bufford, and Moses Swett. The first Pendleton shop was established in a court off Washington Street, which at that time was the center of commercial Boston. Gradually Washington Street became home to many of Boston’s successful lithographic shops.

Preserving the Past through Lithographs
The arrival of lithography in America coincided with a period of unprecedented commercial, financial, and manufacturing growth in America’s history. The industrial revolution was taking hold, and the country’s transportation system of canals and railroads was rapidly expanding. People and goods were on the move, traveling greater distances at faster speeds than ever before. With this expansion came an ever increasing demand for maps, town plans, and architectural drawings as well as a desire to record the emerging manufacturing towns and familiar countryside. In the nineteenth century, lithography was a relatively new printing technology. It was also the fastest and the cheapest way to print in volume. Americans were quick to see lithography’s commercial value and used it to print everything from tickets and banknotes to portraits, topographical views, maps, political posters, and handbills. During the 1830s, newspapers and magazines used lithographs to illustrate the events of the day. Lithographs were also commissioned to commemorate important events. Americans were eager to purchase familiar landscapes and commemorative prints. The printing industry flourished as more and more people began collecting lithographs. Today, the multiple images that lithography made possible serve as a lasting visual record of nineteenth century America.

History and Development of Lithography

Lithography was developed at the end of the eighteenth century by German playwright Alois Senefelder. He was looking for an inexpensive alternative to copperplate engraving that would enable him to print and publish his own plays. Senefelder developed a process that eliminated the time-consuming tasks of cutting and etching and allowed him to make prints from drawings made directly on slabs of polished limestone and zinc plates. He initially called his process “chemical printing.”

Map of Boston and Its Vicinity in 1919

Lithography comes from the Greek words for “stone” and “writing” and is based on the principle that grease and water do not mix. Senefelder used limestone, found in abundance in Bavaria, to create his lithographs. Because of its porous nature, limestone was used extensively by nineteenth century lithographers. The lithographic process used by today’s artists is essentially the same process that Senefelder developed in 1796. It begins with the selection of a flat piece of stone, which is ground to create a smooth surface. An image is drawn directly on the stone using a greasy crayon or greasy ink. The stone is then treated in a bath of gum arabic and nitric acid to increase its water retaining qualities. The entire stone surface is then dampened with water. Only the stone surface not covered by the drawing will absorb water. Next, an oily ink is applied to the entire stone surface. The ink adheres to the drawing made with the greasy crayons or ink but is repelled by all the other wet surfaces of the stone. Finally, a lithograph or print is produced by pressing paper against the inked stone and passing both the stone and the paper through a press.

Nancy Graves VII Sabine D Region of the Moon, Lunar Orbiter Site IIP-6 Southwest Mare Tranquilitatis

Soon after lithography was introduced, attempts were made to create colored lithographs. The multiple stone technique was developed. Using a separate stone for each color, the print was passed through the press as many times as there were colors. Keeping the image in line or in register proved to be quite a challenge for early printers. The paper had to be lined up exactly for each pass through the press for the overlaying colors to print on the correct area of the paper. For this reason, areas of color that were printed side by side were often used to produce early colored lithographs. For more detailed coloration, artists would also hand color directly onto the print.

Lithography’s role as an inexpensive way to mass produce printed materials has long since been taken over by more advanced technologies. However, the art of lithography is still very much alive. Today, artists continue to explore this printmaking process to create a variety of fine arts prints as well as to create multiple originals of their work.