Lithographic Stone for Anchor Manilla Tropical Gum and Moseleys Air Mail envelopes. Finished label shown.

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Lithography is the art of printing from stone. The process was invented by Alois Senefelder in 1796, and the fundamental principles that he established have remained unchanged. By writing or drawing with a greasy ink on a specially prepared slab of limestone, the grease is absorbed by the stone and the image thus formed has an affinity for printing ink, while the remaining parts of the stone repel the ink as long as the surface is kept moist with water.

After the invention of photography in the mid-nineteenth century and the production implications led to a dramatic technological innovations taking place. The use of photographic techniques for reproduction allowed more visual images to be produced.