As soon as it is finished, the
map is taken to a lithographer, who puts it face downwards on a stone,
and passes it under his press, when every particle of ink leaves the
surface of the paper and attaches itself to the surface of the stone,
precisely as though it had originally been written there; the glaze on
the paper, which prevents the ink from soaking into it, makes this
transference more easy and complete. The stone can now be worked with,
just as a stone that has been regularly lithographed in the usual manner;
that is to say, printing ink may be rubbed over it and impressions may be
taken off in any number. It will be observed that the writing on the
paper is reversed upon the stone, and is re-reversed, or set right again,
in the impressions that are taken from it. The lithographer's charges for
furnishing autographic ink and paper, working the stone, striking off
fifty copies of a folio size, and supplying the paper (common white
paper) for the copies--in fact every expense included--need not exceed
ten shillings, and may be much less. If before drawing his map the
traveller were to go to some working lithographer and witness the
process, and make two or three experiments in a small way, he would
naturally succeed all the better. A map drawn on a large scale, though
without any pretension to artistic skill, with abundance of profile views
of prominent landmarks, and copious information upon the routes that were
explored, written along their sides, would be of the utmost value to
future travellers, and to geographers at home.
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