Charles Joseph Hullmandel Twenty-four views of Italy drawn from nature and engraved upon stone
(Hullmandel, 1818)
1782.b.31      27x41.5 cm

In 1818 this was one of the earliest topographical books to be printed by lithography in England. Hullmandel was so dissatisfied with the printing of the plates by Moser and Harris, that he set up his own lithographic press, and over the next two decades pioneered many of the most significant technical developments in lithography. This illustration shows some of the weaknesses of early lithographs, notably the rigid lines of the hatching and infilling, especially of the sky and sea, and the relatively crude tonal shading.