author
Alois Senefelder
1771–1834
Best known for inventing lithography, he changed how images and texts could be reproduced, opening the door to cheaper and more flexible printing. Before that breakthrough, he was an aspiring writer and actor trying to get his own work into print.
1 Audiobook
The Invention of Lithography
by Alois Senefelder
About the author
Born in Prague on November 6, 1771, and active in Munich for much of his life, Alois Senefelder was a playwright, actor, and inventor. After his father's death interrupted his studies, he turned to writing and theater, and his practical need to publish his own work pushed him toward experiments in printing.
Those experiments led to his most important achievement: the invention of lithography in the 1790s. By drawing with a greasy substance on smooth limestone and using the resistance between oil and water, he developed a new printing method that proved far less restrictive than older techniques and became hugely important for art, publishing, and commercial printing.
Senefelder continued refining the process and later wrote a detailed manual explaining it, helping spread the technique beyond Bavaria. He died in Munich on February 26, 1834, but his invention remained one of the key advances in the history of print.