The Beginnings of Commercial Colour Printing in Europe, 1835–40

Abstract The period 1835 to 1840 witnessed an unprecedented interest in colour printing, principally in London, Mulhouse, and Strasbourg, the driving force being the need to respond to industrialisation by replacing hand-colouring. Among those involved were George Baxter, using intaglio printing combined with relief printing; Charles Knight and Gustave Silbermann printing from relief surfaces; and Godefroy Engelmann, Charles Hullmandel, William Day & Louis Haghe, Owen Jones, and Frédéric Émile Simon, all of whom worked as lithographers and explored the possibilities of chromolithography. Along with others they developed different ways of producing colour-printed work, but with an emphasis on ‘picture printing’, using a variety of approaches to the treatment of the constituent colours. All produced published work and helped prepare the way for the commercial success of colour printing, particularly chromolithography. The paper touches on conceptual issues, some of which cross traditional boundaries between processes and named methods of colour printing.