Lithography

Lore & Background

The name comes from Ancient Greek λίθος (líthos) 'stone' and γράφω (gráphō) 'to write'. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. Traditionally, the image to be printed was drawn with a greasy substance onto the surface of a smooth and flat limestone plate. The stone was then treated with a mixture of weak acid and gum arabic, making the unprotected parts more hydrophilic. For printing, the stone was moistened, and water adhered only to the etched areas. An oil-based ink was then applied, sticking only to the original drawing, and transferred to paper.

Reader's Guide

Lithography uses simple chemical processes to create an image, relying on the mutual repulsion of oil and water. The positive part of an image is water-repelling (hydrophobic), while the negative image is water-retaining (hydrophilic). This allows a flat print plate to be used, enabling much longer and more detailed print runs than older physical methods like intaglio or letterpress printing. In modern commercial lithography, the image is transferred or created as a patterned polymer coating on a flexible plastic or metal plate. Offset printing, or offset lithography, transfers ink from the plate to paper indirectly via a rubber cylinder, allowing fully automated high-speed operation. Since the 1960s, most books and magazines, especially when illustrated in color, are printed with offset lithography from photographically created metal plates.

Did You Know?

• The term 'lithography' comes from Ancient Greek words for 'stone' and 'to write'.
• Offset lithography transfers ink indirectly via a rubber blanket cylinder, keeping the paper dry.

Roots of Lithography Education in Victorian Clerkenwell

The St Bride's Foundation Institute Printing School opened its doors in November of that year, while a separate Guild and Technical School launched in the Clerkenwell district. Within a single year, the latter relocated to Bolt Court, where it assumed the name Bolt Court Technical School. Over the following decades, this institution evolved and was eventually rechristened the London County Council School of Photoengraving and Lithography, a title that explicitly named the printing technique as a core part of its identity. By the mid-twentieth century, both threads would converge into a single, more ambitious graphic arts school, but in those early decades, the teaching of lithography in London was anchored in these modest, purpose-built teaching institutions.

The 1949 Merger and the Birth of a Graphic Arts Powerhouse

This union brought the London School of Printing and Kindred Trades, the successor to St Bride's, together with the London County Council School of Photoengraving and Lithography, effectively consolidating decades of separate printing, engraving, and lithography training under one roof. The merged school operated under this combined name for over a decade before being rebranded in 1960 as the London College of Printing, a shift that reflected the expanding scope of its programmes.

From College to University: Lithography's Place in a Global Arts Federation

The name University of the Arts London was adopted the following year. Today, UAL specialises across arts, design, fashion, and the performing arts, and hosts one of the largest international student bodies of any university in the United Kingdom. The former printing and lithography college, now operating as the London College of Communication, sits within this broad federation alongside institutions such as Central Saint Martins, Chelsea College of Arts, and Camberwell College of Arts. For students of lithography and related graphic processes, this meant their training was no longer confined to a single London school but was embedded in a globally recognised university with extensive international reach.

The 2009 Cuts and the Fight to Preserve Communication Studies

The response from within the college was swift and vocal. Staff members resigned in protest, and students organised demonstrations and staged a sit-in, directing their anger at the deep cuts to both budget and staffing levels. For a college whose heritage stretched back to the original lithography and photoengraving schools of the 1890s, the scale of the losses felt like a direct assault on a tradition of graphic arts education that had survived nearly a century and a half of institutional change. The episode underscored how vulnerable even long-established programmes could be when faced with financial pressures, and it left a lasting mark on the community of students and staff who had dedicated their careers to the teaching of printing, communication, and visual design.