The reverse side is clean, in excellent condition, sheet size 16.5 cm x 12 cm. The technique of lithography was accidentally invented by the amateur German actor Alois Senefelder in Bohemia in 1796. This was a fundamentally new printing technique following the invention of wood engraving in the 15th century. According to one account, through absentmindedness, Senefelder recorded a bill from a laundry on limestone and it accidentally transferred onto damp cloth. Senefelder realized that the inscription could be reproduced. Even if this story is fictional, it contains a grain of truth. Years later, the inventor published the treatise "A Complete Textbook of Lithography" (Vollständiges Lehrbuch der Steindruckerey, 1818), partially translated into Russian in 1819. Lithography quickly gained popularity. Its only competitor was woodcut. Followers of Senefelder included: in Germany - N. Strixner, and in France - G. Engelmann. Alois-Robert Lemaire (1803-1887), a student of Senefelder, later became the foremost Parisian lithographer. The technique of printing on stone was known before Senefelder, but he perfected it and made it suitable for reproductive purposes (until the beginning of the 20th century, engraving and lithography were mainly used to reproduce painted pictures). The lithographic technique, besides the advantage of reproduction, has distinctive features that have always attracted artists. Lithography gained relevance in connection with romantic trends in art and educational activities in the first third of the 19th century. "Glimmering shadows, flashes of light, dynamism of the stroke, depth of a velvety matte tone resonated with romantic notions of beauty of form." Lithography became indispensable in the field of journal graphics, caricature, and posters. Artists who worked in lithography included Eugène Delacroix, Honoré Daumier, and Paul Gavarni. From 1886, the possibilities of chromolithography for street posters were opened up by the French artist Jules Chéret. Bright and eye-catching theater, cabaret, and dance hall posters literally brightened the gray streets of Paris. The lithographic technique saw new opportunities for creating original posters from the outstanding draftsman Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. rubles price for all sheets