NINETKfiNTU CfiNTURY.
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of the York philosophical society, and bad a consideiahle taste in the fine arts. He was of retired habits, but by all who knew him was greatly esteemed and respeuted. His health had been for some time graduallv declining, and he never seemed perfectly well after his laborious and &ttguing exertions towards extinguishing the destrucUve fare in York cathedral, Feb. 2, 1829.*
1834, Jan. 24. Died, Edwabd Upham,F.SJI. bookseller of Exeter, and for many years one of the most eminent men in that city. He became a member of the corporation, and served the office of mayor in 1809. It has been related of him, that wnen officiating in his mayoralty on the bench, with the learned judges on the circuit, he displayed in conversation so much erudition as to excite their astonishment, which was not abated on finding that he was a bookseller. Having acquired what he esteemed a sufficient competence, he retired from business,and devoted the remunder of his life to his favourite lite- rary pursuits. In 1824, he published anuny- mously, Ramaet, an Egyptian tale, in 3 vols. In 1827, he published ICarmalh, an Arabian tale. In 1825, he engaged in the laborious task of completing the Indet to the RolU of Parliament, which had been left unfinished by the rev. John Pridden,t after that gentleman had been employed upon it for thirty years. Mr. Upbam completed it in 1832. He was the author of several works of esteemed merit. Pos- sessed of high moral rectitude, a genuine philan- thropy, and a truly Christian piety, he was respected while living, and his death was much regretted. — He died at Bath, where his brother, Mr. John Upham, was a bookseller.
1834, Feb. 13. Henry Colburn, proprietor of the Court Journal, obtained a verdict, with £193 damages in the court of exchequer, against Mr. Patmore, editor of that periodical, for in- serting a libel on the duchess of Richmond, in which Mr. Colbum had been cast, at the suit of the duke of Richmond. The question was, whether the plaintiff or defendant should be responsible for the insertion of the paragraph? The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff.
- Dr. Dibdln, in bis Nmrtkem Tour, nja, " It was told
me that the defonct Hr. Todd owed hia demise to the coo- ■tant ftet, sorrow, and grief of lieait, followinr the fire of the minster." To wiildi lie adds, " The wretch lires who find it. The life of the perpetrator, from amost mistaken, and, I will add, mlschieroos view of the moral bearioK of the qaestlon,was spared; and he, whose hand deliberately laid the train, and who systematically at a distance waited the explosion, Is now moping within the walls of a mad- honse. If similar attempts at combustion take place, at least we mnst not be sorprlsed."— Vol 1. p. 177.
Dr. Dibdin, as a Ticar in the cburcta of England, and a fhapUin 1x1 the Toyal chapel, may be in the advanced gnsra of Christian preachers, but I am afraid that hla Christianity Is somewhat in the rear. There can be do human being who does not lament the destruction which befel York minster by the hand of an unfortunate lunatic; and thoogh hit life was mercifolly spared, no other com- hafion in any of our caUiedrals has yet taken place. Jonatlian Martin died In Bethlehem hospital, Junes, 1838.
t John Prldden, F. A. S., was the eldest son of the book- seller of the same name, noticed at paj^ 827 ante. He was born Jan. 3, )7S8, and educated at St. I^anl's school, London, and at Oxford. He obtained considerable prefer- ments in the church, and was twice married, his first wife being Anne, daughter of John Nichols, printer. He died April S, I8U.- See Genlt. Mag. vol. zcv. page -107.
1634, MisrcAdO. Died, Ruoolpu Acksrman, book and printseller of the Strand, London. He was born at Stottberg, near Schnecberg, in the kingdom of Saxony, in 1764, and biid to the trade of a coadi-bailder. He came early in life to England, shortly before the French revolu- tion, and for some time pursued in London the occupation of a carriage draftsman, which led to an acquaintance with artists, and so to his settlement in business as a printseller in the Strand. Here, by indefatigable industry, intel- ligence, and enterprize, combined with inviolable honour and integrity in all his transactions, he created that flourismng establishment which has made his name perhaps more extensively known, both at home and abroad, than that of any other tradesman in the British metropolis.
To him the country is certainly indebted for the original introduction of the lithographic art,* to which he directed the public attention not only by a translation of the work of Senefel- der, its inventor, but also by the specimens which
• We give the singularly cnrloos account of the actual invention of the art of lithography, in H. Senefelder'a own words :— Alois Senefelder was the son of one of the peifionnen of the theatre royal, at Munich. In early life he devoted himself to the study of Jorisprndence at the university of Ingolstadt, but the death of his father compelled him to quit the nnivenlty, and liaving long had a strong inclination for the stage, he emiiraeed that pro- fession, two years' experience of the misery attending upon which, cnred his enthusiasm, and he resolved to t^ his fortune as a dramatic author. In that occnpattOD, although his first piece was favoniably received by the public, he also proved ultimately nnsuccessfhl. Dnrlng the publication of some of his wmrks, however, he availed himself of an opportunity of becoming awinalntwl with the particuiara of the process of printing. A new direc- tion having thus been given to Ills talents, M. Senefelder, by several Ingenious methods endeavoured to find snbctl- tnte* fortypes I vaaog tboee methods was that of writing with a steel pen on a oopper-plata, previonsly covered with etdiing ground, and bitlnK them in with aquafbrtls. lUs required much practice, and to correct the mistakes of his novitiate, M. Benefehler, ignorant of the usual varnish for what Is technically termed ' stopping out,' composed one for lilmself of wax, soap, and lamp black. Finding copper-plates expensive for these rude eesays, he had recourse to KUlbetm stone — the surface of which was easily susceptible of being cround and polished. " I had Just succeeded in my little laboratory in polishing a stone plate, which I intended to cover with etching ground, in order to continue my exercises in wilting backwards, when my mother entered the room, and dedred me to write her a bill for the washerwoman, who was waiting for the linen. I happened not to have the smallest slip of paper at hand; nor was there even a drop of ink In the inkstand. As the matter would not admit of delay, and we had nobody in the house to send for a supply of the deficient materials, I resolved to vrritethe list with ray ink, prepared with wax, soap, and lamp black, on the stone which I had Just polished, and from which I could copy it at leisure. Soma time after this I was Just going to wipe this writing from the stone, when the idea all at once struck me to try what would be the eftct of such a writing with my prepared ink, if I were to bite in the stone with aquafortis, and whether, perhaps^ it might not be possible to apply print- ing Ink to it In the same way as to wood engravings, and so take Impretnions from it. I hastened to put this idea in execution^ surrounded the stone with a border of wax, and covered the surface of the stone to the height of two inches, with a mixture of one part of aquafortis and ten parts of water, which I left standing five minutes on It; and on examining the etfect of tills experiment, 1 found the writing elevated aliont the tenth part of a line, or a hundred and twentieth part of an inch. Some of the finer and not sufficiently distinct lines had suffered in some measure) but the greater part of the letters had not been damaged at all in tbcir breadth, consldeiing their elevation, so that I confidently hoped to obtain very clear impressions, chiefly from printed characters, in wiiich there are not many flna strokes. I now proceeded to aptfy
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