En ny teknik gör entré : stentryckets etablering i Sverige / Gunnel Hedberg.

"The aim of this study, A New Technology Makes its Entrance: The Establishment of Lithography in Sweden, is to investigate the pioneering years of lithographic offices in Stockholm 1818-1830, and how the offices were financed and organized. In some cases, the study follows the destinies of individual lithographers. Since no company archive survives from any lithographic office, the material for the study comes from various judicial institutions and from different branches of administrations, such as bankruptcy judgements and taxation rolls. This material is supplemented with advertisements and announcements in the press about changes in a company, along with the printed material that left the lithographic presses. The perspective is that of book history supported by other disciplines. The then Crown Prince Karl Johan, from February 1818 King Karl XIV Johan, privately invited two German lithographers to start a lithographic printing office in Stockholm. The office opened in 1818 and would soon be followed by others (Over twenty during the period 1818-1830). Funds to start a company were acquired either through loans from the state Manufacturing Discount Fund, gifts, inheritances, or private means. One attempt to sell shares in a planned lithographic office was unsuccessful. It has not been possible to ascertain in detail to what extent the court provided support. What is clear, however, is that assistance was given in different ways to several lithographers by both King Karl Johan and Crown Prince Oskar. The form of state support available to entrepreneurs wishing to establish a lithography business involved applying for a loan from the Manufacturing Discount Fund. This was administered by the Board of Trade but the decision was made by the King in Council. During the studied period three lithographers applied for loans. The reception of the new lithographic technology in Sweden was gradual. The new technology attracted considerable interest, particularly among court officials and military men pursuing artistic activities. Right from the beginning one can distinguish the different forms of organization in which the lithographic offices worked: printing to order or as a complement to other operations. The many bankruptcies suffered by the early lithographic businesses are eloquent testimony to the tough economic climate in which they worked."--Provided by author.