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On the economy of machinery and manufactures / by Charles Babbage
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OF COPYING.

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exist in the original will be accurately transmittedunder the modified circumstances to every individualgenerated from it.

(123.) Printing from Copper-Plates with alteredDimensions .Some very singular specimens of an artof copying, not yet made public, were brought fromParis a few years since. A watchmaker in thatcity, of the name of Gonord, had contrived a methodby which he could take from the same copper-plateimpressions of different sizes, either larger or smallerthan the original design. Having procured four im-pressions of a parrot, surrounded by a circle, executedin this manner, I shewed them to the late Mr. Lowry,an artist equally distinguished by his skill, and forthe many mechanical contrivances with which he en-riched his art. The relative dimensions of the severalimpressions were 5'5, 6'S, 8 - 4, lo'O, so that thelargest was nearly three times the linear size of thesmallest; and Mr. Lowry assured me, that he wasunable to detect any lines in one which had not cor-responding lines in the others. There appeared tobe a difference in the quantity of ink, but none inthe traces of the engraving ; and, from the generalappearance, it was conjectured that the largest butone was the original impression from the copper-plate.The processes by which this singular operation wasexecuted have not been published ; but two conjec-tures were formed at the time which merit notice.It was supposed that the artist was in possession ofsome method of transferring the ink from the linesof a copper-plate to the surface of some fluid, andof re-transferring the impression from the fluid topaper. If this could be accomplished, the printc 2