Chromolithographs (progressive proofs and prints) Louis Prang (1824-1909) Prang's Prize Babies: How This Picture Is Made Boston: L. Prang & Co., [1888] Print Collection, Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs, The New York Public Library     (156 k) View selected progressive proofs of "The Prize Babies."

Using a different lithographic stone for each color to create a composite multi-colored image was a complex and labor-intensive process. However, once the stones were made they could be reused, making chromolithography not only the primary means of printing in color in the nineteenth century but an inexpensive one at that. While the most pervasive use of chromolithography was in advertising, it was also used extensively for making popular prints, as well as for scientific and medical illustrations.

Nineteen stones, each one containing a different color, were used to create the composite image for the popular nineteenth century print, "Prang's Prize Babies." The image on view is the thirty-eighth, and final, progressive proof. To better understand how chromolithographs were made, view selected progressive proofs of "The Prize Babies."