11. The invention of lithography is ascribed to Aloys Senifelder, the son of a performer at the theatre of Munich. Having become an author, and being too poor to publish his works in the usual way, he tried many plans, with copperplates and compositions, in order to be his own printer. A trial on stone, which had been accidentally suggested, succeeded. His first essays to print for publication, were some pieces of music, executed in 1796. 12. The first productions of the art were rude, and of little promise; but, since 1806, its progress has been so rapid, that it now gives employment to a great number of artists; and works are produced, which rival the finest engravings, and even surpass them in the expression of certain subjects. The earliest date of the art in the United States, is 1826, when a press was established at Boston, by William Pendleton. [Illustration: The AUTHOR.] THE AUTHOR. 1. The word author, in a general sense, is used to express the originator or efficient cause of a thing; but, in the restricted sense in which it is applied in this article, it signifies the first writer of a book, or a writer in general. The indispensable qualifications to make a writer are--a talent for literary composition, an accurate knowledge of language, and an acquaintance with the subject to be treated. 2. Very few persons are educated with the view to their becoming authors. They generally write on subjects pertaining to the profession or business in which they have been practically engaged: a clergyman writes on divinity; a physician, on medicine; a lawyer, on jurisprudence; a teacher, on education; and a mechanic, on his particular trade. There are subjects, however, which occupy common ground, on which individuals of various professions often write. 3. Authorship is founded upon the invention of letters, and the art of combining them into words. In the earliest ages of the world, the increase of knowledge was opposed by many formidable obstacles. Tradition was the first means of transmitting information to posterity; and this, depending upon the memory and will of individuals, was exceedingly precarious. 4. The chief adventitious aids in the perpetuation of the memory of facts by tradition, were the erection of monuments, the periodical celebration of days or years, the use of poetry, and, finally, symbolical drawings and hieroglyphical sketches. Nevertheless, history must have remained uncertain and fabulous, and science in a state of perpetual infancy, had it not been for the invention of written characters. 5. The credit of the invention of letters was claimed by the Egyptians, Phoenicians, and Jews, as well as by some other nations; but as their origin preceded all authentic history not inspired, and as the book of inspiration is silent in regard to it, no satisfactory conclusion can be formed on this point. Some antiquarians are of opinion, that the strongest claims are presented by the Phoenicians.