Alois Auer (actually Alois Auer Ritter von Welsbach) was born on May 11, 1813 in Wels, Austria. Alois Auer, printer and lecturer for modern languages, was appointed director of the Viennese Hof- und Staatsdruckerei (Majesty's Stationery Office) in 1841. He revised the existing types and developed a new typometrical system which is described in his work "Der polygraphische Apparat der Wiener kk Hof- und Staatsdruckerei" published in 1853. It enabled him to print in 500 native and 100 foreign alphabetical systems and allowed for the ornamental styles of oriental alphabets. Under Auer's direction, the Stationery Office grew into one of the greatest of its kind. Auer, who was given hereditary knighthood in 1860, resigned his position as director in 1864 and stepped back. Many typographical inventions are ascribed to Auer, including the Naturselbstdruck (printing of pictures not requiring a woodcut or an engraving). He described the process in "Die Entdeckung des Naturselbstdrucks" (1854). Moreover, he composed a French and an Italian grammar and published a series of typographical works. Auer died on July 10, 1869, in Vienna.