Chapter IX: The Practice of Wood Engraving (4)

Many of the cuts of trees and shrubs in Loudon’s Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum are printed from casts in metallic relief, executed by Mr. Robert Branston. The mode of procedure, according to Mr. Branston’s method, is extremely simple; the subject is first etched on copper, and bit in by aquafortis in the usual manner; and from this etching a cast is afterwards taken in type-metal. As the plate is not corroded to an equal depth in every part, it is necessary to rub on a stone the faces of the casts thus obtained in order to reduce the raised lines to the same level. There is also another inconvenience that attends casts in metallic relief taken from an etched copper-plate; for, as the aquafortis acts laterally as well as vertically, it is difficult to corrode the lines to a sufficient depth, without at the same time getting them too thick. It is hence necessary to clear out many of the hollow parts of such casts with a graver, in order to prevent their being touched by the balls or inking-roller, and thus giving to the impression a soiled appearance.

Casts in metallic relief from etchings always appear coarse; and, from the experiments hitherto made, it seems impossible to execute _fine_ work in this manner. So far as relates to cheapness, such casts, however well they may be executed, being of a level surface, cannot be printed properly by a steam-press in the manner of lowered blocks, or casts from lowered blocks. For a work of extensive circulation, printed by means of a steam-press, a lowered block, or a cast from it, would be cheaper at five pounds, than a cast from an etching at four, even admitting that both were equally well executed.

The principal feature in Mr. C. Hancock’s patent metallic relief engraving, which is quite original, is, that subjects resembling mezzotints can be inserted and printed with the text in the same manner as wood engravings. A mezzotint plate, if printed in the usual manner previous to being engraved upon, would appear black. On the other hand, if submitted to the same kind of printing as a wood-cut, it would scarcely discolour the paper. Upon this plate Mr. Hancock draws his subject with a broad steel point or burnisher, which polishes down the small prominences to a smooth surface in proportion to the pressure used in drawing. In proportion as the surface becomes smooth, so does it print dark, and have the appearance of a mezzotint. The reader will perceive that, according to this plan, Mr. Hancock can take a proof of his subject at any time, and procure either _dark_ or _light_ at pleasure, as the subject may appear to require it. The sparkling light can be touched in with the graver, in the same manner as on wood; so that such touches appear much sharper than in common mezzotint, where the lights are got by burnishing. As Mr. Hancock has not as yet brought anything before the public, it would be unfair to anticipate him, by introducing anything more in this place than a description of his process.

Wood engraving is necessarily confined, by the size of the wood, to the execution of subjects of comparatively small dimensions; and this limitation, together with the difficulty of printing even tints in positive colours, have combined to prevent it from being made extensively available in the production of works in chiaro-scuro, of large size, by the ordinary modes of surface-printing. Latterly, however, the demand which the progress of education has created for maps, school prints, elementary examples of fine art, and illustrations _on a large scale_ for the illustrated newspapers, having called the attention of artists to the subject, many attempts have been made, and in some cases with success, to produce relief engravings on metal; and also to combine that mode of engraving with analogous apparatus for the production of works in tints or colours, separate, combined, or mixed with line plates, in such degrees as particular cases might require. Several of these persons have been already named, and their processes described; it only therefore remains to state, that Mr. Stephen Sly, in connexion with other artists, has for some years past been steadily engaged in making a series of experiments for giving a practical value, by various inventions, to the discoveries and experience of their predecessors in the art; and with every prospect of success. Their method of procedure is: 1. To produce a finished drawing, in simple or crossed lines, with etching varnish on a plate prepared for the purpose; 2. To bite away, with a compound acid, the spaces between the varnish lines; and 3. To deepen and finish the work so produced, by the use of engraving tools, in the ordinary manner. The great difficulties in the way of these apparently simple operations have been, 1. To cast _sound_ and durable plates of a large size, and of a texture sufficiently compact to produce sharp lines by the etching process, and at the same time soft enough to permit the surfaces to be lowered, and the cutting to be executed with facility; 2. To remove the oxide formed by the combination of the acid with the metal from between the lines; and 3. To carry the biting to a depth sufficiently great to permit the plate, with the addition of a small quantity of graver-work, to yield a clear impression.

Metallic relief engraving has not unfrequently been practised at Paris of late years. I have now lying before me an impression from a plate engraved in this manner by Messrs. Best, Andrew, and Leloir, of that city. The subject is a wild turkey, and it was engraved about three years ago for Mr. Audubon. Though it is the best specimen of metallic relief engraving that has come under my notice, I am yet of opinion that the subject could be better engraved on wood, and at a less cost. Ornaments and borders are sometimes engraved on solid brass by means of chisels and gravers in the same manner as a wood-cut. The head of Buchanan, and the border on the wrapper of Blackwood’s Magazine, were engraved on brass in this manner, more than twenty years ago, by Messrs. Vizetelly, Branston, and Co. They were originally engraved on wood by Bewick. The greater durability of ornaments engraved on brass, compensates for their additional cost. The _cheapest_ mode, however, is to have such ornaments first engraved on wood, and casts afterwards taken from them in type metal. One great objection to _cutting_ on metal with the graver is, that the metal _cuts the paper_ in printing from it.

Duplicates of wood engravings may be readily obtained by means of casts from the original blocks; and within the last twenty years, the practice of thus multiplying subjects originally engraved on wood, has become very prevalent both in this country and in France. Casts can be obtained from wood engravings by two different processes, and both are practised by two or three stereotype printers, to whom this business is usually entrusted. By the one mode, a mould is first made from the block in plaster of Paris, and from this mould or matrix a cast is afterwards taken in type metal. By the other mode--termed by the French _clichage_[IX-31]--the mould or matrix is not formed of plaster; but is obtained by letting the block fall, with its engraved surface downwards, directly on a mass of metal,[IX-32] just sufficiently fluid to receive the impression, and which becomes solid almost at the very instant it is touched by the block. From this mould or matrix a cast is afterwards taken in the same manner. In order to prevent the surface of the block becoming charred by the heat, it is previously rubbed over with a composition of common yellow soap and red ochre.

[Footnote IX-31: A cast from a form of types, as well as from an
engraved wood-block, is by French printers termed a _cliché_.]

[Footnote IX-32: The metal of which this matrix is formed, is made
several degrees harder than common type metal, by mixing with the
latter a greater portion of regulus of antimony, otherwise the
matrix and cast would adhere.]

When it is particularly desirable to preserve the original block uninjured, the safest mode is that of forming a mould or matrix of plaster; for by the process of _clichage_ a delicately engraved block is extremely liable to receive damage. As a cast, whether from a matrix of metal or of plaster, generally requires certain small specks of the metal to be removed, or some of the lines to be cleared out, this operation is frequently entrusted to a person employed in a printing-office where such cast is taken. Such person, however, should never be allowed to do more than remove the specks; for, should he attempt to re-enter or re-cut the lines or tints on metal, he will be very likely to spoil the work. It is extremely difficult, even to a dexterous engraver, to re-enter the lines that have been partially closed up in a tint, so that they shall appear the same as the others which have come off clear. Should the printer’s _picker_ happen to re-enter them in a direction opposite to that in which they were originally cut on the block, the work is certain to be spoiled. When a cast requires clearing out and retouching in this manner, the operation ought to be performed by a wood engraver, and, if possible, by the person who executed the original block. When the subject is not very complicated, it is extremely difficult to distinguish which of two impressions is from a cast, and which is from the original block. Those who profess to have great judgment in such matters are left to determine which of the preceding busts is printed from metal, and which from wood.

When a duplicate of a modern, or a fac-simile of an old wood-cut is required, the best mode of obtaining a correct copy, is to transfer the original, if not too large or too valuable, to a prepared block; and the mode of effecting this is as follows:--The back of the impression to be transferred is first well moistened with a mixture composed of equal parts of concentrated potash and essence of lavender; it is then placed above a block whose surface has been slightly moistened with water, and rubbed with a burnisher. If the mixture be of proper strength, the ink of the old impression will become loosened, and be transferred to the wood. Recent impression of a wood-cut, before the ink is set, may be transferred to a block without any preparation, merely by what is technically termed “rubbing down.” In order to transfer impressions from copper-plates, it is necessary to use the _oil_ of lavender instead of the _essence_: if a very old impression, apply the preparation to its face.

Since the former edition of this work considerable improvements have been made in the mode of taking casts, of which the principal is _electrotyping_, by the galvanic precipitation of copper. By this process all the finer lines of the engraving are so perfectly preserved, that impressions printed from the cast are quite undistinguishable from those printed from the original block.

Before closing this subject we think it right to introduce the notice of a new art, which, if it accomplishes all it professes, and as, judging by the annexed example, it seems capable of performing, will be a great acquisition. The art was first brought out as Collins’s process, but is now called the _Electro-printing Block process_, and is managed under the inventor’s direction by a company established at No. 27, New Bridge Street, Blackfriars. The object of the process is to reduce or extend, by means of transfer to an elastic material, maps or engravings of any size. The specimen given in the present volume is reduced from a lithograph copy of an early block print, four times its size,[IX-33] and then electrotyped into a surface block, so as to print in the ordinary manner of a wood-engraving. The reader will easily imagine that any plate transferred to an elastic surface distended equally, will, when collapsed, yield a reduced impression, and _vice versâ_. The only drawback to this process seems to be the want of depth in the electro-type where there are large unengraved spaces. Such plates will want good bringing-up and very careful printing.

[Footnote IX-33: Taken from Mr. S. Leigh Sotheby’s _Principia
Typographica_, 3 vols. folio--to whose kindness we are indebted
for the reduced block.]

The unequal manner in which wood-cuts are printed, is often injurious both to publishers and engravers; for, however well a subject may have been engraved, or whatever may have been the expense incurred, both the engraver’s talents and the publisher’s money will, in a great measure, have been thrown away unless the cut be properly printed. The want of cordial co-operation between printers and wood engravers is one of the chief causes of wood-cuts being so frequently printed in an improper manner. One printer’s method of printing wood-cuts often differs so much from that of another, that it is generally necessary for an engraver who wishes to have justice done to his work, to ascertain the office at which a book is to be printed before he begins to execute any of the cuts. If they are intended to be printed at a steam-press, they require to be engraved in a manner suitable to that method of printing; and if it be further intended to take casts from them, and to print from such casts instead of the original blocks, it is necessary for the engraver to execute his work accordingly. Should they have to be printed at a common press _with a blanket_, it is necessary that they should be lowered in such parts as are most liable to be printed too heavy from the parchment of the tympan, when there is a blanket behind it, penetrating to a greater depth between the lines than when no blanket is used.[IX-34] When it is intended to print cuts in what is called the _best_ manner,--that is, at a common press without a blanket, and where the effect is brought up by means of overlaying,--the engraver has nothing to do but to execute his subject on a plane surface to the best of his ability, and to leave the task of bringing up the dark, and easing the light parts to the printer,--who, if he have not an artist’s eye, can only by chance succeed in producing the effect intended by the draftsman and the engraver.

[Footnote IX-34: The principal difference, so far as relates to
wood engravings, between printing by a steam-press with
cylindrical rollers, and printing by a common press with a
blanket, is, that the blanket or woollen cloth covering the
cylinder of the steam-press comes into immediate contact with the
paper, while in the common press the parchment of the tympan is
interposed between the paper and the blanket. It is necessary that
cuts intended to be printed by a steam-press should be lowered to
a greater depth than cuts intended to be printed with a blanket at
a common press, as the blanket on the cylinder penetrates to a
greater depth between the lines.]

Should a series of wood-cuts be engraved with the view of their being printed at a steam-press, or at a common press with a blanket, and should the publisher or proprietor of the work afterwards change his intention, and decide on having them printed in the _best_ manner,--that is, by the common press without a blanket, and with overlays,--such cuts, whatever pains might be taken, could not be properly and efficiently printed; for those parts which had been lowered in order to obviate the _in_-pressure of the blanket, would either be totally invisible, or would only appear imperfectly,--that is, with the lines indistinct and broken, as if they had not been properly inked. The following cut, which was lowered for machine-printing, or printing with a blanket, but has been worked off at a common press without a blanket, when compared with the same subject printed in the manner originally intended,--that is, with a blanket,--will illustrate what has been previously said on the subject. I by no means wish it to be understood, that any printer would allow such a cut to appear quite so bad as it does in the present impression; he would do _something_ to remedy the defects, but he could not, without employing a blanket, cause it to have the appearance originally intended by the designer and engraver. It is printed here without any aid of overlaying, in order that the difference might be the more apparent to those who are unacquainted with the subject. I have, however, not unfrequently seen excellent cuts spoiled from inattention to bringing up the lowered parts, even when printed at the office of printers who have acquired a high character for _fine_ work, and whose names on this account are announced in advertisements in connexion with those of the author, designer, and publisher, as a guarantee for the superior manner in which the cuts contained in the work will be printed.[IX-35] The following cut, of the same subject as that given on the previous page, shows the appearance of the engraving when properly printed in the manner intended; every line is here brought up by using a blanket, while from the block having been lowered, with a view to its being printed in this manner, there has been no occasion for overlays to increase the effect in the darker parts. The difference in the two impressions is entirely owing to the different manner of printing; for the one is printed from the block, and the other from a cast.

[Footnote IX-35: I have known a printer, who _once_ had a high
character for his _fine_ work, charge and receive twelve guineas
per sheet for a book containing a number of wood-cuts which
required to be well printed, and I have known a similar work
better printed from lowered blocks for less than half the sum per
sheet. Publishers will at no distant time discover, that it is
their interest rather to have their cuts first properly engraved
than to pay a printer a large additional sum for the trouble of
overlaying them, and thus giving them the appearance which they
ought to have without such means and appliances, if the blocks
were originally executed as they ought to be.]

Subjects engraved on lowered blocks, in the manner of the following cut, have always an unfinished appearance when printed without a blanket, and the feebleness and confusion apparent in the lighter parts, instead of being remedied by overlaying the darker parts, are thus rendered more obvious. The connecting medium between the extremes of black and white being either entirely omitted or very imperfectly given, causes the impression to have that harsh and unfinished appearance which is frequently urged as one of the greatest objections to engraving on wood. It is indeed true, that many cuts have this objectionable appearance; but it is also true that the fault does not originate in any deficiency in the art, but is either the result of want of knowledge on the part of the engraver, or is occasioned by improper printing. When wood engravers found that anything approaching to delicacy, in blending the extremes of black and white in their work, was extremely liable to be either lost or spoiled in the printing, it is not surprising that they should have paid comparatively little attention to the connecting tints. In many excellently engraved cuts, printed at the common press with overlays, the tint next in gradation to positive black is often perceived to be too dark, in consequence of the extra pressure on the adjacent parts; while, on the other hand, the delicate lines intended to blend with the white, are either too heavy, or appear broken and confused. It is chiefly from this cause, that so much black and white, without the requisite connecting middle tints, is found in wood-cuts; for the engraver, finding that such tints were frequently spoiled in the impression, omitted them whenever he could, in order to adapt his subject to the usual method of printing. When, in consequence of an improvement in the mode of printing wood-cuts, engravers can depend on finding all in the impression that can be executed on the block, it will no longer be an objection to the art that its productions have a hard and unfinished appearance, and that it is only capable of efficiently representing subjects displaying strong contrasts of black and white.

Should a wood-cut engraved on a plane surface, with the intention of its being printed in the _best_ manner,--that is, at a common press with overlays, and _without_ a blanket,--be printed at a steam-press, or at a common press _with_ a blanket, it will present a very different appearance to the engraver’s proof.[IX-36] The following cut, which ought properly to have been printed in the _best_ manner, is here printed improperly _with a blanket_, and the result is anything but satisfactory; the parts which ought to have been delicately printed are, in consequence of the equality of the pressure on every part of the unlowered surface brought up too heavy, and from their appearing too dark, the effect intended by the designer and engraver is destroyed. The same cut, when printed at a common press with overlays, and without a blanket, as originally intended, would have the light parts relieved, and appear as it does on the following page.

[Footnote IX-36: The cuts being arranged back to back, as at pages
641, 642, and thereby preventing the types appearing, as they do
on the next page, is an advantage not to be overlooked.]

The want of something like a uniform method of printing wood-cuts, and the high price charged by printers for what is called fine work, have operated most injuriously to the progress and extension of wood engraving. The practice, however, of printing wood-cuts by a steam-press, or a press of any kind with a cylindrical roller instead of a platten, seems likely to introduce a general change in the practice of the art. By the adoption of this cheap and expeditious method of printing, books containing the very best wood engravings can be afforded at a much cheaper rate than formerly. As cuts printed in this manner can receive no adventitious aid from overlays, the wood engraver is required to finish his work perfectly before it goes out of his hands, and not to trust to the taste of a pressman for its being properly printed. The great desideratum in wood engraving is to produce cuts which can be efficiently printed at the least possible expense; and, as a means towards this end, it is necessary that cuts should require the least possible aid from the printer, and be executed in such manner that, without gross negligence, they will be certain to print well. The greatest advantage that wood engraving possesses over engraving on copper or steel is the cheap rate at which its productions can be printed at one impression, in the same sheet with the letter-press. To increase, therefore, by an incomplete method of engraving, the cost of printing wood-cuts, is to abandon the great vantage ground of the art.

The mode of printing by the common press without a blanket, and of _helping_ a cut engraved on a plane surface by means of overlays, is not only much more expensive than printing from a lowered block by the steam-press, or a common press with a blanket and without overlaying, but is also much more injurious to the engraving. When a cut requires to be overlaid[IX-37] in order that it may be properly printed, a piece of paper is first pasted on the tympan, and on this an impression is taken, which remains as a substratum for the subsequent overlays. A second impression is next taken, and in this the pressman cuts out the lighter parts, and notes such as are too indistinct and require _bringing up_. He then proceeds to paste scraps of paper over the corresponding parts in the first impression, on a sheet of thin paper, either in front or at the back of the parchment tympan, in order to increase in such parts the pressure of the platten; and thus continues, sometimes for half a day, pasting scrap over scrap, until he obtains what he considers a perfect impression.

[Footnote IX-37: What is called _underlaying_ consists in pasting
one piece of paper or more on the lower part of a block, in order
to raise it, and increase the pressure. When a block is uneven at
the bottom, in consequence of warping, underlaying is
indispensable.]

As the block is originally of the same height as the type, it is evident that the overlays must very much increase the pressure of the platten on such parts as they are immediately above. Such increase of pressure is not only injurious to the engraving, occasionally breaking down the lines; but it also frequently squeezes the ink from the surface _into_ the interstices, and causes the impression in such parts to appear blotted. While a block, with a flat surface, printed in this manner will scarcely afford five thousand good impressions without retouching, twenty thousand can be obtained from a lowered block printed by a steam-press, or by a common press with a blanket and without overlays; the darkest parts in a lowered block being no higher than the type, and not being overlaid, are subject to no unequal pressure to break down the lines, while the lighter parts being lowered are thus sufficiently protected. The intervention of the blanket in the latter case not only brings up the lighter parts, but is also less injurious to the engraving, than the direct action of the wood or metal platten, with only the thin cloth and the parchment of the tympans intervening between it and the surface of the block.

When wood-cuts are printed with overlays, and the paper is knotty, the engraving is certain to be injured by the knots being indented in the wood in those parts where the pressure is greatest. When copies of a work containing wood-cuts are printed on India paper, the engraving is almost invariably injured, in consequence of the hard knots and pieces of bark with which such paper abounds, causing indentions in the wood. The consequence of printing off a certain number of copies of a work on such paper may be seen in the cut of the Vain Glow-worm, in the second edition of the first series of Northcote’s Fables: it is covered with white spots, the result of indentions in the block caused by the knots and inequalities in bad India paper. Overlays frequently shift if not well attended to, and cause pressure where it was never intended.

In order that wood engravings should appear to the greatest advantage, it is necessary that they should be printed on proper paper. A person not practically acquainted with the subject may easily be deceived in selecting paper for a work containing wood engravings. There is a kind of paper, manufactured of coarse material, which, in consequence of its being pressed, has a smooth appearance, and to the view seems to be highly suitable for the purpose. As soon, however, as such paper is wetted previous to printing, its smoothness disappears, and its imperfections become apparent by the irregular swelling of the material of which it is composed. Paper intended for printing the best kind of wood-cuts ought to be even in texture, and this ought to be the result of good material well manufactured. Paper of this kind will not appear uneven when wetted, like that which has merely a _good face_ put upon it by means of extreme pressure. The best mode of testing the quality of paper is to wet a sheet; however even and smooth it may appear when dry, its imperfections will be evident when wet, if it be manufactured of coarse material, and merely pressed smooth.

Paper of unequal thickness, however good the material may be, is quite unfit for the purpose of printing the best kind of wood engravings; for, if a sheet be thicker at one end than the other, there will be a perceptible difference in the strength of the impressions of the cuts accordingly as they may be printed on the thick or the thin parts, those on the latter being light, while those on the former are comparatively heavy or dark. When it is known that an overlay of the thinnest tissue paper will make a perceptible difference in an impression, the necessity of having paper of even texture for the purpose of printing wood-cuts well is obvious. As there is less chance of inequality of texture in comparatively thin paper than in thick, the former kind is generally to be preferred, supposing it to be equally well manufactured.

Mr. Savage, at page 46 of his Hints on Decorative Printing, recommends that in a sheet which consists entirely of letter-press in one _form_,[IX-38] and of letter-press and wood-cuts in the other, the form without cuts should be worked first. His words are as follow:--“When there are wood-cuts in one form, and none in the other, then the form without the cuts ought to be worked first; as working the cuts last prevents the indention of the types appearing on the engraving, which would otherwise take place to its prejudice.”

[Footnote IX-38: The entire quantity of types, or of types and
wood-cuts, which is locked up together, and printed on one side of
a sheet at one impression, is called by printers a _form_.]

My opinion on this subject is directly the reverse of Mr. Savage’s, for, under similar circumstances, I should advise that the form containing the cuts should be printed first; and for the following reason:--When any parts of a wood-cut require to be printed light--whether by lowering the block or by overlaying--the pressure in such parts must necessarily be less than on those adjacent. If then the form containing such cuts be printed first, the paper being perfectly flat, and without any indentions, all the lines will appear distinct and continuous, unless the pressman should grossly neglect his duty. If, on the contrary, the form containing such cuts be printed last, there is a risk of the lines in the lighter parts appearing broken and confused, in consequence of the inequality in the surface of the paper, caused by the indention of the types on the opposite side. Imperfections of this kind are to be seen in many works containing wood-cuts; and they are in particular numerous in the Treatise on Cattle published under the superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. In many of the cuts in this work the lines representing the sky appear discontinuous and broken, and the imperfections are always according to the kind of type on the other side of the paper. When both forms contain wood-cuts, I should recommend that to be first which contains the best. Mr. Savage’s reason, independent of the preceding objections, is scarcely a good one; for admitting that the indention of the types of the second form does appear in the _clear_ and _distinct_ impressions from the cuts in the first, when the sheet is just taken from the press, are not such inequalities entirely removed when the sheet is _dried_ and pressed?

In order to produce good impressions in printing wood-cuts, much more depends on the manner in which the subject is treated by the designer, and on the plate which the cut occupies in a page, than a person unacquainted with the nicety required in such matters would imagine. Wood-cuts which are delicately engraved, or which consist chiefly of outline, are the most difficult to print in a proper manner, in consequence of their want of dark masses to relieve the pressure in the more delicate parts, and thus cause them to appear lighter in the impression. There ought never to be a large portion of light delicate work in a wood-cut without a few dark parts near to it, which may serve as stays or props to relieve the pressure. In illustration of what is here said, I would refer to the cut of King Shahriyár unveiling Shahrazád, at page 15 of Mr. Lane’s Translation of the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments, where it will be seen, that certain dark parts are introduced as if at measured distances. It is entirely owing to the introduction of those dark parts that the pressman has been enabled to print the cut so well: they not only give by contrast the appearance of greater delicacy to the lightest parts; but they also serve to relieve them from that degree of pressure, which, if the cut consisted entirely of such delicate lines, would most certainly cause them to appear comparatively thick and heavy. Another instance of the advantage which a cut derives from its being placed in a certain situation in the page, is also afforded by the same work. The cut to which I allude is that of the Return of the Jinnee, at page 47, consisting chiefly of middle tint, with a pillar of smoke rising up from the ground, and gradually becoming lighter towards the top. Had this cut been introduced at the head of the page without any text above it, the light parts would not have appeared so delicate as they do now when the cut is printed in its present situation. The top of the cut, where the lines are required to be lightest, being near to the types, thus receives a support, and is by them relieved from that degree of pressure which would otherwise cause the lines to appear heavy. Towards the bottom of the cut, which also forms the bottom of the page, there are two or three dark figures which most opportunely afford that necessary degree of support which in the upper part is derived from the types.

The engraver by whom a cut has been executed is unquestionably the best person that the printer can apply to for any information as to the manner in which it ought to be printed, as he alone can be perfectly acquainted with the _state of the block_, and with any peculiarity in the engraving. If any light part should have been lowered to a very trifling extent, it is sometimes almost impossible that the printer should perceive such lowered part after the block has been covered with ink; and hence, notwithstanding the proof which may have been sent by the engraver as a guide, such a cut is very likely to be worked off, to the great injury of the general effect of the subject, without the lowered part being properly brought up. In order to avoid such an occurrence, which is by no means unfrequent, it is advisable to send to the engraver a printed proof of his cut, in order that he may note those parts where the pressman has failed in obtaining a perfect impression. From the want of this precaution wood-cuts are but too often badly printed; while at the same time the engraver is blamed for executing his work imperfectly, though in reality the defect is entirely occasioned by the cut not being properly printed.

The best mode of cleaning a block after the engraver has taken his first proof is to rub it well with a piece of woollen cloth. So long as anything remains to be done with the graver, the block, after taking a proof, ought never to be cleaned with any liquid, as by such means the ink on the surface would be dissolved, and the mixture getting between, the lines would thus cause the cut to appear uniformly black, and render it difficult for the engraver to finish his work in a proper manner from his inability to clearly distinguish the lines.[IX-39] Turpentine or lye ought to be very sparingly used to clean a cut after the printing is finished, and never unless the interstices be choked up with ink which cannot otherwise be removed. When the surface of the block becomes foul, in consequence of the ink becoming hardened upon it, it is most advisable to clean it with a little soap and water, using as little water as possible, and afterwards to rub the block well with a piece of woollen cloth. When it is necessary to use turpentine in order to get the hardened ink out of the interstices, the surface of the block should immediately afterwards be slightly washed with a little soap and water, and afterwards rubbed with a piece of woollen cloth.[IX-40] _Warm_ water ought never to be used, as it is much more apt than cold to cause the block to warp and split. The practice of cleaning wood-cuts in the form by means of a _hard_ brush, dipped in turpentine or lye, is extremely injurious to the finest parts, as by this means most delicate lines are not unfrequently broken. The use of anything damp to clean the cuts when the pressman finishes his day’s-work, is to be avoided; as a very small degree of damp is sufficient to cause the block to warp when left locked up over night in the form. Whenever it is practicable, the cuts ought to be taken out of the form at night, and placed on their edges till next morning; as, by thus receiving a free circulation of air all round them, they will be much less liable to warp, than if allowed to remain in the form. As wood-cuts are often injured by being carelessly printed in a rough proof, it is advisable not to insert them in the form till all the literal corrections are made, and the text is ready for the press.

[Footnote IX-39: When a block, after being printed, requires
retouching, it is generally necessary to cover it with fine
whiting, which, by filling up the interstices, thus enables the
engraver to distinguish the raised lines more clearly.]

[Footnote IX-40: When a block has been cleaned with turpentine,
and not afterwards washed with soap and water, it will not receive
the ink well when next used. The first fifty or sixty impressions
subsequently taken, are almost certain to have a grey and scumbled
appearance.]

It is a fact, though I am unable to satisfactorily account for it, that an impression from a wood-block, taken by a common press, without overlaying, or any other kind of preparation, is generally lighter in the middle than towards the edges. Mr. Edward Cowper, who has contributed so much to the improvement of machine-printing, when engaged in making experiments with common presses constructed with the greatest care,[IX-41] informs me, that he frequently noticed the same defect. Such inequality in the impression is not perceptible in cuts printed by a steam-press, where the pressure proceeds from a _cylinder_ instead of a flat platten of metal or wood. Besides the advantage which the steam-press possesses over the common press in producing a uniformly regular impression, the ink in the former method is more equally distributed over every part of the form in consequence of the undeviating regularity of the action of the inking rollers. Though an equal distribution of the ink be of great advantage when all the cuts in a form require to be printed in the same manner,--that is, when all are of a similar _tone_ of colour,--yet when some are dark, and others comparatively light, balls faced with composition are decidedly preferable to composition rollers, as by using the former the pressman can give to each cut its proper quantity of ink.

[Footnote IX-41: Some of those presses were so truly constructed,
that if the table were wetted, and brought in contact with the
platten, it could be raised from its bed by allowing the platten
to ascend, in consequence of the two surfaces being so perfectly
plane and level.]

I very much doubt, if soft composition rollers, such as are now generally used, be so well adapted as composition balls for inking wood-cuts engraved on a _plane_ surface. The material of which the rollers are formed is so soft and elastic, that it does not only pass over the surface of the block, but penetrates to a certain depth between the lines, thus inking them at the sides, as well as on their surface. The consequence of this is, that when the pressure is too great, the paper is forced in between the lines, and receives, to the great detriment of the impression, a portion of the ink communicated by the soft and elastic roller to their sides. For inking cuts delicately engraved on _unlowered_ blocks, I should recommend composition balls instead of composition rollers, whenever it is required that such cuts should be printed in the _best_ manner.

The great advantage which modern wood engraving possesses over every other branch of graphic art, is the cheap rate at which its productions can be disseminated in conjunction with types, by means of the press. This is the stronghold of the art; and whenever it has been abandoned in modern times to compete with copper-plate engraving, in point of delicacy or mere difficulty of execution, the result has been a failure. No large modern wood-cuts, published separately, and resting on their own merits as works of art, have repaid the engraver. The price at which they were published was too high to allow of their being purchased by the humbler classes, while the more wealthy collectors of fine prints have treated them with neglect. Such persons were not inclined to purchase comparatively expensive wood-cuts merely as curiosities, showing how closely the peculiarities of copper-plate engraving could be imitated on wood.

Though most of the large cuts designed by Albert Durer were either published separately without letter-press, or in parts with brief explanations annexed; yet we cannot ascribe the favour with which they were unquestionably received, to the mere fact of their being executed _on wood_. They were adapted to the taste and feelings of the age, and were esteemed on account of the interest of the subjects and the excellence of the designs. Were a modern artist of comparatively equal talent to publish a series of subjects of excellence and originality, engraved on wood in the best manner, I have little doubt of their being favourably received; their success, however, would not be owing to the circumstance of their being engraved on wood, but to their intrinsic merits as works of art.

On taking a retrospective glance at the history of wood engraving, it will be perceived that the art has not been regularly progressive. At one period we find its productions distinguished for excellence of design and freedom of execution, and at another we find mere mechanical labour substituted for the talent of the artist. As soon as this change commenced, wood engraving, as a means of multiplying works of art began to decline. It continued in a state of neglect for upwards of a century, and showed little symptoms of revival until the works of Bewick again brought it into notice.

The maxim that “a good thing is valuable in proportion as many can enjoy it,” may be applied with peculiar propriety to wood engraving; for the productions of no other kindred art have been more generally disseminated, nor with greater advantage to those for whom they were intended. In the child’s first book wood-cuts are introduced, to enable the infant mind to connect words with things; the youth gains his knowledge of the forms of foreign animals from wood-cuts; and the mathematician avails himself of wood engraving to execute his diagrams. It has been employed, in the representation of religious subjects, as an aid to devotion; to celebrate the triumphs of kings and warriors; to illustrate the pages of the historian, the traveller, and the poet; and by its means copies of the works of the greatest artists of former times, have been afforded at a price which enabled the very poorest classes to become purchasers. As at least one hundred thousand good impressions can be obtained from a wood-cut, if properly engraved and carefully printed; and as the additional cost of printing wood-cuts with letter-press is inconsiderable when compared with the cost of printing steel or copper plates separately, the art will never want encouragement, nor again sink into neglect, so long as there are artists of talent to furnish designs, and good engravers to execute them.

INDEX.

A.

Absolon, John, artist, 576*.
Accursius, Mariangelus, note written by, in a Donatus, 123.
Advertisements, wood-cuts prefixed to, 446 _n_.
Allegory of Death, a tract printed at Bamberg, 1462, 171.
Almanach de Paris, with wood-cuts, by Papillon, 459.
Almanacks, sheet, 1470, 1500, 225.
Alphabet of figures, engraved on wood, in the British Museum, 106;
cuts from, 109, 110, 111, 112;
with figures, of a Dance of Death, preserved in the public library
at Basle, 352.
Altdorffer, A. 320.
Amman, Jost, cuts designed by, in a book of trades and professions,
408, 409;
other cuts designed by him, 411.
Amonoph, a name on an Egyptian brick-stamp, 6 _n_.
Andreani, Andrea, chiaro-scuros engraved by, 432.
Andrews, G. H. painter, 598*.
Anelay, H. artist, 575*.
Angus, George, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, printer, wood-cuts used by, in
cheap works, 180, 228.
Annunciation, old cut of the, 50.
Ansdell, Richard, painter, 598*.
Ansgarius, St., supposed to have been the compiler of the Biblia
Pauperum, 94.
Antichrist, cuts of, 61.
Antonianus, Silvius, a cardinal, claimed by Papillon as a wood
engraver, 337.
Antonio, Marc, his copies of the Little Passion and the Life of the
Virgin, designed by Durer, 251.
Antwerp, painters’ company of, entertain Durer, 261;
procession in honour of the Virgin, _ib._
Apelles, the image of the life of man as painted in a table by,
436 _n_. [[_text has “432”_]]
Apocalypse, an ancient block-book, 61, 68;
cuts in illustration of, from Durer’s designs, 239.
Appeal to Christendom, early specimen of typography, 138.
Arch, triumphal, of Maximilian, designed by Durer, 255.
Archer, J. draughtsman, 599*.
Archer, J. W. draughtsman, 599*.
Aretin, J. C. von, 114.
Armitage, Edward, painter, 598*.
Armstrong, T. engraver, 592*.
Armstrong, Wm. engraver, 600*.
Ars Memorandi, 113;
cut from, 115.
Ars Moriendi, an old block-book, 116.
Art, early German, 3.
Assen, J. W. van, 318.
Astle’s Origin and Progress of Writing, 20.
Atkinson, G. C., his Life of Bewick, 477, 478, 480, 482, 492, 501,
503, 505.
Austin, an English wood-engraver, 538.

B.

Babylonian brick, 7.
Balls, leather, formerly used by pressmen, not so elastic as
composition rollers, 620.
Bamberg, a book of fables printed at, in 1461, 171.
Bämler, John, a printer of Augsburg, 180.
Baptism of Drusiana, 66.
Bartsch, Adam, of opinion that Albert Durer did not engrave on wood,
237.
Battailes, La Fleur des, 1505, 210.
Baxter, George, his improvements in printing in colours, 406;
his chiaro-scuros and picture-prints, 629.
Beating time with the foot mistaken for printing, 120.
Beaumont, Sir George, curious alphabet of figures engraved on wood,
formerly belonging to, 106.
Bechtermuntze, Henry and Nicholas, early printers, related to
Gutemberg, 142.
Beddoes, Dr. Thomas, his poem of Alexander’s expedition down the
Hydaspes, with wood-cuts, by E. Dyas, 1792, 463 _n_.
Behaim, Michael, letter to, from Albert Durer, 235.
Behaim, H. S. 253 _n_, 320.
Beilby, Ralph, the partner of Bewick, 479.
Beildeck, Lawrence, his evidence in the suit of the Drytzehns
against Gutemberg, 1438, 128.
Bekker, R. Z. editor of a collection of wood-cuts, from old blocks
in the possession of the Baron Von Derschau, 226.
Bellini, Giovanni, his praise of Durer, 242.
Bells, inscriptions on, 20.
Bennett, C. draughtsman, 599*.
Benting, William, Lord of Rhoon and Pendraght, a fictitious
character, mentioned by T. Nieuhoff Piccard, 360, 361 _n_, 363.
Bernacle or Barnacle Goose, 414.
Bernardin, St. account of an old wood-cut of, 56.
Beroaldus, Peter, editor of an edition of Ptolemy, 201.
Best, Andrew, and Leloir, their metallic relief engraving, 636.
Bethemsted, a name in an old book of wood-cuts, 111.
Beugnet, a French wood engraver, 547.
Bewick, Thomas, his birth, 1753, 472;
apprenticed to Mr. R. Beilby, 474;
engraves the diagrams in Hutton’s Mensuration, 1768-1770, 475;
receives a premium for his cut of the Old Hound, 1775, 476;
visits London, 477;
cuts engraved by him in a Hieroglyphic Bible, 478;
his love of the country, 479;
his partnership with Beilby, _ib._;
his cuts in Gay’s Fables, 480;
his cut of the Chillingham Bull, 481;
his Quadrupeds, 1791, 482-490;
his British Birds, 1797-1804, 490-502;
his Select Fables, 1818, 502-506;
his cut of the Old Horse waiting for Death, 510;
his diligence, 507;
his death, _ib._;
tribute to his merits from Blackwood’s Magazine, 512;
list of portraits of him, 509 _n_.
Bewick, John, notice of his principal works, 513.
Bible, the Mazarine, printed prior to August, 1456, 139.
Bible supposed to have been printed by Pfister, at Bamberg, 181.
Bible cuts, Lyons, 1538, designed by Holbein, 365-371;
engravings from 86, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92.
Bible, Quadrins Historiques de la, 402.
Biblia Pauperum, 80-94.
Biblia Pauperum Predicatorum, 83.
Bildhauer, 2.
Binding, old, 60.
Birds, engraved by Bewick’s pupils, 492 _n_.
Birkman, Arnold, Dance of Death, copied from the Lyons edition,
published by his heirs, Cologne, 1555-1572, 336.
Blake, William, his mode of engraving in metallic relief, 632;
his drawing of Death’s Door, engraved by Linton, 591.
Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green, cut from, 534.
Blocking out, 589.
Block-books claimed for Lawrence Coster, 58.
Blocks, original, of the Triumphs of Maximilian, preserved at
Vienna, 291.
Bolton, Thomas, wood engraver, 576*, 577*.
Bombo, the name of a dog, supposed by Papillon to be the name of a
wood-engraver, 337 _n_.
Bomb shell, cut of a, from a book printed in 1472, 187.
Borbonius, or Bourbon, Nicholas, verses by, in praise of Holbein,
356, 357, 362, 367.
Borders, flowered, earliest specimens of in books, 209.
Böttiger, C. A. 21.
Box-wood, different qualities of, 563, 566.
Brandling, H. draughtsman, 599*.
Brands for marking cattle, 11.
Branston, Robert, notice of his principal wood-cuts, 535-538.
Branston, R. the younger, wood-engraver, 544;
his method of engraving in metallic relief, 634.
Branston, F. W. wood-engraver, 544, 545.
Brass stamps, 10.
Brasses, monumental, 21.
Braunche, Robert, his monument at Lynn, 22.
Breitkopf, G. J. his attempt to print maps with separative pieces of
type-metal, 1776, 205.
Breydenbach’s Travels, 1486, 206-209.
Bricks, from Egypt and Babylon, 6, 7.
Bridget, St., early cut of, 52.
Brief of Indulgence, 1454, an early specimen of typography, 137.
Briefe, cards so called in Germany, 42.
Briefmaler and Briefdrucker, 43, 410.
British Birds, History of, with cuts by Bewick, 490-502.
Broughton, Hugh, his Concent of Scripture, with copper-plate
engravings, 1591, 423.
Büchel, Emanuel, a Dance of Death copied by, in water-colours, 326.
Bukinck, Arnold, printer, his edition of Ptolemy, 1478, with maps,
engraved on copper, 200.
Bullet, J. B. his Researches on Playing Cards, 40.
Bulwer, Sir E. Lytton, quoted, 398.
Burgmair, Hans, painter, and designer on wood, 277.
Burleigh, Lord, his portrait in Archbishop Parker’s edition of the
Bible, 1568, 419.
Burnet, John, his engraving of Chelsea Pensioners, after Wilkie,
213.
Burning in the hand, 12.
Bury, Richard de, makes no mention of wood engraving, 39.
Businck, chiaro-scuros engraved by, 440.
Buttons, silver, engraved by Bewick, 479.
Bybel, Historische School en Huis, Amsterdam, 1743, with wood-cuts,
459.
Byfield, John, wood engraver, 544.

C.