ENGRAVING-LITHOGRAPHY-PHOTOGRAPHY. In the preceding sheet we endeavoured to describe the | representations by being stamped on paper, after havprocess of producing impressions from movable types, generally known as letterpress-printing: in the present, we direct attention to the allied, but more difficult and delicate arts of producing impressions from engravings on wood, copper, steel, and other metals, from drawings on stone, and by the action of the sun's rays on chemically-prepared substances. The method of taking impressions, or printing from woodcuts, being precisely the same as that followed in ordinary letterpress, we commence with a brief account of the art of Wood-Engraving, or, as it is sometimes more learnedly termed, from Greek and Latin compounds, Xylography and Lignography. In doing so, our aim will be to afford such information as may serve at once the purposes of the general reader, and of the individual who may be desirous of acquiring some skill in the practice of the art. During the last twenty years, it will have been observed how great has been the increase of works containing wood-engravings, either for the purpose of illustration or embellishment. The illustrations throughout the present work belong to this species of engraving, and few publications of a cheap class are now issued without them. Usually less delicate and minute than engravings on copper or steel, woodcuts possess a peculiar value from the comparative ease with which they can be printed. While plate embellishments require to be produced by a process so tedious, that a man can with difficulty execute 250 impressions in a day, a wood-engraving can be printed with great rapidity by a machine to the extent of many thousands daily. The chief value of the woodcut, however, consists in its being adapted for printing along with letterpress. It is inserted among the types by the compositor, and impressions come from it along with the letterpress which it is intended to illustrate. Hence a woodcut is to be described as a type-a thing which produces No. 96. ing been inked for the purpose. The reason why woodengravings possess these qualities over metal plates is, because the figures or marks to be shown in print are left raised on the wood, the parts not to be printed being cut away. This is the reverse of the principle of metal-plate engraving, in which, as will hereafter be seen, the figures or marks are sunk, and hence the difficulty of effecting impressions with any degree of rapidity. Another peculiar advantage arises from the fact, that stereotype casts can be obtained from woodcuts as readily as from movable types, thus giving the printer the power to multiply them indefinitely. The art of carving figures in relief on the face of a piece of wood, and then stamping the figures, blackened with ink, on paper, or some other light fabric, is of great antiquity. The Chinese have for ages stamped or printed books in this rude manner. In Germany, the first attempts at printing with a press were effected by wooden blocks, which, however, were soon abandoned, in consequence of the invention of printing by movable types. Previously, the subjects stamped in Germany were for the greater part of a devotional kind, such as representations of saints, for distribution by the clergy as aids in devotion. The earliest print from a woodblock of which we have any certain date is, or was lately, in the collection of Earl Spencer: it is the representation of St Christopher carrying the infant Saviour across the sea, bearing the date 1423. It was discovered in one of the most ancient convents in Germany-the Chartreuse of Buxheim, near Memmingnon-pasted within one of the covers of a Latin manuscript of the year 1417. It has an inscription at the bottom, which has been thus translated : In whichever day thou seest the likeness of St Christopher, In that same day thou wilt, at least, from death no evil blow incur.-1423.' A reduced fac-simile of this curious engraving forms the illustration at the head of the present article. Besides being employed to illustrate devotional subjects, wood-engraving was used in Germany for marking the figures on playing-cards; and, what is somewhat remarkable, the rude figures of these early times are represented with little or no improvement of taste on the playing-cards of the present day. As stated in the preceding sheet, immediately before, and also after the invention of printing, the practice of issuing small books composed entirely of woodcuts, representing Scripture subjects, was common in different continental countries. The people not being able to read, were in this manner impressed with glimmering ideas of sacred history. Remarkable incidents mentioned in the books of Moses, the Gospels, and the Apocalypse, were thus made known to the lessinstructed classes, but generally in connection with legends of the Middle Ages. Some works of this class were called 'Biblia Pauperum'-( Poor Men's Books'); and copies of them are now extremely rare. By such devices was the piety of our unlettered forefathers excited: the instruction being communicated to the understanding through the eye, as it is now more generally conveyed through the ear. Wood-engraving, for the sake of illustrating printed copies of the Scriptures, was brought to extraordinary perfection by Albert Durer at the end of the fifteenth century. Instead of hard outlines, the figures were now finely shaded, and an elegant picture produced. Throughout the sixteenth century the art flourished in Holland, Germany, and Italy, and had many eminent professors. As printing advanced, it may be said to 721 the cuts will warp, and be useless to the printer. After being used, the printer, for his own sake, should carefully wash and dry the blocks, and lay them safely aside for another occasion. Tools.-The following are the articles required by the engraver on wood: 1. A round flattish pad, made of leather, and filled with sand, on which to rest the block while engraving it. 2. Gravers.-A graver is a tool about four inches long, made of steel, with a small head or handle of wood. One side of the handle is flat, to allow the tool to rest steadily when set down. The blade, or steel part of the tool, is various in shape; some blades are thin, others are thicker. As it is the point of the blade which cuts, the sharper the blade is, so have declined; the eye and the feelings were less appealed to than formerly; the intellect of the people was opening, though, it may be admitted, their taste was not correspondingly improved. Towards the conclusion of the seventeenth century, the art of woodengraving had fallen into neglect; but in the eighteenth century it began to revive in France and England, and some good illustrations were produced. It remained, however, not in a brilliant condition, till it was taken up by Thomas Bewick of Newcastle-on-Tyne-an extraordinary self-taught enthusiast in the art. Bewick began a series of illustrations for a history of quadrupeds about 1785, and the work, when issued in 1790, attracted much attention. This work, and others on natural history, executed by Bewick, were remarkable for possessing an order of small engravings on wood called tailpieces, from being given at the terminations of chapters. Many of these sketches abounded in dry humour, and were highly relished by the increasing body of general readers. Here, for example, we give a may the edge be ground fine in proportion. Six or copy of one of these tailpieces-a poor ewe, in the eight degrees of fineness are usually employed; the starvation of winter, or rather anticipated spring, pick-finest being for the more delicate lines and markings, ing at an old broom in front of a ruinous cot-a scene, trifling as it seems, which tells a woful tale of suffering. Wood-engraving was now raised to the rank of a regular profession in England, and was greatly advanced by Nesbit, Harvey, Branston, and Thomson, both as respects elegance of design and delicacy of execution. In France and England its professors have latterly been numbered by hundreds. Practice of Wood-Engraving. The Wood. The pieces of wood employed in woodengraving are usually termed blocks. These are invariably of the box-tree-a species of wood exceedingly fine in the grain. The tree is cut across in slices with a fine saw, and the slices, after being planed smooth on the surface, are cut into square blocks of the required size. The blocks must be exactly one inch in depth-such being the height of the printing-types in which they are to stand. When a block of more than from six to eight inches square is wanted, it is necessary to join two or more pieces together, as the box-tree is too limited in diameter to furnish blocks of a large size. Blocks ready for use, of any required size, are to be had from the carpenters who supply printers with furniture for their presses, likewise from turners of fine wood, and other tradesmen. The price of a block of medium quality and size may be purchased for tenpence or a shilling per pound-a pound of wood yielding a printing-block about six inches square. As in every other article, there are good and bad qualities of wood: that which is preferable ought to be as smooth on the surface as the finest paper, perfectly level, perfectly dry, and of a uniform yellow colour, without knots or flaws. When the tint is a darkishred, the wood will most likely prove brittle; and when very light, it may be spongy, and will absorb ink when the cut comes to be printed. Some of the light-tinted wood has the appearance of satin-wood. Upon this no attempt should be made to engrave, it being utterly useless. Wood of various colours-as, for instance, that which is dark in the middle of the disk, and gradually getting light towards the edges-if not welldried or seasoned, is also not good; when of this kind, and the broader-pointed for cutting broad and bold it is the object of gravers to cut lines in various direc- A sufficient stock of the above-mentioned apparatus, of fair quality, for an amateur learner, need not cost above twenty or thirty shillings. Drawing the Subject.-Equipped with the proper tools and a few small blocks, the learner is ready to begin his operations. There is, however, something to be done preliminary to engraving: this is the drawing of the figures to be engraved on the wood. The ability to draw with neatness and precision, also a knowledge of effect in light and shade, are indispensable in the amateur wood-cutter, or any one who desires to rise in the profession. There are indeed wood-engravers who do not ordinarily draw, the designs being put on the blocks by artists of celebrity, but to this class we do not address ourselves. We are solicitous that no one who wishes to instruct himself in wood-engraving should think of making the attempt till he can draw on the wood the subjects which he intends to execute. This degree of skill is not alone necessary for the purpose of rendering wood-engravers independent of artists; it is also requisite to enable them to give effect to the designs which artists put on the wood. Sometimes the designs are not made by black-lead pencils, but by various shades of India ink, laid on with camel-hair pencils; and the effect of these various shadings requires to be brought out by lines and marks of different kinds-all the invention of the engraver. Besides mere drawing, modern improvements have added another branch to this department of the art, which is called lowering.' The surface of the block being perfectly level, it is obvious that, while being In picture-painting, innumerable tones, tints, lights, shades, nearness, and distance, are produced by apply printed at a press equally true and even, every line | the graver cautiously forward at a uniform depth, and left standing on the cut receives an equal degree of clearing out small chips or threadlike parings. pressure. The finest lines forming a sky, for instance, receive an equal weight and impress with the deepest and broadest shadow. Now this is manifestly not as it should be; for fine lines ought to be printed lightly, and dark ones heavily. To obviate this, in printing the commoner class of cuts, the pressman lays small patches of paper below his sheet, opposite the spots to be printed more darkly than others; but this mode of patching fails to a considerable degree in making fine work, and a surer plan for bringing up the effect at press, consists in slightly lowering certain parts of the surface of the block. This may be effected as follows: -Sketch the design on the block, and then scrape away with the scooper those parts to be printed lightly; for example, the sky, and the edges of trees, the whole in various degrees, according to the degree of required lightness. We desire to add, that beginners should not trouble themselves with this process, as it applies only to an advanced class of exercises. If lowered, the designs will require to be re-sketched on the wood; but whether lowered or not, the surface of the block must be prepared in the manner now to be described : The surface of the block being too smooth to receive the markings of a pencil, it is roughened, and at the same time delicately whitened all over with moistened powder of Bath brick and flake white, and the palm of the hand is afterwards passed over the block, to remove from it any gritty particles. When dry, it is ready for the drawing, which is now put upon it, care being taken that nothing is marked which is not to stand in relief. On being finished, the drawing appears to be a minute and perfect sketch on a white ground. Besides being able to draw, the learner should be acquainted with the practice of copying and reducing from prints. For example, a wood-engraving 3 inches long by 2 inches broad is required to be made from a print 12 inches long and 8 inches broad. In this, as in all other cases, it is necessary to copy everything in exact proportion. A square frame, on which threads are stretched lengthwise and crosswise, leaving square openings, is laid on the print. Small squares to the same number are now lightly traced on the wood, and whatever parts lie within any opening in the frame are copied within the corresponding opening on the wood: thus a copy in exact proportion is obtained. As pencil-drawing is very apt to be blurred or partly effaced by touching with the hand, it is necessary to cover the block, while working upon it, with a piece of paper. A slip of smooth, hard writing-paper is the best for this purpose: it should be neatly folded over the edges, and tied firmly round with a thread. On beginning to cut, tear off a piece of the paper from the part to which the tool is to be applied; and so remove the paper as the work proceeds. Engraving.-Persons with weak sight use a strong magnifying-glass when engraving, or when closely examining the appearance of their work. We would recommend beginners to avoid using a glass, if possible, for it injures the sight with the naked eye. Persons with ordinary eyesight require no glass in wood-cutting. The work may be best executed with a strong steady northern light. In cutting by lamplight, a shade should be employed to throw the light down; and the light may be concentrated by being made to shine through a globe of water, the rays coming to a focus on the block. The engraving is done at a table or bench of convenient height, placed below or near the light just mentioned. The engraver, seated on a chair, holds and moves about the block on the pad with the left hand, while he operates with the tool in the right, as is represented in the following cut. Great steadiness of hand is of the utmost importance, for the least cut in a wrong direction may mar, if not ruin, the effect to be produced. Until the learner becomes familiar with his tools, he should proceed gently and patiently, pushing | ing a variety of colours, and any error can be rectified by a new touch of the brush. In wood-engraving, every kind of effect must be produced by a mere variation in the marking, first with the pencil, and afterwards with the graver; the result in printing being a variety of dark marks and lines on a white ground. The skill of the wood-engraver is therefore tested to no mean degree. On the careful and judicious disposition of his lines, and the lightness and strength of his masses of darkened parts, depend the entire effect of his labours. In executing a woodcut, the parts drawn upon remain, and the blank spaces which the pencil has not touched are cleared away. The first lessons of a learner should consist in engraving straight parallel lines with a tinting-tool, as are here exemplified. The degree of darkness is regulated by the thickness of the lines, and the spaces cut out between them. Take care that the lines are cut smooth and clean, free of ruggedness or breaks. Not till pretty well grounded in the art of cutting straight parallel lines, should the learner proceed to the next steps in advance, which will consist in cutting bent and waving lines. The following cuts exhibit the nature of this progression. Having cut one or more of these early exercises, the parts of the block not to be printed must be lowered with a flat or gouging-tool, so as to leave no parts so high as the lines. The depth to which the blank-spaces or whites' must be cut is regulated chiefly by their extent-the larger the space, the deeper the gouging. Perfected in the art of cutting lines straight, bent, and waved, the learner may proceed to cross-hatching, which consists in cutting lines at different angles, and of different lengths, across other lines, with the view of expressing graduated depths of shade. The varieties of hatching are endless, from light tones up to the darkest shadows. The annexed figure of a hand represents a familiar variety of crosshatching. These specimens are given more for the purpose of showing what cross-hatching is, than of inducing learners to prosecute this kind of engraving. Cross-hatching should always be sparingly employed, and in no case when an effect can be attained by simple lines; for it introduces complexity, and often too much minuteness of detail. A good engraving,' as Jackson observes, | light and shade with as few lines and hatchings as pos'viewed as a work of art, is not good in proportion, as sible, never making two or more small marks where one many of its parts have the appearance of fine lace.' of a bolder stretch would answer. The earliest exerWith this caution, it should be mentioned that if cross-cises attempted should only be in outline, as is exhatching is found indispensable, the learner will require emplified in the annexed engraving of the leaves of a to execute it with particular care; for there is a diffi- plant. In this instance it will be observed what effect culty in cutting out the whites, so as to leave continuous lines sweeping across, as in the above figure. If possible, rest the tool on the whites afterwards to be cut away; and when nothing remains as a fulcrum, a small piece of card may be laid on the block as a protective. Take care, also, not to undermine any already cut lines; for if undercut, they may break off in printing; and what is equally objectionable, will not admit of sound stereotype casts. Apparent faults in wood-engravings can with great difficulty be remedied; and it is better for them to remain, or to execute another engraving, than to attempt improvement. Experienced engravers are sometimes able to correct errors in their cuts by what is technically called 'plugging.' A small piece of wood is dexterously drilled out of the block, and a new piece is inserted in its stead, and glued, to prevent shifting. On this new piece the correction is executed. Taking Proofs. When an engraving is finished, the workınan will be gratified by seeing how it looks on paper; and this gratification he can afford himself without the aid of the printing press. The materials necessary for this operation are, as already stated, a small quantity of the finest printing ink; a smooth stone or slab to distribute it on (the back of a large strong earthenware saucer will, however, answer the purpose); a dabber, composed of wool, tightly tied up in white leather or fine silk; some India or Chinese paper; a burnisher; and a piece of card. Having smeared a small quantity of ink on the dabber, beat it for some time on the stone, that it may be distributed equally over the surface. Holding the cut steadily on the sand-bag, strike it gently with the dabber, taking care not to use any pressure whatever; the ink will thus be imparted evenly upon the surface of the lines without descending to their sides. Having cut a piece of India paper to the required size, breathe upon its smoothest side, lay it on the block, place the card on the back of the paper, and commence rubbing the back of the card with the burnisher. A very steady hand is requisite to do this effectually; for if the India paper be allowed to move, the lines will be blurred or doubled. When every part of the object on the block has been sufficiently rubbed, the operation is finished, and the proof may be removed. A precaution may be necessary in taking proofs by the above plan-which is, to leave a border of the whites standing round the edge of the block, as something for the hand and the burnisher to bear upon. To prevent the black mass (which will of course be inked with the rest) from appearing on the finished proof, a rough one must be taken first, and the subject of the engraving cut out of it with scissors. After inking the block for the clean proof, the black border must be covered with what is left of the first impression, which protects the former from the ink during the burnishing process. Of course the border on the block must be cut away in finishing the woodcut for press. After using, the slab should be cleaned with lye of potashes, or turpentine, and the dabber must be kept clean and soft. If these precautions are not attended to, the proofs will soon become coarse in appearance, and the cuts will be clogged. The most perfect dabber is the ball of the hand; but few will choose to soil their hands with printers' ink. Cuts are cleaned most effectually with turpentine, and they should be carefully dried before being put aside. Outline Figures.-In commencing to cut figures and scenes, it is advisable to copy from wood-engravings of a simple and expressive kind. Almost all beginners commit a serious mistake in attempting to imitate the finer class of wood-engravings, which abound in minute marking. They should learn to bring out an effect in is produced by a few thin and thick lines, with a very slight degree of shading. Outline figures, or such as have but a few touches of shading, as in the annexed, may also at this stage of advancement be engraved. In this example the lines are few, firm, and distinct, and the effect vastly superior to what could be produced by elaborate, but indifferently-executed shading. In proceeding to exe-. cute figures with shading, it is advisable to begin with those possessing few details, and as little complicated in subject as possible. Perhaps something like the following might be copied with advantage: Another class of exercises consists in cutting sketches of round and oval objects, in which there are strong and sudden depths of shadow and strong and sudden lights, as in the preceding figure of the acorn. It will be observed in these examples, as well as in other cuts of a simple class, that three gradations of shade require to be studied. After the pure white comes the lightest shading, consisting of only a few scratches: next we have the gray or middle tone: lastly, we have this mid tone shading down to the pure black. Pure blacks are portions of wood scarcely, if at all, touched by the graver. About this stage of advancement the learner may exercise himself in drawing and cutting foliage of different kinds. As is well known to the draughtsman, foliage is represented differently, according to the nature of the tree. In the accompanying sketch, the Wood-Engraving as a Profession. Wood-engraving is carried on as a profession chiefly in London, where there are some extensive establishments devoted to this line of business. In these, as in all other large concerns, it is not unusual to have a division of labour: a cut being made to go through several hands, from the drawing to the finishing. By such means cuts can be produced with surprising rapidity; but it may be doubted if this wholesale system of production is advantageous to art. The too-common failing of woodcuts is their want of character and truth. They may be neat, elegant, and highly-finished, but not striking for their fidelity, and too ambitiously imitative of steel or copper-plate engravings. Woodcuts should possess a character of their own, which cannot be mistaken; and to attain this character for his productions ought to be the aim of every artist. Another, and perhaps more serious fault of many woodcuts, is their not being adapted to the kind of printing for which they are intended. There are now two kinds of letterpress printing, very different from each other-printing by flat pressure with the handpress, and printing with cylinder machines, moved by steam power. At the hand-press, cuts can be worked off with the greatest possible deliberation and care; and if inked by means of soft balls, any degree of colour can be imparted to them. At the printingmachine, no such pains can be taken: a common or easily-working ink must be employed; the rollers run over the forms with uncompromising speed; and the cylinders, turning out ten or twelve sheets per minute, give a depth of impression which is fatal to delicacy of lines. Now the misfortune is, that wood-engravers do not sufficiently study these distinctions. In sending home their cuts to their employers, they give along with them proofs on India paper, which look exceedingly beautiful; and if the cuts were to be printed on India paper with fine ink, the work would be quite answerable. Such, however, is not the case. Perhaps as many as nine-tenths of all the cuts executed are for machine-printing, with which it is impossible to do them on all occasions justice. Hence the many blurred and ineffective cuts which are seen in books, all the tones being confounded, and often only a gray haze pervading the work. Not that these cuts are badly executed, but that they are suited to an entirely different process of working. We mention these circumstances with the view of doing all in our power to inspire amateur learners with a correct idea of the deficiencies as well as the excellencies of wood-engraving in its present state of advancement. We wish to show them not only what they should attain, but what they ought in prudence to avoid. Already it has been stated that, without a knowledge of drawing, all attempts to prosecute woodengraving successfully must prove fruitless. Let us repeat and impress this fact on the mind of every one who thinks of taking a graver in hand. Let all who are deficient in this qualification procure instruction; and we know of no better seminaries than the Schools of Design now generally established throughout the country. Learn, we say, to sketch with fidelity from nature, to copy from prints and paintings, to acquire taste in grouping, and disposition of light and shade, and to design subjects in illustration of passages in stories, &c. Having acquired a certain proficiency in these departments, which involve much miscellaneous knowledge, the amateur may proceed to wood-cutting, but not till then. After some practice with sketches of this nature, he may proceed to others of a more complicated kind, and in which the contrasts of light and shade are bolder, The surmounting of so many preliminary impediand require more delicate handling. In this, how-ments will no doubt require time and trouble; but no ever, as in many other things, much must be left to attainment of any value can be acquired without inthe taste, the patience, and the skill of the engraver. dustry and patience. The attainment in the present Beyond this it is unnecessary to offer any hints in this instance is worthy of more than the usual degree of brief and rudimentary description. Those who wish labour. It is the acquiring of an art which may be to pursue the profession of wood-engraving, will find turned to most important uses. To those in easy cirit advantageous to consult the elegant and elaborate cumstances, it may be a delightful and elegant exertreatise of Mr Jackson. (C. Knight, London, 1839.) cise. To others less fortunate in worldly condition, it |