Figure 6. — Woodcut Tailpiece by 

 J. M. Papillon, from Traile historique 

 et pratique de la gravure en bois, 1766. 

 The cutting was done so minutely that 

 some details were lost in printing. 

 (Actual size.) 



lines of the traditional woodcut usiiallv printed spot- 

 tily when combined with type. The white Hncs, then, 

 had to be broadly separated. This did not permit the 

 engraving of delicate tones. If this could not be 

 achieved, the effect was similar to woodcutting but 

 with less crispness and accuracy in the drawing. A 

 good woodcut in the old manner could do everything 

 the wood engraving could do, before Bewick, with the 

 added virtue that the black line was comparatively 

 clear and unequivocal, as can be seen in figure 5. 



The woodcut, in the hands of a remarkable cutter, 

 could produce miracles of delicacy. It could, in fact, 

 have black lines so fine and so closely spaced as to take 

 on the character of line engraving. It did not, of 

 course, have the range of tones or the delicacy of 

 modeling possible in the copper plate medium, where 

 every little trench cut by the burin would hold ink 

 BELOW the wiped-off surface, to be transferred to 

 dampened paper under the heavy pressure of the 

 cylinder press. In addition, the roughness of early 

 paper, which was serious for the woodcut, created no 

 difficulties for the line engraver or for other workers 

 in the intaglio or gravure media. 



But the influence of copper plate work was strong, 

 and some skillful but misguided woodcut craftsmen 

 tried to obtain .some de2;ree of its richness. French 

 artists from about 1720, notably Jean M. Papillon, 

 produced cuts so delicate that their printing became 

 a problem (see fig. 6). Jackson, who had worked 

 with the French artist in Paris, condemned his efforts 

 to turn the woodcut into a tonal medium through the 

 creation of numerous delicate lines becau.se such effects 



were impossible to print. Jackson '* is quoted in the 

 Enquiry: 



In 1728 Mr. Pappitlon began his small I'arn .Mmanack, 

 wherein is placed Cuts (done on \V'o(k1) allusive to each 

 Month, with the Signs of the Zodiack, in such a Minute 

 Stile, that he seems to forget in that Work the Impos.sibiliiy 

 of printing it in a Press with any Clearness . . . Bui 

 alas! His father and M. le Seur [also woodcutters] had 

 e.Namined Impression and its Process, and saw how careful 

 the Ancients were to keep a proper Distance between their 

 Lines and hatched Works, so as to produce a clean Im- 

 pression ... I saw the Almanack in a horrid Condition 

 before I left Paris, the Signs of the Zodiack wore like a 

 Blotch, notwithstanding the utmost Care and Diligence 

 the Printer used to take up very little Ink to keep them clean. 



It is clear that too thin a strip of white between black 

 lines was not suitable for printing in the first half of 

 the 18th century. But when Bewick's cuts after 1790 

 are examined we can see many white lines thinner 

 than a hair. Obviously something had happened to 

 permit him a flexibility not granted to earlier workers 

 on wood. Bewick's whole craft depended upon his 

 ability to control white lines of varying thickness. 

 Why was he able to do this, and why could it be clone 

 without trouble by others after him? 



Early paper, as already mentioned, had a riblx'd 

 grain becau.se it was made on a hand mould in which 

 wires were closely laid in one direction, but with 

 enough space between to allow the water in the paper 

 pulp to drain through. Crossing wires, set some di.s- 

 tance apart, held them together. Each wire, howe\'er, 

 made a slight impression in the finished paper, the 

 result being a surface with minute ripples. The sur- 

 face of this laid paper presented irregularities even after 

 the glazing operation, done with hammers before about 

 1720 and with wooden rollers up to about 1825.''' 



In 1756 James Whatman began to manufacture a 

 new, smooth paper to replace the laid variety that 

 had been used since the importation of paper into 

 Europe in the 12th century. Whether Whatman or 

 the renowned printer John Baskcrville was the guiding 

 spirit in this development is uncertain."' B-kVitx llli- 



1' Jackson, ap. cil. (footnote 12), p. 29. 



'» Dard Hunter, Papermaking through tighlren crnturia. New 

 York, 1930, pp. 148, 152. 



IS A. T, Heizcn, "Baskcrville and James Whatman,"' Studies 

 in Bibliography, Bibliographical Soeietj/ of the University of Virginia, 

 vol. 5, 1952-53. For a brilliant study of the Whatman mill, 

 where practically all wove paper up to the 1780's was manu- 

 factured, see Thomas Balston's James Whatman, father and son, 

 London, 1957. 



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