and John Jackson remained engravers, as did a host 

 of lesser indixiduals. Dohson says:-^ 



The pupils who quilted him to seek their fortunes in 

 London either made their way with diflScuhy, or turned to 

 other pursuits, and the real popularization of wood-en- 

 graving did not take place until some years after his death. 



One reason for delay in adopting the new technique 

 may have been the danger of the block splitting, or 

 of the sections of wood coining apart at the mortise- 

 joints during the printing operation. If this happened, 

 work had to be suspended until a new block was 

 engraved, or until the sections were reglued. For 

 periodicals with deadlines, this was a serious hazard. 



Wood Engraving and the Stereotype 



In any exent, wood engraving did not really llourish 

 until a practical stereotyping [jrocess was perfected. 

 By this procedure substitute blocks of type metal 

 could replace the wood engravings in the press, and 

 the danger of splitting the block was eliminated. 

 The first steps of any importance toward a practical 

 proce.ss were made by the Earl of Stanhope around 

 1800, but not until Claude Genoux in France, be- 

 tween 1828 and 1829, developed the papier mache 

 or wet mat process could acceptable stereotypes of 

 entire pages be produced.-" By this inethcd, patented 

 on July 24, 1829. and others that followed, a number 

 of duplicate plates of each page could be made as 

 required for rapid printing on a battery of presses. 

 Wood engra\'ing now emerged as a practical rueihod 

 of ilhrstration for popular publications. The Penny 

 Magazine and the Saturday Magazine, foimded in 

 1832, immediately made use of Genoux's stereo- 

 typing process. Dobson -'* describes the cfTect of these 

 periodicals: 



"The art of wood engraving received an astonishing 

 impact from these publications. The engraver, instead of 

 working increly with his own hands, has been obliged to 

 take five or si.\ pupils to get through the work." (Mr. 

 Cowper's evidence before the Select Committee on Arts 

 and Manufactures, 1835). It is difficult nowadays [1884] 

 to understand what a revelation these two periodicals, with 

 their representations of far countries and foreign animals, 

 of masterpieces of painting and sculpture, were to middle- 

 class households fifty years ago. 



-" Dobson, op. cit. (footnote 8), p. 174. 



'' George Kubler, A history 0/ stereotyping, New York, 1941. 

 p. 75. 

 28 Dobson, op. cit. (footnote 8), p. 173. 



Figure it. I.-MLi'iiiCK by 1 homas 

 Bewick (actual size), engraved after a 

 drawing by John Bewick, from The 

 Chase, by William Somervile, 1796. 

 {Photo courtesy the Library oj Congress.) 



We will not pursue Bewick's career further. With 

 habits of hard work deeply ingrained, he kept at his 

 bench until his death in 1828, engraving an awesome 

 quantity of cuts. But he never surpassed his work 

 on the Birds, although his reputation grew in propor- 

 tion to the spread of wood engraving throughout 

 the world. 



The medium became more and more detailed, and 

 eventually rivaled photography in its minute varia- 

 tions of tone (see figs, 15 and 16). But printing wood 

 engravings never was a problem again. Not only was 

 wove paper always used in this connection, but it had 

 become much cheaper through the invention of a ma- 

 chine for producing it in lengths, Nicholas Louis 

 Robert, in France, had developed and exhibited such 

 an apparatus in 1797, at the instigation of M. Didot. 

 John Gamble in England, working with Henry and 

 Charles Fourdrinier, engaged a fine mechanic. Bryan 

 Donkin, to build a machine on improved principles. 

 The first comparatively successful one was completed 

 in 1803. It was periodically improved, and wove 

 paper appeared in increasing quantities. .Spicer ^ 

 says: "Naturally these improvements and economies 

 in the manufacture of paper were accompanied by a 

 corresponding increase in output. Where, in 1806, a 

 machine was ca|)able of making 6 cwt. in tweKe hours, 

 in 1813 it could turn out double that quantitv in the 

 same time at one quarter the expense." 



» A, D, Spicer, Thf paper trade, London, 1907, p. 63. 



PAPER II: WHY BEWICK .SUCCEEDED 



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