gifted cutters could rise beyond the dead level of ordinary practice. As fine draughts- 

 men with a feeling for their materials they did not trace with the knife, they drew 

 and carved with it. Their feeling for line and shape was sensitive, crisp, and supple. 

 But although they created the masterpieces of the medium they suffered from the 

 traditional contempt for their craft. Creative ability in a woodcutter was rarely 

 recognized, and the art fell into gradual decline. By the time the i8th century 

 opened it had been almost entirely abandoned as a means of creating and inter- 

 preting works of art, and had been relegated to a minor place among the print 

 processes. 



The attitude of the print connoisseur was clearly stated as early as 1762 by 

 Horace Walpole : " 



I have said, and for two reasons, shall say little of wooden cuts; that art never was 

 executed in any perfection in England: engraving on metal was a final improve- 

 ment of the art, and supplied the defects of cuttings in wood. The ancient wooden 

 cuts were certainly carried to a great heighth, but tliat was the merit of the masters, 

 not of the method. 



William Gilpin in 1768 went even further. Describing the various contempo- 

 rary print processes he omitted the woodcut entirely as not worthy of consideration. 

 He acknowledged that "wooden cuts" were once executed by early artists but made 

 no additional reference to the medium.' 



As late as 1844 Maberly' cautioned print amateurs to steer clear of block 

 prints : 



Prints, from wooden blocks, are much less esteemed, or, at least, are, generally 

 speaking, of greatly less cost than engravings on copper; and there are connois- 

 seurs who may, perhaps, consider them as rather derogatory to a fine collection. 



Specialized histories of wood engraving, written mainly by 19th-century prac- 

 titioners and bibliophiles, have tended to emphasize literal rendition rather than 

 artistic vision. The writers favored wood engraving executed with the burin on 

 the end grain of hard dense wood, such as box or maple, because it could produce 



''Walpole, 1765 (isted. 1762), p. 3. 



'William Gilpin, An Essay on Prints, London, 1781 (ist ed. 1768), p. 47. "There are tliree kinds of 

 prints, engravings, etchings, and mezzotintos." 

 ^Maberly, 1844, p. 130. 



8 



