says, was a brilliant copyist of the line engravings of Sebastien Le Clerc but, be- 

 cause he was a line-for-line copyist, lacked skill in drawing. Papillon's father, also 

 a woodcutter who copied LeClerc, avoided cross-hatching, which Jackson consid- 

 ered an essential ingredient of the true style of black-and-white woodcutting; 

 Papillon himself, while described as a draughtsman of the utmost accuracy, was 

 criticized for making his work so minute that it was impossible to print clearly. 

 Jackson says in the Enquiry (pp. 29-30) : 



If his Father neglected Cross Hatching, the Son affected to outstrip the le Seurs in 

 this difficult Performance, and even the ancient Venetians, believing to have fixed 

 a Non plus ultra in our Times to any future Attempts with Engraving on Wood. 

 ... I saw the Almanack ^^ in a horrid Condition before I left Paris, the Signs 

 of the Zodiack wore like a Blotch, notwithstanding die utmost Care and Diligence 

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

 make mention of these two Frenchmen as the only Persons in my time keeping up 

 to the Stile of the ancient Engraving on Wood; and as they favoured me with 

 their Friendship and Advice during my abode in Paris, I thought in Justice to 

 their good Nature it was proper to give some Account of their Merit! 



Acknowledgment of friendship and merit in this vein, while entirely true 

 (Papillon was minute to the point of exhibitionism, and his cuts were often not 

 adapted to clear printing), demonstrates the lack of tact that made powerful en- 

 emies for Jackson wherever he traveled. Papillon no doubt read the Enquiry, in 

 which he was discussed at length, and the well-known Essay, with its aggressive 

 tone and irresponsible claims. When Papillon's Traite came out in 1766 he took the 

 opportunity to put the English artist in his place. Certainly his account was colored 

 by Jackson's writings; there is no other explanation for this display of personal 

 bitterness in a work published t^6 years after the Englishman left Paris (pp. 

 327-328): 



J. Jackson, an Englishman who lived in Paris for a few years, might have perfected 

 himself in wood engraving, which he had learned, as I said previously on page 323, 

 from an English painter, if he had been willing to follow my advice. As soon as 

 he arrived in Paris he came to me asking for work; I gave him some things to 

 execute for a few months in order to allow him to live, for which he repaid me 

 with ingratitude by making a duplicate of a floral ornament of my design which 

 he offered, before delivering the block to me, to the person for whom it was to be 



^' The Petit almanack de Paris, founded by J. M. Papillon in 1727 and illustrated with his woodcuts. 



19 



