widely spaced, like photographically enlarged details of copper-plate work. Ap- 

 parently Jackson felt that the addition of one or two tones from wood blocks 

 would supply the intermediate tints and at the same time would prevent the line 

 system from becoming obtrusive. 



The decided influence of line engraving was probably the result of his asso- 

 ciation in 1 73 1 with G. A. Faldoni in Venice. Influenced by Claude Mellan, this 

 engraver made use of swelling parallel lines to create tonal gradations. Jackson 

 had first become interested in this technical method through Ecman's woodcuts 

 after Callot, and once Faldoni had strengthened the attraction he found kindred 

 influences in the engravings of Villamena and Alberti, particularly the former, 

 from whom he also acquired design ideas he later put to use in his wallpapers. 

 Jackson's discovery that he could to some extent use copper-plate techniques was 

 not a reversion to the style of the Parisian group of Le Clerc copyists. Jackson used 

 the line system as a means for creating forms in conjunction with tones; the 

 Parisian woodcutters used it to imitate the delicate quality of line engraving. He 

 had a formal aesthetic end in view ; their purpose was to render realistic details in 

 a decorative framework. 



With opportunities for book illustration gone, Jackson was in a difficult posi- 

 tion. His novel chiaroscuro experiments had consumed valuable time and had lost 

 him his standing as a steady worker for printers. Near destitution and scouting 

 around for fresh applications of the woodcut, he decided to make prints for wall- 

 paper on his new press. It was a logical step for Jackson, not only because he knew 

 something of the process but also because he could make use of the chiaroscuro 

 blocks already prepared. Late in 1737 or early in 1738 he had his first samples 

 ready and sent them to Robert Dunbar in London, together with his conditions 

 for carrying on the trade in Venice. Negotiations dragged, and Dunbar died before 

 they could come to terms, but the idea of using his skill and his machine for turn- 

 ing out wallpaper continued to occupy his mind as a possibility. But, for the time, 

 the undertaking had to be laid aside while Jackson looked for more immediate 

 means of employment. 



At this juncture Joseph Smith befriended him. A merchant of long standing 

 in Venice, who became the British consul there in 1745, Smith was a bibliophile, 



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