the color woodcut as a distinct art form that rivaled the polychrome effects of 

 painting while retaining a character of its own. These were not modest little pieces 

 of purely technical interest. The set of 24 sheets reproducing 17 paintings by Vene- 

 tian masters made up the most heroic single project in chiaroscuro, and the 6 large 

 landscapes, completed in 1744, after gouache paintings by Marco Ricci, were the 

 most impressive color woodcuts in the Western world between the i6th century 

 and the last decade of the 19th. 



But Jackson's grand ambition to advance the woodcut beyond all other 

 graphic media had little public or private support and finally led him to ruin. His 

 efforts were made with insufficient means and with few patrons. As a consequence, 

 he rarely printed editions after the blocks were cut and proofed. The Venetian set 

 is well known because it was printed in a substantial edition. A few additional 

 subjects were also sponsored by patrons, but most of Jackson's other chiaroscuros 

 were never published — they were limited to a few proofs. Editions were post- 

 poned, no doubt, in the hope that a patron would come along to pay expenses in 

 return for a formal dedication in Latin, but this did not often happen. Most sub- 

 jects exist in a few copies only; of some, single impressions alone remain. Others 

 have entirely disappeared. 



With a large part of Jackson's work unknown, his reputation settled into an 

 uneasy obscurity which, it must be granted, has not prevented his work from being 

 collected. The chiaroscuros, especially the Venetian prints, can be found in many 

 leading collections in Europe and the United States, but the full-color sheets after 

 Ricci are excessively rare, particularly in complete sets. 



Jackson has long been considered an interesting figure. His Essay on the In- 

 vention of Engraving and Printing in Chiaro Oscuro . . .^ with its bold claims 

 to innovation and merit, his adventurous career as an English woodcutter in Eu- 

 rope, his adaptation of the color woodcut to wallpaper printing and his pioneering 

 efforts in diis field, and Papillon's immoderate attack on him in the important 

 Traite historiqtie et pratique de la gravure en bois * will be discussed later. For 

 the moment we can say that the Essay was the first book by an Englishman with 



^Jackson, London, 1754. Hereafter cited as Essay. Other references bearing direcdy on Jackson will 

 receive only partial citation in the text. They are given in full in the bibliography, page 171. 

 * Papillon, Paris, 1766. Hereafter cited as the Traite. 



