Perkins and Fairraan on Engraving. 1'25 



presented themselves, and which are neither light nor few, in- 

 finitely creditable to the artists concerned. 



Through the kindness of Mr. Perkins we have been en- 

 abled to examine his sidero-graphic process in all its parts : 

 and we think that, independent of its other merits, it may be 

 considered as especially important in relation to the great and 

 increasing crime of forgery; — a crime which it is doubtless im- 

 possible to prevent, but which is at present so easy of execu- 

 tion and difficult of detection, that he who increases the obstacles 

 antl doubles the difficulties opposed to so heinous an offence, 

 must be considered as not less deserving of the thanks of his 

 country than of mankind in general. 



Mr. Perkins's plan is briefly this. He has discovered a pe- 

 culiar method of rendering steel extremely soft and sectile, so 

 as to furnish a better material for the engraver to work upon 

 than even copper itself. Upon a plate of steel thus softened, 

 we will suppose an engraving has been executed by one 

 of our first artists, at considerable labour and expense ; it is 

 then returned to Mr. Perkins, who by a process as peculiarly 

 his own as the former, renders it as hard as the hardest steel, 

 without in the smallest degree injuring even the most delicate 

 lines of the graver. A cylinder of sq/lf steel is then prepared, 

 of proper dimensions to receive an impression in relief horn the 

 hardened engraved plate, upon its periphery, a process effected 

 by rolling it over the hardened plate in a singularly constructed 

 press, invented by the patentees for the purpose. This cylinder, 

 now bearing a perfect impression in relief of the original en- 

 graving, is next submitted to the hardening operation, and is 

 then ready for use : that is, being properly placed in the press, 

 it is rolled over a plate of copper, upon which it indents any 

 required number of copies of the first engraving, every copy 

 thus produced being of course a perfect fac-simile of the ori- 

 ginal. So that in this way any number of copper-plates may 

 be engraved in a very short time, from an original of the most 

 exquisite workmanship, each of which, we believe we may 

 safely pronounce, shall be quite equal to an original copper- 

 plate engraving from the same hand, and of the same merits. 



