CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



the different portions of the work. Fig. 7 repre- 

 sents the method of using the graver. Most en- 

 gravers use a glass of slight magnifying power, 



a 



more for the purpose of relieving the eyes from 

 the strain of fixing both eyes closely on a small 

 object, than for magnifying the work. When gas 



Fig. 7. 



or other artificial light is used, a glass globe filled 

 with water, slightly tinted with blue (to neutralise 

 the reddish glare of the light), is placed between 

 the flame and the work : this serves the double 

 purpose of concentrating the light on the block, 

 and keeping it out of the eyes. When the drawing 

 is in outline, or mostly so, the engraving is very 

 simple : the process consists of engraving a line 

 along each side of the pencil lines, which are, of 

 course, to be left in relief, and afterwards cutting 

 out the white pieces between. It will thus be un- 

 derstood that every part of a woodcut which prints 

 on the paper is the surface of the wood left un- 

 touched, and that every white part is cut or hol- 

 lowed out. Fig. 8 represents a little subject 



Fig. 8. 



Fig. 9. 



outlined; fig. 9 is the same subject finished. 

 When it is complicated with much shading, trees, 

 &c., it becomes much more difficult, and brings 

 into play the artistic talents of the engraver to 

 preserve the proper shades, or colour, as it is 

 technically termed, and texture of the different 

 objects. Some engravers of the present day are 

 celebrated for their power of producing beautiful 

 pictures altogether by ' graver-work ' from draw- 

 ings made entirely with the brush. Skies and flat 



772 



tints are engraved with tint-tools, which, from 

 their shape, are best adapted for cutting straight 

 lines ; and by the judicious use of the different 

 sizes, the lines are left wider or closer, thicker or 

 thinner, as the tint is wanted darker or lighter. As 

 already mentioned, the tools are arranged in sizes 

 i.e., those for light tints are broader at the points 

 than those for dark tints, so as to cut out more 

 white. Trees, foregrounds, &c, are cut with 

 gravers, which, as they are like a lozenge in shape, 

 give more scope for freedom of handling. 



When the drawing is all engraved, a proof is 

 taken by inking the surface gently with printing- 

 ink on a dabber (a ball of cotton covered with 

 silk), and, a piece of India-paper being laid on it, 

 by rubbing the paper with an instrument called a 

 burnisher, until it is all printed. The engraver 

 then sees what touching-up is required a light 

 part to be softened here, a hard dark part to be 

 toned down there, &c. before it is finished and 

 ready for the printer. 



When large blocks are to be engraved, the 

 pieces of wood are joined with screw-bolts, and 

 the drawing prepared in the usual manner ; after 

 which, the pieces can be separated for con- 

 venience in engraving, and also for the purpose of 

 getting it quicker finished, by having an engraver 

 working at each piece a matter of some conse- 

 quence in many cases, as, for example, in the large 

 engravings in the illustrated newspapers. 



As wood-engraving, however, is at the best but 

 a slow process, it is not surprising that many 

 attempts have been made to introduce a substitute 

 for it. The point aimed at is to produce by some 

 process of etching, or otherwise, an engraving in 

 relief, directly from the drawing of the artist, with- 

 out the intervention of the engraver at all. It 

 would occupy several pages of this work merely 

 to enumerate all the processes which have been 

 invented to accomplish this end. The only one 

 which, from its being partially successful, seems 

 deserving of mention, is called the Graphotype 

 Process. The drawing is made on finely prepared 

 chalk, with a preparation of silica ; this hardens 

 the chalk where it is applied ; the spaces between 

 the lines remaining soft, are then carefully re- 

 moved by means of a brush ; a cast or stereotype 

 is then taken, as the chalk is of course too soft 

 itself to be printed from. 



Wood-engraving as a Profession. 



Wood-engraving is carried on as a profession 

 chiefly in London, Edinburgh ranking next in the 

 number of its professors. 



In the larger establishments, it is not unusual 

 to have a division of labour, a block going through 

 several hands, one engraving the sky, another the 

 trees, a third the figures, and so on. By these 

 means, wood-engravings can certainly be produced 

 with amazing rapidity, but it may be doubted 

 whether such a wholesale system is advantageous 

 to art, or to the production of artistic engravers. 



Another matter tending to deteriorate the pro- 

 fession is the peculiar style of drawings indulged in 

 by certain artists. Through an entire misappre- 

 hension of the uses and aims of wood-engraving, 

 they draw etchings on the wood with a very fine 

 point, and expect them to look as well when 

 printed. But as the burin was never intended to 

 supplant the etching-point, the result is not satis- 

 factory ; anything more tedious and mechanical 



