ENGRAVING 289 



from half a minute to a minute, then let it run off, wash the plate two or three times 

 with clean water, and dry it carefully with a linen cloth. This process of stopping- 

 out and biting-in is continued till the work is complete ; each time the aqua-fortis is 

 applied a fresh tint is produced, and as each part successively becomes dark enough 

 it is stopped out ; in this manner a plate is often finished with one ground bitten 

 in ten or twelve times. We would recommend those who may desire to become 

 thoroughly acquainted with this very interesting yet difficult mode of engraving to 

 consult Fielding's ' Art of Engraving.' 



A few remarks explanatory of the method of printing steel or copper plates seem to 

 bo inseparable from the subject. The press used for the purpose consists of two 

 cylinders or rollers of wood, supported in a strong wooden frame, and moveable at their 

 axes. One of these rollers is placed just above, and the other immediately below, the 

 plane or table upon which the plate to be printed is laid. The upper roller is turned 

 round by means of cogged wheels fixed to its axis. The plate being inked by a printer's 

 inkihg-roller, an operation requiring great care, the paper which is intended to receive 

 the impression is placed upon it, and covered with two or three folds of soft woollen 

 stuff like blanketing. These are moved along the table to the spot where the two 

 rollers meet ; and the upper one being turned by the handle fixed to the fly-wheel, the 

 plate passes through it, conveying the impression as it moves ; the print is then taken 

 off the plate, which has to undergo the same process of inking for the next and every 

 succeeding impression. The proofs of an engraved plate are always taken by the 

 most skilful workmen in a printing establishment ; in the principal houses there are 

 generally employed from two to six men, according to the amount of business trans- 

 acted, whose duty it is to print proof impressions only ; they are called provers. A 

 careful, steady workman is not able to print more than from 180 to 200 good ordinary 

 impressions from a plate, the subject of which occupies about seven inches by ten inches, 

 even in what is considered a long day's work, that is, about fourteen hours ; the prover, 

 from the extreme care required in inking the plate, and from the extra time occupied 

 in wiping it, and preparing the Indian-paper, will do from thirty to forty, according as 

 the subject of the plate is light or heavy. This difference in the cost of production, 

 taking also into account that the proofs are worked off before the plate has become 

 worn, even in the least degree, and that very few proofs, compared with the ordinary 

 prints, are generally struck off, is the reason why they are sold at a price so much 

 greater than the latter. 



Notwithstanding the vast multiplication of engravings within the last few years, it 

 is generally admitted, by those best acquainted with the present state of the art, that 

 it is not in a healthy condition. The highest class of pictorial subjects history, and 

 the highest style of engraving line, have given place to subjects of less exalted cha- 

 racter, and to a mixed style of work, which, however effective for its especial purpose, 

 is not pure art. The pictures by the late Sir E. Landseer have gained for engravings of 

 such subjects a popularity that has driven almost everything else out of the field, and 

 have created a taste in the public which is scarcely a matter of national congratulation. 

 We have engravers in the country capable of executing works equal to whatever has been 

 produced elsewhere at any time, but their talents are not called into requisition in such 

 a way as to exhibit the art of engraving in its highest qualities. Publishers are not 

 willing to risk their capital on works which the public cannot appreciate, and hence, 

 their windows are filled with prints, the subjects of which, however pleasing and 

 popular, are not of a kind to elevate the taste ; while the conditions under which en- 

 gravers generally are compelled to work, offer but little inducement for the exercise 

 of the powers at their command. Engraving on copper is in the present day but rarely 

 attempted; formerly nothing else was thought of; now the demand for engraving is 

 so great that copper, even aided by the electrotype, is insufficient to meet its require- 

 ments. In consequence of the comparatively small number of impressions which it 

 yields, a copper-plate will seldom produce more than 500 or 600 good prints ; we have 

 known a steel, with occasionally retouching, produce more than 30,000, when well 

 engraved, and carefully printed ; very much depends on the printer, both with regard 

 to the excellence of the impression and the durability of the plate. The public demand 

 is for prints both large and cheap, and to obtain this result, the engraver is too often 

 obliged to sacrifice those qualities of his art which under other circumstances his work 

 would exhibit. Such is the state of engraving with us now. There are few, even of 

 the best artists we have, who by their utmost efforts can earn an income equal to 

 that of a tradesman in a small but respectable way of business. This is an evil to be 

 deplored, for it assists to deteriorate the art by forcing the engraver to labour hard for 

 a maintenance, instead of placing him in a position that would enable him to exalt the 

 art and his own reputation at the same time. 



A process of depositing steel upon an engraved copper-plate was some time ago 

 brought over to this country from France. M, Joubert, a French engraver long 



VOL, II, U 



