ENGRAVING 297 



such as pear-tree, the way of the grain ; the moderns, on small blocks of the hardest 

 wood they can obtain the turkey box, and across the grain. For printing paper- 

 hangings, oil-cloths, and the like, wood-blocks cut on the old system, i.e. on the side- 

 grain of the wood, is still employed. The old engravers cut the work downwards 

 with small knives or gouges ; the moderns use gravers of various widths to cut out 

 the spaces between fine lines, and broader chisels or gouges to clear away the broad 

 spaces of white. Wood-eugraving is the exact opposite to copper-plate- engraving in 

 the mode by which the lines of engraving are produced. The copper-plate engraver 

 produces his lines by cutting into the metal at once, the wood engraver produces his 

 line by a double operation, by slicing away the wood on each side of it ; for though 

 it is recorded that Bewick invented a double cutting fork-shaped graver to cut 

 away both sides of a lino at once, no such tool has over since been used in the 

 profession. 



In order to make the whole process of wood-engraving clear to the reader, we 

 will now simply describe the production of a woodcut from the time it leaves the 

 timber-merchant, until it is fit for the hands of the printer. The log of box is cut 

 into transverse slices, |ths of an inch in depth, in order that the face of the cut may be 

 on a level with the surface of the printer's type, and receive the same amount of 

 pressure ; the block is then allowed to remain some time to dry, and the longer it is 

 allowed to do so the better, as it prevents accidents by warping and splitting, which 

 sometimes happen after the cut is executed, if the wood is too green. The slice is 

 ultimately trimmed into a square block, and if the cut be large, it is made in various 

 pieces strongly clamped and screwed together; and this enables engravers to get 

 large cuts done in an incredibly short space of time, by putting the various pieces 

 into different engravers' hands, and then screwing the whole together. The upper 

 surface of the wood is carefully prepared so that no inequalities may appear upon 

 it, and it is then consigned to the draughtsman to receive the drawing. He covers 

 the surface with a light coat of flake white mixed with weak gum- water, and the 

 thinner this coat the better for the engraver. The French draughtsmen use an 

 abundance of flake white, but this is liable to make the drawing rub out under the 

 engraver's hands, or deceive him as to the depth of the line he is cutting in the wood. 

 The old drawings of the era of Durer seem to have been carefully drawn with pen 

 and ink on the wood ; but the modern drawing being very finely drawn with the 

 pencil or silver point is obliterated easily, and there is no mode of ' setting ' or 

 securing it. To obviate this danger the wood-engraver covers the block with paper, 

 and tears out a small piece the size of a shilling to work through, occasionally re- 

 moving the paper to study the general effect ; in damp and wintry weather he some- 

 times wears a shade over the mouth to hinder the breath from settling on the block. 

 It is now his business to produce in relief the whole of the drawing ; with a great 

 variety of tools he cuts away the spaces, however minute, between each of the pencil 

 lines : and should there be tints washed on the drawing to represent sky and water, 

 he cuts such parts of the block into a series of close lines, which will, as near as he 

 can judge, print the same gradation of tint. Should he find he has not done so com- 

 pletely, he can re-enter each line with a broader tool, cutting away a small shaving, 

 thus reducing their width and consequently their colour. Should he make some fatal 

 error that cannot be otherwise rectified, he can cut out the part in the wood, and 

 wedge a plug of fresh wood in the place, when that part of the block can be re- 

 engraved. An error of this sort in a woodcut is a very troublesome thing ; in copper 

 engraving it is scarcely any trouble ; a blow with a hammer on the back will obliterate 

 the error on the face, and produce a new surface ; but in wood the surface is cut 

 entirely away, except where the lines occur, and it is necessary to cut it deep enough 

 not to touch the paper as it is squeezed through the press upon the lines in printing. 

 To aid the general effect of a cut, it is sometimes usual to lower the surface of the 

 block before the engraving is executed in such parts as should appear light and delicate ; 

 they thus receive a mere touch of the paper in the press, the darker parts receiving 

 the whole pressure and coming out with double brilliancy. When careful printing 

 is bestowed on cuts they are first carefully brought to the height of the type, by 

 underlaying, as it is termed, with paper of the required thickness ; an impression is 

 then taken with the tympan of the press, and the dark parts of the engraving over- 

 layed with paper carefully cut out ; another impression is then taken, and the same 

 process is to be continued of laying on and cutting out for the light parts until a 

 satisfactory impression be produced, corresponding with the engraver's proof, which 

 the pressman should always keep under his observation. 



Wood-engraving is a most useful adjunct to the author, and must always command 

 a large amount of attention. In this country the art has been carried to the highest 

 degree of perfection. In works like the present, the author is greatly aided by a 

 diagram, which can more clearly explain his meaning than a page of letter-press ; 



