42 



ENGRAVING. 



care that none of the ground gets into the lines, to 

 fill them up. The acid is then applied as before, until 

 sufficient strength is obtained. 



Painters have been long in the practice of etching 

 subjects. In general these are done in a free man- 

 ner, so as to produce an efl'ect, without any attention 

 being paid to the regularity of lines as in an engrav- 

 er's etching. The process is exactly similar to that 

 practised by engravers. We have given an example 

 of a painter'* etching, plate xxxv, fig. 3. 



Engraving in Lines. The subject having been 

 forwarded by means of etching, as we have above des- 

 cribed, and represented, plate xxxv, fig. 1, the process 

 is completed by engraving. This is executed by an 

 instrument called a graver, which is either square or 

 lozenge, according to the work for which it is to be 

 used. The quantity of work executed with this 

 instrument, will be seen by comparing the figures 

 No. 1, and No. 2. The former is an exact copy of 

 what is termed an aquafortis proof, and the latter 

 from a finished impression of the print. In the 

 operation of cutting the lines with a graver, there is 

 a roughness, or burr, thrown up, which must be 

 removed by the scraper. Lines in an historical piece 

 or portrait are not cut to their depth or thickness at 

 once, but are produced by being frequently re-entered 

 with the graver. This not only gives clearness, but 

 also depth of tone, and regularity of line. The first 

 cutting of lines with the graver is termed laying in 

 the shadows ; all the effect being produced by 

 the finishing. To facilitate the progress of the work, 

 where depth of tone is required, those parts are 

 subjected to the operation of re-biting ; ' by which 

 means, in the course of an hour or two, an effect 

 may be given to the work, which would have taken 

 some weeks by the more tedious use of the graver. 

 To see the state of the engraving without an impres- 

 sion, an oil rubber, with black in it, is used, with 

 which the lines are filled up ; and a pretty good 

 idea of the effect may be ascertained. The more 

 delicate parts of an engraving are generally done in 

 dry point, that is, by means of the etching needle 

 pressed into the copper, so as to produce the depth 

 of line required, and the burr afterwards scraped off. 



If the engraver makes a mistake, or changes his 

 mind, respecting any part of his work, this can be 

 remedied by scraping it out, or concealing it by 

 burnishing it firmly ; and, if not too deep, it can be 

 polished with charcoal and water, and afterwards 

 rendered more smooth with the burnisher. But if 

 the part taken out is strong, it will, in all probabi- 

 lity, be below the surface of the plate. In which 

 case it must be struck up; by marking the exact 

 size and situation of the hollow, on the oack of the 

 plate, by a pair of callipers, and placing the face of 

 the plate, on a finely polished steel anvil, beat it up 

 with a small hammer, to the level, from behind. 



In the process of engraving, a shade of tissue 

 paper is used, to prevent the reflection of light from 

 the copper into the eyes. This is made by pasting 

 paper on a hollow stretching frame, which is placed 

 with its base near the till of the window, while the 

 top part projects obliquely into the room. This is, 

 however, quite unnecessary in etching. An expe- 

 rienced eye can, at once, detect which lines have 

 been etched, and which have been produced by the 

 graver. The former are always more or less serrated 

 on their edges, while the latter are clear and smooth. 

 Most engravers use a glass, both in etching and 

 finishing their plates. 



Engraving in Outline, This method is well 

 adapted for the representation of gems and statuary, 

 where a likeness of an object is to be given, and 

 where it is desirable to avoid the expense of a 

 finished engraving. We have given a representation 



of this outline, plate xxxv, fig. 7. It will be noticed 

 that, as a substitute for shadows, a stronger line is cut, 

 which also takes off from the tamenessof a uniformly 

 thick line. Outline may either be executed by first 

 etching the subject, and cutting the stronger lines 

 with the graver ; or it may be done by transferring 

 the subject to the copper by means of a wax ground, 

 and the outline scratched with the point, as in writ- 

 ing, and then cut with the graver. 



Steel Engraving The number of good impres- 

 sions which can be thrown off from an engraving on 

 copper, seldom exceeds one thousand to fourteen 

 hundred, depending on the execution of the subject. 

 Within these few years, steel has been used instead 

 of copper, and this invention has tended more than 

 any other to advance the fine arts. From a well 

 executed steel plate from forty to sixty thousand 

 good impressions may be thrown off. This valuable 

 discovery was made by an American engraver, of 

 the name of Perkins. This gentleman has not only 

 the merit of this invention, out also of producing, 

 from a single engraving, a number of other plates. 

 He can, with great facility, obtain from one engrav- 

 ing any required number of plates, all of which are 

 equal to the original, and by which millions of im- 

 pressions may be produced. The process of multi- 

 plying engravings, etchings, or engine-work, is as 

 follows : Steel mocks or plates, of sufficient size to 

 receive the intended engraving, have their surfaces 

 softened or decarbonated, and thereby rendered a 

 better material for receiving all kinds of work than 

 even copper itself, which, heretofore, was considered 

 the best metal for the purpose. After the intended 

 engraving has been executed upon the block, or 

 plate, it is then hardened with great care by a new 

 process which prevents injury to the most delicate 

 work. A cylinder of steel, previously softened, is 

 then placed in the transferring press, and repeatedly 

 passed over the engraved block, by which the 

 engraving is transferred in relief to the periphery of 

 the cylinder ; the press having a vibrating motion 

 equalling that of the cylinder upon its periphery, by 

 which new surfaces of the cylinder are presented, 

 equal to the extent of the engraving. The cylinder 

 is then hardened, and is employed to indent copper 

 or steel plates, with engravings identically the same 

 with that upon the original block ; and this may be 

 repeated, ad infinitum, as the original engraving will 

 remain from which other cylinders may be impressed, 

 if required. 



Stippling. This is engraving in dots in place of 

 lines. There are two ways of executing this species 

 of engraving. The first is by pursuing the same 

 process as in an etching, and having the subject trans- 

 ferred to the plate. The outline and part of the 

 shading is executed with an etching point, and then 

 bit, as described hi etching. When the ground is 

 removed, the engraving is completed with the graver. 

 The dots produced by the point are necessarily round 

 while those made by the graver are somewhat rhom- 

 boidal, or slightly triangular, depending on the kind 

 of graver which is used. If engravings of this 

 kind are examined by means of a lens, it will be 

 found that what appears a single dot to the naked 

 eye, consists of a number of very minute dots. This 

 gives to the engraving that beautiful softness which 

 is observable in the works of Ryland, Freeman, and 

 other first rate stipple engravers. This kind of 

 engraving is more tedious in its execution than line 

 engraving, and hence more expensive. Stippling has 

 much softness and resembles a drawing; indeed, when 

 printed in colours, engravings of this kind very 

 closely resemble coloured drawings. 



In the coarser kinds of work, an instrument has 

 been devised for producing dots in a more expeditious 



