AUDUBON'S GREATEST TRIUMPH 193 



When we consider the size of Audubon's plates, 

 which required for the portrayal of his largest subjects, 

 such as the Whooping Crane or Wild Turkey, an area 

 of no less than five square feet, it will be seen that his 

 engraver was compelled to adopt the most expeditious 

 methods. This and kindred difficulties were overcome 

 by Havell's skillful union of aquatint with etching and 

 line engraving, but some of his smaller figures, as the 

 Snow Birds (Plate 13), appear to have been etched 

 in the usual way, with but slight use of either aquatint, 

 dry-point or burin. In aquatinting the plate was usual- 

 ly bitten to the desired depth for the softer shading of 

 feathers or foliage, or for the entire expression of sky, 

 water or landscape. Says George Alfred Williams : 15 



Aquatint proper consists entirely of gradations of tone 

 produced by biting with aquafortis into the copper through a 

 resinous ground broken into a multitude of fine granules, that 

 render the personal touch practically negligible, and in con- 

 sideration of this we can appreciate the exceptionally skillful 

 use Havell, Junior, made of the difficult process. The graining 

 of the aquatint grounds is produced by allowing fine dust par- 

 ticles to settle upon the freshly prepared plate. It is to these 

 grainings of different degrees of fineness that the engraver must 

 look for the subtlety of the tonal surfaces, but strength is 

 obtained usually through the use of the etched line. The chief 

 limitation of the aquatint process lies in the great difficulty of 

 getting more than a few differences of shade, as the ground 

 goes to pieces rather rapidly under successive bitings, and the 

 transitions from one tone to another are very few, so that half 

 tones are not readily obtainable. It is in the economical use 

 of these half tones that Havell, Junior, achieved so much and 

 thereby produced a chiaroscuro seldom, if ever, equaled in 

 aquatint. 



15 Loc. tit. 



