Nov. 1844.] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. cxxv 



able forms, and arrangements, defy description ! the disposition of the fleecy cloud, 

 the rich array of floral hues and symmetry, do but mock our imperfect conceptions of 

 nature. Failing to give endurance to them by any descriptive process, — the art of 

 Printing is confessedly incomplete ; yet, the artist's skill is limited, and can only 

 be imparted through the medium of other contrivances. Engraving, as a means 

 of communicating and multiplying such artistical skill, is justly appreciated as a 

 necessary adjunct to Printing, and has now been brought to a high state of perfection 

 in England. 



The impulse which has been given to every discovery, in the progress of events, for 

 the last fifty years, and the long interval of peace, have operated mightily on all those 

 branches which are in any way connected with chemistry, and our artists have not 

 been slow to perceive that the strictest adherence to the symmetry of nature, to fact, to 

 beauty, and to taste, are as intimately connected with the arts of design as a regard to 

 the niceties of manipulation to practical success. 



The earliest and rudest process of Wood-cutting was admitted to possess a high de- 

 gree of usefulness — how short it falls of the art as now practised ! and yet, perhaps, 

 those very rude specimens were often as costly, in bygone days, as some of the wood- 

 cuts introduced, by way of embellishment, into many elaborate publications of the 

 present time : the wood-cuts, for instance, in Loudon's works on gardening and agri- 

 culture. How exquisitely beautiful, also, are many of the little woodcuts in children's 

 books, those of the Tract Society, for example, on special objects of Natural history. 

 Do not such lend a fascination to the inculcation of right principles, and smooth the 

 old rough paths of education ; the eye of the teacher, or the parent, rests sweetly on 

 them ; yet far more delightfully the eye of the little ones — and the object is nobly and 

 simply gained. At a single glance, without an effort, what would be otherwise inade- 

 quately attempted, and imperfectly employed, is pictorially communicated with every 

 advantage. 



The art of Copper-plate engraving was chiefly promoted as a substitute for wood- 

 cuts, by the eminent artists of the Italian school, who condescended to throw all the 

 weight of their lofty mind and talent into the scale, and thus conferred on this art a 

 character, which to this day, it has not yet acquired in Britain. Where, indeed, do 

 we see persons thus occupied, though remarkable for their proficiency in design, 

 admitted to a place in society, as persons entitled by taste, and their proper art, to the 

 same consideration as the painter and the poet ? We have been too much accustomed, 

 hitherto, to treat this as a purely mechanical business. 



Engraving on steel, as a further step to the multiplication of illustrations, has its ad- 

 vantages and disadvantages. A copper-plate engraving is subject to wear out, after a 

 comparatively limited number of impressions. After some two or three thousand, the 

 best engraving on copper is sensibly deteriorated: then, on the other hand, it can be 

 retouched, alterations may be introduced, and these with greater ease and less expense 

 than is supposed. But the steel engraving cannot be altered; nevertheless, it is sharp- 

 er, cleaner, and more durable; and will admit, with proper care, of an indefinite 

 number of impressions. For maps, copper-plate engraving is unquestionably to be 

 preferred to steel engraving. For line engraving, perhaps on the whole, steel is to be 

 preferred. 



Then there are Mezzotint, Aquatint, and various other similar processes fitted 

 principally for historical subjects, or portraits, of which it is sufficient to say, they 



