172 



THE BOX. 



several blocks^ the first containing the outline, 

 the second the dark shadows, the third the light 

 tints. But a much greater improvement was ef- 

 fected by Albert Durer, who, by a simpler pro- 

 cess, produced wood-cuts in which the figures 

 were more skilfully designed and grouped, the 

 laws of perspective more carefully attended to, 

 and a variety of minor details introduced, w^hich 

 gave to the subject more of the stamp of truth 

 and Nature. The names of various other artists 

 might be mentioned, who from time to time dis- 

 tinguished themselves by the eminence which they 

 attained, until the close of the seventeenth cen- 

 tury, when the custom of illustrating books with 

 copper-plate engravings came into vogue, and 

 wood-engraving was entirely neglected, so far as 

 it regarded the delineation of subjects of interest, 

 being employed solely for common decoration. 

 That this should have happened is very remark- 

 able, inasmuch as the superiority of wooden blocks 

 over copper-plates in illustrating printed books is 

 very great. In copper-plate engraving, the lines 

 from which the design is transferred are sunk into 

 the metal, either by the corroding efi*ects of a 

 mineral acid, or by a sharp-pointed steel instru- 

 ment. Consequently the sunken lines must be 

 filled with ink before an impression can be struck 

 off : but in ordinary letter-press printing, a raised 

 surface alone receives the ink and transfers the 

 copy. Hence arises an impossibility of printing 

 both by the same process. But in wood-engrav- 

 ing the thickness of the wood being carefully re- 

 gulated by the height of the type with which it 

 is to be used, the block is set up in the same 



