ijin c-E'iujrav ukj . 



19 



B. LINE-ENGRAVING. 



Process. 



The material used in all 

 the intaglio processes is 

 a finely polished plate 

 of metal, generally of 

 copper, but sometimes 

 of other metals, such as 

 iron, zinc, pewter, or 

 silver. The tool used 

 in line-engraving, the 

 graver or burin, has 

 already been described 

 and illustrated under 

 Woodcut. The way in 

 which the graver is used 

 is best shown in the 

 X^late from William 

 Faithorne's Art of 

 Gravc'ing and Etching, 

 1662 (fig. 5). The plate 

 is laid on a pad to 

 facilitate its turning. 

 The copper cut away by 

 the graver is thrown out 

 chiefly in front of the 

 point of the graver, but 

 also slightly lifted and 

 curled at either side of 

 the furrow. With a per- 

 fectly sharpened graver, 

 this curl of metal at the 

 side will be very slight. 

 This burr, as it is called 

 in itself and in its 

 results, would retain ink 

 in the printing, which 

 could not be wiped 

 with the other ink 

 from the surface of the 

 plate. So that the line, 

 if untouched, would 

 print with more or less 

 tone at the side, accord- 

 ing to the strength of 

 the burr. As the aim 



of line-engraving is clearness of line, the burr is always removed. It 

 is cut from the surface by means of the scraper, an instrument with a 



c 2 . 



Fig. 5.— Thk TTse op the Graver. From an engraving 

 in William Faithorne's Art of Graveing and 

 Etching, London, 1662. 



