PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTING AND ENGRAVING. 5 
to the difficulty of overcoming this defect, photoglyphy is now 
but very little heard of. Mr. Dallas seems in a great measure to 
have succeeded in overcoming this want of evenness, and has 
produced pictures which, regarded as a whole, must be con- 
sidered very satisfactory specimens. They will not bear 
microscopic examination, as do many of Mr. Talbotts; but, 
as pictures, they are much superior to any untouched speci- 
mens produced by either of the processes above alluded to. 
An art like this is still in its infancy. As soon as a method 
of photographic engraving comes into general use for book- 
illustration, improvements will follow one another rapidly ; the 
faults above pointed out are, in a great measure, due to inex- 
perience or defective manipulation, and would vanish as soon 
as a demand arose amongst the public for such illustrations. 
The general adoption of a process of this kind would be 
invaluable : an engraving of any object or scene, however 
good the artist may be, is not and cannot be an exact repre- 
sentation ; at the best it is but a mere approximation to that, 
and there is always a tendency for the artist to idealize the 
subject and render it difficult to recognize at first glance ; and 
he cannot descend to those minutiae of detail which give 
such a charm to the photograph. The great value of photo- 
graphy is that it produces absolute fac- similes; but this value is 
lessened by the tedious rate of reproduction, and the great 
probability that in twenty years’ time upwards of ninety per 
cent, of the photographic prints now in existence will have 
faded out. By wedding engraving to photography, and mak- 
ing the same physical and chemical agencies which impress the 
sensitive tablet produce the engraved plate, the mathematical 
accuracy of form and detail possessed by the photograph is 
secured, united to the permanence of a printed book. 
For the illustration of objects of natural history, flowers, 
plants, and animals, even to the most minute microscopic 
object, this invention is invaluable. By its means fac-similes 
of rare engravings or manuscripts are even now, as in the 
case of “ Doomsday Book,” multiplied to any extent, and 
circulated amongst the public at a price which formerly would 
not have paid for the commonest woodcut. 
The plate given with this article is perhaps as perfect an 
illustration of the accuracy and delicacy of photolithography 
as could well be produced. An ordinary page of the Times 
has first of all been copied photographically, and then trans- 
ferred to stone, the copies being subsequently printed off as 
lithography. 
