ENGRAVING. 
stopping out the lightest parts ; for it must 
be remembered the whole secret of biting 
or corroding any subject consists in the 
judicious manner in which the depth and 
breadth of the lines are varied, as by pro- 
per management they may be left scarcely 
perceptible, or increased very considerably. 
The composition used for the above pur- 
pose is, turpentine varnish mixed with 
lamp-black, and diluted so as to be used 
freely with a camel’s hair pencil ; this ap- 
plied to the parts of the plate sufficiently 
corroded, will effectually prevent the aqua 
fortis from touching it again, and the re- 
mainder proceeds as if no such application 
had taken place : it will be necessary to 
strengthen the water as the work becomes 
nearer completion, but cautiously, lest the 
ground should be broken ; and every time 
the aqua fortis is removed the plate must 
be washed with clean water and gradually 
dried, otherwise the varnish cannot be used, 
and the lines would be clogged with the de- 
composed metal. For taking the ground from 
the plate it is usual to cover the surface with 
olive oil, and heating it, wipe the plate with 
a soft piece of old linen and spirits of tur- 
pentine, will effectually remove all remain- 
ing dirt. 
Re-biting, is the art of strengthening those 
lines of an etching in a plate from which the 
original ground has been cleansed. This is 
done by applying the ground as at first di- 
rected, but with great care that the melted 
composition does not fill, or even partially 
fill the lines, to prevent which the cotton 
wrapt in silk, called the dabber, should be 
used exclusively by taking a small quantity 
of melted ground on it, and gently touching 
the parts between the lines till they are 
equally and completely covered ; if the 
plate is considerably heated, the ground 
will spread with more facility over the 
various interrupted surfaces. Carelessness 
or inattention will instantly ruin this pro- 
cess, and the whole of the plate : a border 
of wax must surround the parts to be re- 
bitten, and a channel made to carry off the 
aqua fortis without injuriiig those already 
completed. Supposing the operations of 
etching and biting the plate entirely finish- 
ed, nothing more remains than to examine 
it attentively, and improve it with the 
graver and dry point. 
Stipling, or engraving in the dotted man- 
rner, was in a great measure introduced by' 
Bartolozzi, whose works in this way are 
astonishingly numerous, exclusive of those 
to which his name is affixed and not the 
products of himself. Some pastoral scenes, 
with figures, when printed in colours have a. 
pleasing effect ; and small portraits stipled 
will bear examination ; but historical sub- 
jects, which have great breadth of shade, 
appear to no advantage engraved in this 
manner. Stipling is performed by etching 
the plate with dots and biting it, laying the 
shades with a tool for the purpose, using 
the graver and the dry point, and scraping 
off the roughness thus occasioned. 
Engraving in Aquatinta. The print from 
an aqua-tinted plate resembles a neatly 
finished drawing in Indian ink ; this effect is 
produced by corroding the plate between 
the particles of a material entirely differ- 
ent from' the etching ground. The first step 
in this process is to prepare a plate exactly 
in the way already described, and etch the 
outlines of the subject to be aqua-tinted, 
which are to be slightly bitten, and the plate 
thoroughly cleansed. The substance used 
to form the grains of the subject (which may 
be common resin, burgundy-pitch, asphal- 
tum, gum-mastich, or gum-copal, either 
separate or mixed) should be reduced to a 
fine powder and sifted, put into a piece of 
muslin, and holding it high above the plate 
it must be struck against any substance 
held in the left hand till the shower of dust 
thus produced has covered the plate equally 
throughout, preserving it carefully in this 
situation, the plate is to be heated suffi- 
ciently to melt the powder, which will 
make the grains assume a circular form, and 
contract, leaving, when cold, a beautiful sur- 
face fit for the aqua fortis. Common resin 
is generally preferred for this part of the 
operation, but gum-copal is less liable to 
be broken loose from the plate during the 
process of biting. 
Tim drawing to be copied must serve as 
the future basis of proceeding, which is to 
be imitated in the following manner : the 
perfectly white parts of the intended print 
are to be covered on the plate, with the 
varnish mentioned in etching, by the use of 
a camel’s-hair pencil ; a border of wax must 
then be raised, and the aqua fortis diluted 
poured on ; the same method is afterwards 
practised in the stopping out before recom- 
mended, except that the depth of the cor- 
roding cannot be so great as in the line 
manner. 
In order to obviate any difficulties which 
occur in procuring sufficient depths of 
shade, a method has been invented that en- 
ables the artist to produce an effect almost 
equal to the decisive touches of a brush 
filled with colour in drawing, which is the 
mse of a liquid made with water, treacle, 
