ENGRAVING. 
forward with more or less pressure, accord- 
ing to the thickness of the line. Great care 
is necessary to carry the hand witli such 
steadiness and skill as to prevent the en'd 
of the line from being stronger and deeper 
than tlse commencement; and sufncient 
space must be left between the lines to en- 
able the artist to make those stronger, gra- 
dually, which require it. The roughness or 
burr occasioned by the graver must be re- 
moved by the scraper, the lines filled by 
the oil-rubber, and the surface of the cop- 
per cleansed, in order that the progress of 
the work may be ascertained. 
If any accident should occur by the slip- 
ping of the graver beyond the boundary re- 
quired, or lines are found to be placed er- 
roneously, they are to be eifaced by the 
burnisher, which leaving deep indentings, 
those must be levelled by the scraper, rub- 
bed with charcoal and water, and finally 
polished lightly with the burnisher. 
As the uninterrupted light of the day 
causes a glare upon the surface of the cop- 
per, hurtful and dazzling to the eyes, it is 
customary to engrave beneath the shade of 
silk paper, stretched on a square frame, 
which is placed reclining towards the room 
near the sill of a window. 
Such are the directions and means to be 
employed in engraving historical subjects ; 
indeed the graver is equally necessary for 
the completion of imperfections in etching, 
to which most be added the use of the dry 
point in both, for making the faintest shades 
in tlie sky, architecture, drapery, water, 
&c. &c. 
Engraving of Mezzotintos differs entirely 
from the manner above described ; this me- 
thod of producing prints, which resemble 
drawings in Indian ink, is said by Evelyn, 
in his history of chalcography, to have been 
discovered by Prince Rupert, and was 
some years past a very favourite way of en- 
graving portraits and historical subjects ; of 
the former, the large heads by Fry are of 
superior excellence. 
The tools required for this easy and rapid 
mode of proceeding, are the grounding-tool, 
the scraper, and the burnisher; the copper- 
plate should be prepared as if intended for 
the graver, and laid fiat upon a table, with 
a piece of flannel spread under it to prevent 
the plate from slipping ; the grounding-tool 
is then held perpendicularly on it, and 
locked with moderate pressure backwards 
and forwards, till the teeth of the tool have 
equally and regularly marked the copper 
from side to side, the operation is after- 
wards repeated from end to end, and from 
each corner to the opposite; but it is ne- 
cessary to observe, that the tool must never 
be permitted to cat twice in the .same 
place ; by this means the surface is con- 
verted into a rough chaos of intersections, 
which, if covered with ink and printed, 
would present a perfectly black impression 
upon the paper. 
To transfer the design to be scraped, it 
is usual to rub the rough side of the plate 
with a rag dipped into the scrapings’ of 
black chalk, or to smoke it with burning 
wax taper, as in the process for etching ; 
the back of the design is then covered with 
a mixture of powdered red chalk and flake 
white, and laid on the plate through which it 
is traced ; particles of red, in the form of the 
outlines, are thus conveyed to the black chalk 
on the plate, which are to be secured there 
by the marks of a blunted point ; the process 
must then be carried on with the scraper, by 
restoring the plate in the perfectly light 
parts of the intended print to a smooth sur- 
face, from which the gradations are pre- 
served by scraping off more or less of the 
rough ground ; but the burnisher is neces- 
sary to polish the extreme edges of dra- 
pery, &c., where the free touch of the brush 
in painting represents a brilliant spot of 
light. The deepest shades are sometimes 
etched and corroded by aqua fortis, and so 
blended with the mezzotinto ground added 
afterwards, that there is nothing offensive to 
the eye in the combination. 
Many proofs are required to ascertain 
whether the scraping approaches the de- 
sired effect, which is done by touching the 
deficient parts with white or black chalk, 
on one of the proofs from the original draw- 
ing, and then endeavouring to make the 
plate similar by further scraping, or re-lay, 
ing the ground with a small tool made for 
this particular purpose, where too much of 
the roughness has been effaced. 
Engraving on Steel is confined to the cut, 
ting of punches, for the conveyance of ariy 
form a certain depth into that or any other 
metal, seals, and dyes, for impressing the 
designs of coins, medals, &c. on gold, silver, 
or copper, &c. The punches are engraved 
, from models in wax made in relievo, and 
when completed, are tempered to that de- 
gree of solidity which will bear the violent 
blows without blunting the finest parts or 
breaking them, necessary to produce the 
matrix in the steel intended for striking of 
medals or coins, which must be heated to 
prevent such a disaster, and tempered 
