S12 
ENGRAVING. 1 
matter where it 'appears to be formed, the hatches will 
be c lea fifed and the aquafortis exert its whole force equal¬ 
ly on every part. The border of wax is then to be re¬ 
moved, the plate wafiled, and rubbed over with oil of 
olives; after which a more elegant finilh is given wdth 
the graver. 
The art of engraving in Mezzotinto is calculated to 
form prints in imitation of drawings in Indian ink. The 
invention has been ulually attributed to prince Rupert. 
But baron Heinikin afferts, with great appearance of truth, 
that it was lieutenant-colonel de Siegan, an officer in the 
fervice of the landgrave of Heffe, who firft engraved in 
this manner; and that the print which he produced was 
a portrait of the princefs Amelia Elizabeth of Helfe, en¬ 
graved in 1643. Prince Rupert learned the fecret from 
this gentleman, and brought it into England when he 
came over the fecond time with Charles II. Prince Ru¬ 
pert’s print of an executioner holding a fword in one hand 
and a head in the other, from Spagnoletto, is dated 1658. 
It is remarkable that this art has never been cultivated 
with fuccefs in any country but England. 
This method is very different from the common way of 
engraving. To perform it, they rake, hatch, or line, the 
furface of the plate all over with a knife, or inflrument 
made for the purpofe, firft one way, then the other, acrofs, 
See. till the furface of the plate be thus entirely covered 
with lines or furrows, clofe to each other; fo that, if an 
imprefiion was then taken from it, it would be one uniform 
patch of fmut. This done, the defign is drawn or marked 
on the fame furface ; after which, they proceed with btir- 
niffiers, ferapers, &c. to expunge the dents or furrows, 
in all the parts where the lights of the piece are to be ; 
leaving thofe parts black which are toreprefent the dark 
ihadows of the draught. As it is much eafier to ferape 
or burnilh away parts of a dark ground correfponaing 
with the outline of any defign fketched upon it, than to 
form (hades upon a light ground by an infinite number of 
hatches, ftrokes, and points, which mud all terminate with 
exactnefs on the outline, as well as differ in their force 
and manner ; the method of feraping, as it is called, in 
mezzotinto, confequently becomes much more eafy and 
expeditious than any other method of engraving. The 
inftruments ufed in this work are cradles, ferapers, and 
burniftiers. 
In this engraving, the plate muft be prepared and po- 
liftied in the fame manner as for other engraving ; and 
afterwards divided equally by lines parallel to each other, 
and traced out with very loft chalk. The diftance of 
thefe lines (hould be about one-third of the length of the 
face of the cradle which is to be ufed, and thefe lines 
Ihould be marked with capital letters, or ftrokes of the 
chalk. The cradle is then to be placed exactly betwixt 
the two firft lines, and palfed forwards in the forne direc¬ 
tion ; being kept as fteady as poffible, and prefied upon 
with a moderate force. The fame operation muft be re¬ 
peated with refpedt to all the other lines; till the inftru- 
ment has thus palfed over the whole furface of the plate. 
Other lines muft be then drawn from the extremities of 
the other two (ides, in the fame manner ; which, inter¬ 
fering the firft: at right angles, will with them form 
fquares ; and the fame operation muft be repeated with 
the cradle as in the cafe of the firft. New lines muft 
then be drawn diagonally, and the cradle paffed betwixt 
them as before ; and when the firft diagonal operation is 
performed, the lines muft be crolfed at right angles as the 
former, and the cradles paffed betwixt them in the fame 
manner. The plate having undergone the adlion of the 
cradle, according to the difpolition of the firft order of 
lines, a fecond fet muft be formed, having the fame dif¬ 
iances from each other as the firft. But they muft be fo 
placed as to divide thofe already made into fpaces one- 
third lefs than their whole extent; i. e. every one after 
the firft 011 each (ide will take in one-third of that before 
it, e. g. beginning at A, of which the firft third muft be 
left out; a third of 13 will confequently be taken in, and 
fo of the reft. Thefe lines of the fecond order muft be 
marked with fmall letters, or lelfer ftrokes, to diftinguifti 
them from the firft: and the fame treatment of the plate 
muft be purfued with refpeft to them as was pradtifed for 
the others. When this fecond operation is finiftted, a third 
orderof lines muft be made ; the firft of which, e.g. in A, 
muft omit two-thirds of it, and confequently take in two- 
thirds of B, &c. By thefe means, the original fpaces 
will be exactly divided into equal thirds ; and the cradle 
muft be again employed betwixt thefe lines as before. 
When the whole of this operation is finiftied, it is called 
one turn ; but in order to produce a very dark and uniform 
ground, the plate muft undergo the repetition of all thefe 
ieveral operations for above twenty times ; beginning to 
pafs the cradle again betwixt the firft lines, and proceed¬ 
ing in the fame manner through all the reft. When the 
plate is prepared with a proper ground, the (ketch muft 
be chalked on it, by rubbing the paper on the backfide 
with chalk. It is alfo proper to overtrace it afterwards 
with black lead or Indian ink. The feraping is then per¬ 
formed, by paring or cutting away the grain of the ground 
in various degrees; fo that none of it is left in the original 
(fate except in the touches of the ftrongeft (hade. The 
general manner of proceeding is the fame as drawing with 
white upon black paper. The mafles of light are firft be¬ 
gun with ; and thofe parts which go off into light in their 
upper part, but are brown below : the refledlionsare then 
entered upon ; after which the plate is blackened with a 
printer’s blacking-ball made of felt, in order to difeover 
the effedl : and then the work is proceeded with; ob- 
ferving always to begin every part in the places where 
the ftrongeft lights are to be. 
The art of feraping mezzotintoes has been applied to 
the printing with a variety of colours, in order to pro¬ 
duce the refemblance of paintings. The inventor of the 
method of doing this was J. C. Le Blon, a native of 
Frankfort, and pupil of Carlo Maratta, between the years 
1720 and 1730. It was eftabliftied by the inventor on this 
principle, that there are three primitive colours, of which 
all the reft may be compofed by mixing them in various 
proportions; and that three plates were necetfary, exactly 
of the fame kind, to imprefs the three colours, by laying 
one over the other, the laft of which was to be charged 
with the brighteft tints. Modern improvement has, how¬ 
ever, fuperfeded this tedious method, and the colours are 
now all laid upon one plate, which gives the imprefiion 
at once in a very correft and beautiful manner, and is 
called printing in colours. 
Engraving in Aquatinta, is of a very modern date, and 
is admirably calculated for landfcape, coftume, and other 
light fubjedls. See the method deferibed under Aqua¬ 
tinta, vol. i. p. 840. 
Thofe who (hall invent, defign, and engrave, prints, 
are to have the foie right of printing them for fourteen 
years, but which (hall be engraved with the names of the 
proprietors; and others copying, and felling fuch prints, 
though by varying, &c. without their confent, (hall for¬ 
feit five pounds for every print, and alfo the plates and 
imprelfions. 8 Geo. II. c. 13. 
The art of engraving on precious (tones or gems, called 
pictre dure, is one of thofe wherein the ancients excelled; 
there being many antique agates, cornelians, and onyxes, 
which greatly furpafs any thing of that kind produced by 
the moderns. Prygoteles among the Greeks, and Diof- 
corides under the firft emperors of Rome, are the mod 
eminent of thefe engravers recorded in hiltory : the former 
was fo efteemed by Alexander, that he forbad any body 
elfe to engrave his head ; and Auguftus’s head, engraved 
by the latter, was deemed fo beautiful, that the fucceed- 
ing emperors chofe it for their feal. The polite arts 
having been buried under the ruins of the Roman empire, 
the art of engraving on gems met with the fame fate. It 
was retrieved in Italy at the beginning of the fifteenth 
century, when John of Florence, and after him Dominic 
of Milan, performed works of this kind no way to be 
defpifed. 
