HISTORY OF BOTANIC ILLUSTRATION. 
147 
other herbals, including that of our own Gerard, in all of’ its three 
forms.* You will notice how the shape of the block has been 
followed in bending the plant to take up as much of the surface as 
may be. The next slide is also from the same author; it is the 
poppy (PI. II, fig. 2). Of a finer, bolder style is a series of cuts 
brought out in 1565 and 1583 by the Venetian printers, the Valgrisi, 
as represented on the screen by Helianthemum variabile . 
The last specimen of the early wood-blocks which I have to 
display this evening (PI. II, fig. 3) is that now shown from our 
Parkinson, published in 1629, reissued in 1656 from the same 
blocks, and facsimiled in 1904; notice the parsimony with which 
every inch of the block has been utilized. I used to wonder how 
these large surfaces could be produced by the old printers, but 
a few years ago some old blocks which had been cut in Sweden 
towards the end of the seventeenth century came under my notice. 
I then saw that in place of using the transverse surface, and 
building up large blocks by keying them together, the blocks con¬ 
sisted of longitudinal pieces of pear-wood, frequently brought up 
type-high by underlays of deal. 
2. Copper Plates.— The last specimen I showed to you was 
issued in 1629, but before that year other methods of engraving- 
had begun to make their way. Instead of leaving lines to form 
the printing-surface, people took to incising lines, which, when 
filled with ink and the superfluous ink cleaned off, produced the 
requisite design. Here we have an etching of a Sideritis by Fa bio 
Colonna, the border being separately printed in letterpress, but 
you see that the lines have been bitten in at one operation, and the 
ground has been prepared with charcoal, giving a delicate tint. 
This slide has been taken from the author’s ‘ Ekphrasis,’ 1616, but 
his earlier ‘ Phytobasanos ’ shows work of similar character. 
Another sample, this time from the ‘ Specimen ’ by Heneaulme, 
a Frenchman, is somewhat rougher, but true and characteristic of 
the plant shown, Dianthus plumarius, the sweet-william of gardens. 
* This particular block was used in the following works :— 
Dodoens, ‘Pemptades,’ 1583, 1616. 
Lobel, ‘Historia,’ 1576, and the Flemish version, 1581. 
- ‘leones,’ 1581 and 1591. 
Clusius, ‘Historia,’ 1601. 
Gerard, ‘ Herball,’ ed. Johnson, 1633 and 1636. 
It was closely copied for 
Gerard, ‘ Herball,’ 1597. 
Parkinson, ‘ Theatrum,’ 1640. 
Less accurately copied in 
Bauhin (J.), ‘Historia,’ 1651. 
Chahrteus, ‘ Sciagraphia,’ 1666 and 1677. 
Petiver (J.), ‘ Herbarium Britannicum.’ 
