Transcriber’s Notes:
Underscores “_” before and after a word or phrase indicate _italics_
in the original text.
Equal signs “=” before and after a word or phrase indicate =bold=
in the original text.
Small capitals have been converted to SOLID capitals.
Illustrations have been moved so they do not break up paragraphs.
Antiquated spellings have been preserved.
Typographical errors have been silently corrected.
[Illustration]
ON THE PROCESSES FOR
THE PRODUCTION OF
EX LIBRIS
(BOOK-PLATES)
_By John Vinycomb_, M.R.I.A.
Fellow of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland
President of the Belfast Art Society, 1891-92
Member of Council of the Ex Libris Society
_Reprinted from the Journal of the Ex Libris Society
with additional illustrations._
[Illustration]
_LONDON_:
A. & C. BLACK, SOHO SQUARE
1894
TO
ARTHUR VICARS, F.S.A.,
ULSTER KING OF ARMS
A VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE EX LIBRIS SOCIETY
AND AN EMINENT COLLECTOR
I RESPECTFULLY DEDICATE
THIS LITTLE BOOK.
[Illustration: FRANKLIN PRESS.
Now at Philadelphia, U.S.A.]
PREFACE.
In acceding to the author’s request that I would add a few words of
introduction to these reprinted articles, I do so with pleasure,
although entering a mild protest thereon, inasmuch as the writer has
handled his subject so well that it leaves very little to say, except
in commendation of the work to the favourable consideration of those
for whom it was written.
Mr. Vinycomb has in these articles aimed to give his readers a
practical dissertation upon the modes of execution, rather than
upon the history and classification of styles in the production of
book-plates; and in this he has certainly departed from the beaten
track, and has furnished a very concise and clear account of the
various processes by which our book-plates are produced and reproduced,
and the numerous and ingenious methods of manipulation resorted to in
their manufacture.
Some people may take exception to the word manufacture, used in this
connection, as being inappropriate to a description of what may be
defined as one of the modern arts. But the terms, though by no means
synonymous, are at any rate akin; for doubtless the majority of
book-plates are artistically designed, but for their reproduction and
final manipulation the aid of science must be resorted to.
Mr. Vinycomb, in his opening remarks, says: “The production of
book-plates, by whatever means, is but a side branch of the art
by which pictorial and decorative illustrations of every kind are
executed, and copies multiplied by some of the ordinary processes of
printing.” He then tells us that whereas in former times wood engraving
and copper engraving were responsible for most of the book-plates
existing, “the advance of modern science has, however, changed all
that, and we may now possess a charming book-plate, which is neither
engraved on wood or on copper, and yet may pass for either the one
or the other, or have characteristics entirely its own.” It must be
borne in mind, however, that many persons have a great abhorrence of
processes of all kinds, and cannot be satisfied with anything short of
an Ex Libris worked direct from the copper. In the highest interests of
Art, they are doubtless right; but whereas it is only the rich man who
can purchase the work of an old master or of a modern painter, by means
of the despised process blocks these same works of art can be placed
in the hands of everyone. This, however, is too wide a subject to be
dealt with here; yet a glance at the pages of the _Studio_ and other
current periodicals should convince the most sceptical that the most
beautiful work may be produced by these same processes. It is the same
with book-plates, the artist’s handiwork being reproduced in absolute
_fac-simile_.
Mr. Vinycomb leads us, in these pages, by easy stages, through the
various developments of engraving, from the rough woodcuts which are
to be found in the earliest printed books to the beautifully finished
work of Dürer and other masters of engraving. Then comes the engraving
on metals and etching; and last we are let into the secrets of the
various means adopted for the duplication of artists’ sketches by means
of blocks or transfers, from which any number of copies may be taken.
He has, as we have already stated, treated his subject in an eminently
practical manner, so that the veriest tyro may be able to understand
the methods used in the multiplication of Ex Libris; and by means of
the well-selected illustrations, and the hints so freely scattered over
these pages, it is an easy matter for those who have not studied the
art of engraving and process-working to gain a fair knowledge of the
subject.
Some of the illustrations have already appeared in connection with
these articles in the _Ex Libris Journal_ (Vol. III., pp. 151, 170;
Vol. IV., pp. 17, 43, 57, 92); others are introduced here for the first
time; but they are all well calculated to enhance the value of Mr.
Vinycomb’s work, and to show what can be done by the various methods in
use. Further, it may be safely assumed that all systematic collectors
of book-plates will be glad to have in this handy and independent form
an essay upon the practical side of a subject in which they have up to
the present taken, perhaps, but a general or sentimental interest.
Thanks to the formation of the Ex Libris Society, the collection
and preservation of book-plates has now reached something akin to a
scientific position, and in large and valuable collections it has
become more and more necessary to know how best to classify and arrange
our acquisitions. This knowledge can therefore best be secured by
studying such works as the present, by means of which the collector is
able to judge of the age and value of a plate, or at any rate to fix
an approximate date to those (and they are many) which have no printed
date to fix their identity.
This little work comes as a valuable companion to Mr. Hamilton’s
recently published work on “Dated Book-plates,” in which he deals
with almost all the branches of the subject of most interest or value
to collectors, but has, naturally, little to say upon the practical
production of Ex Libris—leaving that to an expert in the person of
the writer of the present essay. For practical engravers Mr. Vinycomb
has probably said too much, or not enough, or has, perhaps, only told
them what they knew already; but as the majority of collectors cannot
be classed in this category, it may fairly be assumed that the author
has filled a gap in book-plate literature which no previous writer has
attempted to supply, and that his work will be found of great value to
members of the Ex Libris Society, and to collectors of book-plates in
general.
W. H. K. WRIGHT,
Editor _Ex Libris Journal_.
CONTENTS.
_Page_
PREFACE v.
INTRODUCTION 1
WOOD ENGRAVING 9
ENGRAVING ON COPPER AND STEEL 27
LITHOGRAPHY 58
CHROMO-LITHOGRAPHY 65
PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHY 65
DRAWING FOR PHOTO-LITHO. AND PROCESS WORK 67
PROCESS BLOCKS—Line Work 69
” Half-tone Blocks 83
HINTS TO COLLECTORS OF EX LIBRIS 91
“AU REVOIR” 95
[Illustration]
EX LIBRIS ILLUSTRATIONS.
R. S. Mansergh—Armorial, printed in tinctures
by Chromo-Lithography _Frontispiece_
MODERN ENGRAVED PLATES— _Facing Page_
R. Day, F.S.A., engraved by C. W. Sherborn,
printed from the copper-plate 27
{printed by }
R. Day, F.S.A.—Vesica Armorial {lithography} 1
R. S. Mansergh—Armorial ” 42
Edward Cox—Circular Armorial ” 45
W. H. K. Wright, F.R.HIST.SOC.
—Library Interior ” 47
R. Day, F.S.A.—Pictorial, Etching ” 48
R. J. Welland, Bishop of Down and Connor }
and Dromore } ” 52
J. F. Wilson—Circular Armorial ” 54
J. Neville Cross—Circular Seal Armorial ” 56
LITHOGRAPHED AND PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHED EXAMPLES—
Joseph McChesney—Pictorial 58
Robert Day, F.S.A.—Library Interior 60
Fredk. Arthur Beale—Armorial 62
Wood Institute, Rugby—Decorative 64
Robert Day, F.S.A.—Ogham, Landscape, etc. 66
Free Public Library, Belfast—Decorative Arm. 70
Rev. J. H. Bibby—Library Interior 72
Robert Cochrane, C.E., F.R.I.B.A., F.S.A., etc.
—Armorial 80
EX LIBRIS ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT,
_Reproduced by Process Blocks_.
_Page_
J. H. Fryer—Etching, Landscape, by Lambert, Newcastle 1
Brandenburg or Buxheim plate—Early wood engraving 8
Hans Igler plate—Early wood engraving (double-page) 14
Kress of Kressenstein, by Albert Dürer 17
Wm. Taylor, by Bewick—Wood engraving 19
(No name) ” ” 21
Kress of Kressenstein, by Hans Troschel,
engraved on copper 28
Samuel Pepys—Portrait plate by R. White,
engraved on copper 31
Henʸ. Jaˢ. Pye—Chippendale plate by Playner 33
—— Barrow—Armorial Book-pile, by Lightboune,
engraved on copper 36
William Cowper—Decorative Armorial, engraved on copper 39
Ellis Gamble—Decorative Armorial, by William Hogarth,
engraved on copper 40
William Hogarth—Decorative Monogram plate,
engraved on copper 41
Edw. Loveden Loveden—Engraved on copper 44
H. Stamford—Pictorial, etching on copper 49
James Neild }
} Two Pictorial Etchings by Bewick 51
—— Spence }
Joseph Pollard }
} ” ” 53
Chas. Fenwick }
Charles Bragge—Urn Armorial, etching 57
Arthur Vicars, F.S.A., _Ulster King of Arms_—
Pen and ink, by Rev. W. FitzGerald 68
Francis Joseph Bigger, M.R.I.A.—(Old Belfast)
Pen and ink 70
Robert Day, F.S.A.—Armorial Masonic 72
Walter Besant, M.A.—Library Interior 74
Francis Joseph Bigger—Armorial 76
George Rollo—Smithy Interior 78
F. D. Ward, J.P., M.R.I.A., CH.L.H.—Armorial 80
I. M. F. H. Stone, M.A., F.L.S., F.C.S.—Armorial 82
Arthur Acton—Emblematic 84
Belfast Art Society, 3 sizes—Emblematic 86
Dublin Naturalists’ Field Club 88
Masonic Province of Down—Armorial Masonic 90
John Vinycomb, M.R.I.A.—Armorial 96
FINE HALF-TONE PROCESS BLOCKS—
_Facing Page_
Antiquarian subject, reproduced from Mono-tint Drawing 83
Virgin and Child, reproduced by Aquatint Engraving 89
George G. Ward, reproduced from Design in Colours for
Stained Glass 93
Vinicombe Bey, reproduced from Soft-ground Etching 94
ILLUSTRATIVE CUTS IN TEXT.
Franklin Press, now at Philadelphia iv.
Caxton’s “Printer’s Mark” 9
Form-Schneider at Work 13
Engraver’s Knife, from Papillon’s Treatise, 1766 15
Press of Ascensius 16
Engraver’s Tools 24
Mode of Engraving 25
Copper-plate Printing Press 46
Lithographic Printing Press 58
[Illustration: Transfer, direct from Engraved plate to stone.]
[Illustration: Etching on copper by Lambert, Newcastle, reproduced by
process block.
From the collection of W. H. K. Wright.]
ON THE PROCESSES FOR THE PRODUCTION OF EX LIBRIS.
_By John Vinycomb_, M.R.I.A.
INTRODUCTORY.
The production of book-plates, by whatever means, is but a side branch
of the Art by which pictorial and decorative illustrations of every
kind are executed, and copies multiplied by some of the ordinary
processes of printing. Without, at this stage, going minutely into
the history of pictorial illustration and printing, it may be briefly
stated that in times past, the only available modes of reproduction
were either by engraved wood blocks with the lines in relief to print
with letterpress, or by engraved copper-plates having the lines cut
into the polished surface of the metal and printed by the copper-plate
press (the _modus operandi_ in each method will be explained later on).
The processes for the production of Ex Libris—as it is now the
fashion to term these dainty little works of art we so delight to
collect and preserve—are to-day so numerous and so varied in their
style and character of work as to be wholly dissimilar, yet in very
many instances we find the results to be so nearly alike that only a
practical expert can, with any degree of certainty, state how and by
what means they have been executed. It is not therefore surprising
that the collector—that picker-up of unconsidered trifles—however
deeply versed he may be in the literature of the subject, for want
of some technical knowledge should sometimes be mystified and unable
to declare how a particular specimen has been produced. In the older
examples there is little or no difficulty in distinguishing the
difference between a woodcut and a print from a copper-plate; to one or
the other of these two methods it must of necessity belong. The advance
of modern science has, however, changed all that, and we may now
possess a charming book-plate, which is neither engraved on wood nor
on copper, and yet may pass for either the one or the other, or have
characteristics entirely its own.
Some account of these two older methods and their later developments,
as well as a sketch of some of the modern processes arising out of
the invention of lithography and photography, will be of interest to
collectors of Ex Libris; particularly the process blocks so much in
vogue at the present time for high-class book illustrations, magazines,
the illustrated weeklies, etc., by means of which the artist’s drawing,
through a happy union of these later arts and chemical science, may
be translated into a printing surface of metal or other material for
giving off impressions by the type press, the copper-plate press, by
lithography, or by one of the photo-mechanical processes, such as
calotype, etc. By reference to representative examples, it is hoped
to enable the collector to form a pretty accurate idea of the mode of
execution of similar works.
Whatever merit of originality or of fancy the earlier examples may
possess, it is interesting to observe how largely book-plates partake
of the prevailing style or fashion of the times. By this test alone,
collectors are led almost to a certainty to fix an approximate date
when they were designed and engraved. Again, how clearly the character
of the artist appears upon the face of each example, whether he was a
“base mechanick” at his trade, or a true artist, who lent his thought
and skilful hand to embellish the library of his friend or client. The
artist himself, in old times, generally a versatile many-sided man,
adapted himself to his work and wrought out his ideas _con amore_ in
whatever direction he might be called upon, whether it was to paint
some great picture, to draw and perhaps engrave on wood or copper some
of his immortal conceptions, or it may be only a simple book-plate for
his friend and patron. Such a man was Albrecht Dürer. A book-plate by
him, cut on wood, for his friend, Bilibaldi Pirckheimer, forms the
frontispiece to the Hon. Leicester Warren’s book on “The Study of
Book-plates.” Men like Michael Angelo, who could vary his occupation to
every phase of Art, now as an architect, conceiving and carrying out
the erection of the great Church of St. Peter’s at Rome, painting the
grandest and most sublime pictures, and in sculpture without a rival,
but who could also bring his lofty mind to the consideration of works
of less importance. To him, to Hans Holbein, and others of highest rank
as artists, we are indebted for the immense advancement of the fine
arts at this period, which, starting with the Renaissance of Literature
and Art in the 15th and 16th centuries, gradually dispersed the
darkness of the middle ages. Drawing and engraving on wood were brought
to a high degree of perfection, and a race of artists was educated, who
devoted themselves exclusively to illustrating books which the recently
invented art of printing had called into requisition.
Wood engraving, as an adjunct to printed books, was the earliest
form in which good art became popularised: book illustration by
engraved copper-plates was a later development, though the art was not
unknown: at a later period, copper-plate illustrations almost entirely
superseded wood for the purpose.
One who has carefully studied the illustrations in early-printed
books—from printer’s mark on title-page to colophon—cannot fail to
be struck with the manly and vigorous style of drawing in the cuts,
shewing a real grasp of the subject and mastery of detail, and while
we may be amused at the quaint conceits, and somewhat crude lines,
we cannot but be charmed with the natural simplicity of the drawing,
though lacking almost entirely in local colour. In the infancy of the
art of engraving on wood, it necessarily followed that there should
be some want of refinement in the execution. The engraver on wood
was born very young, and had to grope his way by tedious practice to
acquire skill and knowledge for his work. The artist, on the contrary,
like Minerva, came into being fully equipped, or, to be literal, he
already existed; with mature experience he adapted his skill to the
requirements of the new art, the first and most important being that,
as the tools of the engraver and the wood he used were unfitted for
small details, the lines to be drawn by the artist on the wood must
necessarily be _few_ and _well chosen_.
[Illustration: The Brandenburg, or Buxheim plate, _circa_ 1480.
[The oldest Ex Libris actually connected with a printed book. See _Ex
Libris Journal_, Vol. II., p. 71.]]
[Illustration: Fig. 4.—DEVICE COMMONLY ATTRIBUTED TO CAXTON.
CAXTON’S MARK.]
WOOD ENGRAVING.
Beyond giving some idea of what wood engraving is and how it is
produced, it is not intended to do more than refer to the early history
of the art—a subject on which bulky volumes have been written—or to
enter minutely into the details and modes of execution of modern work.
To those who desire further information, special works on the subject
may be consulted.[1]
[Footnote 1: Jackson’s “History and Practice of Wood Engraving”; Firmin
Didot’s “Essai sur l’Histoire de la Gravure sur Bois”; “The Book,
its Printers, Illustrators, and Binders,” by Henri Bouchot; “Wood
Engraving: a Manual of Instruction,” by W. J. Linton.]
WOOD ENGRAVING AND COPPER-PLATE ENGRAVING—THE DIFFERENCE.
Copper-plate engraving, which almost entirely superseded wood in the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, differs in principle from wood
engraving in this—that a woodcut has the lines of the design standing
up in relief, the wood between the lines incised or cut away, so
that when the surface is inked the lines so charged will give off
an impression upon paper by rubbing the back, or by the use of the
type press. In the copper-plate the lines are cut _into_ the polished
surface of the metal, which, when smeared over with printing ink, and
the surface wiped clean, leaves the incised lines filled with ink; an
impression is taken by the use of a press specially adapted to the
purpose.
It will be seen that _surface printing_ is the necessity and
characteristic of wood engraving. Simple and crude in its beginnings,
owing chiefly to the imperfect mechanical means of cutting the wood
in sufficiently fine or exact lines; it was employed first in the
production of playing cards, the outlines of which were formed by
impressions from wood blocks, and the colouring filled in by hand or
stencil. In Europe the earliest application of the art to pictorial
illustration took place in Germany about the close of the fourteenth
or beginning of the fifteenth century. The oldest woodcut with a
date known is of 1423. It represents St. Christopher carrying our
Saviour on his shoulders across a river. Other specimens, though
undated, from their greater rudeness, have been held to have superior
claims to antiquity. With the invention of printing the art soon made
rapid strides, and on the introduction of moveable types to print
in conjunction with engraved blocks, a new impetus was given to the
production of engraved wood blocks. In the early part of the sixteenth
century, several artists of celebrity were either designers on wood or
engravers. Books at this period were profusely illustrated. Among the
most distinguished in this line was Albert Dürer, whose productions
as a painter and an engraver on copper and wood are so numerous that
he could not possibly have engraved a tithe of the wood engravings
attributed to him; probably he only put the design on the blocks,
leaving them to others to execute.
The art was chiefly practised in Germany, where it was patronised by
the Emperor Maximilian, for whom Burgmair produced the great work, “The
Triumphs of Maximilian.” The next great name in the annals of wood
engraving is that of Hans Holbein, whose “Dance of Death” was printed
in Lyons in 1538.
In England Caxton brought out his “Game and Playe of Chesse” in 1476,
with cuts. There are woodcuts also in the “Golden Legend,” 1483;
“Fables of Æsop,” 1484; Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales,” and other books
of his printing—all scarce and poor in execution, but noticeable in
the history of Art. From 1545 to 1580 wood engraving continued to be
much used for illustrating books in England, chiefly by John Daye. From
this period there is little to be recorded of essential importance till
the appearance of Bewick, to whom the revival of wood engraving is
chiefly to be attributed.
[Illustration: FORM-SCHNEIDER.]
EARLY METHOD OF ENGRAVING ON THE SIDE OF THE WOOD WITH KNIVES.
In early days of wood engraving a close-grained slab of wood of a
suitable thickness to print with type was used for the purpose by the
engraver—cut the long way of the tree, and not upon the end or section
of the wood as in modern work; and the cutting was necessarily executed
with the knife. The quaint and rude cut on the accompanying double page
is a fair example of the earliest species of woodcut, and is the most
ancient Ex Libris known.
Regarding the knife as a cutting instrument, Mr. W. J. Linton, in his
“Manual of Wood Engraving,” p. 28, says: “As far as I have been able
to ascertain, with the one possible exception of the cuts to Croxall’s
Fables, 1722, all engravings on wood from the earliest time to the time
of Bewick were done with the knife instead of gravers.”
[Illustration: Rude Early Woodcut. (Actual size.)]
The most ancient Ex Libris known. It is Jean Knabensberg,
called Igler, chaplain to the family of Schönstett. It
represents a hedgehog with a flower in its mouth. In the
banderole we read, “Hanns Igler das dich ein Igel Kuss.”
Its approximate date is 1450. Herr Ludwig Rosenthal,
antiquariat, Munich, has a copy of this rare plate in his
possession, which he values at 600 marks. See Warnecke’s
“Die deutschen Bücherzeichen” (Ex Libris), 1890.
[Illustration: From Papillon’s Treatise, 1766.]
We can to some extent realise the difficulties the early wood
engravers laboured under in this respect in producing fine work, but
when we examine the later works of the German engravers, and observe
the gradual improvement from crudeness to really excellent work, we
are amazed that with such disabilities such splendid results were
attainable by the knife. The _Form-schneider_, as the engraver of block
pictures was termed, increased in skill and dexterity in deftly cutting
the design exactly as it was drawn on the wood, and with exceeding
truthfulness; using a finer grained and harder wood and tools more
perfectly adapted for the work, so would the art advance by leaps and
bounds, until in the time of Dürer and Holbein it had reached its
high-water mark of excellence. Boxwood was then, as now, in use, but
for delicate work only, and cut plank-wise. For larger work softer
woods were good enough: pear and apple woods, privet, sycamore, and any
white wood upon which a drawing could be seen—everything being drawn
line for line on the plank; the engraver’s business simply to cut away
the white spaces between the lines, cutting, as before said, with
knives in the smaller spaces, and with chisels and gouges clearing away
the larger to a sufficient depth to escape the ink in printing.
[Illustration: PRESS OF ASCENSIUS.]
[Illustration: Small DÜRER Woodcut, of the Nuremberg family of Kress of
Kressenstein.]
At the present day, in the skilfully drawn and engraved block books
of the Japanese, the illustrations will be found to be drawn with the
brush upon _the side_ of the wood, and cut with a knife; but we are
not now astonished at anything done by this wonderful people, who have
knocked the wind out of us in so many forms of art.
MODERN WOOD ENGRAVING.
To understand the scope and practice of wood engraving, it will be
necessary to glance through the illustrated publications of a few years
ago, before process blocks had to so large extent superseded the work
of the graver. The immense popularity the art has obtained in this
country owing to the establishment of the _Illustrated London News_,
_Graphic_, _Art Journal_, _Magazine of Art_, and similar publications,
not to speak of book illustrations, has been remarkable. The excellence
of the work and the infinite variety of style introduced by the
best artists and engravers show it to be capable of representing
every artistic quality supposed to be peculiar to copper and steel
engraving; other qualities it has, such as power and force in the
darker portions, and the use of white-line work on tint, or solid
ground—effects obtained with extreme difficulty upon the metal plate.
[Illustration: Ex Libris engraved on wood by Bewick, reproduced by
process block.]
Wood engraving for pictorial work may be divided into two kinds:—
I.—BLACK-LINE or FAC-SIMILE WORK.—The drawing on wood is engraved
exactly as it is drawn, line for line. All examples up to the time
of Bewick, and a great many since, are of this kind. As illustrating
the best qualities of this style of wood engraving, no more apt
examples could be named than the cartoons and drawings in _Punch_
by Tenniel, Doyle, Leech, and others, before the introduction of
photo-etched process blocks. (Bewick himself, an artist as well as
an engraver, made a departure from the old crude manner of wood
engraving by introducing a new style of work, imitating more truly
the local colour and the textures of nature: drawing the subject of
the design on wood in pencil and afterwards _tinting_ in the masses
of shade and local colour with washes of china ink; and _with the
graver_ giving all the characteristic markings and minuter details
by white lines upon the dark ground. In his Natural History Cuts he
imitated in the most marvellous manner the textures of trees, grass,
and natural scenery, the plumage of birds, the shaggy or smooth coats
of animals, etc. A number of Ex Libris executed by him on wood have
the same characteristic handling). The two wood engravings by Bewick
are reproduced by process blocks. Though inferior to many of his
Natural History Cuts, they fairly show the style and character of his
handiwork—the careful execution of details and the use of white-line
work upon solid black ground.
[Illustration: (_From the Collection of W. H. K. Wright, Esq._).
Wood Engraving by Bewick.]
II.—TINTED WORK.—In this mode the subject is drawn in TINTS OR WASHES,
and partly with the pencil. To be successful in work of this kind,
to interpret the artist’s ideas truly, the engraver must himself be
an artist of considerable ability, as he has to adapt the lines to
the work, and in this lies rare judgment and discretion, as not only
the direction of the line most conducive to develop the form, but the
width and thickness of the lines and spaces must be accurately judged;
the various qualities of surfaces must likewise be suggested by the
engraved lines.
MATERIALS AND MODE OF PROCEEDING.
The wood used by engravers is boxwood, on account of its close
grain and firm texture; it is principally imported from Turkey, cut
transversely or across the grain (so that the engraving is done upon
the end way of the wood). It is made seven-eighths of an inch in
thickness (type height). It takes a beautifully smooth surface, and
cuts under the graver with the utmost clearness and fineness. The
polished surface of the wood being unsuitable for drawing on, a slight
“tooth” is given to it by a little water-colour white rubbed over the
face of the block with the ball of the thumb until nearly dry, when it
presents a pleasant surface for the pencil.
The drawing or design having been sketched out and perfected on paper,
it is then traced the reverse way upon the wood block, and the drawing
then worked out, either in black-line fac-simile or in tints, as may be
intended. The _black lead pencil_, of sufficient hardness of lead to
stand the pressure upon the solid surface, is the favourite instrument
for drawing. For tinting, either the pencil or the brush with washes of
china ink can be used.
[Illustration]
The tools used are _gravers_, _tint-tools_, and _scoopers_, or cutting
out tools—in all about a dozen different sizes; the several kinds
are here indicated. With the gravers the outline and all the details
are cut; the tints, by which the proper tones or light and shade are
obtained, can best be rendered with tint-tools of various widths
of cut. The parts not required to be printed are hollowed out with
scoopers. It will be understood that all the blanks or white parts of
an engraving have been cut away in the block.
[Illustration: Mode of Engraving on Wood.]
There are several _et ceteras_ also required by the engraver, as, an
oil-stone to sharpen his gravers; an eye-glass, when engraving very
fine work; a small circular sand-bag, on which the block is held while
being engraved; an instrument called a burnisher, with which to take
proofs. A glass globe filled with water, to concentrate the light from
lamp or gas jet upon the block, is used at night.
The engraving being completed, the surface of the block is inked very
lightly with printing ink, and a piece of India paper, or any fine
paper of similar quality, being laid upon it, an impression is taken by
rubbing the paper with the burnisher until it is fully printed. From
this proof the engraver can judge whether any alterations are required
and what improvements can be effected.
The revival of wood engraving by Bewick and others, and the high state
of perfection to which it had been brought by his immediate successors,
to a very great extent superseded copper-plate engraving for book
illustrations, though for Ex Libris, copper-plate held, and still holds
its place as the chief and deservedly favourite style.
[Illustration: _Crest Ex Libris of R. Day_, F.S.A., _Cork_.
Engraved by C. W. Sherborn, and printed direct from the Copper-Plate.]
ENGRAVING ON COPPER AND STEEL.
Where be the equal now of those glorious editions of the poets, the
“Annuals,” “Keepsakes,” “Books of Beauty,” and other delightful volumes
that still charm the eyes and glad the hearts of those who have the
taste and the wit to possess them? As works of the highest art quality,
they have never since been equalled for beauty of work, with their
engraved titles, frontispieces, and illustrations in the text, drawn by
Stothard, Turner, Creswick, Stanfield, Harding, and a host of the first
names in British Art, and engraved in the rarest and most exquisite
manner by men equally eminent in their line. “Woodcuts,” however, cut
them out for the time, owing to the excellence to which the art had
attained, and the greater rapidity and cheapness in printing.
[Illustration: KRESS BOOK-PLATE. (See _Ex Libris Journal_, Vol. IV., p.
9.)
Engraved on Copper by Hans Troschel, 1699. Reproduced by process
block.]
In all the changes and inventions in the modes of art reproduction
the engraved plate has steadily held its own as the most finished
and perfect. For Ex Libris it is particularly suitable; it is _par
excellence_ THE STYLE for the attainment of the highest art quality.
_The Art Journal_, supported by one or two similar publications, has
heroically endeavoured to maintain the traditions of the best period of
the Art in its steel-plate illustrations, but, except for pictures of
this kind, and of larger size for framing, illustrations on steel and
copper for books may be said to be practically extinct.
Time, however, has its revenges: wood engraving, in its turn, is being
rapidly displaced by “_process blocks_” (of which more anon), and now,
if we take up any recent illustrated book or journal, we find the bulk
of the pictures and designs not wood engravings but process blocks.
In every good collection of Ex Libris the majority of examples will be
found to be printed from engraved plates, very few relatively being
from wood blocks. The reason is not far to seek. The wood engraving as
practised in England previous to the opening of the present century was
poor in execution, and did not lend itself sufficiently to working out
minute details with the same ease and readiness with which they can be
executed on copper.
[Illustration: Pure Line Engraving by Robert White, from a Painting by
Sir Godfrey Kneller. Reproduced by process block.]
That it was the favourite mode of producing these dainty little
works is evident also from the fact that copper-plate pictures for
book illustrations of every kind had almost entirely superseded wood
engraving, which had indeed fallen completely into disfavour. Until
the beginning of the present century, when Bewick and others had
elevated it into a fine art, wood engraving was in an exceedingly rude
condition, and little fitted for small works. Copper-plate engraving,
on the contrary, had for several centuries flourished successfully;
every goldsmith was able to “_chase_” and engrave the decorative and
heraldic work upon silver plate and goldsmiths’ work, or upon metal of
any kind, in relief, or intaglio, as in medals, coins, etc. That this
is no mere assumption we know from historical evidence, as well as from
a careful comparison of the “_handling_,” or the manner of cutting the
lines upon silver work, which is identical with the style of cutting
the lines in so very many engraved book-plates of the last and early
part of the present century. Whatever may be thought of the vagaries
of the accessories in the Jacobean, Chippendale, and other kindred
styles—which are essentially silver engraving patterns—much of this
class of work shows at least a true heraldic spirit in the treatment of
the charges.
[Illustration: A Chippendale pattern. Silver Engraver’s style of work,
reproduced by process block.]
Benvenuto Cellini, whose works now bring fabulous prices in goldsmith
work, was an expert engraver as well, as were probably most of the
workers in the precious metals of his time. Hogarth, in the earlier
part of his career, did much in the way of engraving arms, crests,
etc., for the silversmiths; so did Bewick, who worked on wood and
on metal indifferently. The writer has done a fair share of similar
work in his younger days; and to his knowledge it was the custom in
many establishments for the engravers to do both, as the exigencies
of business required, though the tendency when work was plentiful was
to specialise, each man doing that part for which he seemed to have
an aptitude. This refers particularly to graver work; the pictorial
engraver executing his work principally by means of the etching
process, and only finishing up with the graver.
No doubt a life-long practice in one particular class of work of this
kind is calculated to engender a stiff and formal manner, and set
patterns to become stereotyped, were it not for the capricious changes
of fashion; sometimes slowly developed, at other times, a new fashion
suddenly sets in and changes all; the later chasing the earlier out of
the field, only to be elbowed aside in its turn. Styles of ornament, as
they course each other down the stream of time, invariably leave their
high-water marks on the margin, which serve as valuable data for the
student; the prevailing styles of decorative and heraldic art, having,
like all mundane things, their periods of development, full-blossoming,
and decadence, the dates of which, book-plate collectors, aided by
dated specimens, arrive at with tolerable certainty.
The prevalence of a particular style, its vogue and duration, will
account in a great measure for the family likeness observable in so
many book-plates; the chief factors, however, may be set down to the
general low state of the art, the paucity of designers and engravers
of merit, and the ample supply of the ordinary article—the mechanical
craftsman.
[Illustration: Pure Line Engraving, reproduced by process block.]
As to the history and development of styles in Ex Libris, a reference
to the works of the Hon. J. Leicester Warren, J. Paul Rylands, F.S.A.,
Egerton Castle, M.A., F.S.A., W. J. Hardy, and the pages of the _Ex
Libris Journal_, will find the subject fully and plainly set forth.
A word as to the origin and history of Copper-Plate Engraving. The art
of engraving on metal plates, for taking impressions on paper, was
first practised by Tommaso Fineguerra, a Florentine goldsmith, about
the year 1460. Some writers have claimed the invention for Germany,
but it is generally considered that the art was first practised in
Italy, and had its origin in the workshops of the goldsmith. An
assistant is said to have suggested to Fineguerra the possibility of
taking an impression from an engraved design with ink on moistened
paper. _The first book printed at Rome_ was illustrated by _the first
plate engraving_. This work is dated 1478, but was commenced in 1472.
Engraving made rapid strides towards excellence in Germany. Albert
Dürer was a man whose universality of talent extended the boundaries
of every department of art, and carried all to a degree of perfection
previously unknown. He had great command of the graver, and carried his
plates to a higher state of finish than his Italian contemporaries. He
is also believed to have invented the art of etching by corrosion: on
examining his etchings, we see that they have all been corroded at one
“_biting-in_,” which sufficiently explains their monotonous appearance,
and proves that “_stopping-out_” was not then understood. To the Dutch
and Flemish schools we owe many improvements in the art. The celebrity
of the French school dates from the time of Louis XIV. Gerard Audran
was the first engraver who successfully united to any extent the use
of the graver and the etching point. The English school of engraving
dates only from the middle of the eighteenth century, previous to
which those who practised the art in England were chiefly foreigners.
Hogarth engraved many of his own designs. Francis Vivares introduced
the art of landscape etching: he, Woollet, and Brown produced some of
the first landscape engravings extant. Sir Robert Strange excelled in
portrait engraving. Of the moderns who have attained eminence in the
various branches of the art, the very enumeration of them would lead
to needless length, the present purpose being chiefly to describe the
processes.
[Illustration: Pure Line Engraving, reproduced by process block.]
[Illustration: Line Engraving by William Hogarth, reproduced by process
block.]
[Illustration: William Hogarth’s own book-plate. Line Engraving,
reproduced by process block.]
THE VARIOUS MODES OF ENGRAVING ON COPPER AND STEEL-PLATE.
There are many kinds of engraving on steel and copper for the
purpose of printing by the copper-plate press. We will specify
those principally in use and indicate their chief characteristics;
afterwards, some further explanation may be necessary. It may be here
stated that the various processes are of such a technical nature that
it would be impossible in a short compass to explain all the details
of execution; we may, however, refer those who desire to pursue the
subject further to an excellent little handbook (price one shilling)
published by Winsor and Newton,[2] which, as stated in the preface,
will, by means of any of the modes of engraving on copper therein
treated of, enable anyone “skilled in pen and ink drawing to reproduce
their designs with greater delicacy and added depth of effect.” Other
books on the subject there are, of greater cost, as Hamerton’s splendid
work, but for the amateur the handy little manual just named is an
admirable guide.
[Footnote 2: “The Art of Etching explained and illustrated, with
remarks on the allied processes of Dry-point, Mezzotint, and Aquatint.”
By H. R. Robertson, Fellow of the Society of Painter-Etchers; Author
of “Life on the Upper Thames,” etc. Winsor and Newton, Limited, 38
Rathbone Place, London.]
[Illustration: Transfer, direct from Engraved plate to stone.]
[Illustration: Pure Line Engraving, reproduced by process block.]
[Illustration: Transfer, direct from Engraved plate to stone.]
To one skilled in drawing, and with some leisure and enthusiasm for
the work, ETCHING offers a delightful field for the exercise of the
artistic mind. There are no technical difficulties that may not be
surmounted by care and patience. The few tools and necessary appliances
are not of a costly nature, if we except the copper-plate printing
press.
There are different kinds or methods of engraving, the six principal
varieties of which need only be considered, namely:—
(1) LINE ENGRAVING.
(2) ETCHING.
(3) SOFT-GROUND ETCHING.
(4) AQUATINT ENGRAVING.
(5) MEZZOTINT ENGRAVING.
(6) STIPPLE ENGRAVING.
The distinctive features of all copper-plate and steel-plate engraving
consist in this, that the lines or strokes composing the design are cut
or ploughed into the surface of the metal with a fine tool termed a
graver, etched or corroded out with acid or by other means. A _Print_
is obtained by filling the lines so made with a special ink composed
of a drying oil and colour-pigment. During the process of inking
the plate is kept warm, the superfluous ink being wiped off with a
coarse muslin rag, and made perfectly clean. The plate, placed in the
travelling bed of the copper-plate press, is covered with a sheet of
paper slightly damp; on turning the press, it is subjected to such
pressure as forces the paper into the lines; by this means the ink is
transferred to the paper, and the result is an impression or _proof_.
[Illustration: COPPER-PLATE PRINTING PRESS.]
[Illustration: Transfer, direct from Engraved plate to stone.]
1.—LINE ENGRAVING.
The majority of the earlier book-plates are engraved, or cut into
the plate entirely with the graver, and may properly be termed _line
engraving par excellence_.
As early examples of this style of work we are enabled to give
reproductions of several book-plates, viz., Kress of Kressenstein, by
Hans Troschel, 1699, p. 28; the portrait plate of Samuel Pepys, by
Robert White, p. 31; two plates engraved by Hogarth, pp. 40-41. The
Ex Libris of WILLIAM COWPER, Clerk of the Parliaments; EDWARD LOVEDEN
LOVEDEN; —— BARROW; and HENʸ JAMˢ PYE, also illustrate the quality of
_line_ or _graver work_ alone. The examples interspersed in the text
carry their own explanation.
As modern examples of this style we are enabled to give several
characteristic varieties—the library interior of W. H. K. Wright, by J.
E. Wood, of Plymouth, and a number designed by the writer and engraved
by Marcus Ward & Co., Limited, printed by lithography—all of which will
be found useful as keys to the style of handling of graver work alone,
and in combination with etching.
Among the chief exponents of the art may be mentioned the name of C. W.
Sherborn, who is _facile princeps_ as an engraver of heraldic subjects.
One of his smaller works, engraved in pure line, appears facing page
27, the dainty crest plate of R. Day, F.S.A., _printed direct from the
copper-plate_; a favourite old toast, in playful allusion to the wings
in the crest, doing duty as a motto.
2.—ETCHING.
This method admits greater freedom of handling than graver work. The
design is drawn through a resisting ground with the etching point,
and the exposed lines on the surface of the copper corroded to the
requisite depth with aquafortis, the finishing of the work being
usually done with the graver.
[Illustration: Transfer, direct from Engraved plate to stone.]
[Illustration: Etching on Copper reproduced by process block.
From the collection of W. H. K. Wright.]
_Machine ruling_ or _tinting_ is now much used in conjunction with line
engraving and etching, for the even tints of skies and level surfaces
in pictorial work, and for the symbolical lines denoting tinctures in
heraldry, of which several examples are given.
_Steel-plates_ were used for engraving very fine work, or when large
numbers of copies were required to be printed from the plate. Any
advantage over copper which steel formerly possessed is now neutralised
by the process known as _steel facing_, that is, coating the copper
plate with an electro deposit of iron.
Copper-plate printing, as it is termed, though giving the most perfect
result, is slow and tedious, and necessarily costly. A much speedier
method of printing—by Lithography—is now much used instead, transfers
from the engraved plate being put on the lithographic stone and printed
therefrom, the original plate being retained intact. (See examples
under Lithography).
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Two Etchings on Copper by Bewick, reproduced by process
block.
From the collection of W. H. K. Wright.]
Some early examples of etched plates are given. The urn design of
Charles Bragge, Armorial Landscape, and Bewickian Landscape show the
character and handling of etched work as distinguished from line
engraving. Other examples illustrate the combination of _Line_,
_Etching_, and _Machine Ruling work_.
3.—SOFT-GROUND ETCHING.
A very charming style of work which was much used by Bartolozzi and
other engravers of his time, but now gone entirely out of use. A
suitable book-plate engraved in this manner not turning up in time,
the present fine example of the style was selected to illustrate the
character of the work, which bears a close resemblance to a chalk
drawing, and on that account offers considerable difficulties in the
way of reproduction by the half-tone process. The result is, however,
successful in a remarkable degree in translating the peculiar texture
of the original.
[Illustration: Transfer, direct from Engraved plate to stone.]
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Two Etchings on Copper by Bewick, reproduced by process
block.
From the Collection of W. H. K. Wright.]
The allegorical device represents the turret-crowned goddess Cybele,
“mother of a hundred gods,” standing upon an isolated rock in the sea,
holding out an olive-branch, and with her attribute, the rudder, as
guide and director of the destinies of cities and states; youthful
figures representing the Arts and Sciences—which are the glory of a
State—are disporting themselves in the clouds.
Though not originally intended for a book-plate, a friend is desirous
of adopting it, with the motto from Virgil, “_Fato prudentia major_”—to
intimate that, in his opinion, prudence is greater than fate.
4.—AQUATINT ENGRAVING.
A style of work having all the appearance of a china ink drawing, and
frequently used by artists in conjunction with etching, to give body
and consistency to the tints. An admirable example of this combination
of etching and aquatint is the charming book-plate of the Hon. Leicester
Warren, by W. Bell Scott, well known to collectors. It does not,
however, lend itself well to reproduction.
[Illustration: Transfer, direct from Engraved plate to stone.]
The texture, which may be of various degrees of fineness, is produced
on the plate by a solution of resin (dissolved in pure spirit), which
is poured over the surface; as the spirit evaporates it leaves the
resin in minute isolated particles adhering to the plate. The design
is traced or transferred upon it, the highest lights “_stopped out_”
with engravers’ varnish. The etching (or biting-in with acid) is then
proceeded with; repeated stoppings out and etchings are made as the
deeper shades are attained.
5.—MEZZOTINT ENGRAVING.
Produced by roughening the surface of the plate by a rocking tool,
and the lights and shades attained by scraping and burnishing. Seldom
used for small work, but largely used combined with Nos. 1 and 2 for
prints and pictures. The small French print of the Virgin and Child,
reproduced by half-tone process block, represents fairly well the
character of the work. (See example under “Half-tone Process Blocks.”)
6.—STIPPLE ENGRAVING.
Performed with the graver or other tool, which is so managed as to
produce the tints by small dots. This method is much used for statuary
and for portraits particularly, the rest of the picture being generally
executed by some of the other methods, Nos. 1 and 2 especially.
[Illustration: Transfer, direct from Engraved plate to stone.]
[Illustration: Etching on Copper, reproduced by process block.]
[Illustration: LITHOGRAPHIC PRINTING PRESS.]
LITHOGRAPHY.
Lithography, as one of the modern arts, dates only from about the end
of the last century. The inventor, ALOYS SENEFELDER, the son of an
actor, was born at Munich in 1771, and died there on the 26th February,
1834. Intended for the profession of the Law, he, on the death of his
father, was obliged to retire from the University.
[Illustration: Drawn on transfer paper and transferred to stone
direct.]
Thrown on his own resources at the age of eighteen, he turned to his
father’s profession, but met with little success. Writing for the
stage, he found difficulty, owing to his poverty, in getting his
writings published, and it was in trying to find out some ready process
to attain this end that he arrived at what we now term the Art of
Lithography. Senefelder lived to perfect his art to a high degree,
and to see it brought into general use, but without bringing much
profit to himself. Since his time many advances have taken place, and
new developments in various directions, as in the beautiful art of
chromo-lithography and photo-lithography.
The term Lithography is derived from the Greek, _lithos_, a stone, and
_grapho_, to write. Lithographic stone is a species of limestone, the
best qualities of which are obtained from the quarries at Solenhofen,
near Munich, and from Papenheim, on the Danube. The stones are cut into
slabs or blocks of various sizes to suit the work required; to print
an octavo page, quarto, etc., up to sixty inches by forty, and even
larger. The thickness varies from an inch and a half in the smaller,
to four or five inches in the larger sizes. The stones are ground
perfectly level with sand and water, and finished off with a fine stone
until a perfectly smooth polished surface is produced, when it is ready
to receive the drawing, or to have transferred to its surface a drawing
or writing made upon specially prepared paper (_lithographic transfer
paper_). For chalk or crayon drawings, the smooth surface of the stone
is _grained_ with sifted silver sand, which gives a beautifully even
granular texture, and the drawing is made upon it with _lithographic
chalk_. For drawing upon the smooth stone, or upon transfer paper,
_lithographic ink_ is used.
THE PRINCIPLE UNDERLYING THE PROCESS OF LITHOGRAPHY is simply this:—The
nature of the stone is such that it retains with great tenacity the
resinous and oily substances contained in the ink or the crayon
employed to form the design. The lithographic stone also absorbs water
freely; this, combined with the peculiar affinity between resinous
substances and their mutual power of repelling water, causes the ink on
the printing roller to adhere to the design and to leave untouched the
damp surface of the stone.
[Illustration: Drawn on transfer paper and transferred to stone
direct.]
THE PROCESS OF LITHOGRAPHIC PRINTING is as follows:—After the drawing
on the litho. stone is completed, it receives a wash of dilute acid
and gum arabic, and this, by removing the alkali from the ink, leaves
the design on it in a permanent form, at the same time that it etches
away a minute portion of the surface of the stone, and renders it more
absorbent of water. After _etching_, all trace of the acid is removed
with a sponge and water, the stone is rubbed over with a _damp muslin
cloth_ to equalise the moisture upon the surface, the _lithographic
roller_ charged with _printing ink_ is passed over the surface, the
lines of the design alone taking ink; the paper is then laid upon the
stone, and a copy is obtained by means of the _lithographic press_. The
damping of the stone and inking is repeated for every impression.
LITHOGRAPHIC WRITING AND DRAWING INK and LITHOGRAPHIC CRAYONS for
chalk drawing on stone, are similar in composition, but different
in proportions, suited to the particular kind of work, _white wax_,
_shell-lac_, _hard soap_, _tallow_, and _lamp black_ being the chief
ingredients. For writing and drawing all kinds of line work on stone
or transfer paper, the ink is made in sticks, and rubbed down with
water to a proper consistency for use, and used with a _pen_ or _sable
pencil_. For chalk drawings upon a grained stone, the ink is cast into
the form of crayons, and used in a port-crayon for convenience in
drawing, sharpening the point as required.
CHALK DRAWING ON STONE is rarely used for such small work as
book-plates. We need not therefore more particularly refer to it,
than to say that excellence in this department of Lithography may be
attained more readily than in _fine-line work_, for which constant
practice, and a very delicate handling of the implements, the
lithographic pen and fine sable pencil, is required.
[Illustration: Drawn on transfer paper and transferred to stone
direct.]
The technical difficulties to be overcome in Lithography are very
great; to the unpractised they seem insuperable: the magic of handling
acquired by long-continued practice in the use of the materials, as
seen in good examples, exhibits a degree of technical skill which the
amateur may not hope to rival. To draw with the _pen_ or _small sable
pencil_ with the requisite degree of fineness of line of the expert,
and with the precision and apparent freedom of the accomplished artist,
is a thing of difficult attainment. This is a disadvantage to artists
generally, who are obliged to entrust the translation of their drawings
to the professional lithographer—not always with a satisfactory
result(!)
GRAINED OR TEXTURED PAPER, of which there are many varieties specially
made with a chalky surface for _photo-lithography_, are now much used,
on which the artist makes his drawing in litho-chalk or suitable
black lead pencil. As the knife point may be used to scrape out lights
on the chalky surface, it admits of very effective work for pictorial
illustrations. A photo-litho transfer is then put to stone, or a
_process block_ made from it, as may be required. Drawings made on this
prepared textured paper with lithographic chalk may also be transferred
to stone direct, and printed from. Extreme beauty and fineness are,
however, gained by the photo-reduction.
Very beautiful Pictorial and Heraldic Ex Libris have been executed
by the lithographic process, hardly to be distinguished from plate
engraving.
ENGRAVED PLATES may have transfers taken from them and printed from
stone. A number of examples, with explanatory titles, are given of the
various modes of _lithographic and photo-lithographic reproduction_.
[Illustration: Drawn on transfer paper and transferred to stone
direct.]
CHROMO-LITHOGRAPHY.
Some very dainty examples of Ex Libris emblazoned in heraldic tinctures
are met with, very charming in their way, principally German ones.
Colour in the heraldry of book-plates has not found the same favour
in this country as on the Continent; for what reason it is hard to
understand. Through the courtesy of Mr. R. S. Mansergh, Friarsfield,
co. Tipperary, we are enabled to print as a frontispiece the plate
newly designed by the writer, and executed by Messrs. Marcus Ward &
Co., of Belfast.
PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHY.
Photo-lithography is now so largely employed for the reproduction
of all classes of work that a few words in explanation of it may
be very desirable. The process is of a somewhat technical nature,
but simplicity itself when understood! It is founded upon the fact
that _gelatine_, by the addition of a certain chemical, is rendered
insoluble on exposure to light.
A negative photograph from the original drawing in black lines having
been taken by the _wet_ or collodion plate, it is intensified to the
required degree, so that the lines of the design appear perfectly clear
upon a dense, opaque, black film. It is then “exposed” in the printing
frame, upon paper that has been coated (in the dark) with the prepared
gelatine—now extremely sensitive to light. Taken out of the printing
frame in the dark room, the exposed print (which barely shows any
trace of the design at this stage) is then covered with a thin film
or coating of printers’ transfer ink. _The lines exposed to the light
have been rendered insoluble_, while the white ground of the design
protected by the negative is still in a soluble condition. Floated
in a bath of warm water, the soluble gelatine (not acted on by the
light), with its coating of ink, is washed away—the insoluble lines of
the design alone remaining, coated with printers’ transfer ink. This
“_photo-transfer_” is then ready to be put down to the lithographic
stone and printed from, or it may be transferred to a polished zinc
plate, and etched to the requisite depth as a block for type printing.
[Illustration: Drawn on stone direct, with mechanical ruling added.]
DRAWING FOR PHOTO-LITHO, AND FOR PROCESS LINE-BLOCKS.
The invention of photo-lithography enables the artist to make
his own drawings or designs in black and white on a larger scale
(usually one-third or one-half larger than required), which will be
photo-litho’d down to the size required, thus preserving intact every
touch and flexture of line in the original, and, by the reduction,
gaining a fineness of line and beauty of finish which the artist could
not himself produce on the reduced size. MACHINE RULING may afterwards
be transferred into the design when it is upon the stone, as in some of
the designs in the accompanying examples.
“_Process blocks_,” which reproduce so admirably all kinds of drawings
and engravings, are, when carefully printed, sometimes very difficult
to detect from direct lithographs.
[Illustration: _Ulster King of Arms._
Pen and Ink Drawing by Rev. Wm. FitzGerald, reproduced by process
block. Much reduced.]
PROCESS BLOCKS.
LINE WORK.
There are quite a number of processes that have been brought into
use with more or less success, as Graphotype, Dallas-type, etc., to
which it is not necessary to refer, as for all practical purposes
Zinc Etching holds the field against all others, either for HALF-TONE
BLOCKS, or for LINE-BLOCKS of every kind, of which last a number of
examples are here given, with an explanatory title to each specimen.
For work of the very finest kind, the Photogravure or Heliogravure,
printed by the copper-plate press, bears the palm, but it has the
disadvantage of being very expensive. Those desirous of knowing more
fully concerning the various processes in use may be referred to a
very excellent volume in the “Book Lovers’ Library”—“MODERN METHODS OF
ILLUSTRATING BOOKS,” by H. Trueman Wood, M.A., Secretary to the Society
of Arts, and published by Elliot Stock.
[Illustration: Pen and Ink Drawing, reproduced by process block.
Slightly reduced.]
[Illustration: Pen and Ink Drawing reproduced by Photo-lithography.]
These modern methods provide a most important and valuable means of
producing illustrations for printing purposes. By their aid, any
photograph, drawing, design, or engraving of any kind can be translated
into a block, and with such success that, with suitable subjects, it is
often hardly possible to tell the original from the copy; and not only
do they enable surface blocks to be produced with great rapidity and at
slight cost, but they give blocks capable of producing effects which
could not be obtained at all by wood engravings, or, if at all, only at
great expense.
Many artists have hailed with delight the process of Zinc Etching, as
by its means they obtain a perfect _fac-simile_ of their work, more
especially pen and ink drawing, which could never be reproduced by
any other method with the same accuracy and delicacy of finish which
the zinc process gives, and which could not by wood engraving be an
absolute _fac-simile_.
[Illustration: Pen and Ink Drawing, reproduced by process block.
Slightly reduced.]
[Illustration: Pen and Ink Drawing reproduced by Photo-lithography.]
[Illustration: Pen and Ink Drawing, reproduced by process block. (Same
size.)]
Mr. Carl Hentschel, head of an eminent firm of photo-etchers, to whom
we applied for information upon certain points in the manipulation of
his process, courteously offered some very interesting statements as to
the development of zinc etching. He says the process of Zinc Engraving
was introduced into England about thirty years ago, but really did
not “catch on,” as the Yankees would say, for twenty years after; nor
was there any real value attached to it from a commercial point of
view until about twelve years ago, when, as Mr. Hentschel assures us,
the system he adopted rendered it possible to have blocks of all kinds
for newspapers, books, magazines, and journals of every description
produced in such time that their delivery could be relied upon for the
most urgent publication, and, only then, the vast possibilities of
the zinc process began to dawn upon publishers, and soon the method
was gradually adopted for all purposes of engraving. Some idea of the
extent to which it is made use of may be gathered from the fact that
this firm alone delivers weekly about three thousand blocks for various
publications throughout the country, and even to far-off India, where
the plates of whole volumes of educational works have been despatched
by this enterprising firm. To keep pace with the requirements of the
times it has been found necessary recently to add largely to the
facilities for the execution of half-tone blocks, using engine power
to the extent of forty horse for the production of the electric light,
essential for this branch of the business, so that in this respect they
are practically independent of sunlight. In cases of emergency it is
no unusual thing to deliver half-tone blocks in five to seven hours,
and Line work, from transfers, one and half hours, and in the case of
having to photo the subject, two and half to three hours. This would
have been impossible under the old system, trusting to daylight, and
this fact, coupled with the cheaper rate of cost, has given an impetus
to illustrated journalism that could hardly have been dreamt of under
the old _regime_.
[Illustration: Pen and Ink Drawing, reproduced by process block.
Slightly reduced.]
Under the head of photo-lithography, the initiatory stage in the making
of what are termed “Process Blocks” was explained, namely, the making
of photo-transfer from the original drawing—in printer’s ink—for
transference to the lithographic stone and printed form. The metal Zinc
possesses the same or similar properties as lithographic stone, and may
be used to print from in the same way. The term Zincography is applied
to the process, though practically it is the same as lithography.
[Illustration: Drawn in pen and ink, reproduced by process block.]
To convert the design upon the zinc plate into a relief block to print
with type is only one step farther—to so protect the lines of the
design on the zinc plate, as to resist the corrosive action of acid,
and by etching the plate, produce a relief block. For this purpose, a
resinous or bituminous substance is introduced into the composition of
the printing ink. Here, then, we have the lines of the design in an
acid-resisting material upon the surface of a metal plate exceedingly
susceptible to the action of acids. If the prepared plate is now placed
in an acid bath, the entire surface of the zinc, except the protected
lines, will become etched, or dissolved away, leaving the design in its
integrity, with the lines standing up in relief: the etched plate has
now only to be mounted upon wood to the height of type to be ready for
the printer’s use.
[Illustration: Pen and Ink Drawing, reproduced by process block.]
[Illustration: Pen and Ink Drawing reproduced by Photo-lithography.]
Such is a brief outline of the process in the production of LINE
BLOCKS. The design may be put on the metal plate in any of the
following ways:—
(_a_) By direct drawing on the zinc plate.
(_b_) By a drawing on transfer paper to zinc or stone.
(_c_) By transference of a photo-transfer.
(_d_) By transfer from an engraved plate.
(_e_) By transfer from a lithographic stone.
(_f_) By direct photography upon zinc.
The most perfect work is said to be obtained by the latter method.
There are many technical difficulties to be encountered in working
the process, difficulties which for twenty years kept it at the
experimental stage, and of little practical utility, as, for instance,
after etching the plate for a short time the acid has a tendency to
bite laterally as well as vertically, and so undermine and weaken the
lines intended to be left standing. This is obviated by some photo
etchers in using certain chemicals, and others by an ingenious manner
in the working by etching in stages. This is done by re-inking and
dusting with bitumen, heating the plate after each “etching,” which
has the effect of melting and spreading the resinous or bituminous
ink on the face, and slightly down the sides of the lines. Successful
work is only attained by attention to the various delicate technical
manipulations, which only experience can give.
[Illustration: Pen and Ink Drawing, reproduced by process block.]
[Illustration: Reproduced by half-tone process block, from a Monochrome
Sketch, reduced in size.]
HALF-TONE PROCESS BLOCKS.
The subject, whether it is a drawing, engraving, painting, or a photo
print, must in each case be photographed to obtain upon the negative
the texture which is the means of producing the gradations of light and
dark we find in the finished block. The theory is simple enough, but
the practice is extremely difficult, and one requiring great skill and
care. A glass screen having cross lines ruled upon it, with perfect
mechanical regularity (about seventy lines to the inch for large work,
up to two hundred lines to the inch for very fine half-tone blocks,
as may be best suited to the subject in hand). The screen is fixed in
the camera between the lens and the negative to be exposed. The fine
black lines of the screen are reproduced upon the negative as white
lines, breaking up the picture into a series of minute square dots, of
varying size according to the light and shade of the original picture.
A photo-transfer is then taken as previously explained. (In Hentschel’s
process the secret of the prepared transfer paper is in the possession
of Mr. Hentschel solely.) After being transferred to the zinc, and
manipulated with certain chemicals, the plate is gradually etched until
a sufficient depth has been obtained. It is then trimmed and mounted
type height ready for the printer.
[Illustration: Pen and Ink Drawing, reproduced by process block.]
[Illustration: Original size.
Pen and Ink Drawing, reproduced by process block in three sizes.]
PEN AND INK DRAWING.
Drawings for reproduction by the modern processes of photo-lithography
and photo-etching may be prepared in a variety of ways. The most
frequently used is termed PEN AND INK DRAWING (often mistakenly called
“_etching_,” which is engraving by means of an acid). This class of
work is the most popular of all, and the most easily got at by artists
and amateurs; it is translated with much greater ease, and at less
cost, than photographs or shaded drawings of any kind. As the term
indicates, it is executed with _the pen_; many artists, however, have
a predilection for _the brush_ (a fine sable pencil), which, though it
requires considerable practice to master its use, becomes in masterly
hands a valuable instrument, capable of greater and more varied effects
than the pen. Good _black ink_, and _smooth white paper_ or cardboard,
are the essentials. Much may be said on the style or modes of different
artists in drawing, the kind or quality of the ink, the pens and paper
to be used. The relative values of thick and thin, open and close
lines, the direction of the lines, etc., in producing the varied
character and quality of good expressive drawing; the various textures
of surfaces—roughness, smoothness, etc.—have all to be considered, more
especially if the drawing is made upon a larger scale, to be reduced
in the photo-etching process of translation. We heartily commend the
shilling handbook on Pen and Ink drawing published by Winsor and
Newton. It is an excellent introduction to the art; it gives full
instructions on the best means of working, and the materials to be
used.[3]
[Footnote 3: “The Art of Pen and Ink Drawing, commonly called Etching.”
By H. R. Robertson, Fellow of the Society of Painter-Etchers, Author of
“The Art of Etching,” etc. Winsor & Newton, Limited, London.]
[Illustration: CLUB DEVICE AND EX LIBRIS.
Pen and Ink Drawing, reproduced by process block.]
[Illustration: Reproduced by half-tone process block, from an Aqua-Tint
engraving, same size.]
For HALF-TONE SHADED BLOCKS the design may be executed in washes
as a china ink drawing, or in any other way. The illustrations are
reproductions from various kinds of originals, as explained under each
example.
Messrs. Carl Hentschel & Co., 182-3 Fleet Street, have been good enough
to prepare several examples to illustrate the half-tone process; each
block having been made from an original executed in a different way, as
indicated by the explanatory title; and may be considered rather severe
tests of what the process is capable. For these favours we are much
obliged; we tender also our thanks for their kindness and courtesy in
supplying much of the foregoing information.
[Illustration: Pen and Ink Drawing, reproduced by process block.]
HINTS TO COLLECTORS OF EX LIBRIS.
_To distinguish how a book-plate may have been produced._
A lithograph or a photo-lithograph may be distinguished from a woodcut,
or from a copper engraving, by the following: By the quality of the
lines, whether _cut_ with the graver or _etched_ upon copper; _drawn
with the pen_ or with _the fine sable pencil_. Each has a character of
handling and manner of its own by which it may be recognised. A little
observation of admitted examples with the aid of a strong magnifying
glass will generally resolve this.
[Illustration: EX LIBRIS.
Reproduced by half-tone process block, from Coloured Design for Stained
Glass Window.]
THE DIFFERENCE IN ENGRAVED OR CUT LINES, AND ETCHED LINES.
Lines cut with the graver are invariably smooth and even, and have a
clear silvery appearance; in isolated lines or cuts it will be observed
that the beginning of the lines are finer where the graver has entered
than where it stops. Etched lines, on the contrary, do not possess the
same smooth-edged rigid character as those cut with the graver; and
where greater strength of line is obtained it is by deeper etching with
the acid bath, and in this the difference in the quality of line is
more perceptible.
TO DISTINGUISH AN IMPRESSION FROM PLATE.
In a _plate engraving_ the lines are slightly _in relief_ (and,
if strongly engraved, or the paper thin, observable on the back).
A sensitive finger will detect the stronger raised lines of the
engraving. _The mark of the plate_, unless cut off, also betrays it;
the engraved plate by Mr. Sherborn, facing page 27, will illustrate
this.
TO DISTINGUISH A WOODCUT, OR LINE PROCESS BLOCK.
In a block the lines of the design are _indented_ slightly into the
paper, which shows itself on the back of the print (unless thoroughly
rolled out under heavy pressure). Close observation with the magnifying
glass will show the edges of the lines to be slightly rough—by the
ink from the face of the line being squeezed over the edge; in good
printing this is not so apparent. A weakness with nearly all process
blocks is that the edges of fine tints and outlying fine lines are apt
to print heavier than they should, unless very carefully worked.
TO DISTINGUISH A LITHOGRAPH.
In a _lithograph_ the surface of the paper is perfectly smooth, and
not indented in any way. The examples of engraved plates printed from
stone, and the litho. and photo-litho’s printed in brown ink, will
serve to illustrate the qualities of lithography. Unless well printed,
the fine lines are apt to show weak and rotten, or to have become thick
and blurred, either in transferring to the stone or by too much ink on
the printing roller.
[Illustration: FATO PRUDENTIA MAJOR.
EX LIBRIS VINICOMBE BEY, _Colonel d’ Artillerie Tophané,
Constantinople_.
Example of soft-ground etching—Reproduced by half-tone process block.]
“AU REVOIR.”
Having now rehearsed, I hope clearly and concisely, the various modes
by which Ex Libris are and have been produced, and having revealed
as many trade secrets as the limited space at command would allow, I
beg to thank the Council of the Ex Libris Society for permission to
reprint from the pages of the _Journal_ the series of articles on the
subject—now somewhat expanded—and for the use of the blocks by which
they were illustrated. To Mr. W. H. K. Wright, F.R.HIST.SOC., the able
Editor and Secretary of the Ex Libris Society (to whom all collectors
are infinitely indebted), my thanks are due for his valued aid and
counsel; and on whose shoulders I have now laid the further obligation
of a preface. As a special favour I have requested his “library
interior” plate to appear. A similar favour I have desired from Arthur
Vicars, F.S.A., _Ulster King of Arms_, to whom I dedicate this little
book. With the exception of these two “library interiors” and the crest
plate of R. Day, F.S.A., by Sherborn, all the modern Ex Libris designs
here printed have been made by, or under the superintendence of, the
writer, and executed by Marcus Ward & Co., Limited, whom I beg to thank
most heartily for their kind co-operation, particularly in printing the
lithographed specimens, and the use of additional blocks. I have also
to thank several personal friends who have been good enough to lend me
their copper-plates and process blocks.
[Illustration: JOHN VINYCOMB, M.R.I.A.]
RIVERSIDE, HOLYWOOD, CO. DOWN, 1894.
THE
=_Journal_=
OF THE
=_Ex Libris Society_=,
_PUBLISHED MONTHLY_,
=Price, 1s. 6d. Post Free, 1s. 9d.=
[Illustration]
_ALSO_,
=VOLUME I. Out of Print
VOLUME II. Out of Print
VOLUME III. Price, 21_s._
Post Free, 21_s._ 8_d._=
=Cases for the above Volumes—
Price, 1s. 6d. Post Free, 1s. 9d.
ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK=,
_SOHO SQUARE, LONDON_.
DATED BOOK-PLATES
(=_Ex Libris_=),
_With a Treatise on their Origin and Development_.
BY
WALTER HAMILTON,
_Chairman of Council of the Ex Libris Society; Vice-President
of the Société Française des Collectionneurs d’Ex Libris._
=WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS.=
A list of Dated Plates prior to 1700 appears in Part I., with
_fac-similes_ of Ex Libris specially selected as typical
examples of early work.
Part II. will contain Dated Plates of the 18th century.