The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1877-12-29
The OsgOod Heliotypes,

Mr.. Phillip Gilbert Hamerton,i jim the Nov.-Dcc
number of the International Rerittr, takes occa
sion to decry all cheap wood-cuts and inferior
stcc ates as devices to serve art simply because
they have the one quality of democratic cheap
ness" 'Thcrc is no objection" he says, "to
cheap art any more than to cheap literature, If
it he good but as the two do not stand on the
same footing, he adds, sit is not so easy to cheap
en- works of art, below a certain point, without
loss of quality, which is simply intoerabe tol
any one. who knows what quality really is"
Most copies from the works of the masters pub
lished by the press as wood-cut embellishments
are abominable, and convey but slightly the
truths OF the original; but rs they satisfy in al
measure the demand for cheap art, they meet
with favorable reception and are powerful in
forming the taste of the multitude. 1t is this de-
mand that has created the wood.cut and because
of it, no doubt, the lovers of art have been labor
in to invent processes by whicha art may be cheap
encd and at the same time not degraded, and on
this plan the elegant art journals of the day are
conducted and are deservedly successful, but
even these are expensive and do not meet all the
necessary requirements. They tell us how, for
instance, to decorate our homes and make them
lovely and attractive, but furnish us with moth
ing to do it. and yet this is the chief desideratum.
process has however, been discovered that
embodies the necessary requisites. This is the
Iieliotype process invented in London in 1870 by
Ernest Edwards and introduced in the L. s. in
1872 by Messrs. Osgood Il Co., of Boston, since
which time Mr.. Edwards has been its superin-
tendent under their auspices. 'The product of
81 ualintupo is adj IIa1infynn |
is both photograph and print. 1t is photo
graph mechanically produced, and it is at the
same time print having chemical origin. The
ordinary photograph is produced in eyanesccnt
materials and will fade; the Heliotypc is printed
with permanent ink and can never fade. The
IIeliotype therefore, may be defined rs photo
mechanical print possessing the exact features
of photograph, together with the permanent
qualities Of ordinary printing" The process Is
too complicated to describe here though very in
Iteresting-wc can only mention the results,
viewed in the artistic light only. The last decade
has developed with amazing rapidly in our
country an interest in an intelligent appreciation
of art; and it is in extending that interest and
quickcning that appreciation that the Helotype
process, rightly directed may play an important
part. For many years to come, Americans must
gain their chief knowledge of the masterpieces of
painting through cngrayings. Neatly all of the
most celebrated cngravings of great pictures
have now become rare and costly, and are only
to he seen in public galleries and large private
collections. Here the function Of the Heiotype
process begins; II comes to the aid Of art, multi
plies these costly and beautiful works, and brings
them within easy reach of the whole public. Al.
ready several hundred subjects have been pub
lished and the catalogue shows an imposing list
Of artists and engrayers, while the accuracy and
excellence of the work is remarkable and pccu
! liarly gratifying to lovers of art.
The 'engrayngs" are printed on thick, hand
some paper of the uniform size of l9y4 inches
and sold at 81 each. Agents are TO be found at
most large towns. In Ottawa, Osman IL Hape
man have but lately been appointed, and have
now on hand a number Of the works both with
and without frames which all are invited TO look
at. Catalogues and description of of the pro-
cess may also be obtained from them.