El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-09-07
AsHINGTON, D. C.. Sept. I

! AA/ Some one has called this the
age of printing, but to anyone
/ who takes note of the number of il
| distractions with which the printed pub
I locations are embellished il must ap-
( pear that the term An age OF pic
/ lures" must be equally appropriate
| Never were there so many pictures in
/ the world and never were the faciIi-
| ties for producing them so varied and
| complete The modern illustration. has
come within the reach of even me
! cheapest publication, while for the
higher grade magazines there are CON
tinuOus outputs of pictures so beau
! tiful in conception and reproduction
| that they are constant source of de-
I light.
Love of the Beautiful.
The influence of good pictures can
not but be ennobling and inspiring
therefore the Optimist sees much future
culated to develop a love of the beau
tiful and yet these are often scattered
! free by the advertiser and at all times
come within reach of even the family
poor now to be decorated with beauti-
ful pictures. The modern methods of
reproduction have placed excellent
copies OF the worlds masterpieces
within the reach of all When beauti-
full prints of the works of all the old
masters are to be bought as low as a
cent apiece every public school teacher
has at her command the means TO in
Culcate into the minds of the children
a taste for classic art which most of
them are eager to embrace.
Nor is it only the old classic pic
lures which give most pleasure in their
reproduction. The modern artists de-
spite all assertions to the contrary are
giving the highest forms of beauty the
world has ever known and by the mod
ern methods of reproduction. their
treasures may be enjoyed by the mil
lions instead of being confined to the
few hundred people who are able to at
tend the public exhibitions each year.
There never mas been a period when
SO much money was expended for pic
lures, and yet by the modern means
of making illustrations there is no
great picture ever likely to be pro-
duced which some some periodical viii not
Illustration of Books.
The illustration of books is older in
a sense than the printing of books. 1t
dates back before the time that the
old monks illustrated their manuscript
with hand colored Examinations and
the process of evolution from those
old Volumes a few copies of which now
are preserved in some of the museums
Of the world, to the beautifully Illus
trated books now seen everywhere. is
one that AS been marked with many
stories of self denial and sacrifice upon
the part of those who aided in the
progress of pictures The painstaking
toll of the old monks was succeeded by
the equally labOrious processes of the
first engravers-
There is not an advance which has
not been made by the self sacrifice of
some man who loved the art of pictare-
making for its own sake and was will
ing to work for scant remuneration to
advance ii. This has proved true from
the beginning of art down to the in
Vention of TYPOGRAPHY by Senenlelder
in the past century, and. in our own
time, to the invention of photo engrav-
ing by Ives, VINO for a whole year
worked at the miserable pittance of
SIS a week for the support of his fam
lily while at night he devoted himself
tn the perfection of the one process
which more than any other has placed
First Printed Books.
The first printed books were really
entirely of Illustrations; both pictures
and text were engraved upon the
blocks OF wood, from which they were
printed The first printed book with
wood engraved illustrations added
throughout the text was The Fables
of Ulrich BOrner," issued by Albert
Pfister in Bamberg in 1851. In 1867
The MeditatiOns." published in Rome
by a German printer, contained the
first wood enSavings made in Italy.
volume upon military art illustrated
by 81 designs by Matteo Pasti was
published in Verona in 1872 and is con-
Sidered the most artistic work pro-
duced up to that time although the en-
craving is poorly done There have
been many forms and processes of il
Illustrations used between then and
now, metal engraving and lithOgraphy
having been the most important fea-
lures.
The use of metal engravings. from
which were printed Illustrations. fol-
lows closely upon that of wood and by
the 18th century some exceedingly good
results were produced Copper was
the first metal used and many of the
most noted works of artists were re-
produced in this manner. The painter
Rubens was especially interested and
encouraged the copying of his best
work upon good sized plates.
Etching was introduced as fea-
ture of engraving at about this period.
This consisted OF coating a sheet of
metal with wax and drawing the pic
strument, known as an etching needle,
after which the waNed plate was COW
cred with acid The lines were eaten
into the metal by the acid and after
the wax was removed the plate was
used to make prints Many of these
first etchings are still in existence and
are of almost priceless value, and
few of them were used as illustrations
for books now in the possession of
museums.
Steel En%ravInGs.
Steel engravings began to be used
in England in the 18th century and
were quite numerous in the earlier
part Of the 18th century. The English
pecially noteworthy and many of these
old enSravings now are being repro
duced- While copper was considered
more artistic than steel, it was softer
and did not WELD as many good i'm
pressiOns. so was not as good for IL
Illustrating processes.
During the early part of the 18th
century, the production of gift books
tions of poetry and literature became a
struction of the Cuernavaca road from
BalSaS to CeguatanejO, which would