Evening star., 1935-04-14
By Leila Mechlin.

A COLLECTION Of aquatints In
~ color produced and published
~ for the most part as book il
\ Illustrations during the first
double decade Of the nine
teenth century has been placed on
view as q special exhibition in the
Library Of Congress under the
auspices of the department of fine arts.
The art of aquatint was at that time
very young, having been invented"
some time between 1750 and ITO by,
1t is thought, Frenchman, Jean
Baptiste LIE Prince. There were others
experimenting with the method stimuli
taneously. notably the Able de st.
Non and a Swedish engraver, Per
Gustaf Floding, but, be that as it
may, Paul Sandby, who introduced
aouatint into England about ITS, is
known to have obtained the secret
Of the process from the Hon. Charles
Grcville, who, in turn, bought it from
lie Prince. The method is interesting
and difficult. A coating of very fine
resin dust is deposited on a metal
meath, forms in globules, the inter-
stices between which expose the metal
and determine the f1neness or coarse
ness OF the ground" After the de-
cign is outlined on this ground" the
plate is immersed in acid, which at
tacks the copper between the globules.
Wher the lightest value" has been
etched, the plate is removed from the
acid bath, and this value stopped
out" as in line etching, which process
IS repeated until the darkest value"
has been attained. Then the resin
is washed off with alcohol and the
design is found to be etched in the
plate in tones made up Of innumerable
very fine lines.
To an extent this process resembles
mezzotint engraving in which the
plate is grounded by tool, but aqua
| tint is the more delicate of the two
and possesses a transparency which
mt Zzotint lacks. Probably for this
very reason aquatint lent itself espe-
cially well to the reproduction of the
stained" or tinted" drawings and
water colors that were popular in
England in the late eighteenth and
early nineteenth centuries. In most in
| stances these prints were made from
single plate in several tones Of one
color. and then hand tinted" by pro-
fessional washers" employed by the
leading publishers. BY this method
the appearance Of the print is very
| similar to the original painting, as
will be seen in the examples now on
view.
Not only are these aquatintS in color
| charming in themselves, but through
| them is given insight into the life
VI the time in which they were pro-
duceo Before the days of railroads,
| steamships. automobiles and airplanes,
there was the keenest interest in travel,
| and curiosity concerning foreign and
uneXplored lands. Many of the IL
lustrations shown fall into this cate
| gorv. There being no photography
| IN those days, the subjects of these
| reproductions were drawings and
| paintings made by travellers, amateurs,
who, with the utmost naturalness and
Iack of conceit, used these means for
| graphic expression. To be able to
| sketch was then a gentlemans ac-
| complishment, and among the popu-
lar publications of the day were draw
ing books purposed as aids to this end.
There was also at that time a pro-
found interest in learning, and among
the handsomest of the publications
now set forth are a History of OK
ford" and a work on the University
of Cambridge" both issued by Acker-
mann. one of the greatest of the print
publishers and booksellers of London
son of German coach-builder. and
accredited with having introduced
lithography as fine art into England
The former shows aquatintS by Lewis
and Reeves after paintings by Nash
and Mackenzie. the latter aquatints
by j. c. Stadler, after paintings by
Pine and Pugin-all names of dis
tipction in these fields.
Stadler also. it is seen. aquatinted
drawings by the Rev. Cooper Will
yams of "Views in Palestine, Rhodes
Italy. Minorca and Gibraltar" An
equally famous aquatinter of this per-
iod was Thomas Sutherland, whose
work is exemplified in an illustration
among others, of "The Capture oi
Rivoli. February %, 1872" after 8
drawing by Capt. J. w. Andrew. Ir
quite number of instances it is seer
that army and navy officers con-
trihuted the drawings and paintings
from which these plates were pro-
duced. and the question arises-were
they done during the engagement OF
from memorv? This is answered oc-
caSionally by the statement, Done
on the spot" which accompanies the
SCperScription.
Such IS the case in connection with
an aquatlnt of The Funeral Process
sion of Bonaparte," drawn ION the
spot by Capt. Marryat of the Royal
Navy. who happened at that time tc
be stationed at st. Helena, and was
1t will be discovered, none other thar
the author of "Midshipman Easy,
Peter Simple" and other well-knowr
novels. A pitiful scene it is that ht
presents, contrasting strangely with
the pomp and glory in which Ma
poieons remains now lie in the mag.
nificent tomb in Paris.
Another officer, Lieut.. the Hon
w. Waldegrove, supplies the drawing
for an aquatint of Sir w. Hoste.
Action Of Lissa," and there are in.
teresting Oriental Drawings" con.
tributed by a Capt. Charles Gold.
Among the most notable books o.
travel illustrated are two by Johr
Barrow, one-time secretary to the ad.
miralty and traveller in the service o1
the British government in China, a.
well as promoter of Arctic explora.
ton. after whom, incidentally, Bar
row Straits, Cape and Point Barrow
were named. These are Travels ir
China" and "A Voyage to Cochin
China" both with paintings by w
Alexander, aquatinted by Medland
There is "a Voyage to India" illus
trated and acquainted by Thomas and
William Daniel, the former a well
known landscape painter, the latter
equally distinguished as aquatintel
and mezzotinter. Among other far
off lands pictorially represented are
South Africa, Turkey, the Island oi
Jamaica, the Empire of Russia and