ENGRAVING.

Engraving is the art of cutting metals and precious stones, and representing thereon figures, letters, or whatever device or design the artist chuses.

Engraving being properly a branch of sculpture, is divided into several other branches, according to the matter on which it is employed, and the manner in which it is performed. For the method of Engraving on Wood, see Wood, Engraving on. Εngiuving on Copper is the making, conformably to Some delineated figure or design, such concave lines on a Smooth surface of copper, either by cutting or corrosion, as render it capable, when charged properly with any coloured fluid, of imparting by compression, to paper or any similar substance, an exact representation of the figure or design.

Whether we consider the art of engraving, with regard to the utility and pleasure it affords, or the difficulty which attends its execution, we cannot but confess, that on every account it deserves a distinguished rank amongst the polite arts. It is by means of this art that the cabinets of the curious are adorned with the portraits of the greatest men of all ages and all nations. It is by this art also that the paintings of the greatest masters are multiplied, and that the lovers of the polite arts are enabled to enjoy those beauties from which their distant situations seemed to have for ever debarred them; and persons of moderate fortune are thereby enabled to become possessed of all the spirit, and all the poetry, contained in those miracles of art, which seemed to have been reserved for the temples of Italy or the cabinets of princes. When we reflect, moreover, that the engraver, besides the beauties of poetical composition, and the artful ordinance of design, has to express, merely by the means of light and shade, all the various tints of colour and clear obscure,—to give a relief to each figure, and a truth to each object; that he has now to represent a sky serene and bright, and then one loaded with dark clouds,—now the pure tranquil stream, and then the foaming sea tempest-driven; that here he has to express the character of the man, strongly marked in his countenance, and there the minutest ornament of his dress; in a word, that he has to represent all, even the most difficult objects in nature ;—we cannot sufficiently admire the vast improvements in this art, and that degree of perfection to which it has at this day arrived. See the article Prints.

Engraving is an art which for the most part is of modern invention, having taken its rise no earlier than the middle of the fourteenth or fifteenth century. The ancients, it is true, practised engraving on .precious stones and crystals with very good success; and there are still many of their works remaining, equal to any production of later times. But the art of engraving on plates and blocks of wood, in order to afford prints or impressions, was not known till after the invention of painting in oil.

The different modes of engraving are the following:

1. In strokes cut through a thin wax, called etching ground, laid upon the copper, with a point, and these strokes bitten or corroded into the copper with aquafortis. This is called etching.

2. In strokes with the graver alone, unassisted by aquafortis. In this instance, the design is traced with a sharp tool, called a dry point, upon the plate; and the strokes are cut or ploughed upon the copper with an instrument of an angular form, distinguished by the name of a graver.

3. In strokes first etched and afterwards finished with the graver. By this expedient the two former methods are united.

4. In dots without strokes, which are executed with the point upon the wax or etching ground, bitten in with the aquafortis, and afterwards harmonized with the graver, by means of which instrument small dots are made, or with the graver alone, as in the flesh and finer parts, unassisted with the point.

5. In dots first etched and afterwards harmonized with the dry point, performed by a little hammer; called opus mallei, or the τvorlι of the hammer, as practised by Lutma and others.

6. In mezzotinto, which is performed by a dark barb or ground being raised uniformly upon the plate by means of a toothed tool. The design being traced upon the plate, the light parts are scraped off by instruments for that purpose, in proportion as the effect requires.

7. In aquatinta, a newly-invented method of engraving, in which the outline is first etched, and afterwards a sort of wash laid by the aquafortis upon the plate, resembling drawings in Indian ink, bister, &c. See Aquatinta.

8. On wood, consisting of a single block, on which the design is traced with a pen, and those parts which should be white carefully hollowed out. This block is afterwards printed by the letter-press printers, in the same maimer as a book is printed.

9. On wood, consisting of two, three, or more blocks, the first having the outlines cut upon it, the second being reserved for the darker shadows, and the third for the shadows which terminate upon the lights; and these are substituted in their turn, each print receiving an impression from every block. This mode of engraving is called chiaroscuro, and was designed to represent the drawings of the old masters.

10. On wood and on copper. In these the outline is engraved in a bold dark style upon the copper; and two or more blocks of wood are substituted to produce the darker and lighter shadows as before.

Of all those modes of engraving, the most ancient is that on wood ; or, to speak more properly, the first impressions on paper were taken from carved wooden blocks. From this invention it appears that we are indebted to the brief-malers, or makers of playing-cards, who practised the art in Germany about the beginning of the fifteenth century. From the same source may perhaps be traced the first idea of moveable types, which appeared not many years afterwards; for these brief-malers did not entirely confine themselves to the printing and painting of cards, but produced also subjects of a more devout nature, many of which, taken from holy writ, are still preserved in different libraries in Germany, with the explanatory text facing the figures, and the whole engraved in wood. In this manner they even formed a species of books; such as Historia sancti Johannis, ejusque Visionis Apocalyptica, and Historia Veteris et Novi Testamenti, known by the name of Poor Mans Bible. These short mementos were printed only on one side; and two of them being pasted together, had the appearance of a single leaf. The earliest date on any of these wooden cuts is 1423, and the subject is St Christopher carrying the Infant Jesus over the Sea, preserved in a convent at Buxheim near Menningen. It is of a folio size, illuminated in the same manner as the playing cards; and at the bottom is the inscription, Christoferi fiicicm die quaeuìique tueris. Illa nempe die morte mala non morieris. Millesimo CCCC° XX 0 tertia.
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Upon the invention of moveable types, that branch of the brief-maler’s business, as far as it regarded the making of books, was gradually discontinued; but the art itself of engraving on wood continued in an improving state; and towards the end of the fifteenth and the beginning of the sixteenth century, it became customary for almost every one of the German engravers on copper to engrave on wood also, as may be seen from the first printed books, in which the initial letters were for the most part highly ornamented with various appropriate devices. The works of Albert Durer in this style of engraving are justly held in the highest esteem. Italy, France, and Holland have produced many capital artists of this description; but, for boldness and spirit, the palm must be given to the prints of Christopher Jegher, who worked under the direction of Rubens, and was without doubt assisted by that great master.

The invention of that species of engraving which is distinguished by the appellation of chiaroscuro is also claimed by the Germans, and seems to have been first practised by Mair, one of whose prints of this kind is dated 1499. Many excellent works in chiaro-scuro have also been produced in France; and in Italy it was honoured with the performances of Titian and Parmegiano; but the attempts of Jackson, Kirkall, and others in England, have not been equally successful. Since these times, which maybe called the infancy of wood engraving, the art has been carried to very great perfection in Britain; and the present day may boast of higher attainments in this branch than were reached at any former period.

In Germany, about the year 1450, prints from engraved copper first made their appearance. The earliest date of a copperplate print indeed is only the year 1461; but however faulty this print may be with respect to the drawing, and however defective in point of taste, the mechanical part of the execution has by no means the appearance of being one of the first productions of the graver. We have also several other engravings, evidently the work of the same master, in which the impressions are so neatly taken from the plates, and the engravings so clearly printed in every part, that according to ail appearance they could not be executed in a much better manner at the present day, with all the conveniences which the copperplate printers now possess, and the additional knowledge they must necessarily have acquired in the course of more^than three centuries. Hence we may fairly conclude, that if these were not the first specimens of the engraver’s workmanship, much less were they the first efforts of the copperplate printer’s ability. It is likewise to be observed, that Martin Schoen, who is said, with great appearance of truth, to have worked from 1460 to 1486, was apparently the scholar of Stoltzhirs; for he followed the style of the latter in engraving, and copied from him a set of prints representing the passion of our Saviour. Now, allowing Stoltzhirs to have preceded his disciple only ten years, this carries the era of the art back to Ï450, as was stated above. But there is no ground to suppose that it was known to the Italians till at least ten years afterwards. The earliest prints which are known to be theirs are a set of the seven planets, and an almanack by way of frontispiece, on which are directions for finding Easter from the year 1465 to 1517 inclusive; and we may be well assured that the engravings were not antedated, for the almanack of course became less and less valuable every year. In all probability, therefore, these prints must have been executed in the year 1464, which is only four years later than the Italians themselves lay any claim to. The three earliest Italian engravers are, Finiguerra, Boticelli, and Baldini. But if we were to refer these prints to any of the three, we should naturally conclude them to be the work of Finiguerra or Baldini; for they arc not equal i either in drawing or composition to those ascribed to Boticelli, which we know at least were designed by that artist; and as Baldini is expressly said to have worked from the designs of Boticelli, it appears most probable that they belong to Finiguerra.

With respect to the invention of etching, it is not well known to whom it ought to be ascribed. One of the earliest specimens is the print by Albert Durer, known by the name of the Canon, dated 1518, and thought by some, with little foundation, to have been worked on a plate of iron. Another etching by the same artist is Moses receiving the Tables of the Law, dated 1524. Etching was also practised in Italy soon after this by Parmegiano, in whose productions we discover the hand of the artist working out a system as it were from his own imagination, and striving to produce the forms which he wanted to express. We see the difficulty he laboured under; and, from the examination of the mechanical part of the execution of his works, we cannot doubt that he had no instruction, and that it was something entirely new to him. If the story be true that he kept an engraver by profession in his house, the novelty of the art is rendered so much the more probable. He died in 1540.

The art of engraving by corrosion, or what is called etching, with aquafortis, must have very early suggested itself to the discoverers of copperplate printing; for it seems to have been the method used by the manufacturers of warlike implements in their decorations of swordblades and the like: and thus the same artists would soon perceive the facilities afforded by a mode at once easy and expeditious when applied to higher branches, such as the copies of pictures and works of art in general.

As to that species of engraving in which the modes of etching and cutting with the graver are united, it must have been found necessary immediately upon the invention of etching: it was, however, first carried to perfection by Audran, and is now almost universally practised, whether the work is in strokes or in dots.

Engraving in dots is a very old invention, and attributable to the Italians. Agustina de Musis, commonly called Augustin of Venice, a pupil of Marco Antonio, used it in several of his earliest works, but confined it to the flesh, as in the undated print of An Old Man seated upon a Bank, with a cottage in the background. He flourished from 1509 to 1536. We also find an example of this method in a print of “A single figure standing, holding a cup and looking upwards,” by Giulio Campagnola, who engraved about the year 1516. The background is executed with round dots, made apparently with a dry point; the figure is outlined with a stroke deeply engraved, and finished with dots, in a manner greatly resembling those prints which Demarteau engraved at Paris in imitation of red chalk; and the hair and beard are expressed by strokes. Stephen de Laulne, a native of Germany, followed the steps of Campagnola; and many of his slight works are executed in dots only. Jean Boulanger, a French artist, who flourished in the middle of the last century, and his contemporary Nicholas van Plattenberg, improved greatly on this method, and practised it with much success. It is only, however, of late that it has been considered as an object worthy of general imitation. John Lutma executed this kind of work with a hammer and a small punch or chisel.

The method of engraving in mezzotinto was invented about the middle of the seventeenth century; and the invention has generally been attributed to Prince Rupert. See Mezzotinto.

Of the method of engraving in aquatinta an account has already been given under that word. (See Aquatinta.) [7:9:46]But it appears to us not out of place to give the following general directions; and for more particular information the article already mentioned may be consulted.

Engraving in aquatinta was originally invented by Le Prince, a French artist. For a long time, however, his process was kept secret; and his prints, it is said, were at first sold for drawings. As a proof that the art rose at once to perfection, as has already been mentioned, the prints which were executed by him are still admitted to be the finest and best specimens of the art. It appears, however, that he was only acquainted with the powdered grain, and the common method of stoppingout. The first who practised this art in England was Mr Paul Sandby. By him, we are informed, it was communicated to Mr Jukes, whose works afford excellent examples of the perfection to which the art has been carried; and although it is now generally practised all over Europe, yet in no country is this done with greater success than in Britain.

The principle of this process consists in corroding the copper in such a manner that an impression from it exhibits the appearance of a tint laid on paper, or a drawing in Indian ink. This is accomplished by covering the copper with some substance which assumes a granulated form, and prevents the acid from acting where the particles adhere; and thus the copper is only partially corroded. The more minute the particles are, it is obvious the impression from the plate will more nearly resemble a wash of Indian ink, or a drawing; but the larger the particles are, the granulation becomes more distinct. The powder or granulation is called the aquatinta grain, and is produced in two ways.

The process for using the powdered grain, which was first employed, is the following. The outline being etched on a copper-plate, some substance, which easily melts with heat, adheres to the plate when cold, and resists the action of the aquafortis, is to be finely powdered and sifted. Besides asphaltum, rosin, and gum sandaric, the substances which have been mentioned in the article already referred to, Burgundy pitch, gum copal, gum mastic, as well as some other resins and gum resins, may be employed. Gum copal, it is observed, produces a grain which resists the aquafortis extremely well. Whatever the substance bċ which is to be employed, the great object of the artist in its application is, to have it equally distributed over the plate. This is an essential part of the operation, and requires considerable attention. The usual method is to tie up a quantity of the poWder in a piece of muslin, and to strike it against a stick held at a considerable height above the plate. Thus managed, the powder settles equally over it. The plate being thus covered equally with the dust or powder, the latter is to be fixed upon it by the application of a gentle heat, to melt the particles. This is usually done by holding lighted pieces of paper rolled up, and moving them about till the whole of the powder is meltéd, which is known by its changing to a brown colour. It is now allowed to cool, and after being examined with a magnifying glass, if the particles appear to be uniformly distributed, the artist proceeds to the next part of the process. l ' l τ

Those parts of the design or drawing to be engraved, which are perfectly white, are to be observed and marked, and the corresponding parts of the plate must be covered or stopped out. This is best done by means of mastic varnish, diluted to such a consistence with turpentine as to work freely with the hair pencil. To give it colour, lampblack should be mixed withit, in order that the touches of the péhcil maybe distinctly seen. When those parts of the plate which are stopped out are sufficiently dry, a border of wax is raised round the plate, in the same manner as in etching, and the aquafortis, diluted with water, is pour ed on. This, being the most precarious part of the pro-: cess, requires the greatest experience. When it is supposed that the aquafortis has remained on the plate for such a length of time that when the impression is taken it will produce the lightest shade in the drawing, it is poured off, and the plate is washed with water and dried. The lightest tints are then stopped out, and the aquafortis is again poured on; and this process is repeated as often as there are tints or shades to be produced in the plate.

Many plates are entirely etched in this way, by alternately stopping out and biting in. It is, however, found to be extremely difficult, and indeed impossible, to produce impressions of minute and complicated objects with the requisite degree of delicacy and freedom. To obviate this difficulty another process has been proposed, by which the touches are laid on the plate with equal ease and expedition as on drawings made with Indian ink. Fine washed whitening is mixed with treacle or sugar, and diluted with water in the pencil, that it may work freely. This is laid on the plate covered with the aquatint ground, in the same way as ink upon the drawing. When this is dry, the whole of the plate is varnished over with a thin turpentine or mastic varnish, and when this is dry the aquafortis is poured on. The varnish immediately breaks up in those parts of the plate where the treacle mixture was laid, and thus they are exposed to the action of the acid, whilst the other parts of the plate remain untouched. Thus the touches or places of the plate where the treacle has been applied are bit in deeper than the rest, and have the precision of touches done with Indian ink. The plate being thus completely bit in, the bordering wax is removed, by gently heating it with a piece of lighted paper. It is then cleared from the ground and varnish by means of oil of turpentine; and being wiped clean with a rag, it is ready for the printer.

But in this method of aquatinting it is found difficult to produce the necessary degree of coarseness or fineness in the grain; and plates which are engraved in this manner afford but a small number of impressions before they are worn out. On this account it is now more rarely followed.

The other method of producing the aquatint ground, which is most generally adopted, is the following. A resinous substance, as common resin, Burgundy pitch, or mastic, is dissolved in spirits of wine. This solution is poured alľover the plate, which is inclined, till the whole of the superfluous fluid is drained off, and what adheres to the plate becomes quite dry in a few minutes. The plate being then examined with a magnifying glass, it will appear that the whole of the spirit having evaporated, the resinous matter is left in a granulated state, or is cracked in every direction, and adheres strongly to the copper. In this way a regular and beautiful grain is easily produced, which will be found preferable, at least for most purposes, to that which is produced by the former method. The grain being thus formed, the other parts of the process are conducted in the same manner as before described.

Such are the usual methods of conducting this process. We shall add a few hints which may be found useful respecting the different parts of it. With regard to the materials which are employed, it is to be observed that the spirits of wine should be rectified, and of the very best quality. Resinous matters, as common resin, Burgundy pitch, and gum mastic, yield grains of a different appearance and form; so that advantage may be taken of this circumstance by using them sometimes separately, and some tirries mixed in. different proportions, according to the views and taste of the artist. Different proportions of resin may be employed to produce grains of different kinds. When a coarse grain is intended, a greater propor[7:9:47]tion is to be employed; and when a fine grain is wanted, a smaller proportion of resin only is required. The proper proportions may be ascertained by providing a number of spare pieces of copper; on these the liquid may be poured, and the grain examined, before it is applied to the plate which is to be engraved. After the solution is made, it should remain undisturbed for a day or two, till the impurities of the resin have subsided, and the liquid becomes quite limpid. This is the best method of freeing it from impurities; for if it be strained through linen or muslin, it is mixed with hairs, which are extremely injurious to the grain. It may be added, that the apartment in which the fluid is poured on-the plate should be perfectly still, and entirely free from dust; for if any fall on the plate while it is wet, the grain forms a white spot, which cannot be removed. Great care should be observed in cleaning the plate before the ground is laid on. This is done with a bit of rag and whitening. The smallest stain or particle of grease produces a streak or blemish in the grain. Still, however, with all the attention which can be employed, and with the utmost delicacy in the management, it is necessary to observe that the process is extremely precarious and uncertain; and even the most experienced artists find themselves frequently subject to very unaccountable accidents.

Artists have frequently complained of the inconvenience arising from the fumes which proceed from the action of the acid upon the copper when the plate is large. To remedy this inconvenience, the following arrangement, which seems well calculated to answer the purpose, was suggested by Mr Cornelius Varley, an artist who distinguished himself no less by his mechanical abilities than by the exquisite productions of his pencil in water colours: “Get a frame made of common deal, or any kind of wood, three or four inches deep, covered with a plate of glass, and open at one side; and let the side opposite to this have a round opening, communicating by means of a common iron pipe with the ash-pit of any little stove or other fire-place, shut up from all other access of air but what must pass through the pipe. It is obvious that any fumes rising from a copper-plate laid under such a frame will be carried backward into the iron pipe by the current of air required to maintain combustion in the stove, and will by this means be carried up the chimney, in place of being allowed to fly about in the apartment. The pipe may be very conveniently used by carrying it down through the table to the floor, and so along to the place where the chimney may chance to stand; and when the frame is not wanted, the pipe at one of the joinings may be made to answer the purpose of a hinge, by which to turn up the frame against the wall, where it may be secured, while out of use, by a button or any other contrivance.”^[1. Philosophical Magazine, vol. xxiii. p. 137. ]

This method of engraving in aquatinta seems’ to +e chiefly adapted for slight subjects in general, and for imitations of sketches and washed drawings. But for the production of prints from finished pictures it is by no means calculated, because it is not susceptible of that accuracy in the nice management of the tints which is necessary for this purpose. It is equally unsuitable for book plates, because, without retouching the plates, the number of impressions which can be thrown off is very small. On these accounts, therefore, it is to be considered as greatly inferior to the other modes of engraving. But as it is more expeditious, and may be attained with greater facility, it is undoubtedly useful when it is confined to those subjects for which it is peculiarly calculated. This rapidity of execution, however, and facility in acquiring the prac- 1 tice of the art, are followed with the unfortunate circumstance, that they favour the production of an indiscriminate multitude of prints, which, it is to be feared, may rather tend to vitiate than improve the public taste. ’

Engraving with the tool was the kind originally practised, and it is yet retained for many purposes. For though the manoeuvre of etching be more easy, and other advantages attend it, yet where great regularity and exactness of the stroke or lines are required, the working with the graver is much more effectual; on which account it is more suitable to the precision necessary.in the execution of portraits, as there every thing the most minute must be made out and expressed, according to the or ginal subject, without any license to the fancy of the designer in deviating from it, or varying the effect either by that masterly negligence and simplicity in some parts, or those bold sallies of the imagination and hand in others, which give spirit and force to history paihting.

The principal instruments used in engraving with,the tool are. gravers, scrapers, a burnisher, an oil-stone, and a cushion for bearing the plates.

Gravers are made in several forms with respect to the points, some being square, .others lozenge; the square graver being designed for cutting broad and deep, and the lozenge foi more delicate and tine strokes and hatches. The most generally useful are those of a form between the square and lozenge; and they should be of a good length, small towards the peint, but stronger upwards, that they may have strength enough to bear any stress which there may be occasion to lay upon them; for if they be too small and mounted high, they will bend, which frequently causes their breaking, especially if they be not employed for very small subjects. t

The burnisher is used to assist in the engraving on some occasions, as well as to polish the plates. It ismu,de of fine, steel well polished. The burnisher is sometimes formed at one end, and a scraper on the other, each about an inch and a half long from the point; between them about four inches of the. instrument is made round, and serves as a handle, and is thicker in the middle than at the necks, where the burnisher and scraper begin, winch necks are only a quarter of an inch in diameter. The principal application of the burnisher in engraving, besides its use in polishing the plates, is to tone and harmonise the work, and to take out any scratches or accidental defacings that may happen to the plates during the engraving; or to lessen the effect of any parts that, may be too strongly market! in the work, ana requ re to be taken down.

A cushion, as it is called, is likewise sometimes used for Supporting the plate in such a manner that .t may be turned every way with ease. It is a bag of leather filled with sand, and should be of the size which will best suit the plates it is intended to bear. Cushions are round, and about nine inches over, and three inches in thickness.

The cushion, made as above directed, being laid on the tarde, the plate must be put upon it; and the graver being held in the hand in a proper ιnanfier, the point must be applied to the plate, and moved in the proper direction for producing the figures of the lines intended; observing, in forming ļines, to hold the plate steady on the cusíiion, -and where they are . to be finer, to press more lightly, using greater force where they are to be broader and deeper. In making circular or other curve lines, hold your hand and graver steadily; and as you work, turn your plate upon the cushion against your graver, otherwise it will be impossible for you to make any circular[7:9:48] or curved line with that neatness and command of hand which by this means may be acquired. After part of the work is engraved, it is necessary to scrape it with the scraper or graver, passed in the most level direction over the plate, to take off the barb or roughness formed by the cutting of the graver; but great care must be taken not to incline the edge of the scraper or tool in such a manner that it may take the least hold of the copper, as it would otherwise produce scratches in the engraving; and, that the engraved work may be rendered more visible, it may afterwards be rubbed over with a roll of felt dipped in oil. In using the graver it is necessary to carry it as level as possible with the surface of the plate; for otherwise, if the fingers slip betwixt them, the line that will be produced, whether curved or straight, will become deeper and deeper in the progress of its formation, which entirely prevents strokes being made at one cut that will be fine at their extremities and larger in the middle, and occasions the necessity of retouching, to bring them to that state. For this reason it is very necessary for those who would learn to engrave in perfection, to endeavour, by frequent trials, to acquire the habit of making such strokes, both straight and curved, by lightening or sinking the graver with the hand, according to the particular occasion. If, after finishing the design, any scratches appear, or any part of the engraving be falsely executed, such scratches or faulty parts must be taken out by the burnisher, and further polished, if necessary, by the above-mentioned roll.

The dry point, or needle, which has been of late much used in engraving, is a tool like an etching point, which being drawn hard on the copper, cuts a stroke and raises a burr; the burr is scraped off, and there remains a stroke more soft and delicate than can be produced in any other way.

Although the instruments for the use of the engraver above enumerated and described are very simple, yet we have thought it advisable to subjoin the following figures illustrative of their forms, and about half the dimensions of those employed.

The plate is covered with etching ground in the following manner: Heat it upon a stove or otherwise till it melt the ground in the silk bag, fig. 5, which must be spread equally over the surface of the copper by means of the dabber, fig. 6. The ground is then to be moderately smoked all over with a candle, and when the plate is cold it is ready for use.

Etching ground is composed of virgin wax and asphaltum each two ounces, and of black and Burgundy pitch each half an ounce. Melt the wax and pitch in a new-glazed earthen pot, and add to them by degrees the asphaltum finely powdered; boil the whole until such time as, by taking a drop upon a plate, it will break when it is cold, on bending it double three or four times between the fingers. The ground, being sufficiently boiled, must be taken off the fire, and, being allowed to cool a little, must be poured into warm water if the weather be cold, or cold water if the contrary, in order that it may be the more easily worked with the hands; for it should be pulled a long time, to mix the ingredients more completely, when it may be divided into small balls for use. The fire must be moderate, for fear of burning the ground; and the ingredients must be stirred during the whole time of preparation, particularly when the asphaltum is being put in.

Wax for surrounding the plate in the process of biting in with aquafortis is made of one pound of Burgundy pitch or black pitch, and of bees’ wax half a pound, melted over a slow fire. When melted, add about a gill of sweet oil, and when moderately hot, pour the whole into water, pull it well, and fashion it into balls for use.

In the conduct of the graver and dry point consists the whole art, for which there are no rules to be given, all depending on the habitude, disposition, and genius of the artist. However, besides the explanations already given, some general observations and directions may not be improper. As the principles of engraving are the same with those of painting, a person cannot expect to attain any considerable degree of perfection in this art who is [7:9:49]not a good master of design; and therefore he ought to be well acquainted with both perspective and drawing in general; for, by the proper degradations of strong and faint colours, he will be enabled to throw backwards the figures and other objects of the picture or design which he proposes to imitate, and which the painter often intrusts to the discretion of the engraver. In working, the strokes of the graver should never be crossed too much in a lozenge manner, particularly in the representation of flesh, because sharp angles produce the unpleasing effect of lattice-work, and take from the eye the repose which is agreeable to it in all kinds of picturesque designs; we should except the case of clouds, tempests, waves of the sea, the skins of hairy animals, or the leaves of trees, where this method of crossing may be admitted. But in avoiding the lozenge, it is not proper to get entirely into the square, which would give the work too much of the hardness of stone. In conducting the strokes, the action of the figures and of all their parts should be considered; it should be observed how they advance towards or recede from the eye; and the graver should be guided according to the risings or cavities of the muscles or folds, making the strokes wider and fainter in the light, and closer and firmer in the shades. Thus the figures will not appear jagged; and the hand should be lightened in such a manner that the outlines may be formed and terminated without being cut too hard. However, though the strokes break off where the muscle begins, yet they ought always to have a certain connection with each other, so that the first stroke may often serve by its return to make the second, which will show the freedom of the engraver.

In engraving the flesh, the effect may be produced in the lighter parts and middle tints by long peeks of the graver rather than by light lines, or by round dots, or by dots a little lengthened by the graver, or, best of all, by a judicious mixture of these together.

In engraving the hair and the beard, the engraver should begin his work by laying the principal lines, and sketching the chief shades, in a careless manner, or with a few strokes; after which he may finish it at leisure with finer and thinner strokes to the extremities. When architecture or sculpture is tn be represented, except it be old and ruinous buildings, the work ought not to be made very black; because, as edifices are commonly constructed either of stone or white marble, the colour, being reflected en all sides, does not produce dark or brown shades, as in other substances.

In engraving cloths of different kinds, linen should be done with finer and closer lines than any other sorts, and be executed with single strokes. Woollen cloth should be engraved wide, in proportion to the coarseness or fineness of the stuff, and with only two strokes; and when the strokes are crossed, the second should be smaller than the first, and the third than the second. Shining stuffs, which are generally of silk or satin, and which produce flat or broken folds, should be engraved more hard and more straight than others, with one or two strokes, as their colours are bright or brown; and between the first strokes other smaller ones may be interlined. Velvet and plush are expressed in the same manner, and should always be interlined. Metals, as armour, &c. are also represented by interlining, or by clear single strokes. In architecture the strokes which form the rounding object should tend to the point of sight; and when whole columns occur, it is proper to produce the effect as much as possible by perpendicular strokes. If a cross stroke is put, it should be at right angles, and wider and thinner than the first stroke. In engraving mountains, the strokes ought to be frequently discontinued and broken for sharp and craggy objects; they should be straight, in the lozenge manner, and accompanied with’ long' points or dots; and rocks should be represented by cross strokes more square and even. Objects which are distant towards the horizon should be kept very tender. Waters that are calm and still are best represented by strokes which are straight and parallel to the horizon, interlined with those that are finer, omitting such places as, in consequence of gleams of light, exhibit the shining appearance of water; and the form of objects reflected from the water at a small distance upon it, or upon the banks of the water, are expressed by the same strokes, retouched more strongly or faintly as occasion may require, and even by some that are perpendicular. For agitated waters, as the waves of the sea, the first strokes should follow the figure of the waves, and may be interlined, and the cross strokes, if any, ought to be very lozenge. In cascades the strokes shduld follow the fall, and may be interlined. In engraving clouds, the lines should sport, when they appear thick and agitated, in turning every way, according to their form and agitation. If the clouds are dark, so that two strokes are necessary, they should be crossed more lozenge than the figures, and the second strokes should be rather wider than the first. The flat clouds which are lost insensibly in the clear sky should be made by strokes parallel to the horizon, and a little waving; if second strokes are required, they should be more or less lozenge; and when they are brought to the extremity, the hand should be so lightened that they may form no outline. The flat and clear sky is represented by parallel and straight strokes, without the least turning. In landscapes, the trees, rocks, earth, and herbage, should be etched as much as possible; nothing should be left for the graver but perfecting, softening, and strengthening. The dry point produces an effect more delicate than the graver can, and may be used to very great advantage in linen, skies, distances, ice, and often in water, especially in small engravings. In most things it is proper to etch the shadows, only leaving the lighter tints for the dry point, graver, and other instruments.

Much excellence may be attained, and a great deal of time saved, by the process of rebiting, particularly in landscape. This process is effected in the following manner: When all the strokes have been laid in upon the portion of any subject to be rebit, the lines upon the plate should be very carefully cleaned out with turpentine and a piece of stale bread. It is then to be heated, and the dabber, with a moderate portion of etching ground, applied dexterously to the surface, care being taken, however, not to permit the ground to sink into the lines, but only to cover the intermediate surface effectually. The aquafortis is now to be applied, and the lines bit down or corroded to the depth required. This process is, comparatively speaking, of recent invention, and was wont to be esteemed precarious and difficult in the management; but a little experience, and the great demand for illustrated works of late years, have been the means of rendering this, as well as other matters of detail in the engraver’s art, much more certain.

To imitate chalh drawings, a mixture of varied and irregular dots arc used, made more or less soft, so as to resemble the grain produced by the chalks on paper. Every stroke of the chalks on paper may be considered as an infinite number of adjoining points, which are the small eminences of the grain of the paper touched by the chalk in passing over it. When the copper-plate has been properly prepared with etching ground, as in the common method of engraving, the drawing to be imitated may be counterproved on the ground of the plate. If this cannot be conveniently done, black-lead pencil or red chalk must be applied to varnished or oiled paper, and this chalk or pencil transmitted to the ground. The outlines of the [7:9:50] object must be formed in the etching by points, whose magnitude and distance must be determined by the quality of the strokes in the original drawing. The artist may be provided with pointed instruments or needles of various sizes, with single or double points. In forming the light and shade, he should distinguish between those hatches which serve to express the perspective of the object, and those which form the ground of it. The principal hatches should be more strongly marked; the middle tints, if etched, should be marked lightly, or they maybe left till the varnish is taken off, and be perfected with a greater degree of softness by needles, or the point of the graver, as the original may require. There is nothing peculiar in the method of applying the aquafortis in this kind of engraving; but it may be observed that it should not be left so long as to corrode too much the lighter parts. If the light parts are sufficiently corroded, they may be stopped up with turpentine varnish and lampblack mixed together, and the aquafortis may be applied again to the stronger parts; for it will be no detriment to them, if the points which compose the shade burst into one another, provided the extreme be avoided. When the work of the aquafortis is finished, and the varnish taken off the copper, it will be necessary in the softest parts, such as the flesh, to interstipple with proper points, as an effect will be thus produced more delicate than it is possible to attain with the aquafortis only; and the strongest shades will require additional strength to be given them with small strokes of the graver. Drawings made with chalks of different colours may be imitated in this manner, if a plate be provided for every colour. This method of engraving is intended to form a kind of deception, so that the connoisseur may not be able, on the first inspection, to distinguish between the original drawing and the engraving made in imitation of it; and it is extremely useful, as it serves to multiply copies of drawings left by those masters who excelled in the use of chalks, and thus to form and improve young artists, who could not have access to the originals in the practice of drawing.

To this account of the history and practice of the art of engraving we shall annex the following ingenious observations by an eminent artist.^[2. Francis Legat, Esq. historical engraver to George IV. when Prince of Wales, and F. A. S. E. ] We present them to our readers without alteration or abridgment.

“When compared with painting, the art of engraving is but a recent invention, being coeval only with that of printing; and, like that noble art, it possesses not only a similar, but a greater power of multiplying and extending the productions of genius over the world, for its language is universally understood.

“It would have been well for the art if it could boast of a more remote date, as we might then have had many more of the finest designs of the first painters of antiquity, now doomed to oblivion, saved from the rude ravages of time.

“But this invention seemed to be reserved for the fourteenth century, and its improvements for the age of Louis XIV.; an age in which a number of artists, who may be said to have invigorated the art and invested it with beauty, arose both in France and Italy.

“Lines, in the first state of the art, like every other pursuit whose excellence is progressive, were comparatively rude and unmeaning, and had nothing more to recommend them than merely representing a particular sort of markings, or slight hatchings with the pen, without any other apparent degree of execution or expression; although it is our pride to acknowledge that it has been not a little beholden to the elegant etchings of the great masters in painting, as well as to their drawings in pen and ink in its early stages, by which means an eminent degree of taste was introduced, into. the art, particularly in the department of linear disposition; amongst those, the drawing of a Raffaelle, Michel Angelo, and the learned Da Vinci, some of which we have occasionally seen and admired. Some by Da Vinci were hatched in a square but delicate manner with a white fluid, on dark-coloured paper. Those of Michel Angelo and Raffaelle inclined more to the lozenge, in black or brown ink. They even carried this style of hatching with the pencil into their pictures, some of which adorn the Vatican; and in the famous cartoons, in his majesty’s collection by Raffaelle. Baccio Bandinelli generally hatched his lmes in one direction, particularly a Taking down from the Cross, which was sold in London at the. sale of the late Sir Joshua Reynolds drawings. Vicenzio Dante hatched in a similar way about the year 1550. Juho Romano used also to draw in this style with the pen, several of which are still to be found in the most select cabinets of men of taste; and for near a century and a half, after the invention of etching, it is rare to mention a painter of emmence who was distinguished in drawmgs, who did not annex this art to that of painting. But with the application of the burin the art has been gradually improving till the present period. Linear^[3. The author has taken the liberty of adopting, here the word linear , from its strict analogy to this mode of engrving, and with the approbation of some of the first professors, both in painting and engraving. ] engraving is nothing more than drawing elegantly on copper. It became more studied as it was found capable of representing the various appearances of nature. The texture or surface of objects became proportionally discriminated by such peculiar modifications of the line as seemed, most suitable to the subject represented, although, at the same time, it rendered it much more arduous in the execution. Hence arose that diversity of style, and that scope for succeeding excellence, which, by combining elegance with simplicity and beauty, distinguished those artists who have been most conspicuous in its improvement.

“It has been said, that we are indebted for the origin of this art to an ingenious Florentine, Masso Fmiguerra the sculptor. He was succeeded by a number of other ingenious men, among whom we rank Botticelli, Andrea Man-tigna, and other able designers; and in Germany, Albert Durer, Aidgrave, and Lucas van Leyden, who severally contributed their labours. But in the fifteenth century the works of the divine Raffaelle began to be multiplied by the correct graver of Marco Antonio, an artist whose prints were the delight of that great painter. Antonio had many imitators, but none who equalled him for justness of contour, for which his works will be ever, highly appreciated among the early productions of the art. Having had occasion to mention a few of the principal artists who reared the scaffolding of this elegant art, we shall proceed to. those who have so much distinguished themselves in finishing the superstructure. Among those, Augustino of Venice began to introduce a better disposition of line in his shades, as well as the mgemous Bolognese, Augustino Caracci; whilst Egedius Sadelaer displayed no less zeal in Germany. In the sixteenth century the art displayed still more vigour and taste, and seemed to have but little more wanting; for all that meagre dryness of line began to disappear, which so manifestly marks the early works of II Tedesco, Aldegraff, and other artists of a former period. Their works became consequently[7:9:51] more rich in style, by embracing the best productions of the pencil; and as they were applied to a greater number of ideas, they became still more interesting and successful.

“Patrons were numerous and liberal; and it is but proper to remark, that the various artists on their part actuated by a becoming zeal which was h 1 ghly credible to themselves, were indefatigable. This is a circumstance not less worthy of imitation than the many admirable monuments of the art which they produced. Few but admired the works of Masson, Poilly, Nantueil, and Rousselet; and some time after the death of the ingenious Cornelius Bloemart, who had given a grace to his lines hitherto unknown at Rome, the matchless Audran and Edelinck displayed their excellent productions at Paris. But arts are liable to fluctuate; and when the art of engraving began to decline abroad, it gradually displayed a high degree of lustre in our own country; and the variety of styles which has since sprung from the original manner of engraving, shall be the subject of the following sketch.

“We shall, therefore, treat more particularly of the disposition of the lines, and their consequent effects, distinguished by the terms linear expression, imitation, disposition, and harmony ; with a strict investigation of the first and most approved subjects, either in etching or engraving, and of their essential beauties, as far as they may tend to illustrate the subject.

“As the great object of this mode of engraving is to adopt those lines the most expressive of the form and character of whatever happens to be represented, it is necessary to begin by maturely investigating not only the action, but the cause and correspondent effects, of the original picture, in order that the artist may avail himself of all that is most beautiful in his translation, and efficient in the aggregate, either with respect to the expression, spirit, or sentiment. _

“λVhen historical subjects consist of several figures where there is generally a variety of draperies, some of them appearing thick and cumbersome, others more thin and flexible, sitting close and elegant on the limbs, being composed of a finer texture or thread; the coarser stuffs are consequently more effectually represented by a bolder line, as the thinner sort, by the application of a fine line, gives a more lively representation; a discrimination which has been observed of late by the most approved modern artists in linear engraving. Observations of this description, when treated in a liberal manner, not only superadd a degree of truth, but even render the subjects sweeter to the eye of fancy. In the ear y stages of the art some excellent artists have been led into particular and limited systems. In the works of such as have affected to describe every subject in the same line indiscriminately, even the arms of the most delicate women are often engraven as if perfectly polished, by approaching to a metallic appearance, a mode not uncommon among the second or third class of artists about the beginning of the last century; by which manner all that softness and delicacy was neglected wh l ch is so happily effected in the linear productions of Strange, Bartolozzι, Morgan, Sharp, Heath, and others. Those who are acquamted with the works of the ingenious Chaffard, must with pleasure have perceived in his foliage how even the texture of flowers is imitated from the delicate line-like fibres of which they are composed, issuing from the stem and spreading them silken beauties to the sun; and in this class of imitation, the clear transparency of glass, the rough texture of woollen, the thinness of lawn, the flickerings of satin, or the lightnings of steel, as well as the rude rock, the lucid lake, or the flashing of the torrent, are all admirably adapted to linear effect by the almost infinite diversity in their construction and general constituent principles, strictly observing on what laws the beauty of lines consists, by ever keeping in view the due balance of taste, and a noble simplicity of style throughout. It is the business of the skilful artist to overpower and subdue the difficulties in his profession; for no excellence in art is of cheap or vulgar acquisition. Let it be remembered, that with forming steel even the enchanting graces of the Venus de’ Medicis were hewn from a rock, and the almost breathing Apollo from a block of Parian stone.

“An elegant English poet, in a critical essay on poetry, observes that the sound should seem an echo to the sense so should the lines in a fine print seem to harmonize with the subject, by flowing with the external cast of the features, and the predominant passion expressed in the original picture; for the same character and disposition of the lines that suit the action of the muscles in one passion, will be found to appear more vacant and less expressive when applied to others, however graceful they may appear.

“As this is a point of view to which the art has never yet been fully extended, perhaps it may meet with some degree of attention, as it will be found of utility in forming a principle respecting disposition, more particularly in historical subjects, where the passions are required to be nicely expressed; and although it may admit of some slight exceptions, it is a principle that will in general be found to be true.

“For example, let it be supposed that the passion of the figure represented is that of joy, the lines should seem to expand and swell, with every acting muscle, in the most delicate manner possible.

“But, on the contrary, if the subject displays deep sorrow, they should rather incline downward, partaking somewhat of the half straight, seeming to act apparently in perfect unison and conformity with the features of the face, with all due subordination to the general effect of light and shadow.

“Various observations may be made in this manner on the principal passions expressed in the human countenance, which are but few comparatively, even from the slightest movement to the boldest action. We often find, on examining the works of those masters who are not so conspicuous for great clearness of execution, that they have been occupied by the disposition and energy of the lines, as in the magnificent and masterly prints of the battles of Alexander, from the pictures of Charles le Brun, engraved by Gerrard Audran, where the executive department is no less conspicuous from the burin of the Chevalier Edehnck in the fine print of the tent of Darius; whilst Audran displays the true spirit of art, but rarely avails himself of much of the mechanical principles. The field and tumult of battle seemed admirably calculated to call forth his rapid powers, particularly in works of magnitude.

“The less active scenery of the tent of Darius was well adapted to the splendid talents of Edehnck, who was admirably qualified to display subjects of this nature. This is sufficiently obvious from the beautiful and interesting group of the queen mother, and her illustrious family, kneeling at the feet of the conqueror; his impressive print of the Magdalene, or his most admirable portraits of the dignified clergy, distinguished authors, and eminent artists. These, in point of engraving, are no less remarkable for taste in the execution, than for truth and nature in expression.

“In one of the battles of Alexander, the group where Porus is wounded and supported by the soldiers, the rough discrimination of line finely accords with that bold deportment of character in the grim visage of that gigantic [7:9:52] prince, whilst a more delicate line marks the youthful countenance of Alexander; a discrimination which is totally lost in the large Dutch copy by De Vos.

“In the same print the figures of Alexander and Clytus are finely relieved from the distant scenery by the varied description of engraving on their armour, drapery, and horses. The latter are managed with such freedom and spirit, that it is difficult to say whether the horses or figures teem the most with masterly execution; particularly the white war-horse on the right extremity of the print.^[4. Whenever Μ. Bartolozzi happened to speak of those prints, he always expressed himself with a great degree of enthusiasm, thinking himself extremely fortunate in having works of such excellence in his possession. ]

“Had Audran superadded a still greater portion of the delicacy and clearness of handling so conspicuous in Edelinck and other eminent artists since that period, it would undoubtedly have given an additional beauty to his other transcendent acquisitions; namely, the vast spirit of his lines, and power in drawing.

“But it is seldom the lot of an individual to combine every excellence. Arts too have their infancy, for they generally require the labour of ages to bring them to maturity and perfection; and it yet remained to unite and ameliorate the polish of Edelinck, to the spirited style of Audran. Without prejudice or partiality, a considerable degree of this excellence will be found in the best works of British art, as we shall hereafter exemplify.

“Another fine specimen of linear engraving, and of a different class, is the celebrated storm of Balechow, from a picture of the famous Vernet. In this print he has transmitted with the graver a certain fluidity and action in representing the liquid element, to which the art had never before attained. To a grandeur of style in the bold swelling of the waves he has superadded the utmost transparency of line; at the same time having attended to all that light restless spray which seems sporting to the gales as they roll along. In a fanciful mood one might almost imagine they heard the motion of the water; so finely did this discriminating artist translate this admirable picture.

“When we consider the period in which this distinguished work was engraved, and that little or nothing had been previously done in that department of a similar excellence, it is hoped it will be a sufficient apology for the degree of admiration here expressed; for, as Lord Verulam truly observes, “we are too prone to pass those ladders by which the arts are reared, and generally reflect all the merit to the last new performer.” We have already observed, they are seldom reared with rapidity, and oftentimes that which is considered an invention is only a long succession of trials and experiments, which have gradually followed each other, and ought rather to be considered as a senes of human mind than the knowledge of an individual, being the works of ages. In any point of view, the present subject will ever be considered as a high improvement and an elegant acquisition in the annals of the linear art. But in historical subjects this artist is by no means equal in point of taste or discrimination. His print of St Genevwe undoubtedly ranks high in the first classes of engraving. Had his taste in other respects been equal to his powerful clearness of execution, it would have been almost unparalleled; but it betrays a want of that essential, even in his mode of thinking. Patience and labour are everywhere too prevalent. It remained for Woollet to excel both in figures and landscapes.

“In the various styles and modifications of this expressive art, from the neat to the feeble, and from the bold to the extravagant, taste stands sole arbitrées; in brief, it is she who distributes variety with spirit, and conceals the appearance of intricacy and labour; who, by a due modification of line, unites clearness to softness, arresting the hand of the skilful artist from every effort inconsistent with her powers; producing at once to the mind all that agreeable finished combination or harmony which ever accompanies and constitutes the perfection of true art.

“In the execution of subjects of imagination, there is a perpetual scope for calling forth the fancy of the engraver, as the various combinations of lines are inexhaustible, uncommon effects, such as aerial spirits, or celestial beings blended with the light, or ghosts commingled with the gloom, or fairy elves by moonlight, who trip the sands, and yet no footing seen; or wood nymphs laving their taper limbs in the limpid element. Such subjects, in point of style, depend entirely upon the beauty, lightness, and transparency of execution; for those that are merely ornamental or grotesque demand a style of a different cast from that of the serious or historical, as they require a less degree of truth even from the burin. In these cases the style may be as capricious as the subjects. Those of Raffaelle, in the Vatican, display an uncommon degree of taste, and particularly in the elegant flow of line with which they are composed.

“In all works of taste and genius, those which may appear the most simple at a transient glance, will be often found to contain the most art on a more mature investigation. The first impression may strike the fancy, but the second generally calls up the discriminating powers of the judgment.

“Arts generally rise in our esteem according to the degree of exertion of the mental powers which they require; and, as lines are capable of various styles, those which are most congenial to the subject represented ought to be adhered to in preference to every other consideration. Teniers and Gerrard Douw demand, all the fidelity and delicacy of the burin in describing the various draperies and individualities which belong to that class of painting; but, in proportion as the contour is composed of fewer parts, and the forms more full and elegant, the beautiful flowing qualities of the graver are increased, and its lines glide more gracefully over the figures, as may be found in the works of Strange and others, from Guido and Correggio. This distinction will not appear so obvious on a superficial view of the art. But, on a due investigation, it will be found, that not only a different modification of lines is necessary to the various classes of painting, but that even a different description of style is requisite to characterize some of the masters in each particular class, from the sublime and elevated figures of a Raffaelle and Michel Angelo, to the simple cottagers of Adrian Ostade.

“When we take a more comprehensive view of the art, we often find, that the styles which are adopted in the different countries in Europe by the artists where the art has in any degree been cultivated, are generally regulated by the modes of painting, drawing, and even the colouring respectively in each, whether historical, portrait, or landscape, and is proportionably appreciated according to the effective beauty and elegance of the execution.

“It is not improbable that the clear mode, which at present constitutes the modern German school, is a refinement on the simple style of Cornelius Bloemart.

“In Italy, Jachιmo Frey, that astonishing Swiss, from his masterly expertness in drawing, and a rapid use of the etching steel and the nitre, almost produced an entire revolution in the art. The unprecedented richness and ease, the freedom and energy of his style, and the number and magnitude of his works, attracted all Italy, and tended [7:9:53] greatly to improve the Roman school. About the year 1672 we find him working jointly with the nervous Do-rigny Frezza, and Vanauden Aird. From this source we can perceive the style of Wagner, of Cars in France, and various masters now living; namely, Francisco Bartolozzi, Giovanni Volpato, DominicoCunigo, and some of the early works of the excellent Raphael Morghen.

“In many instances Frey indicates, that if he had considered it of sufficient consequence to the art, he could have engraved with more clearness, particularly by his curious copy, from the celebrated print by Edelinck, of the Madona and Child, with St John and Angels, from Raffaelle; and, although but an imitation of another style, tends to show the versatility of his talents, when the judgment is for a while suspended to know which is the original. We find a performance of Frey’s, entitled La Charité Humaine, dated 1723; a print was afterwards engraved from the same subject at Paris by Daulle, dated 1763, in which he has rather been too profuse in the more mechanical part of the art, and destitute of that ardour which a well engraved work should not only inspire but maintain.

“It is not enough for lines to be only well disposed, but also full of expression; neither is it enough for a line to be only clearly cut, but it must also be free; for in a certain free light spirited lines convey an idea of animation, and are suited to subjects of that description; while the long, sweeping, and bold lines are better adapted to the solemn and majestic productions of the pencil.

“A fine print, like a miniature picture, ought to be viewed near the eye; as in itself, from the nature of the art, will be found a due subordination of effect, ever receding, from the bold and articulated lines in the fore ground, to those which are more evanescent and remote.

“The graceful birch, the mountain ash, and the oak, have each their peculiar bark and texture; and these, when freely indicated, stamp their mark and character most completely to the eye. Much of this, as has been formerly mentioned, depends upon, and is regulated by, the peculiar style of the picture and the skill of the engraver.

“As lines seem to partake of motion, in proportion as they deviate in gentle bendings from the straight and precise; even so also in the motion of water seemingly increased, whether they undulate with the simplest wave, or swell with the fierce and tempest-curled surge. This character is sufficiently illustrated in the works of Balechow and Woollet.

“In the late Mr Brown’s large print of St John preaching in the wilderness, no engraver has ever more fully displayed the true spirit of Salvator Rosa, particularly in the original mode of treating the rocks, and the bold style of the surrounding scenery; in short, in the aggregate it is a chef d’oeuvre unparalleled in any country. This is freely acknowledged, not only by every man of taste, but by the first landscape engravers.

“But Brown was perhaps less happy in the companion to the above, from the celebrated Both, by adapting a similar mode to that finished and delicate painter. For the style should ever vary with the subject.

Whate’er Lorrain light touched with softening hue, Or savage Rosa dash’d, or learned Poussin drew.

“His admirable etchings of the cottager and its companion, and the Celadon and Amelia, are fine specimens of his discriminating powers, and characterized with so near an approach to truth, that we cannot help exclaiming with the poet,

He sees no other, nature’s self who sees.

“The engraving of the above subjects was finished by 1 the matchless Woollet with the same happy taste. And it must be acknowledged that it is but seldom that we see so many excellencies united; for it is equally rare to see the finest engraving united to the finest drawing, as to find it in painting combined with the choicest colouring; yet each have their decided fascinations in the gallery, the cabinet, or the portfolio.

“Woollet, whose works abound with nerve and intelligence in point of character, his style of landscape is delightfully descriptive; whether rocks, water, trees, or sky; as the Niobe, the Ceyx and Alcyone, and other masterpieces from the great Wilson, evince. In the winter scene from Smith of Chichester he has admirably contrived to convey the effect of the drifted snow by delicate dotting; and with no less precision he has described the transparent ice with clear lines. Of trees, he was the first that ever faithfully characterized the graceful larch; as may be seen in his views of the noblemen’s seats. In the print of the fishery he is indebted to the masterly etching of John Brown, particularly the shipping, in which there is perhaps no subject more articulate and perspicuous. The engraving of this subject is finished by himself. In his figures he was the founder of a style most happily adapted for modern dresses and historical portraiture; a style in which he moved with unrivalled reputation. His print of the death of General Wolf, painted by Mr West, is an admirable example, and does honour to the British nation. It occupied him no less than four years. The print of the battle at La Hogue is another fine specimen of his knowledge of linear discrimination. In short, when we consider the talents of this artist, it is difficult to decide whether he most excelled in modern history or landscape. The art has to regret that he, who was so eminently qualified to adorn any line of the profession, has left no works in ancient history. We have little doubt, from his knowledge, and a real love of the art, he would have left a sufficient monument in that department also for the pleasure and contemplation of the real connoisseur and of posterity. Engraving in this country sustained a heavy loss when he died; and if the death of so excellent an artist may be considered as a public loss, it is certainly the more felt with respect to Woollet, who died while he was yet improving in that excellence.^[5. Although we are now contemplating linear engraving, it is but proper here to observe, that chalk engraving, mezzotinto, and aquatinta, have also made ample improvements in this country in their various styles of excellence. ]

“Chattelaine has been termed a mannerist in his drawings, but he must certainly be allowed to be an excellent one; his etchings are variety itself. Perhaps in the department of etching no artist has so happily translated the pictures of Claude de Lorraine as Francis Vivares; that is, with respect to aerial perspective, the peculiar characteristic of Claude. But his merits are not confined to this master alone; for he followed Ruysdale, Berghem, Gainsborough, and Cuyp, with great success. He has such a free delivery of style, that almost every one who examines his works is irresistibly impressed with an idea of performing the very same. Few artists, it has been mentioned, have excelled in the etching department. We cannot, however, omit the name of Peranezzi; who, to originality of style, which is apparently spontaneous, joins a certain grandeur which had never been surpassed. He has transmitted to posterity so spirited a representation of the Greek and Roman edifices and ruins, that travellers have often confessed that they have raised their ideas beyond the magnitude of the superstructures themselves. It is certain that in works of this stupendous nature, a degree of ruggedness in the execution corresponds with the sublimity of the subjects, and thus produces a still greater[7:9:54] power over the mind than if they had been more polished. Some have censured his figures, and not without cause. This defect has been ingeniously palliated by an excellent artist, Μ. Bartolozzi. “For," said he, “if the purchasers of the works of Peranezzi get so much for their money in the building way, the figures may be supposed to be given for nothing.” Doubtless those vast piles of perishing grandeur were never more judiciously presented to the eye than by this astonishing artist, or better calculated to affect the mind by calling forth its most sublime ideas.

“We have another striking instance of spirited etching in a different pursuit of the art, in the works of Ridinger, a name which brings along with it all the savage scenery of nature.

Assembling wolves in raging troops descend

They fasten on the steed, and pierce his mighty heart.

For we shall ever find some peculiar beauty to admire, even in the slightest productions of genius, as well as in the most perfect productions of the burin.

“There are few artists who do not regret that etching was unknown to Bolswert, who has done so much without its aid; from which we may easily suppose how much more he could have effected with this charming acquisition. For the truth of this remark we may appeal to his landscapes from Rubens, his animated portraits from Vandyke, and his productions from the Flemish school of history, particularly his large print of the taking down from the cross, from Rubens.

“There is a fine instance of linear effect in a print of a Flemish conversation piece by Wille. One of the figures is drinking out of a glass, and the artist has most deceptively described the texture of the drinker’s face through the glass. In the same print a female figure shows great skill in this way; even the floor is characterized by lines; and the whole strongly marks the most proper mode of treating subjects of a mere local nature. The beautiful print of the Petit Physicien is also an admirable imitation, particularly the little pellucid globule which has just mounted from the shell. When lines are engraved in a square acute method of crossing, they generally convey the idea of hardness to the subject represented. The scientific Picart seems to have been so much aware of this, that in a print of his engraving of a large marble group of horses, from the animated chisel of Perriere, he adopted this style in order to heighten the imitation.

“Mason’s print of Marshal Harcourt is one of the many fine efforts of portrait engraving; and although it was executed at an early period of the art, it abounds with no small degree of taste. The celebrated print (called the table-cloth), from Titian, of the Last Supper, also contains a considerable degree of linear discrimination, although he sometimes carries it to affectation. He is rather singular in his mode of engraving hair. Yet the portraits of Marshal Harcourt and Brisasiere the secretary may be deemed exceptions.

“While, by the magic of his tooling, he is too apt at times to give his works indiscriminately the appearance of bronze; and we frequently find the same in the figures of Balechow; but it seems to have been reserved for Strange to give the softness of carnation to copper, and to Woollet to give force and clearness with discriminating taste; Bartolozzi in his lines, elegance, delicacy, and drawing; while the works of Audran teem with boldness and simplicity. In the prints of Sir Robert Strange, the greatest excellence is perhaps his rich and harmonious tones, as well as the whole effect, which is supported by an expressive style, which he seems in a great measure to have invented for his most favourite painters, Correggio, Titian, Guido, and Guerchino. The softness, the gusto, and the flowing draperies in the works of these masters, were his delight. His sleeping Cupid from Guido, and the prints of the Venus and Danaë from Titian, will ever be esteemed as chef d' oeuvres in the linear art.”

Having thus attempted to fulfil our original intention of discriminating the most expressive combinations of lines, and of analyzing and illustrating their various powers and effects in engraving, we shall now conclude these observations; and if, from the nature of the subject, and from the limits of the sketch, we have failed in marking every brilliant star in the galaxy of the art, it must at least be acknowledged that we have not omitted some of those of the first magnitude.

Engraving upon Steel. On the first discovery of the art of printing from engraved metals, experiments would most probably be made with a view of ascertaining the fittest metal for the purpose. Indeed it is known that copper, tin, and silver were employed by the early artists; and there are some prints by Albert Durer which are considered as impressions from plates engraved or etched on steel. In the collection of Albert Durer’s prints in the British Museum there are five of these prints, the chief of which are, Christ in the. Garden, a print six inches by eight and a half, dated 1515; the Lady and the Monster, twelve inches by eight and a fourth, dated 1516; and the Canon, twelve and three fourth inches by eight and a half, dated 1518.

But, for the usual purposes of engraving, copper has, till within a few years, been supposed to have some advantages, which have led to its being nearly always employed in preference to other metals; and in one instance only have we found that steel-plate was used for engraving upon in this country, before the late attempts to prevent the forgery of bank-notes. The plate we allude to is the Ceiling of the Star Chamber, in the Topographical illustrations of Westminster, engraved by Mr J. T. Smith in 1805.

The great expense of renewing plates for bank-notes, when any superior engraving is introduced for rendering imitation difficult, suggested the idea of employing a harder material than copper to engrave upon. Steel-plate was tried, and found capable of affording from twenty to thirty times the number of impressions that could be obtained from a plate of copper, whilst it was not much more difficult to engrave upon. The advantages derived from employing steel were first made public in this country in 1818, by the inquiry respecting the prevention of forgery, instituted by the Society for the Encouragement of Arts in London, when a specimen of engraving on soft steel was presented to the society by the late Mr Charles Warren; and it appeared from evidence collected by the committee, that notes with ornamental borders, printed from steelplates, were then in use in America. Soon after this period Messrs Perkins and Fairman from America, in conjunction with Mr Heath, an eminent engraver of London, formed an establishment for printing notes and other engravings from steel blocks.

The methods of engraving on steel, adopted by Warren and others, were similar to those employed in engraving on copper; differing only as far as was necessary on account of the nature of the material and the process of hardening the plates in use in the earlier stages of this invention. In addition to these methods, Perkins, Fairman, and Heath employ a mechanical process for increasing the number of impressions. They first make the engraving on a thick plate of soft steel; the plate is then hardened, and the impression is transferred, in a spring press, to the surface of a soft steel cylinder, by rolling the cylinder repeatedly to and fro on the engraved plate, under a very considerable pressure. The transfer thus obtained[7:9:55] is in relief, and the cylinder being hardened, it is made, by the same spring press, to repeat as many impressions as may be desired on soft steel, or on copperplates, for the purpose of printing from. They usually impress steel blocks, each of which will afford several thousand impressions; and when the cylinder becomes worn by transferring, a new one may be impressed from the original engraving; and, consequently, an inconceivable number of prints may be obtained from one original plate.

It ought, however, to be remarked, that an engraving cannot be transferred from steel to steel without injury; and that the injury will be greater in proportion to the delicacy of the work. Indeed, where engravings are to be considered as works of art, it will always be preferable to engrave or etch on tempered steel, and print from it without hardening. A sufficient quantity of impressions may thus be obtained, and of a superior kind; because steel being harder and more compact than copper, it is consequently less worn by the process of wiping off the printing ink either with the cloth or the hand.^[6. A steel-plate, which had not been hardened, has been known to afford 95,000 impressions without material injury. ] But the power of transferring is of great value in all cases where a great number of impressions is the chief object desired, as in notes, plates for school-books, ornamental borders for pottery, labels, and the like.

In preparing steel-plates, either for engraving or etching, the surface should be well polished, so as to render it compact, of an equable degree of hardness, and perfectly smooth. The same tools are used as for copper, but they should be of the kind of steel which is endowed with the greatest degree of toughness. When a plate is to be etched, the point which removes the varnish should be sufficiently hard to penetrate the polish on the surface of the plate; the acid will then bite more freely, and to a greater depth, without spreading so as to produce a broad and shallow line. A point of diamond is, we believe, sometimes employed, particularly where the lines are drawn with the ruling-machine invented by Mr Wilson Lowry, the founder of a new school of engraving, which has been of infinite use in diffusing correct taste in architecture and sound knowledge in mechanics. The same ingenious artist observed, m the first etchings on steel, that the lines were broad without depth; and, in consequence, tried to find a menstruum which would answer the purpose better than the common acids. In this he perfectly succeeded, and was enabled to bite the lines deep, and yet preserve the desired degree of fineness.

Of the common acids, diluted muriatic acid seems to answer best, but diluted nitric and nitrous acids produce nearly the same effect.

When the graver is to be much employed on a plate, it should be annealed, in order to render it uniformly soft. The plate, after being engraved, may be hardened most effectually, and with the least injury to the engraving, or risk of warping the plate, by heating it in a metallic bath, and quenching the whole in a cooling fluid. A bath of the fusible alloy of lead, tin, and bismuth, which Dr Wollaston proposed for hardening delicate steel-work, will perhaps answer better than any other. (See Cutlery.) It will always be an advantage to employ a perfectly fluid medium for cooling; and we have reason to conclude, from some hasty experiments, that water heated to its boiling point is better than cold water for cooling steel. The quick abstraction of heat, by converting water into steam, seems to have more effect than the mere cooling power of a large body of cold water. Plates to be hardened should be about half an inch thick.

If plates are not to be transferred, there is some disadvantage in employing thick ones; and more especially in cases where an alteration may be necessary, or a mistake is to be rectified. In a thin steel-plate it is as easy to rectify an error as in copper; but in a thick one it is a very troublesome process.

Mezzotinto engraving on steel is also found to answer well; and upon that metal some very fine prints have lately been done; and the great number of impressions which a steel plate affords will cause this beautiful style of engraving to be more generally cultivated.

As printing from engraved steel is now much used as a means of preventing forgery, we shall close this article with a few remarks on that subject. It appears to us that there should be nothing complex in the figures which are selected for the engraving; their excellence should consist in the perfect evenness and parallelism of lines, whether straight or curved; but curved lines of difficult kinds should be preferred. Many crossings render a pattern intricate and confused; they distract the attention and dazzle the sight. Wavy patterns, with scattered lights, have the same effect. In such cases it is difficult to compare one specimen with another, and a general imitation is not so easily detected. It will be desirable to unite the work of an artist to that of a mechanical engraver; and in such cases the subject should be of sufficient size to allow of its being distinctly made out, because it will increase the difficulty of imitation. Where the circulation of notes is limited, good engraving on the note will be some check upon forgery; but the notes of different banks should be made as distinct as possible, instead of the same work being introduced in different notes, as may easily be done with steel cylinders. Where a whole empire is served with one kind of notes, the temptation to forge is so great that it cannot perhaps be altogether prevented; and, therefore, whilst every proper expedient should be used to increase the difficulty of forgery, no apparent difficulty of copying should render bankers and others less on their guard against it.

See Report of the Committee of the Society of Arts, on the Mode of Preventing the Forgery of Bank-Notes, 8vo, London, 1819; Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, vol. iii. p. 140. (g. g. g.) Engraving upon Glass. See Glass, Engraving om Engraving on Precious Stones is the representing of figures, or devices, in relief, or indented, on various kinds of hard polished stones.

The art of engraving on precious stones is one of those in which the ancients excelled; there being various antique agates, cornelians, and onyxes, which surpass any thing of the kind which the moderns have produced. Pyr-goteles among the Greeks, and Dioscondes under the first emperors of Rome, are the most eminent engravers we read of. The former was so esteemed by Alexander, that he forbade any body else to engrave his head; and Augustus s head, engraven by the latter, was deemed so beautiful that the succeeding emperors chose it for their seal.

All the polite arts having been buried under the rums of the Roman empire, that of engraving on stones met with the same fate. It was retrieved in Italy at the beginning of the fifteenth century, when one John of Florence, and after him Dominic of Milan, performed works of this kind no way to be despised. From that time sculptures of this kind became common enough in Europe, and particularly in Germany, whence great numbers were sent into other countries; but they fell far short of the beauty of those of the ancients, especially those executed on precious [7:9:56]stones; for, as to those on crystal, the Germans, and after them the French, &c. have succeeded well enough.

In this branch of engraving artists make use either of the diamond or of emery.

The diamond, which is the hardest of all stones, is only cut by itself, or with its own matter. The first thing to be done in this branch of engraving is, to cement two rough diamonds to the ends of two sticks large enough to hold them steady in the band, and to rub or grind them against each other till they be brought to the form desired. The dust or powder which is rubbed oft serves afterwards to polish them; and this is performed with a kind of mill that turns a wheel of soft iron. The diamond is fixed in a brass dish, and, being thus applied to the wheel, it is covered with diamond dust, mixed with oil of olives; and when the diamond is to be cut facet-wise, first one face, and then another, is applied to the wheel. Rubies, sapphires, and topazes, are cut and formed in the same way on a copper wheel, and polished, with tripoli diluted in water. As to agates, amethysts, emeralds, hyacinths, granites, rubies, and others of the softer stones, they are cut on a leaden wheel, moistened with emery and water, and polished with tripoli on a pewter wheel. Lapis-lazuli, opal, and some others, are polished on a wooden wheel. To fashion and engrave vases of agate, crystal, lapiă-lazuli,or the like, a kind of lathe, like that used by pewterers, is made use of to hold the vessels, which are to be wrought with proper tools; that of the engraver generally holds the tools, which are turned by a wheel; and the vessel is held to them to be cut and engraved, either in relief or otherwise, the tools being moistened from time to time with diamond dust and oil, or at least emery and water. To engrave figures or devices on any of these stones when polished, such as medals, seals, and the like, a little iron wheel is used, the ends of whose axis are received within two pieces of iron, placed upright, as in the turner’s lathe, and so adjusted as to be brought closer, or set further apart, at pleasure. At one end of the axis are fitted the proper tools, which are kept tight by a screw. Lastly, the wheel is turned by the foot, and the stone applied by the hand to the tool, and shifted and conducted as occasion requires.

The tools are generally of iron, and sometimes of brass: their form is various, but it generally bears some resem-. blance to chisels, gouges, and the like. Some have small round heads like buttons, others like ferrels, to take the pieces out, and others again flat. When the stone has been engraven, it is polished on wheels of hair-brushes and tripoli.