ENGRAVING 
 
 AND 
 
 THEflEITY&PLEASURESOF 
 
 PRINTS. 
 

 
 
 UNIVERSITY OH CAI.IFOKNIA. 
 
 
 ikOM THE l.lf^^fAk^ i n 
 
 BENJAMIN PARKE AVERY. 
 
 
 (]IFT OF MRS. AVHRY. 
 
 ^'Ust, iSoij. 
 
 At cessions No. b \) io ^ 1 (J.ns .\<>. 
 
 
 
 
The Origin 
 
 ^nHquil^g of 6lngFafaing: 
 
 WITH 
 
 SOME REMARKS 
 
 ON THE 
 
 Utility and Pleasures of Prints. 
 
 SPERO MELIORA. 
 
 
 PHILADF.LPHIA: 
 
 GEORGE G E 13 B I E. 
 
 187 2. 
 
iH^ 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872, by 
 
 GEORGE CEDBIE. 
 
 In the OJ/ice of the Librarian of Congress, at IV'ashington, D. C. 
 
^0 J||amc.s |f . Clagliorii, ^f;q. 
 
 In dedicating to you tliis effort, to increase an interest in the 
 uses and pleasures of prints, I ask for it the same impartial 
 consideration extended to the examination of a work of art, 
 which, if the intention is found to be good, and a sincere 
 desire to develop truth made apparent, you accept, or at least 
 tolerate, although there may be many and perhaps glaring 
 faults. 
 
 Permit me to thank you, not alone for the liberal manner 
 with which the folios of your valuable colledlion (unequalled 
 in this country, as respedls the works of modern engravers) 
 have been opened to me, but also for the associations thus 
 established with a generous-minded, warm hearted gentleman. 
 
 W. S. B. 
 February, 1872 
 
To THE Reader. 
 
 This little work, originally intended to be privately dis- 
 tributed, has been deemed of sufficient importance to warrant 
 a more extended circulation. 
 
 It is a simple tribute to " that educational influence, which 
 may be exerted by well-chosen prints," and the only regret 
 is, that I have not succeeded in rendering it more worthy of 
 the subject. 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
s^ 
 
 OV THS 
 
 girjviRSiTT] 
 
 The Origin 
 
 Antiquity of Engrauing. 
 
 " Them hath he filled luith xvisdoin of heart, to ivork all 
 manner of work, of the engraver." — Exodus, xxxv 
 
■3 » 17 BE SIT 7] 
 
 THE ORIGIN 
 
 ANTIQUITY OF ENGRAVING. 
 
 Antiquity, with its mythical legends 
 and cloudy superstitions, has ever had a 
 charm for man. The acutest intellefts of 
 all ages have sought exercise, in inquiries, 
 into the habits and customs, arts and laws 
 of ancient peoples ; and the records of the 
 past are searched for precedents, for causes 
 and effeds, and a weight of authority is 
 given to them, which, although sometimes 
 delusive, is always agreeable. 
 
 That which has been is better under- 
 stood and judged than that which is ; and 
 
THE ORIGIN AND 
 
 the past seems ever more bright and po- 
 tent than the present. 
 
 " There is given unto 
 The things of earth, which time hath bent, 
 A spirit's feeling." 
 
 Let us throw around our subjecfl these 
 mysterious shadows of antiquity ; and, in 
 claiming the art of engraving or making 
 incisions in some durable substance to be 
 coeval with existence, charm and Interest 
 at the outset. 
 
 The inherent love of imitation, seeking 
 expression in the endeavor to reproduce 
 in some simple manner visible objects, 
 would early suggest this mode of convey- 
 ing ideas and depi6ling form ; and the hand, 
 in obedience thereto, soon appropriate 
 stone, metal or wood, and, by incision, 
 delineate or engrave thereon natural ob- 
 jects or conventional signs, in manner 
 best suited to the comprehension of the 
 age. 
 
ANTIQUrrV OF ENGRAVIN(;. II 
 
 Gratitude or admiration, prompting me- 
 morial stones or monuments — the earliest 
 attempts at archite6lure — would readily in- 
 scribe thereon a testimony to the virtues 
 and heroic deeds of the dead. The co- 
 lossal tombs of ancient Egypt are covered 
 thus with the earliest productions of the art, 
 and within them are found graven plates 
 authenticated to thousands of years prior 
 to the Christian era. 
 
 In such manner has been transmitted 
 the little knowledge we possess of the 
 nations of remote antiquity, and their pre- 
 cepts and laws descend to us engraven 
 on stone or metal. The ancient writers 
 speak of the armor and shields of their 
 heroes as beina- eno^raved; and the records 
 of Assyria and Babylon refer to incisions, 
 either for ornament or Information, In the 
 walls and temples of that wonderful race. 
 
 Scattered throughout the pages of Holy 
 Writ we find constant references to In- 
 
THE ORIGIN AND 
 
 scribed altars and graven plates. Job, in 
 the depth of his miser)^ exclaims, "Oh 
 that my words were graven with an iron 
 pen and lead in the rock forever!" From 
 the awful heights of Sinai issues the divine 
 command, " Thou shalt not make unto 
 thee any graven image ;" and God in his 
 commands to Moses says, "And thou shalt 
 make a plate of pure gold, and grave 
 upon it, like the engravings of a signet, 
 Holiness to the Lord." 
 
 The priority of signet or seal rings to 
 the promulgation of the Jewish laws being 
 thus incontestably established, we need 
 only refer to the Assyrian custom of wear- 
 ing them, and the many samples taken 
 from the tombs of ancient Egypt, some 
 of which may have come directly under 
 the notice of most of us. 
 
 In the Abbott Colle6lion of Egyptian 
 Antlquides, in the Museum of the New 
 York Historical Society, may be seen, in 
 
ANTIQUITY OF ENGRAVING. I3 
 
 the highest state of preservation, the large 
 gold signet ring of Chufu, as high priest 
 or king, twenty-three hundred years before 
 Christ. It was found in a tomb at Ghizeh, 
 and is of fine gold, with the hieroglyphics 
 and symbols beautifully executed and 
 minutely detailed. 
 
 The gem engravers of Egypt, under 
 the domination of the priesthood, could 
 only transmit conventional signs as di- 
 rected by them, and all originality and 
 desire of excelling being thus suppressed, 
 we must look to Greece, with its freedom 
 and poetic mythology, for the perfedion 
 of this branch of engraving. 
 
 The cameos and intaglios of the Greeks, 
 remarkable alike for exquisite execution 
 and purity of design, show the influence 
 of a deep love and study of nature, and 
 bear indelibly stamped thereon, the char- 
 acteristics of a great nation. 
 
 If the genuis and acquirements of this 
 2 
 
 ^ '•* 0» IH»**^ 
 
 miriTrEESITr] 
 
14 TllF. 9RIGIN AND 
 
 people demanded such forms of grace and 
 ideal beauty, as have been bequeathed to 
 us by their sculptors and gem engravers, 
 it may well be supposed that their painters 
 would also conceive and execute works 
 of like excellence. 
 
 Had the art of engraving for multiplying 
 impressions, as since pra6liced, been known 
 to them, in place of the bald descriptions 
 of the historian, we would revel in tran- 
 scripts, from the divine creations of a 
 Xeuxis or an Apelles. 
 
 Die engraving, the offspring of intaglio 
 gem engraving, was a great step in the 
 applicadon of this art to the purposes and 
 enlightenment of mankind. Coining or 
 stamping of money and medals, in estab- 
 lishing a mode of circulation and trans- 
 mission of information, forms perhaps quite 
 as important a feature in the history of 
 th(' world as that of the discovery of 
 movable type. 
 
ANTIQUITY OF ENGRAVING. 1 5 
 
 Money, accepted as a representative of 
 values, gave an impetus to commerce, — 
 that most potent agent for civilization, — 
 the effe6ls and results of which can be 
 scarcely computed; quickening into being 
 thoughts and inventions, and entering into 
 all the great enterprises that have refined 
 and benefited mankind, it may well be 
 termed the lever Of the world. 
 
 If the Lydians invented the art of en- 
 graving dies and stamping money, the 
 Grecians very soon adopted and perfected 
 it ; and with the same high artistic develop- 
 ment, as is shown through all their works, 
 have transmitted to us those coins and 
 medals, which, like visible histories, stamp 
 into our memories the stirring events and 
 master minds of Greece and Rome. 
 
 The glory of Greece is departed : Rome, 
 with its triumphs and grandeur, the mis- 
 tress of the world, has become a by-word 
 and warning : their histories are written, — 
 
l6 THE ORIGIN AND 
 
 " First Freedom, and then Glory — when that fails, 
 Wealth, vice, corruption, — barbarism at last;" 
 
 but art, immortal art remains ; founded on 
 the immutable principles of nature, though 
 dormant at times, only to revive with 
 fresher powers and wider influences. 
 
 We now approach a memorable and 
 important era, not alone in art, but in the 
 history of man — that of the introducftion 
 of wood engraving-, the parent of printing 
 from the surface by means of a press, 
 which soon suo-aestino- die use of mova- 
 ble characflers, resulted finally in the dis- 
 covery of typography. 
 
 It is admitted on all sides, that engraving 
 on wood and prindng therefrom is of 
 Chinese origin, and practised by them 
 many centuries previous to the knowl- 
 edge of such an art by any nation of 
 Europe. 
 
 Jean Baptiste Papillon, a French en- 
 graver on wood, writing about the middle 
 
ANTIQUITY OF ENGRAVING. I 7 
 
 of the last century, speaks of having seen 
 in a private Hbrary a volume containing 
 eight pictures, representing the heroic 
 actions of Alexander, and described in a 
 rudely engraven frontispiece, as imagined 
 and executed at Ravenna, in relief on 
 blocks of wood, by Alessandro Alberico 
 Cunio and Isabella Cunio, twin brother 
 and sister, explained by verses and thus 
 marked on paper. The dedication fixing 
 the date at about A. D. 1285. 
 
 This story, deemed fi6litious by most 
 writers, having been accepted by Ottley 
 in his admirable History of Engraving, 
 establishes the fa6l that engf raving- on wood 
 and printing therefrom was pra6lised, in 
 that part of Italy bordering on the Gulf 
 of Venice, as early as the thirteenth 
 century. 
 
 A decree of the government of Venice, 
 in the year 1441, in reciting that the art 
 of making cards and printed figures, used 
 
THE ORIGIN AND 
 
 at \' enice, had fallen to total decay, orders, 
 (to encourage home manufacture of these 
 articles,) that no work of said art, that is 
 printed or painted on cloth or on paper, — 
 that is to say altar pieces or images and 
 playing cards, — shall be brought into the 
 city. 
 
 This, when coupled with the account of 
 the two Cunio, furnishes a reasonable 
 ground for the conjecture, that engraving 
 on wood had been pradlised from a very 
 early period by the Venetians, for the 
 manufacture of playing-cards and repre- 
 sentation of religious subjects, who learned 
 it in the course of commerce from the 
 Chinese, and it thus became gradually 
 known throughout Europe, — the use of 
 playing-cards performing an important part 
 in this dissemination. 
 
 The Germans and inhabitants of the 
 Low Countries appear to have especially 
 appropriated this art, and the custom of 
 
ANTIQUITY OF ENGRAVING. IQ 
 
 engraving the images of saints and other 
 devout representations, prevailed in those 
 countries as early as the fourteenth cen- 
 tury; but the impressions taken from these 
 blocks not being deemed of value, very 
 few have been preserved to us. 
 
 The print of St. Christopher crossing a 
 river with the infant Jesus on his shoulders, 
 of which there are but two impressions in 
 existence, (one in the Paris Colle6lion, the 
 other formerly in the library of Earl Spen- 
 cer,) was for a long time supposed to be 
 the earliest wood-cut bearing date, to wit 
 1423 ; but the recent discovery of one 
 dated 141 8, the only known impression of 
 which is in the Royal Library at Brussels, 
 establishes this facft as five years earlier 
 in time. 
 
 Engraving sets of prints, religious or 
 historical, accompanied with text or de- 
 scripdons on the same block, would natu- 
 rally follow, and thus originated our first 
 
THE ORIGIN AND 
 
 books, which being printed from solid 
 wooden blocks, arc termed Block Books, 
 
 The earliest Block Book, (a produ6lion 
 of the Low Countries,) is the Biblia Paiipe- 
 nun, a small folio of forty leaves, printed 
 on one side of the paper only, from a 
 similar number of blocks of wood, each 
 block containing three sacred subjects from 
 the Old and New Testament, with Latin 
 inscriptions. The blank sides of each two 
 leaves being pasted together, gives the 
 appearance of a book printed in the ordi- 
 nary manner on both sides of the paper. 
 This book is supposed to be of a date not 
 later than 1420. 
 
 But the most interestino- work of this 
 chara6ter, (later in date than the one just 
 referred to,) standing as it does midway 
 between Block Books and the first speci- 
 men of typograph)^ is the Spccidiim Hil- 
 mance Salvationist a folio of fifty-eight 
 cuts, containing one hundred and sixteen 
 
ANTIQUITY OF ENGRAVING. 
 
 designs, and printed also on one side only 
 of the paper. This book is remarkable 
 for the fact, that the text of one edidon is 
 printed pardy from fixed letters and pardy 
 from movable type, and in all other known 
 editions is printed entirely from what has 
 been sufficiendy proved to be cast type. 
 This book has been ascribed to the press 
 of Laurence Coster, of Haerlem, and is 
 prior to the year 1472. 
 
 It was only subsequent to this establish- 
 ment of typography that the wood engra- 
 vers of Italy, and especially of Venice, 
 began to exert their talents in illustradng 
 printed books with wood-cuts. 
 
 Having thus, in a general manner, at- 
 tempted to show the antiquity of engraving, 
 its influence in extending commerce, and 
 agency in the discovery of typography, we 
 will proceed to form the last link, in what 
 may be termed the genealogy of this art, 
 — the link that, above all others, interests 
 
THE ORICIN AND 
 
 and charms us the most, since to it we 
 owe those fine productions of the burin 
 and needle, which have ever ministered, 
 in the highest degree, to the enjoyment 
 and welfare of man. We allude to the 
 discovery of the mode of printing or de- 
 livering ink from the incisions of engraved 
 m.etal plates, by means of the roller, from 
 which time engraving became, as it were, 
 a new art. 
 
 Chalcography, the art of engraving, or 
 more strictly speaking, writing on metal, 
 was practised, as already mentioned, from 
 the most remote periods of antiquity ; but 
 it seems not to have been discovered that 
 such engravings were capable of being- 
 printed from. That a species of engraving 
 on metal, every way fitted for giving im- 
 pressions, was used by the Egyptians, 
 Greeks, and Romans, is placed beyond all 
 doubt; and it would be a matter for aston- 
 ishment that these acute and inventive 
 
ANTIQUITY OF ENGRAVING. 23 
 
 nations had never applied this art to such 
 purposes, were we not certain that paper — 
 which plays so important a part in this re- 
 production — was entirely unknown to them. 
 It was fidy given to Florence, the cradle 
 of modern art, where Dante sang and 
 Giotto painted, — Florence, the home of 
 the Medici, — to witness the first impression 
 taken on paper from an engraved metal 
 plate. 
 
 Vasari, that most interesting biographer, 
 (the prototype of all Boswell's, in admira- 
 tion of his subject,) wridng about the middle 
 of the sixteenth century, informs us that 
 the goldsmiths of Italy, and especially 
 Florence, in decorating plate destined for 
 sacred purposes, such as chalices, paxes, 
 and the like, after designing the intended 
 subje6l with a point of steel upon silver, 
 engraved and finished the work with the 
 burin, — the same tool used by the line-en- 
 graver of the present day. When thus 
 
24 IHK ORir.IN AND 
 
 engraved and finished, die lines were filled 
 in widi a composition of silver and lead, 
 which being of a black color, (in order to 
 throw out the design,) received the name 
 of Niello; and such work termed Niello- 
 work, from the Latin nigellum. 
 
 In this mode of workmanship, says 
 Vasari, Maso Finiguerra, of Florence, was 
 a most admirable artist. 
 
 It was the custom of that goldsmith, 
 whenever he had engraved any work in 
 silver, to take an impression (previous 
 to filling in the Niello) upon dampened 
 paper ; the engraving having first been 
 charged with lamp-black and oil by pres- 
 sing a roller over it ; his work as thus 
 printed assuming the appearance of a pen- 
 drawing. 
 
 Of Finiguerra's works in silver, the one 
 made most memorable is a pax of the As- 
 sumption of the Virgin, preserved among 
 the records of the church of San Giovanni, 
 
ANTIQUITY OF ENGRAVING. 25 
 
 at Florence, and executed, as is proved by 
 the records thereof, in the year 1452. 
 
 An impression from this work was dis- 
 covered by the Abbe Zani, so late as No- 
 vember, 1797, in the National Cabinet at 
 Paris. The composition is good, although 
 from the number of figures introduced in 
 a space three inches by five, somewhat 
 confused ; the drawing is quite remarkable, 
 and the beauty and expression of the 
 heads show Finiguerra to have been pos- 
 sessed of a high degree of excellence in 
 art,— far in advance of his time. 
 
 This custom of Finiguerra's, (the knowl- 
 edge of which, resting previously to this 
 date entirely upon the dictum of Vasari,) 
 has thus been substantiated, and enables 
 us to fix the time and place which wit- 
 nessed, and the person that orignated 
 printing from engraved metal plates. 
 
 Practised solely at first by him, for the 
 purpose of preserving a record of his 
 
26 THE ORIGIN AND 
 
 work, it was not held as a secret, and being 
 openly divulged, many years did not 
 elapse before the art, in this its first state, 
 was generally adopted by the workers in 
 Niello throughout Italy : Finiguerra im- 
 proving the process by increasing the 
 pressure of the roller, which the other 
 goldsmiths seem not to have done. 
 
 Appropriated to these purposes, it would 
 be limited to the taking of one, or at the 
 most, two impressions, and the fortunate 
 possessor of one of these prints may 
 well glory in exhibiting that, which in the 
 practice of later years has been so much 
 abused, — a veritable Ariisfs Proof. 
 
 Many proofs taken by the early gold- 
 smiths are in existence, and form a most 
 interesting feature in a colle61:ion of prints; 
 but it is difficult, in most cases, to identify 
 the author, and very few have been satis- 
 factorily traced as the work of Finiguerra. 
 
 The transition from this first state of the 
 
ANTIQUITY OF ENGRAVING. 27 
 
 art would be the growth of time ; and it 
 was not until the year 1460 that the real 
 importance of calcography became evident, 
 or that plates of larger dimensions, and 
 engraved purposely for multiplying im- 
 pressions for publication were produced. 
 This is what Lanzi terms the second state 
 of the art, — the printing, quite imperfect, 
 from ink of a greyish tint, and of little 
 consistency. 
 
 As the art of printing engravings be- 
 came better understood, plates of copper 
 beean to be used instead of the softer 
 metals ; and, with a press of adequate 
 power and printing ink of sufficient con- 
 sistency, the impressions received their full 
 effeft. The art then attained, as far as 
 relates to impressions, its third or mature 
 state. 
 
 There appears to be no ground for con- 
 je6lure, that Finiguerra ever practised the 
 art for other than Niello-work ; his excel- 
 
28 THE ORIGIN AND 
 
 lence in which may well cause regret that 
 such was the case. 
 
 Excepting the illustrations of an Alma- 
 nac, published at Florence in 1464, the 
 earliest Italian prints, from plates engraved 
 for the purpose of publication and of 
 which the date is ascertained, are three, 
 contained in a book printed and published 
 at Florence, in the year 1477, entitled 
 ''Monte Santo di Dio^' and are the joint 
 performance of two Florentine goldsmiths, 
 Baccio Baldini and Sandro Botticelli, who 
 also engraved the plates for the edition 
 of Dante, published at the same place in 
 1 48 1. These prints, confused In design 
 and rude in execution, mark no particular 
 advance in the art, and are more valued 
 for their antiquity than beauty. 
 
 The productions of Antonio del Polla- 
 guolo. ( 1 426-1 498,) another Florentine 
 goldsmith, deemed worthy enough by 
 Lorenzo Ghibcrti to assist in his renowned 
 
ANTIQUITY OF ENGRAVING. 29 
 
 work of the brass gates for the Baptistery 
 of St. John, in Florence, claim attention 
 for their close study of the anatomy of the 
 human fieure. His rare and celebrated 
 print of A Battle of Naked Figures, an 
 early copy of which is in the collection of 
 a gentleman of this city, (destined at some 
 future day to be a most important art-in- 
 heritance of Philadelphia,) fully shows his 
 knowledge in this respect ; the oudines are 
 engraved with a firm, deep stroke, and 
 though exaggerated as regards form, its 
 general chara6ler is redeemed by the 
 singular delicacy and neatness of line of 
 the shadows. 
 
 We come now to one, more properly 
 termed the first of Italian engravers, — 
 Andrea Mantegna, the son of a herdsman, 
 born at Padua, in 1431. This eminent 
 artist attained an early proficiency in paint- 
 ing, and is said to have executed the chief 
 
 altar-piece in the church of San Sofia, at 
 
 3* 
 
 JI7BESITr| 
 
3© THE ORIGIN AND 
 
 Padua, when but seventeen years of age. 
 Vasari, in his Hfe of INIantegna says, that 
 " he engraved his Ttnumphs of Ccesar on 
 copper, a work of which much account 
 was made, because better engravings had 
 not then been seen." 
 
 The enorravino:s of Mantes^na, shaded 
 with hnes of remarkable precision, drawn 
 obHquely from right to left, without cross- 
 hatchings, are executed with much freedom 
 and correctness of outline, and are evi- 
 dently close transcripts from the original 
 pen-and-ink drawings. From their sim- 
 plicity and truth they take hold of the 
 mind at once. 
 
 His beautiful print of the Virgin and 
 Child, expressing in the most marked 
 manner the tenderness of love and pride 
 of maternity, impresses the beholder in 
 the highest decree, and once seen is never 
 foro^ottcn. 
 
 But it is time to leave the south, and 
 
ANTIQUITY OF ENGRAVING. 31 
 
 turn our attention to a northern clime and 
 people. 
 
 Germany had no Vasari ; and, whether 
 the goldsmiths of the fifteenth century, 
 in that country, practised working in Niello, 
 or that, previous to the discovery of a well 
 constructed press, they made any attempts 
 to procure impressions from their engra- 
 vings on metal, is to us concealed knowl- 
 edge. The superiority of the German 
 ardsts over those of Italy, in the manage- 
 ment of the burin, as well as skill in print- 
 ing, is well established ; and as this could 
 only be attained by practice, we may be 
 sustained in declaring that eneravine on 
 metal must have been known to them 
 prior to the time of their first dated prints. 
 
 Art, in its outward expression, feels its 
 way slowly, step by step, from infancy to 
 youth, from youth to maturity, — never 
 leaping into being fully armed. The early 
 pra6lice of wood-cutdng by the Germans 
 
;^2 THE ORIGIN AND 
 
 may have however paved the way, and 
 the national patience and perseverance 
 assisted in this quick development ; for it 
 seems but a moment from the "Master of 
 1466" to Martin Schoen. 
 
 This subject, so long a fruitful source 
 of argument, was only apparently settled 
 by the discovery of the Niello-print in 1 797 ; 
 for there may yet be discovered some evi- 
 dence favoring quite as early a date for 
 the German as that for the Italian school. 
 
 The earliest dated prints of the German 
 school are the work of an unknown artist, 
 called the "Master of 1466," from that 
 date being found on some of his plates, 
 and who is supposed to have been the first 
 to use the rolling press, and make the 
 engraving of copper-plates a profession. 
 It has been well said, that his skill in hand- 
 linof the graver and the number of his 
 works, prove sufficiently that he was not 
 the first who attempted this pursuit. 
 
ANTIQUITY OF ENGRAVING. 33 
 
 The prints of this master are exceed- 
 ingly rare, and it is supposed that there 
 is but one in this countr)-, — that of the 
 Idolatry of Solomon, in the colle(5lion be- 
 queathed by the late Francis C. Gray to 
 Harvard College. He is said to have 
 been wonderfully expert with the graver, 
 and easy, though not always corre6l in his 
 drawing. Thoroughly Gothic in taste, with 
 an ideal of beauty entirely different from 
 ours, yet his art was something more 
 than a mere literal representation ; and he 
 enjoys the reputation of being the first 
 German engraver who devoted his talent 
 to rendering feeling and expression. 
 
 His engravings are principally religious 
 subje6ls, and include a set of twelve — The 
 Passion of our Lord — probably the origin 
 of the numerous desio-ns of this interestino- 
 history, produced by succeeding German 
 and Dutch eng-ravers. 
 
 Martin Schoen, or Schongauer, (1420- 
 
34 THE ORIGIN AND 
 
 1488,) the real father of the German school 
 of engraving, and immediate successor of 
 the " Master of 1466," was considered one 
 of the ori*eatest artists of his time. His 
 
 o 
 
 intimacy with Pietro Perugino, the master 
 of Raphael, and with whom he frequently 
 exchanged drawings, was the means of his 
 prints being early known to the Italians, 
 and by whom they were held in much 
 esteem ; and it is related that Michael 
 Angelo in his youth, was so much pleased 
 with his print of St A^ithmiy Tormented 
 by Devils, that he copied it in color. 
 
 With great facility in the management 
 of the burin — his touch being most delicate 
 and refined — his works display a close 
 observation of nature ; the heads of much 
 beauty and purity of expression, and the 
 draperies well disposed. By far the greater 
 part of his engravings are representations 
 of sacred subje6ls, and are distinguished 
 
ANTIQUITY OV ENGRAVINtJ. 35 
 
 by simplicity joined to a devoutness of 
 chara6ler, peculiarly his own. 
 
 Thoroughly imbued with a deep re- 
 ligious feeling, (and we recognize no art 
 lacking this essential,) they will always be 
 viewed with the highest gratification and 
 improvement. His works were much ad- 
 mired by his successors, and strongly in- 
 fluenced them ; and it is even said that 
 Raphael borrowed the fine motive of his 
 figure of Christ, in the renowned Spasimo 
 di Sicilia, from Schoen's print of Christ 
 bearing his cross to Calvary, — a composi- 
 tion of thirty figures, and considered his 
 most capital produ6lion. 
 
 But here at the close of the fifteenth 
 century — the dawn of modern engraving — 
 we must pause, for the subje6l widens far 
 beyond the limits of our design. 
 
 With the advent of the sixteenth century 
 the morning mists disappear, and the sun 
 rising with all its majesty and power in 
 
36 THE ORIGIN AND 
 
 the grand old German of Nuremberg, re- 
 flected first on the friend and translator 
 of Raphael, — tinges peak after peak, hill- 
 top after hill-top, valley after valley, until 
 the whole broad scene, not one spot un- 
 touched, lies glowing in the splendor of 
 noon. 
 
 As we glance down the long array of 
 talent, from Durer and Marc Antonio to 
 Toschi and Mandel, how the clustering 
 memories of three hundred and fifty years 
 of glory and renown surround us ! The 
 earnestness of the German, and truth of 
 the Dutch ; the grace and refinement of 
 the Italian, with the polish of the French 
 schools — added to the sobriety and dignity 
 of the English — unite in forming such a 
 complete and harmonious whole, that the 
 most cultivated eye and refined taste are 
 satisfied, and the limit attained. 
 
ANTIQUITY Of EN(;RAV1NG. 37 
 
 " It concerns you something to know it." 
 All's well that ends well. 
 Aci I. Scene 3. 
 
 Before considering the subjecl of the 
 UtiHty and Pleasures of Prints, it will be 
 proper to give a cursory glance to the 
 different descriptions and modes of pro- 
 ducing them : our remarks being restri6led 
 to impressions taken from metal plates ; 
 those printed from wood-cuts, now so im- 
 portant in their uses and improvements, 
 not beinof included in this view. 
 
 There are three principal kinds of prints, 
 — Engravings, already referred to, Etch- 
 ings, and Mezzotintos, — the respe6live char- 
 acteristics of which, in the order as named, 
 are strength, freedom, and softness ; all 
 which qualities may however be combined, 
 and when done with judgment and taste, 
 
38 THK 0RK;IX and 
 
 result in some of the most exquisite pro- 
 du6lions of the art. 
 
 The ordinary graver or burin, from its 
 angular shape, leaves a clean, well-defined 
 incision, which, in its depth or delicacy, 
 may be regulated according to the char- 
 a6ler of the line required. The strokes 
 gradually increasing in number near to 
 one another, and crossed again and again, 
 produce, according to their position and 
 thickness, tints more or less varied to 
 make up the whole. 
 
 This process, the most comprehensive 
 in Its powers, touching as well grace and 
 greatness, grandeur and simplicity, is ex- 
 cessively difficult to perform, requiring 
 long practice and experience ; and, unless 
 aided by taste, becomes mere mechanism, 
 devoid of nature or truth. 
 
 Some of the finest examples of pure 
 Line Engraving may be found in the works 
 of Schelte a Bolswert, the contemporary 
 
ANTIQUITY OF ENGRAVING. 39 
 
 of Rubens, who is said to have retouched 
 his proofs. They are distinguished for 
 their charader and dignity, and exhibit 
 great abiHty in conveying the vigor and 
 color of that master. 
 
 His print of Christ Crowned with Thojnis, 
 after Vandyck, contains all the elements 
 of greatness, and is one of the acknowl- 
 edged master-pieces of the art. 
 
 Etching, however, being simply drawing 
 on copper with a steel point or needle, 
 with the addition of acid to fasten it, par- 
 takes of the freedom of originality ; and, 
 when finished with the dry point, (so 
 termed from its use not being followed 
 with the acid,) gives from the burr thus 
 raised those rich velvety effects, which 
 Rembrandt, through his skill in printing, 
 knew so well how to manao-e. 
 
 Etching, or engraving by means of aqua- 
 fortis, was first practised by Albert Durer, 
 who seems however not to have discovered 
 
40 THE ORIGIN AND 
 
 its value ; the industrious German pre- 
 ferring to overcome the difficulties of the 
 burin. 
 
 Its resources were first developed in the 
 early half of the sixteenth century by 
 the Italian painter, Francesco Mazzuoli, 
 called II Parmigiano, — whose works, al- 
 though from want of pra61ice not well 
 corroded with the acid, are valued for their 
 elegance and grace, and as laying the real 
 foundation of this interestinor mode of 
 multiplying original drawings. 
 
 The union of Line Engraving with Etch- 
 inor — addino- freedom to strenofth — has 
 cj-iven us all those fine renderinofs of nature, 
 of which the English school of landscape 
 is confessedly the chief. 
 
 Mezzotinto, on the other hand, is quite 
 the opposite from either engraving or 
 etching ; in this case the lights being made 
 by removing the shadows, while in the two 
 
ANTIQUn\' OK ENGKAVINvO. 41 
 
 latter the shadows are produced by de- 
 creasing the Hghts. 
 
 In this process the surface of the plate 
 is equally roughened by a suitable tool ; 
 an impression taken in this state being 
 entirely black; the ground thus laid is 
 then scraped away, more or less, as the 
 tints are to be stronger or fainter, and 
 entirely removed where high lights are 
 required. 
 
 Scraping in Mezzotinto (brought to its 
 highest state in England) was first prac- 
 tised by a German officer, Von Siegen, 
 who produced his first plate, a portrait, in 
 1643, and was communicated by him to 
 Prince Rupert, nephew of Charles the 
 first. 
 
 Walpole's story of that Prince having 
 discovered it by observing the a6lion of 
 dew in rusting the fire-arm of a sentinel, 
 who had pardy scraped it away, is ingenious, 
 but devoid of truth ; but as we ever prefer 
 
42 THE ORIGIN AND ANTIQUITY OF ENGRAVING. 
 
 tracing inventions to a sudden conception, 
 the Prince will perhaps never be robbed 
 of this honor. 
 
 This Schwarze-Kunst, or Black Art of 
 the German, is best adapted to rendering 
 pi6lures of few figures and strong concen- 
 tration of light and dark, and possesses 
 great excellence in portraiture; for no other 
 style of engraving can so well represent 
 the luminous quality and blending in of 
 shadow with the back-ground, — thus crea- 
 ting almost an aclual presence. 
 
 Many striking instances of this occur in 
 the works of the best Mezzotint© engra- 
 vers of the English school ; among others 
 may be mentioned The Rabbi, by William 
 Pether ; a Portait of Rembrandt,, by James 
 MacArdell ; and one by William Say, after 
 Sir William Beechey. 
 
The Utility 
 
 Pleasures of Prints. 
 
 " There is many a movient when the ear is listless of talk, -when the eye 
 is listless or weary of the printed page, but when the silent teachings of 
 a work of art pass unconsciously into the heart." 
 
THE UTILITY 
 
 PLEASURES OF PRINTS. 
 
 Here the theme is so broad, so full of 
 recollections of purest delight and most 
 gentle instru61;ion, and the writer owes to 
 them so many happy moments of refined 
 companionship and elevated associations, 
 that he may well hesitate in undertaking a 
 task much beyond his limited powers of 
 expression. But gratitude — keenly alive to 
 all the advantages to be derived from these 
 uses and pleasures — incites the endeavor, 
 in a hope that others may at least catch 
 a glimpse of this beautiful land. 
 
 45 
 
46 THE UTILITV AND 
 
 In all staj^tis of life, whether for use, 
 pleasure, or instru6lion, the art of engra- 
 ving exercises an important and perma- 
 nent influence. 
 
 Through its representations of familiar 
 obje6ls, the germ of childish intellect is 
 first quickened ; by its illustrations, the 
 elementary studies of youth are dire6led 
 and assisted ; and, by its reproductions, the 
 inventions in mechanics and discoveries of 
 science are better understood and more 
 widely known ; and, as a means of convey- 
 ing the higher qualities of the mind, as 
 expressed by the best artists of all times, 
 it is invaluable. 
 
 All grades and classes of society are 
 afife6led by it ; the rude wood-cut of the 
 cottage is as suggestive in its degree as 
 the rare artist's proof of more favored 
 
PLEASURES OF PRINTS. 47 
 
 homes ; and the early scrap-gatherings of 
 boyhood days are as instructive and im- 
 portant as the choice colle6tion of the 
 connoisseur of a later period. 
 
 In all the elements that unite in forming a 
 complete picture, — such as design, compo- 
 sition, and distribution of light and shade, — 
 prints are in every respect quite equal to 
 paintings ; and, although from the want of 
 color (and even that may be suggested) 
 expression may not be so fully rendered, 
 yet prints convey a much clearer idea of 
 drawing and perspective. Color, with its 
 magical gradations of tint, is deceptive, 
 and often conceals p^ross faults of drawing • 
 and the critical eye, where the latter is a 
 prominent quality, receives quite as much 
 pleasure from prints as from paintings. 
 
 The grace and purity of outline, so much 
 admired in Marc Antonio, was acquired 
 from the carefully executed drawings of 
 Raphael ; his engravings being made from 
 
48 THE L'TILITV AND 
 
 them, and not iVoni the finished paintings 
 of that great master. 
 
 The texture of all stuffs, the qualities of 
 metal and wood, and even the subtelty ot 
 atmosphere itself, can be rendered by 
 prints. The dewy freshness of morn, the 
 sultry glow of noon, and the solemn hush 
 of eve are all given ; and the classical 
 landscapes of Wilson, as translated by the 
 master hand of Woollett, are so fresh and 
 brieht, and so full of the truth of nature, 
 that we seem to " live and move and have 
 our being" in the scenes thus set before us. 
 
 Through prints we become familiar with 
 the habits and customs of the people of all 
 nations ; their daily lives and homes, their 
 comforts and privations become apparent 
 to us, awakening the sympathies and in- 
 creasing our interest in man ; while Irom 
 the study of individual and national char- 
 a6leristics we may improve and elevate 
 our own times. 
 
PLEASURES OF PRINTS. 49 
 
 By their faithful deHneations of the 
 scenery of all countries, — nature in its vari- 
 ous forms of beauty and grandeur, its 
 mountains and valleys, its rivers and 
 oceans, is lavishly spread before us ; while, 
 with a mere turn of the hand and in 
 slippered ease, we can travel from pole to 
 pole, and " put a girdle round about the 
 earth in forty minutes." 
 
 The elecrant allegories and varied in- 
 stru6lions of mythology, with its poetical 
 representations of the elements and pre- 
 siding deities, have ever furnished a plea- 
 sant excitement for the imagination, and 
 awakened some of the finest conceptions 
 of art. In the world-renowned fresco of 
 Guido, as given us by Morghen, the God 
 of Light — etherial as the idea — preceded 
 by Aurora scattering freshness and beauty, 
 moves steadily on, and we feel the earth 
 reviving under their genial influence. A 
 
50 THE UTILITY AND 
 
 beautiful thought, beautifully embodied 
 and translated. 
 
 The pages of the Sacred Volume have 
 been so amply illustrated, that in any ordi- 
 nary colle6lion of prints the acts and pre- 
 cepts of Christ are fully set forth. The 
 divinity and sufferings of the Son of God, 
 who died that we might be saved, are 
 thoroughly impressed upon us ; and the 
 mission of Christian art, to raise and pre- 
 pare man for a higher and more perfe6l 
 state, is, through the intervention of prints, 
 brought to the feelings and preceptions 
 of all ; and it only remains for each one to 
 take and appropriate unto himself the 
 fullness of these teachings. 
 
 An an incentive and aid to the study 
 of history, prints are of much importance ; 
 they freshen the memory of striking events, 
 and speak to us of those deeds of heroism 
 and self-denial that have benefited and 
 elevated our race. 
 
PLEASURES OF PRINTS. 
 
 By portraits, they bring us face-to-face 
 with the men of all times, remarkable for 
 genius or virtue. Rulers, who have shaped 
 the destinies of nations ; statesmen, who 
 have governed rulers and people's ; poets, 
 who have refined ; philosophers, who have 
 improved ; and, philanthrophists, who have 
 benefited. We are thus enabled to study 
 the chara6ler of each, and the truths and 
 sequels of history become more promi- 
 nent and intelligible. 
 
 In the full-length portrait of Louis the 
 fourteenth, with its false tide of " Louis le 
 grand," — engraved by the elder Drevet, 
 from the paindng by Rigaud, — after admi- 
 ring the work of the engraver, the delicacy 
 of line, and close imitation of draperies, 
 we read his chara6ler almost at a glance. 
 Pride, ignorance, and a selfish disregard 
 of the feelings and rights of others are 
 plainly exhibited ; and we need not refer 
 to the pages of history to ascertain the 
 
THE UTILITY AND 
 
 results of the rule of such a king, nor 
 wonder at its culmination in the sad events 
 of a later reign. 
 
 By prints, the master-pieces of art, 
 scattered through the public and private 
 galleries of the world, requiring much time 
 and causing great inconvenience even to 
 examine them, are brought into our daily 
 companionship, free from excitement or 
 restraint. The whole world of genius lies 
 revealed to us ; and, not restri(fl;ed to any 
 particular school or painter, we have the 
 privilege of sele6ling the finest examples 
 of each, and thus possess for convenient 
 reference that which insensibly improves 
 our taste and elevates our judgment. 
 
 Time is fast eatincr into and robbing 
 many of these treasures of their pristine 
 beauty, while the vandalism of man and 
 the action of the elements have utterly 
 destroyed others ; and it behooves us to 
 carefully preserve these translations, which. 
 
PLEASURES OF PRINTS. 53 
 
 sooner or later, will be the only visible re- 
 cords of works which have stood the test 
 of time and years of enlightened criticism. 
 
 The prints of the early engravers derive 
 their great value and interest from being 
 the handiwork of eminent painters ; and 
 furnish a constant source of study, not 
 alone for the art, but also for the artist. 
 
 The intense earnestness and devotion, 
 conspicuous in all the works of Durer, 
 excite a deep feeling for the subje6l, and 
 enlist our affe6lions for the man. 
 
 In his print of the legendary tale of the 
 Conversion of St. Hubert, (his largest and 
 most finished engraving, the plate of which 
 was filled In with gold, by order of the 
 Emperor Rudolph the second, and is still 
 thus preserved,) these qualities of mind 
 and heart are made apparent to the most 
 careless observer. 
 
 The knight, while hunting, is stopped 
 suddenly in his career of sinful and worldly 
 
 Of THl^^ 
 
 y»I7ERSITrl 
 
54 THE UTILITV AND 
 
 pleasures by the apparition of a stag bear- 
 ing the crucifix between its horns. The 
 awe and veneration expressed in the 
 countenance and kneeHne fisTUre of the 
 knight, at the appearance of the divine 
 messenger, cannot be misunderstood; even 
 the horse and dogs seem to comprehend 
 the passing event, while the faithful atten- 
 tion to detail in the landscape, adds also to 
 the interest and truth of the scene. 
 
 But how shall we speak of the witchery 
 of painter's etchings, with their freedom 
 and grace ; often mere suggestions, but 
 fresh from the mind, — full of spirit and 
 genius ? The point, gliding easily over the 
 surface, follows the inspiration of the mo- 
 ment: and we have original sketches by 
 artists whose works are so precious as 
 exponents of the purity within. 
 
 Etchings from the hand of Guido, who 
 touched not but to create beauty and 
 grace ; from Claude, the poet of nature ; 
 
PLEASURES OF PRINTS. 55 
 
 or, from that master of intellectual por- 
 traiture, Vandyck, must always possess an 
 indefinable charm ; linked with which is 
 the pleasant thought that, unlike original 
 drawings, restri6ted to a few, many may 
 be enjoying them at the same moment. 
 
 But these, and scores of other works 
 of like merit and value, must yield to the 
 enchantment of the "inspired Dutchman," 
 — whose complete mastery of light and 
 shade, and wonderful combination of etch- 
 ing" and dry point, have given us works 
 which fascinate as well the refined as the 
 uncultivated observer. Rembrandt treats 
 his subject in such a simple and truthful 
 manner that we enter into the spirit of the 
 a6lion at once, without being bewildered 
 by surrounding objecls, or wearied with 
 unnecessary detail ; and it has been beau- 
 tifully said, that his genius, like the lustre 
 of precious stones, shines from the centre, 
 not from the surface. 
 
THE UTILITY AND 
 
 His touch is as free as thought ; and a 
 Kne here and a scratch there, are as ex- 
 pressive of chara6ler and action, as the 
 most labored efforts of others ; and if his 
 models are not of the most refined nature, 
 and his drawing not always correct, such 
 is the power of his pathos and the simpli- 
 city of his composition, that we readily 
 pardon the lesser faults in admiration of 
 the greater excellence of the whole. 
 
 His freedom of handling and powers of 
 expression are never more conspicuous 
 than in his portraits ; which, for picturesque 
 effed, individuality of charafter, and ren- 
 dering of age, have never been equalled. 
 
 The Death of the Vii^gin, a large and 
 much esteemed print, is perhaps one of 
 the finest examples of pure etching ever 
 executed. The touching charader of the 
 scene, the sorrow of the by-standers, and 
 the gentle a6lion of Joseph, who is raising 
 the Virgin in an endeavor to ease her 
 
PLEASURES OF PRINTS. 57 
 
 dying moments, are most truthfully ex- 
 pressed ; even the pallor of death is 
 strongly marked, and all this with so few 
 and slight, yet masterly touches, that we 
 are lost in wonder and admiration. 
 
 In the print of Christ Healing the Sick-— 
 his chef-d'oeuvre — which receives its stri- 
 king effe6l from a free use of the dry point, 
 all the great qualities of Rembrandt are 
 developed. The simplicity of design, the 
 ease of composition, and mystery of chiaro- 
 scuro, while revealing the power and truth 
 of the artist, make this one of the most 
 impressive ad;s of Jesus. 
 
 The features of Christ are not such as 
 a refined judgment might approve, yet it 
 is Christ in all the sublimity of faith and 
 tender love ; and, although the powers of 
 expression and interest attached to the 
 surrounding groups are of the most en- 
 grossing chara6ler, yet the eye never 
 loses the presence of the divine Healer. 
 
THE UTILITY AND 
 
 Professional engravers, taking their rise 
 in Marc Antonio, and speaking through 
 the grandeur of Hne, the freedom of etch- 
 ing, and solemnity of Mezzotinto, have 
 filled our folios with such a wealth of faith- 
 ful and intelligent translations from nature 
 and art, that any attempt to bring them 
 to your notice would end in a mere cata- 
 logue of names and works, and weary 
 where we would willingly please. 
 
 Yet, at the risk of invoking the unap- 
 peased shades of the many great dead, we 
 cannot refrain from alluding to one, — Mul- 
 ler's print of 67. JoJin, — from the pi(5lure 
 by Domenichino. There seems to be such 
 an affinity between the character of " the 
 disciple whom Jesus loved" and that of the 
 engraver ; and the purity of their lives 
 and devoted and affe6lionate natures are 
 so alike, that we have ever looked at this 
 print with its beautiful dedication, " To his 
 
PLEASURES OF PRINTS. 59 
 
 father and master," with the most reverent 
 feelings. 
 
 It is one of the noblest examples of 
 pure line extant, and never were subject, 
 painter, and engraver more closely allied. 
 The grand flow of line, the dignity of 
 drapery, and the rapt countenance of the 
 Evangelist, remove it from the sphere of 
 art, and elevate it into a revelation. 
 
 But the colle6lor of prints is not limited 
 solely to shining lights and great names, — 
 always difficult to obtain in fine state or 
 perfed preservation. Many an unobtru- 
 sive print, with no high-sounding reputa- 
 tion, is destined to furnish quite as much 
 pleasure as a Durer or Rembrandt, Marc 
 Antonio or Bolswert. 
 
 We call to mind a simple, unpretending 
 little print, which would not be mentioned 
 in the catalogue of any recognized collec- 
 tion ; it is engraved by Oortman, after 
 Rembrandt's picture in the Louvre, of 
 
6o THE UTILITY AND 
 
 Christ and the tiuo disciples at Emmaus, 
 of which, Mrs. Jameson says, " Rembrandt 
 took the subject of the supper at Emmaus, 
 and baptised it in the pure waters of the 
 gospel." 
 
 This picture is one of the most impres- 
 sive that ever came from the hand of the 
 ofreat master of Hcfht and shade. The 
 point of time taken is, when Christ broke 
 the bread, and their eyes were opened 
 and they knew him. 
 
 The engraver, entering into the feeHngs 
 of the artist and the interest of the scene, 
 has succeeded in the most admirable man- 
 ner in rendering the divinity of Christ, 
 and the awe and astonishment of the two 
 disciples ; and has, by a simplicity of work 
 free from any show of labor or straining 
 after effe6l, thrown around the whole print 
 such an air of spirituality, that long after 
 the original shall have faded and dimmed, 
 
PLEASURES OF PRINTS. 6 1 
 
 its charm will bind us through this ex- 
 quisite reprodu6lion. 
 
 The coUecftion of prints, satisfying in 
 youth the active quality of our nature, — 
 which, unless brought under the subjec 
 tion of intellect, degenerates into a mere 
 search for novelty, and excitement, with 
 its corresponding violence of reaction, — is 
 no less important as a refuge for age. As 
 our bodily adivity lessens, it become neces- 
 sary to substitute a proportionate balance, 
 so that age may not lapse into inertia ; and 
 this pursuit, by stimulating our perceptions 
 of the beautiful, and keeping alive an in- 
 terest in man, furnishes occupation and a 
 healthy excitement for the mind ; tending 
 to preserve that w'hich is beyond the 
 power of medicine, — a sound mind in a 
 sound body. 
 
 In conclusion, if we have succeeeded in 
 convincing the reader that print-collecting, 
 — which he may often hear termed a mere 
 
62 THE UTILITY ANL> PLEASURES OK PRINTS. 
 
 hobby, or at the best a pleasurable pas- 
 time, — is entitled to be classed as a power- 
 ful agent for the cultivation and enlighten- 
 ment of man ; or shall have persuaded but 
 one to follow in the footsteps of many ex- 
 cellent and virtuous men, and become also 
 a lover and collector of prints, — the time 
 has been well spent and the labor re- 
 quited. 
 
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