RI.\'T COLLECTOR.
most in that part of sculpture which forms the very essence of
drawing.
An anonymous artist, contemporary, or nearly so, with Martin
Schoen, is a voluminous engraver, known as THE MASTER OF 1466,
from the circumstance of that date appearing on one of his prints.
He used no monogram, and his works are not recognizable, there-
fore, except by the style of his design, and the manner of his en-
graving ; but in these he is so characteristic that it is not difficult
to appropriate his works ; all of them evince much intelligence and
originality.
ISRAEL vox MECHELEN, born in 1424, and his son, of the same
name (if two there were, but, if so, they are confounded together),
are artists of much notoriety, but arising, certainly, not from
superior merit, but from the multitude of their performances which
remain, and which amount to nearly 250 in number. They exhibit
all the Gothic taste of the age and country to which they belong,
with few qualities to redeem it. This, it would appear, was the
judgment of their fellow-artists of their day ; for it is remarkable
that, although there was a very prevalent habit, at this period, of
engravers copying one another's prints, it is said to be doubtful
whether there exist a single print which is copied from an original
design of Von Mechelen.
Of such artists one sample may suffice, and we may, without
regret, pass over what others there may be of like estimation ; and,
as in the Italian school, we made a step from infant attempts to
the full maturity of the art, exemplified in Marc Antonio, so, in
the German school, we may stride from the Gothic struggles of
the earlier artists to the comparative perfection of the art, as ex-
emplified in the great name of ALBERT DlJRER.
Born in 14/1, this intelligent and industrious artist was painter
as well as engraver, a geometrician, and a writer on these subjects,
and on civil and military architecture. Like his great compeer of
Italy, he marks, in his own country, as important an aera in German
THE PRINT COLLECTOR. 133
engraving as Marc Antonio does in the Italian school. Vasari,
Du Fresnoy, and Sir Joshua Reynolds concur in opinion that if
Albert Du'rer had had the advantage of an Italian education he
would have ranked in the very first class. His works are numerous,
both in copper and on wood ; and to him is also attributed the in-
vention of etching. Some of his prints are thought to be from
plates of iron or steel, rather than copper.
We are not aware that there is any proof of this, or that it is
more than conjecture, arising from a certain peculiar appearance in
the prints, as to which the supposition applies ; but it may be re-
marked that there was published, in 1599, in London, a book,
translated from the Dutch, which, therefore, was probably of some
years' earlier date, which treats of the method of " graving with
strong water on steel and iron," a title which seems to infer, not
only that steel and iron plates were used for engraving, but that the
art of etching, invented in the same century, was confined to those
metals, and not as yet practised on copper.
The copper-plates of Albert Diirer are executed with the graver
only, in so neat and excellent a style that, for facility of execution
and command of that instrument, he has never been excelled.
They are all from designs of his own. Some connoisseurs have fan-
cied that the " Prodigal Son," and one or two others, are copies
from Durer's master, Michael Wolgemut ; but there does not appear
to be any good ground for this assertion ; and the specimens which
we have of Wolgemut's art, in the once famous Nuremberg Chron-
icle, do not, by any means, favor the idea.
Albert Diirer displays great copiousness of invention, an accu-
rate observation of individual nature, and great talent of represent-
ing the characters and textures of objects. One or more specimens
should be sought, both of his copper-plates and his wood-engrav-
ings, and one sample also of his etchings, although these are very
few in number. 1
1 The judgment of the present age will hardly allow the collector to be contented
wfth one specimen of Dtlrer's engravings. Let the scheme for forming a collection,
134 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
One peculiar circumstance we must mention respecting Albert
Durer, for the sake of the credit which it does him. In selecting
specimens of his prints, there is nothing to avoid ; and there is
scarcely another ancient artist of whom this can be said. He
stands almost alone in moral character ; he never engraved what
is technically called a free subject ; nor is there, throughout his
works, an indelicate representation or gross allusion. So excellent
was the private character of Albert Durer that his friend, Melanc-
thon, used to say of him that his least merit was his art. This is,
indeed, laudari a laudato viro.
With respect to wood-engravings, as well those by the artist
under consideration as by others, it is proper to notice that the
better opinion seems to be that the share which the designer him-
self had in these was confined to the drawing of his design on the
block, and that the very mechanical operation of cutting away was
left to subordinate hands. Now and then, perhaps, an artist may
have himself been the wood-cutter, but that he was not always, or
even generally so, is proved from the circumstance of blocks exist-
ing, at this day, at the back of which is found the name of the
wood-engraver ; and Jean Neudorffer, a contemporary of Albert
Durer, expressly states (as cited in De Murr's Journal) that Jerome
Resch, a medal and letter-type engraver, was the person by whom
were engraved, on wood, most of the designs of Albert Durer.
as suggested by Mr. Maberly, be ever so complete and systematic, there are excep-
tions, and Durer is a master of whose work it would seem impossible to have too
many examples. We would rather counsel the acquisition of almost every print of
importance by him, when it can be had in fine condition and at a reasonable price.
His subjects are replete with interest as well as marvellous in execution. In England
they have never been until late years as thoroughly appreciated as Rembrandt's etchings
have been.
The collector will find it difficult enough to secure fine examples of either Durer,
Rembrandt, or Marc Antonio, and there will probably be no danger of his becoming
possessed of too many of the works of either of these artists, who form the great trio
of engravers, standing foremost among them all.
THE PRINT COLLECTOR. 135
HANS BURGHMAIR, a very voluminous engraver on wood, HANS
SCHAUFFLEIN, and WENCESLAUS OF OLMUTZ, may afford one
sample each. For this last-named artist, M. Duchesne claims the
credit of being the inventor of etching, on the ground that an etch-
ing exists, bearing his monogram, with the date of 1496 ; whereas
the earliest of the etchings of Albert Durer, the hitherto reputed
inventor, bears date 1512.
LUCAS VAN LEYDEN affords specimens of beautifully fine work,
but the extreme delicacy of his handling occasioned his plates to
wear down very soon, and good impressions of this artist's works
are therefore rare. It is of little use to point out what may be
preferable specimens, because, in early masters, and especially such
whose works are more uncommon, a collector will rarely have op-
portunity to select, but must think himself fortunate whenever he
may find a good impression, in good condition, even though it be
not of one of the principal plates of the master.
Let any one who would see Van Leyden in perfection beg a
sight, at the British Museum, of the print of " David Playing be-
fore Saul ;" but he should be previously apprised that the sight of
this most splendid impression will make him dissatisfied with every
print that he is likely ever to meet with by the same master.
We now approach a series of artists who, from the diminutive
size of their works, are called " The Little Masters." Such are :
ALBERT ALTDORFER, whose works are numerous, both in copper
and wood, the latter being the best, and to these it is said Hans
Holbein was much indebted, and that the style of Altdorfer is trace-
able in the works of this esteemed painter.
BARTHOLOMEW BEHAM resided much at Rome, and, it is said,
studied under Marc Antonio. His prints, indeed, evince something
of that great artist's manner.
HANS SE*BALD BEHAM, brother of the preceding, is a very vo-
luminous and pleasing engraver, both on copper and wood.
MATTHEW ZAGEL dated his prints, and, but for this, he is so
I3 6 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
stiff and Gothic, and so deficient in taste, drawing, and composition,
that he might be supposed earlier than Martin Schoen.
JAMES BiNCK, though a pupil of Albert Diirer, evinces much of
the Italian school, from having studied at Rome, and engraved,
indeed, after Raffaelle.
VIRGIL SOLIS engraved both in wood and copper. He is a
voluminous artist ; he displays great feritlity of invention, his fig-
ures are spirited, and his attitudes good, yet his drawing is generally
careless and incorrect.
HENRY ALDEGREVER is much esteemed for his neat execution,
expression, and propriety of composition.
GREGORY, or GEORGE PEINS, born in 150x3, ranks among the
little masters, except that he occasionally emancipated himself from
them. He studied first under Albert Diirer, but afterward under
Marc Antonio, and showed, in one or two large prints, especially
in one, after Julio Romano, representing a besieged town, that he
had favored and acquired the higher taste of the Italian masters.
A family of the name of HOPFER, of whom David is the chief,
flourished early in the sixteenth century.
HANS SEBALD LAUTENSACK, born in 1508, engraved portraits,
much esteemed for their truth, and also landscapes, frequently
historical.
THEODORE DE BRYE, born in 1528, designed and engraved, very
prettily, small subjects, full of figures, processions, and the like.
LUCAS KILIAN, born in 1579, introduced a bolder, freer style :
he is noted for his great command of the graver.
GlACOMO FREY, born in 1681, leaves a long interval, but
within which is no very important engraver ; some that might
have justly been classed within this period, in the German school,
have been stolen away, and will appear in the Flemish and Dutch.
Frey engraved plates of considerable size, in a masterly manner,
and did justice to some of the finest works of the greatest masters.
Care is necessary in the selection of a specimen of his works, for
THE PRINT COLLECTOR. 137
his plates were mostly retouched by his son Philip, and very in-
judiciously.
RIDINGER, born in 1695, executed, to admiration, etchings of
wild animals, in forest and wild scenery.
DIETRICI, born in 1712, and GEORGE FREDERICK SCHMIDT,
born in the same year, may close our list of the German school :
the latter, at times, imitated the manner of Rembrandt.
We must not, however, quit the Germans without noticing that
it was with them that the art of engraving in mezzotinto had its rise.
PRINCE RUPERT, who is ranged in the English school, had long the
reputation of being the inventor ; but this credit is now ascertained
to be due to LUDWIG VON SIEGEN, born about 1609. In the His-
tory of Mezzotinto Engraving, published in 1839, by Leon la
Borde, mentioned in the catalogue of books, contained in subse-
quent pages, is a very curious document, being a fac-simile of a
letter from Count Siegen to "?rince Rupert, giving an account of
his discovery.
The first mezzotinto print published was the portrait of " Amelia
Landgrave of Hesse," which appeared in Amsterdam, in August,
1642. This department of engraving has been chiefly cultivated
and improved in England, and the best specimens of it are to be
found among the artists of our own country. This is so generally
acknowledged that Heinecken, a great authority, has called it "La
maniere Anglaise. "
THE FLEMISH AND DUTCH SCHOOL.
The commencement of this school does not date so far back as
the more ancient ones which have been treated of. It will, never-
theless, be found to compensate for this by producing a greater
abundance of intelligent and pleasing artists, who claim to be in-
cluded in our catalogue. We find no one necessary to be men-
tioned until we arrive at the middle of the sixteenth century,
when appear the Sadelers.
I3 8 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
JOHN SADELER, born in 1550, is important as being the founder
of a school, in his family and beyond it : they engraved subjects,
landscapes, and portraits.
About the same period, JOHN and JEROME WlERlNX engraved
small plates, of beautifully minute and highly-finished work.
The next name of repute is HENRY GOLTZIUS, born in 1558, a
voluminous engraver, of manly, bold execution, and great effect,
but not without considerable faults affectation, extravagance, a
daring carelessness, and a neglect or ignorance of chiaroscuro. He
engraved both on copper and on wood. He affected to undervalue
the reputation of his great predecessors in the art, and engraved a
series of prints, in express imitation of their respective manners, in
order to convince the world that he could himself perform as well
as any of them.
Goltzius was followed closely by pupils and imitators. The
chief of the former were SAENREDAM, MATHAM, and MULLER ;
all, with much similarity of manner and effect, imitated their more
able master. The works of these engravers comprise many showy
prints, easy to meet with, and of small price.
To the great RUBENS, born in 1577, are attributed a few etch-
ings, on which, indeed, appears his name ; but whether these were
altogether finished by himself, or whether his share in them be
confined to the sketching only, with the etching needle, may be
doubtful.
PETER SOUTMAN, of the school of Rubens, engraved after this
master, and introduced the mixture of etching with the burin with
much effect ; and this practice was carried to greater perfection by
SUYDERHOOF and others.
CHRISTOPHER JEGHER executed, on wood, designs after Ru-
bens, some, perhaps, drawn on the block by Rubens himself. He
retained the strictest preservation of the characteristic style of this
master.
Another great name is VANDYKE, born in 1599. He etched two
THE PRINT COLLECTOR. 139
subjects only, but several masterly portraits, which were finished
by Vorsterman, and other artists ; and our collector should not sit
down content with one of the finished prints longer than until he
can procure one of the first state, consisting of the simple etching,
all by Vandyke's own hand.
SCHELTIUS BOLSWERT is, perhaps, the most powerful engraver,
for effect, that ever lived, and the most faithful Tenderer of the
style of his original, which was generally Rubens.
VORSTERMAN was a contemporary artist, of great reputation, as
was PAUL PONTIUS, both engraving chiefly after Rubens and
Vandyke.
REMBRANDT. The mention of the name is sufficient. His
works are, of themselves alone, a collection. The young collector
will, as his taste improves, and as his eye gets accustomed to really
fine things, become, in all probability, fascinated with this pre-emi-
nent of all artists, and will yield to temptation beyond his original
intention. He is sure to acquire more and more affection for an
artist of whom it has been observed that he worked with his heart
rather than his hand. Let him do so, and indulge himself, but let
it be leisurely and judiciously.
Meantime we must condescend to remember our present im-
mediate purpose. With reference to this, then, we would observe
that there are many of Rembrandt's prints of frequent occurrence,
and of moderate price, if rare states be not aspired to, and which
may, at first, and during the growth of the rest of the collection,
be contentedly accepted as affording sufficient idea of the style
and manner of this inimitable master.
The example of Rembrandt encouraged the practice of etching,
and that so exclusively that the chief artists of this school form,
henceforth, a class called the " Dutch etchers." These delight
much in rustic scenes, cattle, and landscape. They form a constel-
lation of brilliant stars. OSTADE ; KARL DU JARDIN ; PAUL
POTTER ; ADRIAN VAN DE VELDE ; JOHN BOTH ; WATERLOO ;
140 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
SWANEVELT ; STOOP ; BEGA ; FYTT ; EVERDINGEN ; BERGHEM ;
Roos ; DE LAER ; DE ULIEGER ; and one or two of shipping,
BACKHUYSEN ; ZEEMAN.
ADRIAN OSTADE confined himself to subjects taken from the
peasantry of his country. His figures are true to nature, and
touched with such spirit that the low life which is represented
ceases to be offensive. He has a surprising talent of insulating
every figure ; detaching it, that is, from surrounding objects. It
appears as if one could walk round about and among the people
assembled in his compositions.
BEGA is in the same style as to subject, but coarser, and with
less qualities to redeem vulgarism.
JOHN BOTH etched landscapes, of beautiful composition, and
executed with a delicate and light touch.
Nothing can exceed the truth and perfection with which
WATERLOO renders the foliage of trees, giving to each the perfect
character of its species. A person accustomed to hang with admi-
ration over the delightful etchings of this artist will perpetually, in
his country drives, be reminded of this exquisite reflector of nature :
every little coppice which he passes, every oak tree, will bring to
recollection Waterloo.
SWANEVELT had a peculiar mode of working, his foliage being
composed of short horizontal lines, which give also a peculiar
effect. A fanciful person might consider it a soft, hazy, or sultry
appearance.
EVERDINGEN is remarkable for the infinite variety displayed in
the prodigious number of prints that he etched, representing the
scenery of a rocky, woody country, with picturesque log-houses,
mills, torrents, etc. He also engraved fifty-seven plates of " The
Life of Reynard the Fox."
The remaining names above enumerated as Dutch etchers con-
fined themselves wholly, or in great measure, to subjects of
domestic animals. Each well deserves separate notice, for their
THE PRINT COLLECTOR. 141
works are nature itself ; but we cannot afford to expatiate too
largely.
One great name, as an engraver, must not be omitted COR-
NELIUS VISSCHER, born in 1610. Of him, the specimen to be
selected should be one of his prints after a design of his own.
Our list shall close with an able artist, well known to us by his
admirable portraits of his own countrymen HOUBRAKEN.
THE FRENCH SCHOOL.
The French school commences with DUVET, born in 1485, called
the " Master of the Unicorn," from his frequent introduction of
that animal in his compositions.
After him there is nothing very alluring till we come to CALLOT,
born in France in 1593, but who, from having studied at Rome and
Florence, is often classed in the Italian school, in which he has been
already noticed.
The little landscapes ot CLAUDE LORRAINE are perfectly char-
acteristic of him, and worthy of his hand.
CLAUDE MELLAN, born in 1601, is remarkable for a quaint pe-
culiarity of style. He generally used a single line only, not cross-
ing it ; and a fantastical 1 , but able print, by him, is the " Sudarium,"
of large size, performed with one single continuous line, beginning in
the centre of the tip of the nose, and circling thence, in a spiral, to
the extremities of the plate, the shadows being produced by the
occasional thickening of the one same line.
JEAN MORIN, born about 1612, adopted a peculiar manner, mix-
ing lines and dots, which he endeavored to harmonize with each
other.
BORGONONI, the battle painter, produced a few etchings of like
subjects, very free and spirited, and at the same time broad and
masterly.
FRANCIS POILLY, born in 1622, the head of a family of engravers
of that name, executed many fine prints, and was, perhaps, the
142 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
best handler of the graver that had appeared in France up to that
period. His plates are numerous, and after various masters, in-
cluding Raffaelle and Guido.
The French school, however, produced very little above medioc-
rity until the appearance of ROBERT NANTEUIL, born in 1630.
His finest works are his portraits, some of which are the size of
life, or nearly so. Two or three specimens, or even more, of this
very eminent and admirable engraver may well be afforded ; and
these should be selected from works executed at distant periods of
his career, because this artist affords, and which is not common, a
good example of a persevering progress toward improvement, and
of the adoption of various experiments in the pursuit of it.
Contemporary with Nanteuil arose the family of the Audrans,
of whom GERARD AUDRAN is the chief. He it was who first showed
to the world what could be effected by the united powers of etch-
ing, mingled with the burin, in the production of grand historical
subjects, in a style broad, original, comprehensive. His prints are
numerous ; and the only difficulty may be to select specimens
which shall sufficiently exhibit his full power, and yet lie within
the dimensions of a moderate-sized portfolio.
Without dwelling on the PlCARTS, laborious and entertaining
artists, or on PlTAU, a pupil of Poilly, we pass on to anothej en-
graver, of consummate excellence, GERARD EDELIXCK. Although
he had the example before him of the admirable effect produced
by Audran's method of working, he, nevertheless, chose to confine
himself to the burin alone, without the admixture of etching. So
free were these great contemporaries from jealousy of one another
that one of Edelinck's finest prints, "Alexander in the Tent of
Darius," was engraved in consequence of Audran's recommending
him to Le Brun, the painter, as the engraver best competent to
the work.
Nothing can exceed the freedom and delicacy with which
Edelinck handled his favored tool. Some connoisseurs fancy that
THE PRINT COLLECTOR. 143
a little mixture of etching would have given more force, so that
delicacy and softness would have been less predominant qualities ;
and some also affect to see, in several of Edelinck's prints, a ten-
dency to the quality which, in modern French engravers, has been,
and with sufficient meaning, termed metallic.
ANTHONY MASSON, of the same period, having been brought up
to the engraving of ornamented gun-barrels, had acquired, by the
habit of working in this harder metal, such command of the graver
that, when he turned to copper, he playqd with his tool as with a
pencil. This enabled him to produce works that astonished the
world, but led him, at the same time, to exuberate, capriciously,
in eccentricities and vagaries, as if to show, in triumph, what he
could do. Apart from these conjuring tricks, however, he is a most
beautiful artist. He expresses the texture of substances with won-
derful truth, not only in the subordinate adjuncts of ermines, lace,
etc., but also in the hair, flesh, the eye, etc.
The two BREVETS, father and son, especially the latter, carried
to perhaps still higher perfection this accurate rendering of the
texture of inanimate substances, luxuriating in furs, lawn, velvet,
lace, and also bronze, carved wood, books, etc., to a degree ex-
citing, indeed, much admiration, but at the same time tending to
draw down on their school the censure of frippery and flutter. The
portraits of " Bossuet " and of " Bernard," the finest of Brevet's
works, fully exhibit these characteristics.
Following in the same line, of what some consider minute over-
laboring, came JOHN GEORGE WlLLE, a German by birth, an en-
graver of great popularity ; and if clearness and beauty of mechani-
cal work be high excellence, and which they certainly are, Wille
well deserves all his reputation ; but he does not stand in so high
esteem with those connoisseurs who require more important and
intellectual qualities. The Death of Cleopatra is a fine subject for
a painter of feeling and intellect. Wille engraved that subject, but
it was after a picture by Netscher, a minute painter, of kindred
144 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
taste to himself ; and when the superlative excellence of this justly-
admired specimen of Wille's abilities is pointed out by his admirers,
they ever direct our attention to the inimitable white satin dress of
Cleopatra.
THE ENGLISH SCHOOL.
There remains only the school of our own country. The earliest
copper-plate engraver who, with certainty, belongs to us, is THOMAS
GEMINUS. He executed, in 1545, the frontispiece to " Vesalius's
Anatomy," an outline design of ornamental work.
REMIGIUS HOGENBERG ranks in this school, though bearing a
foreign name, his principal print being the portrait of " Archbishop
Parker."
The family of PASSE introduced a more neat and elaborate style
than had before been practised in England. Their portraits are
generally drawn from the life, and have all the appearance of
being so.
WENCESLAUS HOLLAR, born in 1667, is another artist of foreign
name, but it is only by birth that he belongs to the Germans : in
all other respects he is English. He is exceedingly voluminous,
and exceedingly various ; portraits, subjects, landscapes, buildings,
figures, costumes, animals, insects, muffs, furs, etc.
About twenty years later appeared WILLIAM FAITHORNE, whose
portraits are greatly esteemed ; he is one of the most eminent en-
gravers of the English school. We may mention, also, DAVID
LOGGAN and ROBERT WHITE.
SIR NICOLAS DORIGNY, a Frenchman by birth, but claimed by
the English school (and our poverty, at this period, makes us glad
to claim him), is best known to us by his engravings of the " Car-
toons," and the " Transfiguration," of Raffaelle. He came over to
England for the express purpose of executing the Cartoons, and at
an advanced period of life.
THE PRINT COLLECTOR. 145
VERTUE, born in 1684, is but little above a number of engravers
whom we do not think worthy of mention.
He, of whom England may well be proud, is the very original
WILLIAM HOGARTH, who is too well known to need any detailed
notice. It is as a painter, or, rather, as a designer and composer,
that he is excellent ; but as several of the plates from his pictures
were engraved by himself, our art justly derives credit from
him.
SIR ROBERT STRANGE, born in 1721, and WILLIAM WOOLLETT,
born in 1735, are perhaps the finest engravers, the one of subjects
and the other of landscapes, that the English school has ever pro-
duced ; and, in some of their qualities, they equal, indeed, any
artist of any school.
BARTOLOZZI is well known by the great multitude of his prints,
executed in a very pleasing style ; and his larger works, such as the
" Clytie," show that he had great ability. Perhaps no artist has
rendered the fleshiness of the naked figure better than Strange or
Bartolozzi.
The chief mezzotinto engravers of whom we boast, and in
which line of art, as has already been observed, the English school
stands pre-eminent, are M'ARDEL and EARLOM.
We should like to add to our list of English engravers WILLIAM
SHARP ; but we are already descending to names which are per-
haps rather too modern. We will close with an anecdote.
William Sharp, when at Rome, visited Raphael Morghen, then
of great age. The venerable Italian, after exhibiting to our coun-
tryman his choice, reserved proofs of his numerous fine engravings,
at last exclaimed, " And now, Mr. Sharp, I will show you a print
which is equal to any thing I ever did in my life ;" and so saying,
he drew from his portfolio Sharp's own engraving of the " Doctors
of the Church, after Guido." The Englishman was, of course,
highly flattered and delighted with this compliment ; and when,
on his return, he related the story, he added, with a vanity not al-
146 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
together inexcusable, " And, indeed, the old man was not far from
right."
We have now finished what we would suggest to the young col-
lector as a catalogue within which, at first, to confine himself ;
and having divided it into schools, he has the opportunity of still
further limiting himself, if he please, to one or other of these, to
the exclusion of the rest. It would be vain to affect to tell him
what his outlay would be in the attainment of a little collection,
such as here contemplated, because we have not confined him to
any number of specimens. He may be inclined to extend his sam-
ples of some artist, who may greatly attract his taste, to the number
of ten, twenty, or more ; and the question of greater or less amount
of expenditure will much depend on who these more favored
artists may happen to be. This, however, he may venture to as-
sume, that a very respectable collection of prints, by the artists
whom we have catalogued, embracing one, two, or three samples of
each, sufficient to show their varieties of style and modes of work-
ing, may be obtained for a less sum than that at which Mr. Christie
shall, now and then, knock down some one little choice picture of
two feet square.
Adhering to the systematic mode of collecting that has been
recommended, there is little apprehension that the young collector
will by injudicious purchases, by amassing things that, as he
grows wiser, he repents having got, or by other accidents incident
to proceeding in the dark become disgusted with the occupation.
On the contrary, he will ever be able, as he progresses, to look back
with satisfaction on his acquisitions, and feel a continually growing
love of his pursuit, and a continually increasing attachment to its
objects. He will, by degrees, discover what artists best suit his
fancy ; he will perhaps find some so attractive that he will not
be able to resist the extending his collection of their works be-
yond the few samples he contemplated at his setting out, and there
THE PRINT COLLECTOR. 147
may prove to be some whose complete works he will endeavor to
compass.
During his progress, also, in working upon the catalogue nere
placed before him, he will be continually meeting with prints by
artists who have not been named, and, as to several of whom, he
will begin to doubt why they should not have been included in the
list of recommendation. We would not attempt to put close re-
straint on this excursive disposition, but only suggest that it should
not be indulged, until practice, under tutorage, shall have conferred
sufficient experience and judgment to justify the discarding of the
leading strings.
A collector should never be impatient ; he should make his pur-
suit an occupation rather than a longing ; he should be content to
wait opportunity ; and he must have courage to seize opportunity
when offered. This last observation, however, need not be under-
stood as applying to a beginner, but to the experienced only : it
refers to things with which he would not meddle in his early days.
It is time enough, when a collection has acquired a respectable
bulk, to look out for a few very choice and rare specimens.
Prints there are, but not often seen, that, of themselves singly,
give a value to a collection, and lift it above the average. Some
three or four of such are ever desirable to crown a collection, and
give importance to it ; but these are not to be had at a call. One
or other may appear in the market in the course of a twelvemonth,
some not for many years ; they never lack a ready customer. It
may be a favor, if such are for private sale, to be allowed the re-
fusal ; and printsellers always give such refusal to their best cus-
tomers, and occasionally give offence to others' by obliging one.
It is superfluous to observe that the price which these bear is
such as to narrow competition for them. We could name, from our
own cabinet, some half dozen of prints of this high class which
would alone purchase the whole of such a collection as we are
advising our beginner to be, during his pupilage, content with ;
148 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
but these were not added to our portfolio till late in the day till
the collection became, in fact, worthy of them. That collection,
though by no means extensive, has been years in forming, years
more in improving, and is looking upward for further improve-
ment, as time goes on and opportunities arise : and these years
have all been years of enjoyment, without, on the one hand, any
painful craving, and without, on the other hand, any sensation,
at any time, of satiety ; and the total outlay, spread over so long
and pleasurable a period, has not been more than what any person,
in tolerably easy circumstances, may well be justified in laying out,
on so rational a pursuit, without any feeling of self-reproach or
repentance.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE OLD AND NEW SYSTEMS.
THE observation which closed the last chapter suggests the ques-
tion, how far the outlay submitted to, in judiciously forming a col-
lection of ancient prints, must be considered as money sunk, or to
what extent it may be regarded in the nature of investment only,
capable of being again realized, if circumstances should require it.
The difference, with respect to price, between buying and
selling, by persons not being dealers, is proverbial ; and there is no
reason to flatter ourselves that an experiment, tried on a miscella-
neous collection of ordinary prints, would produce any exception
to the truth of this adage. But it has been shown how greatly
prints of a high class have increased in value. The rise has been
such, indeed, as to justify an expectation that a collection, having
a tolerable proportion of such specimens, might, by the advance in
these, be compensated for the loss which must be necessarily sus-
tained on the mass. But the proprietor must not indulge so mer-
cantile a spirit, or be so close an economist, as to expect interest
for his money. He must consider that he has been all along re-
15 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
ceiving interest, in the shape of pleasure afforded to him, by tlie
enjoyment of his possessions.
The question which, under these circumstances, the incipient
collector will be desirous to have answered is, whether there be a
reasonable ground to expect that ancient prints will continue to
rise in value, or even maintain their present prices ; or whether
there be not ground to apprehend that they may be so excelled by
modern improvement in art as to cease, by degrees, to be held in
estimation.
There is no question that if any given number of persons, not
being artists or connoisseurs, and who have never been accustomed
to ancient art, but to whom the shops, or, rather, splendid galleries,
of our modern print publishers are familiar, were invited to look
through a folio of prints, even of the finest class, executed during
the first two centuries after the invention of the art, they would,
nine out of ten at least, entertain a very mean opinion of them,
compared with the magnificent framed and glazed glories to which
their admiration had previously been directed. It must further be
admitted that it follows, from thence, that if the finest ancient
print existing were, at this day, first published, it would find but
few purchasers.
Notwithstanding this, we are fully inclined to believe that these
ancient works will not only maintain their credit, but continue to
rise, as they have done, more and more in value.
This expectation is grounded on several considerations. First,
their intrinsic excellence, which is visible enough to men of taste
and judgment, though it may not be so to the multitude, but
which will, naturally, be more and more generally appreciated as
taste and judgment improve. Secondly, their scarcity, from which
it follows that a very few buyers are sufficient to keep up the price
of them, and which scarcity must increase more and more, from
several causes, such as the casualties to which such things are
THE PRINT COLLECTOR. 151
liable, their wider dissemination, and the occasional withdrawal of
them into permanent depositories.
This last cause of scarcity threatens to operate very powerfully.
National collections are now forming by governments who never,
till lately, turned their attention to the subject ; and, again, in
those States which have of old had depositories, great activity and
interest have, of late years, succeeded a long course of apathy and
indifference. The national collection of Berlin, now rising into no-
toriety, more from the energy displaying in the formation of it
than from the number or importance of its acquirements in its yet
infant state, had no existence seven years ago. Our own govern-
ment has, for some time past, exercised a much greater liberality
than heretofore, as is witnessed by the purchases, not long since
made, from the Sheepshanks and Harding collections, to say noth-
ing of an unequalled entire set of Raffaelle Morghen's engravings.
A similar observation is applicable, in a greater or less degree, to
the royal or national collections of Paris, Vienna, Amsterdam,
Dresden, Munich.
It appears by the " Notice des Estampes exposes a la Biblio-
theque Royale," and which is professed to comprise such of the
prints of that collection as are " les plus curieuses par leur an-
ciennet6, leur raret6, ou leur beaut6," that, of the first one hundred
articles of that catalogue, and which include the whole of the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, one third part has been acquired
since the year 1800 ; yet we know that the collection was founded
as early as 1667. It is natural to expect that other countries will
follow in this train, and that the example may extend to States
across the Atlantic.
The third and last circumstance to be noticed as conspiring to
uphold in estimation prints executed during the early periods is a
certain security, which they seem to enjoy, against any rivalship in
those qualities in which their excellence mainly consists. This last
remark calls for some explanation.
152 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
In points which are subordinate, the art of engraving has, in its
progress, made great advances. Until the days of Masson and the
Brevets, the texture of substances was never rendered with the re-
dundant refinement which public taste has, since that period, ad-
mired. Sir Robert Strange expressed flesh better, perhaps, than
any engraver who preceded him ; similar credit is due to Bartolozzi ;
and Woollett may be cited for kindred excellencies. But it is to
the higher qualities that we mean our observation to apply drawing,
simplicity of means, intellectual effect.
Let it not be supposed that we entertain an unworthy opinion
of modern ability ; on the contrary, we are willing to believe that
there may be engravers, of our own time, and in our own country,
who are capable, or at least might make themselves capable, of exe-
cuting works equal to any that ancient art can show. We are not
inclined to engage in the invidious task of drawing comparisons
between the ancients and the moderns ; we are merely desirous to
notice, so far as illustration of our subject requires, some of the
characteristic peculiarities of each, and to contrast the system and
circumstances under which the works of the old school were pro-
duced, with the circumstances and system that exist and prevail
now.
To prevent being misunderstood, we beg to premise that when,
on the present occasion, we contrast the ancient school and modern
system, we do not mean to be governed by any such defined line,
as we have, in a former page, proposed to draw, as 'separating the
ancients from the moderns, for the purpose of classing a collection.
We mean the description, which we shall presently give, of the
ancient practice, to be considered as applying, not to all artists, of
all countries, who happened to live before a certain aera, but only
to the best artists, of the best periods of art to those artists, in
short, by whom were produced the works which give rise to our
discussion, the works which we consider to be secure from rivalry.
A still further distinction is necessary to be drawn with respect
THE PRINT COLLECTOR. 153
to the modern system. It must be borne in mind that we are not
taking upon ourselves to show that art has declined, either gen-
erally or in any particular qualities ; nor to account for any such
decline, if such there be. Our object has not reference to the
present state of art, but to its prospects only : to show whatever
the state of art may be at present ; and without stopping to inquire
whether it be a high state or low state, that the system now pre-
vailing is adverse to its improvement. It is not, therefore, the
history and causes of any declension that we are called to enter
upon, but simply to describe the system in operation at the present
day. The origin of that system may be incidentally referred to,
but not with any intent of inferring that, up to the time of that
origin, art was everywhere improving ; and that, from that period,
art has been everywhere declining. There is no such turn to be ob-
served. Various causes for fluctuations in art, some for good, some
for bad, some in one country, some in another, some at one time,
some at another time, have been occasionally operating. Some,
indeed, of the same causes that appear as the effects of the system
complained of may have been in action previous to its rise, and
have been not altogether created by it, but only confirmed and
strengthened and made irremovable.
Again : the modern system, which we are about to describe, is
that which we see under our own eyes, in our own country ; but the
ancient practice, with which we purpose to contrast it, was the sys-
tem of other countries chiefly, and the period when it was most
perfect, or most general, was antecedent to the existence of an Eng-
lish school at all, or of any importance. We understand, however,
and the conclusions which we draw proceed upon the assumption,
that the modern system is not local, merely confined to England,
but has become universal.
We have thought it necessary to make these preparatory obser-
vations, for we foresee that, without such explanation, there is risk
of misconception. Suffice it, then, as a general declaration of our
154 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
purport, that we merely mean to describe a system, no matter when
or where existing, by which works of a certain description were
produced ; and to describe another system by which, as we con-
ceive, similar works cannot be produced.
We now return to our subject.
A professional lecturer on his own art, engraving, with a feeling
of deep indignation observes that up to the period when the great
mercantile patron, Alderman Boydell, unable to support his own
reputation as an engraver, turned to dealing in the publications of
others, engravers had been, themselves, their own publishers of
their own works, as Raphael Morghen, Bervic, and others, in Italy
and France, continued to be till a much later period, "each," says
Mr. John Landseer, " employing himself, for the most part, accord-
ing to the natural bent of his own genius, uncurbed, or but little
curbed, by mercantile restraints and ignorant dictations, and not
compelled to labor against time, who is always sure to prove victo-
rious."
Good intent ought not to be blamed for consequences which it
could not foresee. The Alderman has had the credit of having been
actuated by a purely laudable, and not a mercenary, motive ; his
great liberality to Woollett and others is sufficient protection to
his character in this respect. If his original motive had any baser
mixture, it was perhaps the vanity of patronage, rather than com-
mercial speculation. The latter, however, if not in his own time,
yet speedily after, became the ruling passion, and has continued to
be exclusively and undisguisedly so ever since.
The followers and improvers of the new line of trade which Boy-
dell chalked out hold, in great measure, in their hands the reputa-
tions and fortunes of the engravers. The latter can never enter
the presence-chamber without the patronage of these gentlemen-
ushers. These, nowadays, and not himself, influence the public
mind, and, unfortunately, their interest requires that they pander
THE PRINT COLLECTOR. 155
to the prevailing taste, rather than attempt to correct it, or create
a better.
It has become perfectly hopeless for an engraver to attempt to
be his own publisher. We believe that this has been tried, not
only by a single individual, but also by several engravers, asso-
ciated together ; but it is understood that these experiments, even
though assisted, in the latter case, by amateur liberality, and
submitting to a sacrifice, for the sake of offering a handsome
premium to printsellers, were not found to answer. An article
offered to the public must be forced into public notice ; and this can
only be done through the medium of the class whose trade this is.
The print publishers cannot only force into notice whatever may
best answer their purpose, independent, in great measure, of in-
trinsic merit, but they have also, unitedly, a power to repress
which no merit can stand up against. They are also the best judges
of v:hat subjects will be popular, and they command all the capital
embarked in print speculations.
Hence it arises that, of many of the most important prints,
they are the originators. In these cases they either purchase, or
obtain permission to have engraved, a picture already painted, or
they employ a painter to paint a picture for the express purpose of
being engraved. In the latter case, they dictate the subject ; per-
haps, also, the mode of treating it, both being in entire subser-
viency to what they know to be most likely to attract subscriptions ;
such, for instance, are several prints that have appeared in the
present reign, involving, but with a very obvious policy, what Allan
Cunningham has called all the difficulties of portraiture and pre-
cedence.. The public are not indisposed to pay handsomely, pro-
vided they have, for their money, a fine, showy thing, of elaborate
execution. The most popular prints, therefore, which have been
published of late years are of exceedingly large size, but are, never-
theless, wholly filled with work, great part of which is of the most
minute and labored description. The publisher is, naturally, im-
156 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
patient to begin to realize ; the engraver must, therefore, work
against time.
The requisites for producing .a plate of this sort, and in the style
now in use, are manual dexterity and immense labor, rather than
talent ; for talent is shown, not in multiplying and complicating
the means, but in simplifying them, and in producing the greatest
effect in the easiest and most intelligible manner, and with least
apparent effort. Labor, therefore, of the description which is em-
ployed in the works in question admits of being subdivided in the
same manner as is practised in all other manufactories. The print
is, in truth, not a work of individual art, but a manufacture.
It is well understood that the engraver, when set his task, and
his day, is at liberty to employ what aids he pleases ; he may do as
little with his own hand as is indispensable to his reputation,
measured by the modern standard of reputation. It is not incon-
sistent with this that he should, and it is anticipated that he will,
delegate to inferior agents every part of the plate that can, with any
degree of safety, be entrusted to subordinate auxiliaries. Engineers
come to his assistance, for machines have been invented for per-
forming portions of his work, substituting for the freedom of the
skilful hand of man the hard rigidity of a finger of iron. The
drawing, from the original painting, he may make himself, or he
may have it made by another ; have it made by a good draughts-
man, or by one who can scarce draw at all. The time and trouble
and talent necessary for making an artist-like copy may be dis-
pensed with. The drawing is invariably effected by reducing the
original, and the paper on which the copy is to be made, into cor-
responding squares, a method which has, for ages, indeed, been -
practised by artists of all ranks ; nor is it objectionable, when
limited to the extent to which it was formerly restricted : it was
used for no further purpose than to get things into their places, to
serve, therefore, as a preparative for the drawing. But there is
temptation, and which is too often yielded to, to make it a substi-
THE PRINT COLLECTOR. i57
tute for it ; and if this be found sufficient to answer the purpose,
why need an engraver study drawing ? Provided the person under-
taking the engraving do but produce the finished plate by the time
advertised, and be godfather to the manufacture, and, above all,
provided he take care that the engraving be strong enough to yield
plenty of impressions, the object is answered, and his employer sat-
isfied.
Under such a system as this an engraver, with real love for his
art, and well educated in it, and with ambition to excel in it, cannot
but feel that he is placed in a degrading position. He cannot but
feel that he is, at best, but a foreman, working under a master, to
whose control his own superior judgment and taste are compelled
to submit, as is exemplified in the anecdote already related of
Muller and Rittner ; that he is the foreman over subordinates, of
whom he has often cause to be ashamed. It is related in a book,
lately printed, but privately only, and not published, that Barto-
lozzi, having engaged to engrave Copley's picture of the " Death
of the Earl of Chatham," for which he was to receive ^2000, ex-
pended a sum of nearly that amount in assistance, and which
proved, for the most part, worse than none.
The first process toward engraving a plate, according to the
most usual practice at present, is to etch the subject. A number
of impressions are taken from the etching ; but these are generally
for distribution to the trade as specimens rather than with a view
to sale. The engraving is then proceeded with, and. when finished,
all but the inscription at foot, a number of impressions are taken
off, which are called proofs before letters. The inscription is then
added, in faint, open letters,' and a further number of impressions
are printed. After this, the letters are strengthened and filled in,
and the remaining impressions are then taken. Whatever the price
of the print from the fully-finished plate may be, the first proofs are
frequently charged at treble, and the open-letter proofs at double
that sum.
1 5 8 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
The number of proofs thus taken is generally extended to a de-
gree that makes that term perfectly farcical. It is recorded, in the
work just quoted, that five hundred proofs were printed from Raim-
bach's plate of Wilkie's " Blind Man's Buff." But this was in the
infancy of the system ; and this number of proofs now would be
considered a very moderate quantity to send out of a readily sala-
ble publication.
It is said, that from one series of plates for a periodical work,
which it is not necessary to name, five hundred impressions were
on one occasion taken off, in haste, to seize an opportunity of
supplying the American market ; and that after these had been
despatched to cross the Atlantic, and not before, the operation
began of printing the first proofs for home customers. These
plates, however, were of steel ; and it may be said, therefore, that
the circumstance here related was of no importance, since a steel
plate will render a prodigious number of impressions, without any
sensible difference between the first and the last. But if this be
so, why, in such cases, continue the distinction between proofs and
prints at all ?
Copper plates, by the practice which has been noticed, become
frequently worn down before plain prints, which succeed proofs,
begin to be taken off. Yet these are the impressions with which
lovers and patrons of art whose means are moderate are compelled
to be content, and by which they are left to estimate the reputa-
tion of the engraver. As soon as the plate becomes much worn, it is
retouched and repaired, and is again worked from, and then again
worked upon and worked from, so long as any call for impressions
continues or can be excited. It is asserted, but, we will hope,
not truly, that in the course of these retouchings the lettering is
sometimes burnished out, and that fresh proofs, or rather false
proofs, then again begin to be taken ; or that such proofs, so to
call them, for want of an appropriate name, are produced by the
printer artfully avoiding to print the letters in taking off the im-
THE PRINT COLLECTOR. 159
pressions. Hence, a modern engraver must be content to be much
less sensitive of his reputation than were the ancients.
It is recorded of Lucas van Leyden, that so jealous was he of
his just fame, that, in working off impressions from his plates, he
at once destroyed such as did not fully satisfy his own idea of
perfection. The poor impressions that are met with were no
doubt taken after, and probably long after, his death ; and this
observation will apply to many, perhaps to all, of the very early
engravers, several of whose plates are even still in existence.
Let us now, by way of contrast to the practice which has been
detailed, take a summary view of the very different system by
which prints were produced during the earlier aeras of the art.
The ancient artist, in a great majority of instances, was at
once painter, engraver, printer, publisher. Generally speaking, he
selected his own subject ; he embodied his first thought in color
or in chalk, on canvas or on paper, as he thought fit. He himself,
with his own hand, transferred it to the copper ; sometimes, in-
deed, he originated it on the plate at once. He himself perfected
it there, infusing, at every touch, the single individual soul of the
first conception, unmixed, undivided, in all its complete unity.
If the engraver was not himself a painter, but a translator only
of the original design of another, he considered it necessary, in
order to duly exercise this secondary profession, to acquire, as a
groundwork, the most important qualities that go to form a paint-
er. Especially, he thought it indispensable to make himself
perfectly proficient in drawing. Further, he was impressed with
the great importance of forming an intimate acquaintance with
the mind of his original ; and in order to this, he preferred to
confine his tasks of translation to as few original authors as might
be, even, if possible, to one. He so studied his original as to
imbibe a kindred spirit, to engender a communion of soul and
feeling, such as subsisted between Marc Antonio and Raffaelle,
Bolswert and Rubens. The painter himself anxiously superin-
160 THE PKINT COLLECTOR.
tended the translation, as it progressed, and lent occasionally a
touch from his own hand to perfect the identity.
So entirely, indeed, did the old engravers incorporate them-
selves with their original, so perfectly did they assimilate their
spirit to his, and so conscious were they of having acquired a
thorough identity of feeling with him, that they ventured, now and
then, to act as if this identity were real ; and they made alterations
and improvements, such as they felt their original would have done
had he been himself engraving his work.
As one instance of this, to confine ourselves to one, we may
mention the engraving by Agostino Caracci, which is a chef*-
d'ceuvre of that great master's efforts in this line, of " The Ecstasy
of St. Francis," after Francis Vanni. In this print Agostino has
greatly improved the design of his original. The superior artist
possessed himself of the whole idea of the painter ; felt what was
intended to be expressed, but which appeared inadequately carried
out ; continued and extended the intention, and perfected what
the painter had conceived, but wanted talent to express ; " de
sorte," says Bartsch, " que cet ouvrage a tout le merite d'un
original."
The desire that the plate should be the labor of his own hand,
led the ancient engraver to study how to produce great effect by
small means ; to know how much it was needful to express, and
how much might be left, and would be better left, to the imagina-
tion to fill up. His judgment did not suggest, nor did the taste of
his age require, that his whole paper should be covered with micro-
scopic working ; he compensated for this by his consummate knowl-
edge and skill, by masterly touches and management ; and he con-
trived to make large spaces of white paper, left untouched by the
engraver, more conducive to general effect than if he had loaded
them with tooling. He knew that minuteness of detail often
diminishes effect, and he felt the truth that had been proclaimed,
applicable to such a subject, twenty centuries before, by the old
THE PRINT COLLECTOR. 161
Greek poet Hesiod, that the half is better than the whole, and,
nocere saepe nimiam diligentiam.
This is so fully understood by intelligent connoisseurs, that
when a universal redundancy of labor, such as present taste seems
to require, does appear, as is sometimes, but rarely, the case, and
chiefly in the German masters, they consider it not a subject of
praise, but are rather prone to make for it a sort of apology, with
an implied admission that its tendency is prejudicial. " La per-
fection," says M. Duchesne, speaking of a print by Albert Du'rer,
" avec laquelle sont rendus les details, ne nuit en rien a 1'effet
g6neral."
Having finished his plate, the ancient artist did not content-
edly dismiss it from his care ; he himself (we speak in the general,
because known special instances seem to warrant it) selected the
paper for receiving the impression, choosing a texture and tint best
harmonizing with his work ; he himself condescended to ink the
plate, exercising, even in this almost menial department, a science
and a judgment equal to any exhibited in the prior stages. In
many of the finest etchings, the important advantage arising from
this practice alone is specifically apparent, independent of the
other excellences. He himself arranged and regulated the press,
in his own house, with his own hands ; and, lastly, he himself, in
due maturity of time, published his work to the world. Thus,
invented and carried to its perfection by one mind and one hand,
the print exhibited the effect of one continuously-sustained feeling
and intelligence, and sparkled forth all intellect, life, and spirit.
The evil of the system which has grown up instead of this, is
very generally felt and admitted ; but every one seems content to
believe that it could not have been prevented, and that it is with-
out hope of remedy. The print-publishers assure us that they are
compelled to resort to and encourage the expedients that are so
much to be regretted, by reason of the great cost of getting up a
plate. According to the statements made, the expense is increased
1 62 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
far beyond the proportion to be expected from mere change of
times.
To go no further back than the time of Woollett, who died in
1785, that eminent artist's price for engraving his " Niobe" was
fifty guineas, though his liberal and enterprising patron paid him a
hundred. That print was published at five shillings. " Proof
prints," the biographer of Alderman Boydell observes, " were not
at that time considered as having any particular value ; the few that
were taken off, to examine the progress of the plate, were delivered
to such subscribers as chose to have them at the same price as the
other impressions."
To engrave a plate of the size of the Niobe, and of similar
subject, in the style of the present day, would now cost upwards
of a thousand pounds, at the least, and the prints would be
charged at about a guinea and a half. On comparing the two
prints together, there would certainly be found in the modern
production, although that print would not be one third so effective
as the other, three times the amount of work that appears in the
Woollett. It is proper to remember, also, that the price of all the
commodities of life is increased since the time of which we are
speaking by about one third ; but these two causes, taken to-
gether, are by no means sufficient to account for the great in-
crease of expense. Unitedly, they account for an increase of not
fourfold, but the increase which is to be accounted for is twenty-
fold.
We know not where to seek for the additional causes, unless
among circumstances partly of a general and partly of a special
nature ; all so obvious as not to need remark, but a slight sugges-
tion merely. Such are, the difference in the habits of living ; the
expense necessary to support this ; the preference now given to
reputation for wealth overall other reputation ; the disposition of the
public always to patronize a favorite, and to refuse to be content with
any one else ; the necessity of engaging the favorite artist, and having
THE PRINT COLLECTOR. 163
all works executed under his name ; the consequent inadmissibility of
any competition ; the natural disposition in the favorite to take the
full advantage of this his fortune ; the power given to him to set
his own value upon himself ; the consequent temptation to exor-
bitancy ; the helplessness necessitating submission to it ; the in-
clination of artists generally to assume this rate of pay as the
general rate of price ; the pride that will rather starve than under-
value itself ; the grudging of the profits of the middlemen ; the
determination to share in them.
The reader will have observed, that the increase of price at
which the print is charged to the public bears very inadequate
proportion to the increase of price paid to the engraver ; the latter
being, as before mentioned, above twentyfold, and the former
little more than six. This disproportion is accounted for by the
very great increase in the number of buyers. Had customers so
multiplied upon an artist of the old time, he, in his innocence,
would have been puzzled how to meet the demand, and would
probably, in the dull simplicity of his mind, have thought of no
better expedient than to engrave a second plate. But the inge-
nuity of modern times has, as has been shown, quite surmounted
the apparent impossibility of meeting a demand beyond the means
of supply ; and by the invention adopted, and the contented
acquiescence of the unknowing public, the publishers can afford to
sell a print vastly cheaper, compared with the cost of producing
it, than the older speculators were enabled to do.
But there is one item of expense, of which the print-publishers
make great complaint. It frequently happens that the speculation
of engraving and publishing a print originates in the popularity
acquired by a picture on its exhibition at the Royal Academy or
elsewhere ; but here the print-publisher is met by an interdiction
that has become subject of much remonstrance and dispute. The
painter considers, even though he may have sold his picture, that
he has a copyright in his work, and that, in the event of any
1 64 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
scheme of multiplying it by engraving, though with the permission
of the proprietor, he is entitled to demand, as the price of his
license to do this, any sum that he may please to require.
It might be expected, that, if reputation were of more con-
sideration than gain, a painter would think it an advantage to have
his fame extended by the labors of the sister art. This was
doubtless the case in old times. The painter will probably insist
that it is so still ; but he, in his justification, desires that it may be
remembered that the object of the application to him for his
license is not the extension of his fame, nor the love of art, nor a
disinterested anxiety for its advancement, but merely and exclu-
sively the making of money. He pretends to know that very large
sums are realized by this class of persons, who neither bear nor are
competent to bear any share whatever in the labors of the art
which produces the article which they sell, but are merely the
hand through which the result of the labors of others is ushered
to the public.
The print-publishers, on the other hand, assure us that it is the
enhancement of expense occasioned by this claim, that mainly
contributes to drive them to every expedient to economize and
compensate. They admit, or, at least, cannot deny, that the
modern system, the main characteristics of which have now been
noticed, is derogatory and prejudicial to art, and has a tendency to
debase rather than to encourage it. But they profess that the
adoption of this system is forced upon them by the great drain on
their capital ; by the very great sum which they are obliged to pay
for this license, or for a picture ; the great sum they are obliged to
pay the engraver ; the advances of money which they are called
upon to make as the work proceeds ; the great length of time that
elapses before any return begins to be received ; the long credit
required by the retailer ; the heavy cost of forcing the publication
upon public notice ; and they might add, if they pleased, the very
large profit that, somehow or other, they are enabled and content
THE PRINT COLLECTOR. 165
to allow to the printsellers, to induce them to subscribe for impres-
sions, and which, by the customary rule of the trade, is upwards of
thirty-three per cent, and sometimes, in special cases, rises to-
wards fifty, or one half the price at which the print or proof is
sold. The great grievance of the charge for license is more
bitterly complained of from the known fact, that the circumstance
of having been engraved gives additional value to a picture. When
print-publishers, therefore, purchase a picture, with the right of
engraving it, or when they order a picture to be painted for this
purpose, they get great part, or perhaps all, of their money back
again, or possibly even more ; while, on the other hand, the
money which they may be obliged to pay for a license, merely to
engrave, is entirely sunk. It is asserted that the accumulated
expenses which have been enumerated, can never be compensated
except by a proportionate extensiveness of sale ; and hence it is
that it has become necessary to devise the expedient of the dis-
tinction and variety of proofs ; hence the great multiplication of
them, and the working down the plate to extremity. Hence, also,
we are told, and this is a circumstance of still more importance,
that the print-publishers are compelled to restrict themselves to the
employment of the lower branches of the art of engraving, and are
precluded from encouraging the higher ; hence, therefore, it arises
that the largest and most important, or, indeed, nearly all the
publications of the present day, are produced by a combination of
mezzotinto, aquatinta, etching, scraping, stippling, and any means,
whether artist-like or not, so they be cheap and expeditious, of
producing a result ; hence it is, that the old, legitimate, and high-
est branch of the art, line-engraving, has, in our country at least,
been nearly abandoned, and is superseded by the heterogeneous,
nondescript manufacture, with which the public are content to be
satisfied, and, perhaps, not being better guided, prefer.
Projects have of late years been set on foot, professing to have
for their object the encouragement of the art, and of creating and
1 66 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
extending among the people a taste for its productions. Hon-
estly to effect such an object, there must be a union of qualities
which rarely meet together : disinterested purity of motive ;
talent to devise a mode of action ; means of execution ; and judg-
ment to direct those means. The development and result of the
projects which have as yet been tried, give ample evidence that
they have not been concocted under the happy auspices of any
such combination as this. The only effect on public taste has been
to further debase and mislead it, and the only arts that have been
encouraged are the arts of speculation and gambling. Non tali
auxilio ! If a return to purer and nobler principles be ever per-
mitted to take place, it must be by the influence of some better
spirit than that which now walks the earth. That which the old
philosophy stigmatized as the incentive to all evil, longer expe-
rience proves to be also the impediment to all good. ' This most
ennobling of all studies," says Sir David Wilkie, speaking of the
fine arts, " this most unsordid of all pursuits, must be followed by
a pure heart and a disinterested mind. If the glories of art are
not sought for their own sake, they had better not be sought at
all. If gain alone were its glory, it should be a forbidden study,
and prohibited, from the very prostitution of soul which in such
minds it occasions." It is to be wished that these sentiments were
more general than they are ; they are freely acknowledged, but
seldom allowed to become operative. To emancipate art from its
incongruous alliance with commercial speculation, will require more
disinterestedness, more enthusiasm, more singleness of purpose,
more self-denial, more independence, more lofty motive, than the
world can at present afford.
The circumstances that have now been detailed, and the obser-
vations that have been made, will sufficiently explain the grounds
upon which we form the expectation, that the prints of the ancient
masters are, and are likely to continue for an indefinite period of
THE PRINT COLLECTOR. 167
time, secure from rivalry in those high qualities of art in which
their excellence mainly consists.
Priscis, enim, temporibus, cum, adhuc, nuda placeret virtus,
vigebant artes ingenuae, summumque certamen inter homines erat,
ne quid profuturum saeculis diu lateret. Nolite mirari si artes
ingenuae defecerunt, cum, omnibus hominibus, formosior videatur
massa auri, quam quicquid Apelles, Phidiasve, Graeculi delirantes,
fecerunt.*
* Petronius.
CHAPTER IX.
OF BOOKS ON ENGRAVING.
HAVING now concluded the observations that appear necessary
for the initiation of the young collector into the first rudiments of
his pursuit, it remains to introduce him to the sources from whence
he may derive further information.
It was proposed to close this little volume with as complete a
list as might be, of all works that have at various times been
published, abroad or at home, upon the subjects of engraving or
prints, whether treating of those matters expressly and exclusively,
or incidentially only, as one branch of the fine arts in general ; but
it soon appeared that the execution of such a plan would extend
to a bulk vastly disproportionate to the work to which it was
intended as an appendage merely. We have, therefore, abandoned
this idea, and confined our catalogue as nearly as possible to such
works only as are devoted exclusively to prints, or the art which
produces them.
This curtailment has been submitted to with less reluctance,
because it makes room for a brief raisonne account of the works as
The wood-block printed at the head of this chapter is an original engraved by-
Anderson, who is called the father of American wood engraving. He worked in the
style of the English artist Bewick.
THE PRINT COLLECTOR. 169
they occur, which will be a more advantageous mode of proceeding
than the merely setting down a dry list of books without any
comment. Having regard to the purpose for which this catalogue
is compiled, we, indeed, consider it necessary to do this, for,
without some intimation of the character of the books introduced
to notice, with respect to their comparative utility, our young
collector may still be at a loss. He may, indeed, be often misled,
rather than instructed, for it frequently happens of books, in
whatever department of literature, that while some, with scanty
and unassuming titles, are found on examination to contain more
substantial and varied matter than could be expected from their
modest title-page, there are others whose title promises greatly
more than what the book is found to contain.
An instance of this occurred to a young collector of our acquaint-
ance, which well illustrates this remark, and shows the utility of
such observations as constitute the value of a catalogue raisonne,
as distinguished from a bare list. Our young friend entertained
the idea of forming a small collection, of such a description as
should show, in order of time, the progress of the art of engraving,
from its invention to the present time. In making search for
information to assist him in executing this plan, he accidentally
read, in a bookseller's catalogue, the following item : "A Cata-
logue of a Collection of Prints, formed with a view to elucidate and
improve the history of engraving, from the earliest period of the
art to the year 1700, etc. London, 1803." A note, subjoined to
the item, stated that " this catalogue was the work of Dr. Charles
Combe, an eminent connoisseur and antiquary." Here, then, was
the very thing that was desired. It was eagerly sent for. Pro-
portionate to the expectation was the disappointment. It proved
to be a mere sale catalogue, of the most bare and meagre descrip-
tion possible, each lot comprising a number of prints, none de-
scribed, and only one or two now and then even named. For exam-
ple : ' ' Lot 54. Rembrandt. Dutch. Five, Good Samaritan,"
1 70 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
etc. Every item was according to this sample, nothing beyond.
It is hoped that this long digression will be excused, for the evi-
dence which it gives of how little credit is to be attached to a
title-page.
The works that have been published within the last fifty years
have incorporated nearly all that was worth preserving in the
earlier authors. The old books are, nevertheless, interesting, as
exhibiting the state of art at the time of their publication, the
extent of the information then possessed, and the taste and tone of
thinking of the age. They are also, generally speaking, of low
price, and may serve as temporary substitutes for the more
extended and costly modern works.
It must be borne in mind that this reduction of our catalogue
from the original intention respecting it, has occasioned the omis-
sion of a vast quantity of valuable or interesting material. A tract
on our specific subject frequently appears in some voluminous
work treating of other matters.
Thus, to give a few instances: " HlSTOIRE DE LA GRAVURE
JUSQU'AUTEMPS D' ALBERT DURER," is found in the second vol-
ume of Von Murr's Journal of the Arts.
A tract, by Cronin Mortimer, appeared in the Philosophical
Transactions of 1731, entitled, " AN ACCOUNT OF MR. JAMES CHR.
LE BLON'S PRINCIPLES OF PRINTING IN IMITATION OF PAINTING."
In the Transactions of the " Society for Encouragement of
Arts," of the year 1776, Mr. Robert Lawrie proposed, "A NEW
METHOD OF PRINTING MEZZOTINTO PRINTS IN COLORS."
A tract, by Ch. Francois, " ON THE ART OF ENGRAVING IN IM-
ITATION OF CRAYON DRAWING," appears in the first part of the
" Philosophes Modernes de Saveneir, " a quarto book, printed
at Paris in 1767.
" IMPROVEMENT IN THE AQUATINTA PROCESS, BY WHICH PEN,
PENCIL AND CHALK DRAWINGS CAN BE IMITATED, BY J. HASSELL,"
is a tract printed in Nicholson's Journal, No. 30, p. 220, 1811.
THE PRINT COLLECTOR. 171
4 ' THE EARLIEST SPECIMENS OF MEZZOTINTO ENGRAVING, IN A
LETTER TO SlR HENRY ELLIS, K.H., E.R.S., etc., LONDON, 1838,
BY HUGH W. DIAMOND, E.S.A.," is printed in the twenty-seventh
volume of the Archaeologia. Mr. Diamond's valuable collection of
early mezzotintos is now in the British Museum. These instances
might be multiplied to a great extent.
Again, dissertations, essays, or incidental passages, containing
very valuable and interesting matter on engraving or prints, are to
be found dispersed among the writings of many eminent or well-
known authors, on other branches of the fine arts, under various
titles. Thus : writings of Baldinucci, Bottari, Sandrart, Felibien,
La Comte, Lacombe, Mariette, Petity, Heinecken, Lanzi, Knorr,
etc., and touching more or less on our subject, are found under
the titles of Racolte, Academic, Principes, Cabinets, Biblio-
theques, Histoires, Memoirs, Spectacles, etc. Much, also, respecting
prints or engraving is scattered about in the lives of painters, or
general biographies, by very many authors, such as Vasari,
D'Argenville, Descampes, Mariette, De Piles, Coxe, Chalmers,
Duppa, etc. Much, also, in lectures on painting, as in Reynolds,
Opie, Fuseli, etc. Some, also, in the analogous arts of typog-
raphy, and of xylography, as applied to some special purpose, as
in Herbert, Ames, Dibdin, Singer, Breitkoft, etc. Much, also,
in miscellaneous periodical and other compilations, as Mus6es,
Magazines, Annals, Journals, as that of Von Murr. A great mass,
again, may be found in Dictionaries, as Dictionnaire des Beaux
Arts ; and others, composed or contributed by various authors, as
L'Avocat, Pouget, Pernety, Fontenai, Diderot, Watelet, Zani, etc.
The subject of engraving is exceedingly well treated in many of
those very voluminous works, abounding in our own, as well as
other languages, under the title of Cyclopaedias. Several of these
give very elaborate accounts of the different schools, and of all the
artists of any note in each.
Much pains have been bestowed, by various amateurs and
172 THE PRIXT COLLECTOR.
others, at various times, in the attempt to compose perfect cata-
logues of all the works of certain individual engravers. The utility
of such catalogues to a collector is sufficiently obvious, and they
form an important portion of his library. To Florent le Comte,
who lived at the end of the seventeenth and beginning of the eight-
eenth centuries, has been generally given the credit of having
introduced the idea of composing these catalogues. This writer
was not, however, the first who began the practice, for a catalogue
of the works of Bonason was published by Malvasia in his
" Felsina Pittrici," in 1678. Mariette, who had the care of Prince
Eugene's collection at Vienna, catalogued every volume ; but
Heinecken observes that this was done when he was a young man,
and that he did not publish his catalogues.
Catalogues which have been made for the purpose of sale by
auction, are to be met with in booksellers' shops, and, not unfre-
quently, with the prices and the names of the purchasers added in
manuscript. In what manner, and to what extent, such catalogues
can be made of any practical avail, has been already intimated,
p. 55. The earliest sale catalogue which we happen to have seen
is that " des estampes et livres de figures de defunct M. Boucot,"
8vo, 1699. A catalogue of the whole collection of De Marolles,
Abbe de Villeloin, was published in 1666 ; and this was the first
publication of the kind in France. This collection consisted of
123,400 prints, of which 17,300 were portraits.
The most important catalogue, in point of utility, is, perhaps,
the " Catalogue raisonne des estampes du cabinet de M. le
Comte Rigal, par F. L. Regnault de la Lande, peintre et graveur, "
8vo ; Paris, 1817. Although this is a catalogue of a miscellaneous
collection, yet so nearly perfect was the assemblage of the produc-
tions of certain masters, that, in several instances, the enumeration
of the prints of some one engraver amounts to a tolerably complete
catalogue of his works. Being drawn up with much of the accuracy
and minuteness of Bartsch's Peintre Graveur, this catalogue serves,
THE PRINT COLLECTOR. 173
as far as it goes, as a sort of supplement to that work, supplying
engravers to whom that publication does not extend. Copies were
printed after the sale had taken place, and these contain a table of
the prices for which the several lots were sold. M. de la Lande
had great practice in the composition of catalogues, and he gives,
in this of Rigal, a list of two hundred and eighty-two others which
he had composed.
Although the modern art of lithography be certainly a method
of producing prints, it cannot be considered as having any analogy
to the art of engraving ; and we, therefore, do not notice in our
catalogue, the works that have been published upon it. ' The
complete course of Lithography," etc., by Alos Senefelder, trans-
lated into English, and published in quarto, London, 1819, gives
the general outline of its invention and practice. Still less need
we notice the more recent process of producing prints, or rather
plates, by voltaic electricity. A small pamphlet, by Thomas
Samson, published in 1842, entitled, " Electro-tint." etc., professes
to explain what has as yet been effected.
The earliest book which is met with, in the English language,
professing to treat of the art of engraving, is that which has been
already alluded to, in page 133. It is entitled, "A BOOK OF SE-
CRETS," etc., etc. ; " ALSO TO GRAVE WITH STRONG WATER ON
STEEL AND IRON, TRANSLATED OUT OF DUTCH, BY W. P. ADAM
ISLIP, 1599." It is a small quarto.
" TRAITE DES MANIERES DE GRAVER EN TAILLE DOUCE, PAR
ABRAHAM BOSSE, PARIS, 1645." 8vo.
Of this book, M. Cochin published an enlarged edition, in 1758,
under the title, " DE LA MANIERE DE GRAVER A L'EAU FORTE ET
AU BURIN, ET DE LA GRAVURE EN MANIERE NOIRE," etc., " PAR
ABRAHAM BOSSE, GRAVEUR DU ROI, NOUVELLE EDITION, AUG-
MENTEE DE L'lMPRESSION QUI UNITE LES TABLEAUX ET LA
GRAVURE, EN MANIERE DE CRAYON, ET DE CELLE QUI IMITE LES
LAVIS, ORNEE DE VIGNETTES ET DE PLANCHES EN TAILLE DOUCE.
PARIS, 1758." 8vo.
174 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
The first original English work on engraving was a duodecimo
volume, published in London, in 1662, by the eminent engraver,
William Faithorne, and of which a second edition appeared, in I2mo,
in 1702, entitled, "THE ART OF GRAVING AND ETCHING, WHEREIN IS
EXPRESSED THE TRUE WAY OF ENGRAVING ON COPPER : ALSO THE
MANNER AND METHOD OF THE FAMOUS CALLOT AND M. BOSSE, IN
THEIR SEVERAL WAYS OF ETCHING. PUBLISHED BY WILLIAM
FAITHORNE. THE SECOND EDITION, IN WHICH is ADDED THE
WAY OF PRINTING COPPER-PLATES, AND HOW TO MAKE THE PRESS.
LONDON, 1702." This little work consists of no more than seventy-
two pages, and is entirely practical.
" CABINET DES SINGULARITEZ D'ARCHITECTURE, PEINTURE,
SCULPTURE, ET GRAVURE, OU INTRODUCTION A LA CONNAISANCE
DES PLUS BEAUX ARTS, ETC., PAR FLORENT LE COMTE, SCULPTEUR
ET PEINTRE, ETC. 3 TOM. BRUSSELLES, 1702." I2mo.
Although this book be not confined exclusively to engraving,
we, nevertheless, notice it, by reason that in it appears the first
" idea of a fine collection of prints." The classification in this is
by character of subject, as historical, moral, etc. This book gives
catalogues of the works of several engravers, as also painters ; the
Sadelers, Peter Testa, Nanteuil, Vandyke, the Caracci, also Rubens,
Le Brun, Raffaelle, Vander Meulen, and the portraits in the Palais
Royal.
" NOUVEAU GENRE DE PEINTURE, OU L'ART D'lMPRIMER DES
PORTRAITS, ET DES TABLEAUX, EN HUILE, AVEC LA MEME EXACTI-
TUDE, QUE S'lLS ETOIENT FAITES AU PINCEAU, PAR J. CHR. LE
BLON. LONDON, 1722." 4to.
" COLORITTO, OR THE HARMONY OF COLOURING IN PAINTING,
REDUCED TO MECHANICAL PRACTICE, UNDER EASY PRECEPTS AND
INFALLIBLE RULES, BY J. CHR. LE BLON. LONDON, 1737." 4tO.
" LETTRE CONCERNANT LE NOUVEL ART DE GRAVER ET D'IM-
PRIMER LES TABLEAUX, PAR J. GAULTIER DE MONT D'ORGE.
PARIS, 1749." 8vo.
THE PRINT COLLECTOR. 175
This author was the writer of the article " Engraving," in the
Encyclopedic des Sciences de Diderot. Two other books, founded
on the above work of Le Blon, appeared in Paris, in 1756 and 1767.
" NOUVELLE MANIERE DE FAIRE DES GRAVURES DE DIFFEREN-
TES COULEURS A LA MANIERE DU DESSEIN, PAR J. J. BYLAERT."
The original of this book is Dutch, from which it was translated
into German. 8vo, Amsterdam and Leipsig, 1773.
We have classed these books together, as they all relate to the
fruitless attempts made to produce colored prints.
Antonio Pellegrini Orlandi is an Italian author, whose several
works have supplied materials to later writers. Of these one is en-
titled as follows : " ORIGIXE E PROGRESSI DELLA STAMPA O SIA
DELL ARTI IMPRESSORIA, E NOTIZIE DELL* OPERI STAMPATE D*ALL
ANNO 1457, SINO ALL ANNO 1500. BONON, 1722." Another is the
" REPERTORIUM SCULPTILE TYPICUM ;" and which was published, in
London, in 1736. The third bears the title, " ABECEDARIO PITTO-
RICO, CONTINENTS LE NOTIZIE, etc., etc. VENEZ, 1753." 4tO.
" COMMINCIAMENTO, E PROGRESSO, DELL ARTE DELL INTAGLI-
ARE IN RAME, COLL VITE DI MOLTI DI PIU EXCELLENTI MAESTRI,
DELLA STESSA PROFESSIONS. FlRENZE, 1767." 4tO.
This work is by Domenico Maria Manni, and is a supplement,
and new edition, under a new title, of the " RACOLTA DI ALCUNI
OPUSCULI SOPRA VARIE MATERIE DE PITTURA, SCOLTURA, ET
ARCHITETTURA, ETC., DA FlLlPPO BALDINUCCI ;" which was pub-
lished at Florence, in 4to, in 1686.
A compilation, from the Repertorium, the Abecedario, the
Cabinet des Singularitez, the above works of Baldinucci and Manni,
as also the English work of Faithorne, were incorporated into
a duodecimo volume, published anonymously, under the title,
" SCULPTURA, HISTORICO TECHNICA ; OR, THE HISTORY AND ART
OF ENGRAVING, ETC. LONDON, 1747."
" DlCTIONNAIRE DES MONOGRAMMES, CHEFFRES, LETTRES IN-
ITIALES, LOGOGRYPHES, REBUS, ETC., TRAD. DE L'ALLEMANDE DE
176 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
M. CHRIST ET AUGMENTE DE PLUSIEURS SUPPLEMENS, PAR M. DE
L'ACAD. IMP. ET DE LA SOC. ROY. DE LONDRES. PARIS, I/SO."
8vo.
This book was, formerly, the great authority on the subject of
monograms. The modern work of Brulliot, which will be noticed
hereafter, has incorporated the whole of this, and therefore super-
sedes it.
"ABREGE HISTORIQUE DE L'ORIGINE ET DES PROGRES DE LA
GRAVURE, ET DES ESTAMPES EN BOIS, ET EN TAILLE DOUCE, PAR
M. LE MAJOR DE HUMBERT. BERLIN, 1752." i2mo. This little
book contains but sixty-two pages, and is very superficial.
" LA GRAVURE, POEME, PAR R. P. DOISSIN. PARIS, 1753-"
8vo. " Des phrases," says a French critic, " assez peu po6tiques, et
fort inutiles."
"VENEZIA, LA PRIMA INVENTRICE DELLA STAMPA. VENICE,
1754." 8vo.
"IDEE DE LA GRAVURE, ETC., PAR M. ANTOINE MARCENAY
DEGHUY, AVEC UN CATALOGUE RAISONNE DES ESTAMPES, QUI FOR-
MENT L'CEUVRE DE M. MARCENAY. PARIS, 1764." 4to.
" AN ESSAY ON THE INVENTION OF ENGRAVING AND PRINTING
IN CHIAROSCURO, AS PRACTISED BY ALBERT DURER, HUGO DA
CARPI, ETC., BY MR. JACKSON, OF BATTERSEA."
John Baptist Jackson was a creditable wood engraver. Being in
lack of employ, he engaged in a paper-manufactory at Battersea,
and the object of this publication was to obtain patronage for printed
paper-hangings. The art had been thus applied, in France, fifty
years before.
"SCULPTURA; OR, THE HISTORY AND ART OF CHALCOGRAPHY,
AND ENGRAVING ON COPPER, ETC. : TO WHICH IS ANNEXED A NEW
MANNER OF ENGRAVING, OR MEZZOTINTO, COMMUNICATED BY HIS
HIGHNESS PRINCE RUPERT TO THE AUTHOR OF THIS TREATISE,
JOHN EVELYN, ESQ. THE SECOND EDITION. LONDON, 1755."
This is a thin small octavo ; the original edition was published
THE PRINT COLLECTOR. 177
in 1662. It has all the interest which might be expected from a
work of so celebrated a writer.
" TRAITE HISTORIQUE ET PRATIQUE DE LA GRAVURE EN BOIS,
PAR J. M. PAPILLON, GRAVEUR, ETC. PARIS, 1766." 2 torn. 8vo,
with a supplemental third volume.
Until Mr. Jackson's publication, mentioned hereafter, this book
was the principal, or only considerable, work on wood-engraving.
PIERRE SIMON FOURNIER had published, in 1758, a dissertation on
this subject, which abounds in errors. The first volume of Papil-
lon's work contains the history of the art ; the second, the practice.
This book is very copious ; it is mentioned in commendable terms
by Strutt, and is interesting from the many specimens it contains
of the author's art.
" DlCTIONNAIRE DES GRAVEURS ANCIENS ET MODERNES DEPUIS
L'ORIGINE DE LA GRAVURE, AVEC UNE NOTICE DES PRINCIPAUX
ESTAMPES QU'lLS ONT GRAVEES, SUIVIE DES CATALOGUES DES
CEUVRES DE JAQUES JORDAENS ET DE CORNEILLE VlSSCHER,
PAR F. BASAN, GRAVEUR. PARIS, 1767." 2 torn. 8vo.
Strutt observes, that Basan omits to notice the style or manner
in which the artists worked ; neither has he given the monograms.
Huber, publishing in 1787, says, "This book is hastily got up, but
is the best of the kind now existing."
" DlCTIONNAIRE DES GRAVEURS ANCIENS ET MODERNES DEPUIS,
ETC., PAR P. F. ET H. L. BASAN, PERE ET FILS, GRAVEURS.
SECONDE EDITION, PRECEDES D'UNE NOTICE HISTORIQUE SUR
L'ART DE LA GRAVURE, PAR P. P. CHOFFARD, SUIVIE D'UN PRECIS
DE LA VIE DE I/AUTEUR, ET ORNEE DE SOIXANTE ESTAMPES,
ETC. PARIS, 1809." 2 tom - 8vo -
The plates are copies of select prints of various engravers, in-
tended as samples of their work.
"A CATALOGUE OF ENGRAVERS WHO HAVE BEEN BORN OR RE-
SIDED IN ENGLAND, DIGESTED, BY HORACE WALPOLF, FROM THE
MSS. OF MR. GEORGE VERTUE; TO WHICH is ADDED, AN AC-
I7 8 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
COUNT OF THE LIFE AND WORKS OF THE LATTER. STRAWBERRY-
HILL, 1763." 8vo.
This work was afterwards incorporated into the " Anecdotes of
Painting in England," in 5 vols. 8vo.
"AN ESSAY UPON PRINTS, CONTAINING REMARKS UPON THE
PRINCIPLES OF PICTURESQUE BEAUTY, THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF
PRINTS, AND THE CHARACTERS OF THE MOST NOTED MASTERS, IL-
LUSTRATED BY CRITICISMS UPON PARTICULAR PIECES ; TO WHICH
ARE ADDED, SOME CAUTIONS THAT MAY BE USEFUL IN COLLECTING
PRINTS. LONDON, 1768." i2mo.
This is the work by the Rev. Mr. Gilpin, noticed in a preceding
page, 1 20. It was, for a long time, a very popular book; it was
translated into German, and published at Frankfort and Leipsig.
It served Fuesslin for the groundwork of his " Catalogue raisonn6,"
presently noticed. Huber and Rost, in their " Manuel des Curieux,"
which is founded on Fuesslin' s work, observe, most truly, that, in
his characters of the most noted engravers, this author is altogether
in error.
" A CHRONOLOGICAL SERIES OF ENGRAVERS, FROM THE INVEN-
TION OF THE ART TO THE BEGINNING OF THE PRESENT CENTURY,
WITH PLATES AND INDEX. CAMBRIDGE, 1770."
The compiler was C. Martyn. The series is brought down to
1735 : the name and sera of the artists are given ; the plates are of
monograms.
" NOTIZIE ISTORICHI DEGLI INTAGLIATORI, OPERA DI GlOV.
GORI GANDINELLI. SIENESE, 1771." 3 torn. 8vo.
Huber says that this is an excellent book, so far as regards the
artists of Italy, but, as to the rest, it is full of errors ; and the
names of the artists of other countries are so mangled that they
are scarce recognizable. A good critique, by Heinecken, on this
work is contained in the " Nouvelle Bibliotheque des Belles
Lettres," a German publication.
" LE PASTEL EN GRAVURE, INVENT^ ET EXECUTE PAR LOUIS
THE PRINT COLLECTOR. 179
BONET, COMPOSE DE HUIT EPREUVES QUI INDIQUENT LES DIF-
FERENS DEGRES. PARIS, 1769." 8vo.
" IDEE GENERALE D'UNE COLLECTION COMPLETTE D'ESTAMPES,
AVEC UNE DISSERTATION SUR L'ORIGINE DE LA GRAVURE, ET SUR
LES PREMIERS LIVRES D'lMAGES. LEIPSIG ET VlENNE, I//!."
8vo.
This is a German work, by Heinecken, who had been, for more
than twenty years, the curator of the Dresden Gallery. In this his
" General Idea," he included the whole of that collection, and
added all that he knew of elsewhere, in which it was deficient.
The practical utility of such a compilation is not very apparent ;
but the dissertation on the origin of engraving, and on block-books,
which occupies about half the volume, is very valuable and inter-
esting. It contains copies of the most ancient block-prints.
" CATALOGUE RAISONNE DES PRINCIPAUX GRAVEURS ET DE
LEURS CEUVRAGES, A L'USAGE DES CURIEUX ET DES AMATEURS,
PAR JEAN CASPAR FUESSLIN. ZURICH, 1771." 8vo.
This work is in German. It formed the foundation of the
" Manuel des Curieux," by Huber and Rost, in which work the
whole of it is comprised.
" L'ART DE GRAVER AU PINCEAU, NOUVELLE METHODE PLUS
PROMPTE QU'AUCUNE DE CELLES QUI SONT EN USAGE, ETC., MISE
AU JOUR PAR M. STAPART. PARIS, 1773." i2mo.
This work on aquatinta was translated into German by Harem-
peter, and published at Nuremberg, in 1780.
" A BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND, FROM EGBERT THE
GREAT TO THE REVOLUTION, ETC. ; WITH A PREFACE, SHEWING
THE UTILITY OF A COLLECTION OF ENGRAVED PORTRAITS, ETC.
BY THE REV. WM. GRAINGER. LONDON, 1775." 4 vols. 8vo.
This was the first attempt, as the author observes in his pref-
ace, towards a methodical catalogue of engraved British portraits.
The work was continued, by Mark Noble, in 1806, in 3 vols. 8vo.
Biographical notices are given of the personages engraved. This
io THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
has been a favorite book for illustration. Its utility to a collector,
for all practical purposes, is superseded by Bromley's catalogue
presently mentioned.
" DlCTIOXXAIRE DES ARTISTES, DONT NOUS AVONS LES ES-
TAMPES, AVEC UXE NOTICE DETAILEE DE LEURS OUVRAGES
GRAVES. LEIPSIG, 17/5," et seq. 4 torn. 8vo.
This is an unfinished work of Heinecken ; four volumes only
were printed when the death of the author took place. The ar-
rangement is alphabetical, and extends to " Diz." The work was
complete in the MS. in 24 vols. folio, which, it was calculated,
would make, in print, 12 vols. in 8vo. The MS. is in the Electoral
Library of Dresden. Besides the information expected in such a
work, Heinecken, in his account of each artist, gives reference to
other publications in which further particulars respecting him may
be found ; and he gives, also, a list of portraits of all the artists of
whom portraits have been engraved. There is a preface, contain-
ing critical observations on former catalogues, and remarks on the
adoption and usage, by artists of different countries, of names and
nicknames ; and this leads this author to give his judgment in favor
of chronological arrangement, which he decides to be the most use-
ful and preferable. Huber observes of this work of Heinecken,
" It will form a work that will leave nothing to be desired by ama-
teurs, and will include notice of all that has been engraved, from
the origin of the art to the present time."
" DESCRIZIONE DELLA RACOLTA DI STAMPE DEL CONTE Du-
RAZZO, ESPOSTA IN UNA DISSERTAZIONE SULL 5 ARTE DELL' INTAG-
LIO A STAMPA. PARMA, 1784." 4to.
" A BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY, CONTAINING AN HISTORICAL
ACCOUNT OF ALL THE ENGRAVERS, FROM THE EARLIEST PERIOD
OF THE ART OF ENGRAVING TO THE PRESENT TIME, AND A SHORT
LIST OF THEIR MOST ESTEEMED WORKS, WITH THEIR CIPHERS,
MONOGRAMS, ETC. ; TO WHICH IS PREFIXED, AN ESSAY ON THE RISE
AND PROGRESS OF THE ART OF ENGRAVING, BOTH IX COPPER AND
THE PRINT COLLECTOR. l8l
WOOD, WITH SEVERAL CURIOUS SPECIMENS OF THE PERFORMANCES
OF THE MOST ANCIENT ARTISTS. BY JOSEPH STRUTT." 2 vols.
4to. London, 1785.
Huber observes that Strutt boasts of having added two
thousand artists to Basan ; but that, in this number, there are
many who never existed, and many others who are catalogued
twice over. The German was, perhaps, jealous of our country-
man's labors ; and he might well be so, for the preliminary essays
of Strutt are superior to anything of the like nature which had then
appeared. They treat of the origin and history of the art, and of
each school, and draw comparisons between the schools and be-
tween the artists, one with another, contrasting their methods and
styles in a clear, comprehensive manner, of great practical utility.
Notwithstanding the subsequent publication of Bryan's more ex-
tended dictionary, the work of Strutt still maintains its reputation.
It is still a costly book, and it is, perhaps, to be wished that some
one would publish an edition of his preliminary essays as a separate
work.
" THE HISTORY OF THE ART OF ENGRAVING IN MEZZOTINTO,
FROM ITS ORIGIN TO THE PRESENT TIME, INCLUDING AN ACCOUNT
OF THE WORKS OF THE EARLIEST ARTISTS. WINCHESTER, 1786."
I2mo.
This little volume, which contains but a hundred pages, is by
Dr. James Chelsum. It executes, sensibly and well, what is pro-
fessed in its title, but the true inventor of this art was not then
known.
" NOUVEAUX MEMOIRES SUR LES ARTISTES ET DES ARTS PRE-
MIERE. DRESDE ET LEIPSIG, 1786." 8vo.
This is another work of Heinecken ; it contains critical remarks
on Papillon's work on wood engraving, a catalogue raisonn6 of the
works of Albert Durer, a new essay on printing and block-books,
followed by a history of engraving in Germany, with notices of un-
known artists ; and it finishes with a catalogue raisonn6 of the
works of Martin Schoen and Von Mechlen.
102 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
"NOTICES GENERALES DES GRAVEURS, DIVISES, PAR NATIONS,
ET DES PEINTRES, RANGES PAR ECOLES, PRECEDES DE I/HISTOIRE,
DE LA GRAVURE, ET DE LA PEINTURE, DEPUIS L'ORIGINE DE CES
ARTS JUSQU'A NOS JOURS; ET SUIVIES D'UN CATALOGUE RAI-
SONNE D'UN COLLECTION CHOISEE D'ESTAMPES. PAR M. HUBER.
DRESD. ET LEIPS. 1787." 8vo.
The preliminary discourse apprises the reader that the ground-
work of this book is the catalogue raisonne of the author's collec-
tion of prints. It is the first part of this book which treats of en-
gravers ; the second part treats of painters. Huber gives the
character of former similar works, Basan, Strutt, Heinecken, Fuess-
lin. The book fulfils the promise of its title.
"A CATALOGUE OF ENGRAVED BRITISH PORTRAITS, FROM
EGBERT THE GREAT TO THE PRESENT TIME, CONTAINING THE
EFFIGIES OF PERSONS IN EVERY WALK OF HUMAN LIFE, ETC. ;
WITH AN APPENDIX, ETC. BY HENRY BROMLEY. LONDON,
1793." 4to.
This is founded on Grainger, but omits the biographical notices.
It is the standard book of reference for engraved British por-
traits.
" MANUEL DES CURIEUX ET DES AMATEURS DE L'ART, CONTE-
NANT UNE NOTICE ABREGE DES PRINCIPAUX GRAVEURS, ET UN
CATALOGUE RAISONNE DE LEURS MEILLEU.RS OUVRAGES, DEPUIS
LE COMMENCEMENT DE LA GRAVURE, JUSQU'A NOS JOURS, LES
ARTISTES RANGES PAR ORDRE CHRONOLOGIQUE ET DIVISES PAR
ECOLE. PAR M. HUBER ET C. C. H. ROST. ZURICH, 1797-1808."
9 torn. 8vo.
This is, in great measure, a compilation from previous works.
The introduction contains some valuable matter, but more than
one half of it is translated or paraphrased from Mr. Gilpin's " Essay
on Prints."
" MATERIALI PER SERVIRE ALLA STORIA DELL' ORIGINE ET DE
PROGRESSI DEL INCISIONI IN RAMI E IN LEGNO. DA D. PlETRO
ZANI. PARMA, 1802." 8vo.
THE PRINT COLLECTOR. 183
" LE PEINTRE-GRAVEUR, PAR ADAM BARTSCH. VIENNA, 1803-
1821." 21 torn. I2mo.
This is the well-known text-book of all collectors. It is a cata-
logue of the works of engravers, not of all, but of certain classes;
and, as far as it extends, is, or at any rate was, at the time of its
publication, the most complete, correct, and useful of any that had
appeared. The first five volumes comprise the Dutch and Flemish
schools ; the next five the old German, of which the seventh vol-
ume is confined to Albert Durer and Van Leyden ; and to these
ten volumes the eleventh is a general table of contents. The
twelfth volume contains Italian artists in chiaroscuro ; the re-
mainder of the work is occupied with the Italian school ; the four-
teenth being entirely composed of the works of Marc Antonio,
Agostino, Veneziano, and Marco di Ravenna ; but in the sixteenth
is introduced the school of Fontainbleau. It is thought well to
thus notice the contents of the volumes of this useful work, be-
cause they are occasionally to be met with in broken sets. Of
each artist a short biographical account is given, and, in most cases,
critical observations on his manner and work. All the prints are
given, seriatim, in classes, according to subject, each distinguished
by a number. Every print is described very fully, and its dimen-
sions given. The different states are mentioned, where such there
are, and also all the copies that are known. The small discrepan-
cies between the best copies and their originals are accurately no-
ticed, as characteristics by which to detect the copy ; and, for better
instruction in this matter, many plates are inserted, in which the
parts where the difference is found are engraved, both as in the
original and as in the copy, side by side, on an enlarged scale. A
specimen of this is exhibited in the vignette at the head of our
third chapter. There are, also, many plates of monograms. In
the sixth volume is a preface, introductory of the German school.
In the twelfth volume is an introduction, treating of the invention,
history, and practice of the chiaroscuro method, and an ample list
184 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
of Italian prints in chiaroscuro ; and, in the thirteenth volume, is
an excellent " Essai sur 1'Histoire de la decouverte de 1'impression
des Estampes."
" NOTICE SUR LES GRAVEURS QUI NOUS ONT LAISSE DES ES-
TAMPES, ETC., PAR L'ABBE BEVEREL ET MALPEZ. BESANCON,
1807." 2 torn. 8vo.
" DlSCOURS HISTORIQUE SUR LA GRAVURE, PAR T. B. EMERIC
DAVID. PARIS, 1808." 8vo.
"LECTURES ON THE ART OF ENGRAVING, DELIVERED AT THE
ROYAL INSTITUTION OF GREAT BRITAIN, BY JOHN LANDSEER,
ENGRAVER TO THE KING AND F.S.A. LONDON, 1 807." 8vo.
The lecturer indulged in strictures on Messrs. Boydell, the
energetic print-publishers of the day, and was not allowed to con-
tinue his lectures.
THREE LECTURES were delivered at the same place, and pub-
lished, in 1809 and 1811, BY ROBERT MITCHELL MEADOWS.
" ESSAI SUR L'ORIGINE DE LA GRAVURE EN BOIS ET EN TAILLE-
DOUCE, ET SUR LE CONNOISSANCE DES ESTAMPES DES 15 ET 16 SIE-
CLES, OU IL EST PARLE AUSSI DE L'ORIGINE DES CARTES A JOUER, ET
DES CARTES GEOGRAPHIQUES, SUIVI DE RECHERCHES SUR L'ORIGINE
DU PAPIER DE COTON ET DE LIN, SUR LA CALLIGRAPHIE DEPUIS
LES PLUS ANCIENS TEMPS JUSQU'A NOS JOURS, SUR LES MINIATURES
DES ANCIENS MANUSCRITS, SUR LES FILIGRANES DES PAP1ERS DES
14, 15, ET l6 SIECLES, AINSI QUE SUR L'ORIGINE ET LE PREMIER
USAGE DES SIGNATURES, ET DES CHIFFRES, DANS L'ART DE LA
TYPOGRAPHIE, AVEC 2O PLANCHES. PARIS, 1808." 2 tom. 8vo.
This work is by H. I. Jansen, and answers fully to its compendi-
ous title. The first chapter treats of the principles of painting, as
applicable to prints ; the next, of the art of engraving, in its differ-
ent branches ; the next, of the qualities necessary to an engraver ;
the next, advice to collectors. After this follow treatises on each
of the different schools, with comparisons between them. No cata-
logues of artists, or of prints, are attempted, except that the
THE PRINT COLLECTOR. 185
eleventh chapter contains a chronological notice of rare anony-
mous prints, having dates. The twelfth chapter is on the inven-
tion and manufacture of paper, which ends the first volume. The
second volume is on calligraphy and stereotype ; at the end is a
table of authors consulted, and a general index. The plates are cop-
ies of rare specimens, most of them those which are, also, fac-similied
by Heinecken and Strutt. There is one small plate of monograms,
and there are eight folding plates of watermarks, which appear on
paper manufactured in the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth cen-
turies.
" CHALCOGRAPHIA ; OR, THE ART OF IMITATING CHALK, BLACK-
LEAD PENCIL, AND PEN-AND-INK DRAWINGS, BY J. HASSELL. LON-
DON, I8ll." 4tO.
" THE AMATEUR'S POCKET COMPANION ; OR, A DESCRIPTION OF
SCARCE AND VALUABLE ENGRAVED BRITISH PORTRAITS, AS MEN-
TIONED IN THE WORKS OF GRAINGER, BROMLEY, NOBLE, ETC.
DEDICATED TO EARL SPENCER. BY JOHN MORRIS FLENDALL.
LONDON, 1813."
This is little more than an index to the works mentioned in the
title-page.
" CHALCOGRAPHIANA : THE PRINTSELLER'S CHRONICLE, AND
COLLECTOR'S GUIDE TO THE KNOWLEDGE AND VALUE OF EN-
GRAVED BRITISH PORTRAITS. BY JAMES CAULFIELD. 1814."
8vo.
This book consists of short biographical notices of the artists, in
chronological order. It gives a list of their prints; and the author
takes upon himself to add, throughout, the specific price or value of
each individual print.
" CHALCOGRAPHIMANIA; OR, THE PORTRAIT COLLECTOR AND
PRINTSELLER'S CHRONICLE; WITH INFATUATIONS OF EVERY DE-
SCRIPTION. A HUMOROUS POEM, IN FOUR BOOKS, WITH COPIOUS
NOTES EXPLANATORY. BY SATIRICUS SCULPTOR, ESQ. CACOE-
THES CARPENDI. LONDON, 1814." 8vo.
1 86 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
In this not very successful attempt at facetiousness is related
the story, though not correctly told, of Deighton, the caricaturist,
offering to sale a rare etching by Rembrandt, and the detection
which took place of Deighton's embezzlements from the British
Museum, in consequence of Mr. Woodburn going thither to com-
pare the print.
"A CATALOGUE OF PORTRAITS OF FOREIGNERS WHO NAVE
VISITED ENGLAND, AS NOTICED BY LORD CLARENDON, HEATH IN
HIS CIVIL WARS, THURLOE IN HIS STATE PAPERS, ETC., ETC. BY
JAMES CAULFIELD. LONDON, 1814." Svo.
" AN INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND EARLY HISTORY OF EN-
GRAVING UPON COPPER AND IN WOOD, WITH AN ACCOUNT OF
HEGRAVERS AND THEIR WORKS, FROM THE INVENTION OF CHAL-
COGRAPHY, BY MASO FlNIGUERRA, TO THE TIME OF MARC ANTO-
NIO RAIMONDI. BY WILLIAM YOUNG OTTLEY, F.S.A. LONDON,
1816." 2 vols.
This book answers to its title-page, which it fully justifies. The
account of the ancient engravers is full and minute ; an entire cata-
logue is given of the works of each ; of several of the most ancient
and rare prints fac-similes are given. The book closes with a full
index. It is an excellent work.
" A BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL DICTIONARY OF PAINTERS
AND ENGRAVERS, FROM THE REVIVAL OF THE ART UNDER ClMA-
BUE, AND THE ALLEGED DISCOVERY OF ENGRAVING BY FlNIGU-
ERRA, TO THE PRESENT TIME, WITH THE CIPHERS, ETC., ETC. BY
MICHAEL BRYAN. LONDON, 1816." 2 vols. 4to.
This book includes the whole of Strutt's " Dictionary of En-
gravers," and Pilkington's " Dictionary of Painters," with much
additional matter. It is now the universal book of reference of its
class.
" MANUEL DE L' AMATEUR D'ESTAMPES FAISANT SUITE AU
MANUEL DU LIBRAIRE, ETC. PAR E. JOUBERT, PERE, GRAVEUR,
ETC. PARIS, 1820." 3 torn. Svo.
THE PRINT COLLECTOR. 187
The title-page fully and justly details the contents of these vol-
umes, and we therefore transcribe it. " I. Les remarques qui de-
terminent le merite et le priorite des epreuves. 2. Les caracteres
auxquels on distingue les originaux d'avec les copies. 3. Les prix
que les pieces capitales peuvent conserver dans le commerce, en
raison de leur rarete et de 1'opinion des amateurs. 4. Des tableaux
seculaires offrant les artistes contemporains sur des lignes annuelles
et a toutes les epoques desirables. Le tout precede d'un essai sur
le genie, consider^ comme principe des beaux arts ; des recherches
sur la decouverte et 1'epoque de 1'impression des estampes ; d'un
coup d'oeil general sur 1'etat de la gravure en Europe ; et considera-
tions sur 1'impression lithographique dans ses rapports avec la
gravure en taille-douce."
" IL FIORE DELL'ARTE DELL INTAGLIO NELLE STAMPE. GAU-
DIO. PADUA, 1823." 4to.
Only 1 20 copies of this book were printed.
" NOTICE DES ESTAMPES, EXPOSEES A LA BIBLIOTHEQUE DU
ROI, PRECEDE D'UN ESSAI SUR L'ORIGINE L'ACCROISSEMENT, ET LA
DISPOSITION METHODIQUE DU CABINET DES ESTAMPES. PAR
DUCHESNE, AINE. PARIS, 1823." 8vO.
" ESSAI SUR LES NIELLES, GRAVURES DES ORFEVRES FLO-
RENTINS DU I 5 SIECLE. PAR DUCHESNE, AINE. PARIS, 1826."
8vo.
This is the text-book on nielli ; the first published on this sub-
ject exclusively.
" AN ESSAY ON THE UTILITY OF COLLECTING THE BEST WORKS
OF THE ANCIENT ENGRAVERS OF THE ITALIAN SCHOOL, ACCOMPA-
NIED BY A CRITICAL CATALOGUE OF THE ENGRAVERS OF A CHRON-
OLOGICAL SERIES OF RARE AND VALUABLE PRINTS, FROM THE
EARLIEST PRACTICE OF THE ART IN ITALY TO THE YEAR 1549,
NOW DEPOSITED IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM AND ROYAL ACAD-
EMY IN LONDON. BY GEORGE CUMBERLAND. LONDON, 1827."
4to.
1 88 THE PRINT COLLECTOR,
An introductory essay is prefixed to this work, which endeav-
ors to exalt all works of the Italian school, to the depreciation ot
all others. It gives some instruction to collectors with respect to
selecting impressions ; it gives a tolerably full account of each ar-
tist mentioned, and a detailed description of every print noticed,
and with critical observations. At the end are two plates of mono-
grams. It contains a catalogue of the works of Julio Bonasoni,
collected by the author, and now in the British Museum.
"A CATALOGUE RAISONNE OF THE SELECT COLLECTION OF
ENGRAVINGS OF AN AMATEUR. LONDON, 1828." 4to.
The amateur and author is Mr. Wilson, whose collection has
been since dispersed. This volume was not published, but printed
for private circulation only. It contains the best catalogue of the
etchings of Ostade. The collection consisted, for the most part, of
rare states and extraordinary impressions.
" A COLLECTION OF ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINE FAC-
SIMILES OF SCARCE AND CURIOUS PRINTS, BY THE EARLY MASTERS
OF THE ITALIAN, GERMAN, AND FLEMISH SCHOOLS, ILLUSTRA-
TIVE OF THE HISTORY OF ENGRAVING, ETC. BY WM. YOUNG
OTTLEY, F.A.S. LONDON, 1828." Folio.
Mr. Ottley had nothing to do with this book, beyond the writ-
ing of the preface and the lending of his name. It is said to have
been got up by a person named Walker, having few or no qualifica-
tions for such a publication. Many of the prints, of which fac-
similes are given, are, by no means, of the rarity which their intro-
duction into such a work implies. There is a long introduction,
containing an account of the early use of wood-engraving in Eu-
rope, and of the invention of chalcography. It is very copious, and
discusses fully the subject and the questions arising out of it.
* LA CALCOGRAFIA. G. LONGHI. MILAN, 1830." 8vo.
" MEMORIE SPETTANTI ALLA STORIA DELLA CALCOGRAFIA DEL
COMMENDI CONTE LEOPOLDO ClCOGNARA. PRATO, 1831." 8vo,
with a folio volume of plates.
THE PRINT COLLECTOR. 189
"MONOGRAMMEN LEXICON, BY J. HELLER. BAMBERG, 1831."
" DlCTIONNAIRE DES MONOGRAMMES, MARQUES, FIGUREES,
LETTRES INITIALES, NOMS ABREGES, ETC., AVEC LESQUELS LES
PEINTRES, DESSINATEURS, GRAVEURS, ET SCULPTEURS ONT
DESIGNE LEURS NOMS. PAR FRANCOIS BRULLIOT. MUNICH,
1832-3." 4to.
This is a corrected and enlarged edition of a work, first pub-
lished in 1817, and is exceedingly copious. It is now the standard
text-book on its subject.
" LE PEINTRE-GRAVEUR FRANCOIS, PAR ROBERT DUMESNIL,
A.P.F. 1835, ETSEQ." I2MO.
" This work is in progress, and six volumes are published ; it
is, in a manner, a continuation of Bartsch's " Peintre-graveur," but
confined to the French school only. It appropriates to the French
school some engravers who have hitherto been generally classed in
some other.
" LE CLASSICHE STAMPE DAL COMMENCIAMENTO DELLA CAL-
COGRAFIA FINO AL PRESENTE COMPRESI GLI ARTISTI VIVENTI
DESCRITTE E CORREDATE DI STORICHE E CRITICHE OSSERVA-
ZIONI DI GIULIO FERRARIO. MILAN, 1836." 8vo.
" HlSTOIRE DE LA GRAVURE EN MANIERE NOIRE, PAR LEON
DE LABORDE. PARIS, 1839." 8vo.
Of this work only three hundred copies were printed. The in-
troduction occupies thirty pages, with a history of the claims of the
reputed inventors ; and twenty-two more with notices of the family
of Seigen, from various documents, during three centuries. The
first chapter, of nine pages, is confined to the origin of the family
of Seigen, and the birth and education of Louis dc Seigen. After
this follows the account of the invention of the art, and the exten-
sion of its practice. A fac-simile is inserted of a letter from Count
Seigen to Prince Rupert, communicating the secret of the inven-
tion. A catalogue is given of a collection of mezzotinto engrav-
ings by artists who lived before 1720. A chapter of twenty-eight
1 90 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
pages is devoted to Le Blon's method of printing in color. The
book closes with an appendix, containing notices of artists em-
ployed at Hesse Cassel from 1550 to 1650, with their monograms.
"A TREATISE ON WOOD-ENGRAVING, HISTORICAL AND PRAC-
TICAL, WITH UPWARDS OF THREE HUNDRED ILLUSTRATIONS,
ENGRAVED ON WOOD, BY JOHN JACKSON. LONDON, 1839." 8vO.
A most comprehensive and excellent work. It treats elabo-
rately of the antiquity and history of the art, its progress, decline,
and revival ; and fully, also, of its practice. The illustrations com-
prise several most exquisite specimens of the perfection to which
cutting in wood has been brought, as well in subjects in which it is
most effective as in others to which, perhaps, it is not judiciously
applicable.
" UNTERSUCHUNG DER GRUNDE FUR DIE ANNAHINE DASS
MASO DI FlNIGUERRA ERFINDER DES HANDGRIFFES SEI GESTE
CHEVE METALL FLATTEN AUF GENETZTES PAPIER ABZUDRUCKEN.
VON C. FR. VON RUMOHR. LEIPSIG, 1841."
"THE ART OF ENGRAVING, WITH THE VARIOUS MODES OF
OPERATION, ETC., ILLUSTRATED WITH SPECIMENS OF THE DIF-
FERENT STYLES OF ENGRAVING. BY T. H. FIELDING. LONDON,
1841." 8vo.
" HISTOIRE DE L'ART EN ALLEMAGNE, PAR RACKNISKY." 3,
torn. 4to, and a folio volume of plates.
This is an extensive and costly work, just published in French.
" NEUVES ALLGEMEINES KUNSTLER LEXICON, ETC. G. K.
NAGLER. MUNCHIN, 1835, ET SEQ." 8vo.
A very compendious German work, of which twelve volumes,
extending to nearly the end of letter R, are published, and the
work is continuing.
"THE COMPLETE AQUATINTER, BEING THE WHOLE PROCESS
OF ENGRAVING, AND ENGRAVING IN AQUATINTA, THE USE OF
AQUA-FORTIS, WITH ALL THE TOOLS NECESSARY. LONDON.'"
4tO.
THE PRINT COLLECTOR. 191
" SUPPLEMENTS AU PEINTRE-GRAVEUR DE ADAM BARTSCH,
RECUEILLIS ET PUBLIES PAR RUDOLPH WEIGEL. LEIPSIG,
1843."
Only the first volume of this work is, as yet, published.
We ought to notice, though it be but a tract in a large work,
the "TRAITE SUR L'ART DE LA GRAVURE," which appears at the
head of the third volume of the " Musee de France," published by
Robillard.
It will have been observed that, upon many books contained in
the preceding catalogue, we have abstained from all observation.
Of such works it is to be understood that they answer, with more
or less correctness, to what is professed by their titles, and do not
call for any special notice, condemnatory or recommendatory.
There are very many of which it might have been noted that they
are superseded by later publications ; but this is left to be assumed,
and it probably will be so. Jackson's treatise, for instance, on
wood-engraving, has superseded Papillon. Bryan has made obso-
lete Basan, and all previous dictionaries, even Strutt, except his
preliminary essays. Bartsch, Dumesnil, and Nagler, render useless
the prior labors of the earlier catalogue-makers, so far as respects ar-
tists to whom these modern publications extend ; and all the early
histories of the art are, more or less, concentrated in Mr. Ottley's
work.
192 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
CATALOGUES OF THE WORKS OF INDIVIDUAL
ENGRAVERS.
Of catalogues of this description, which are included in or
appended to books, there have been already noticed the follow-
ing :
In the " Cabinet des Singularitez," etc., by Le Comte, among
others who are wholly or chiefly painters, not engravers, are cata-
logues of NANTEUIL, the SADELERS, PETER TESTA, with the
CARACCI, RUBENS, and VANDYCK. These are all very incorrect,
and too deficient in detail to be of any use.
In the " Idee de la Gravure" is a catalogue of the works of
MARCENAY ; in Basan's " Dictionnaire," JORDAENSand CORNELIUS
VISSCHER ; in Heinecken's " New Memoirs," etc., ALBERT DURER,
MARTIN SCHOEN, and VON MECKELEN.
In the sale catalogue, by E. F. Gersaint, of the prints of M.
Quintin de 1'Orangerie, published at Paris in 1744, is found a cata-
logue raisonne of the works of CALLOT, BELLA BELLA, LE CLERC,
and B. PlCART.
" CATALOGUE DES ESTAMPES GRAVEES D'APRES P. P. RUBENS,
JACQUES JORDAENS, ET DE CORNEILLE VISSCHER; ET ou L'ON
TROUVE UN SECRET POUR BLANCHER LES ESTAMPES. PAR. R.
HECQUET. PARIS, 1751." i2mo.
" CATALOGUE RAISONNE DE TOUTES LES PIECES QUI FORMENT
L'CEUVRE DE REMBRANDT, COMPOSE PAR FEU M. GERSAINT, ET
MIS AU JOUR AVEC LES AUGMENTATIONS NECESSAIRES. PAR
LES SIEURS HELLE ET GLOMY. PARIS, 1751."
THE PRINT COLLECTOR. 193
Gersaint was the first person who undertook the drawing up of a
catalogue raisonne of prints, by the very voluminous artist, Rem-
brandt van Rhyn. The prints are numbered, and are arranged in
classes, beginning with portraits of Rembrandt, by himself, and por-
traits resembling him ; next, subjects from the Old Testament,
then the New, and then devotional ; next, fancy subjects, beggars,
free subjects, studies, landscapes, portraits, heads. After these
follows a catalogue of pieces attributed to Rembrandt, but doubt-
fully ; then, subjects and portraits, after him, by different masters ;
and, lastly, catalogues of the works of his principal scholars, FER-
DINAND BOL, VAN ULIET, and LIEVENS. Every print is minutely
described, its dimensions noted, and also the variations of the dif-
ferent proofs and states ; also the copies that have been made from
them.
In making this catalogue, Gersaint availed himself of the collec-
tion of James Houbraken, the engraver, who had bought that of
Burgomaster Six, the friend and patron of Rembrardt. Messrs.
Helle and Glomy had scrutinized the most celebrat ,d collections
in Paris, such as those of Marolles and Beringhen, at the King's
Library ; of Coypel, the king's chief painter ; of Silvestre, the
king's draughtsman ; M. de Julienne ; M. d'Argenville ; M. Potier,
etc.
An English translation of this catalogue was published by T.
Jeffreys, London, 1752.
To this catalogue, Pierre Yver, a printseller of Amsterdam, pub-
lished a supplement. It was merely an extension of it, and partly
a correction ; but, although it corrected many errors, it occasioned
new ones. It was published, in I2mo, at Amsterdam, in 1756.
"A DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE OF THE WORKS OF REMBRANDT,
AND OF HIS SCHOLARS, BOL, LlEVENS, AND VAN ULIET, COM-
PILED FROM THE ORIGINAL ETCHINGS, AND FROM THE CATA-
LOGUES OF DE BURGY, GERSAINT, HELLE AND GLOMY, MARCUS,
AND YVER. BY DANIEL DAULBY. LIVERPOOL, 1796." 8vo.
This is a further extension of the former catalogues, and by an
194 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
English author. It is preceded by observations on the works of
Rembrandt, and some memoranda of his life. This is the catalogue
by which collections of Rembrandt's prints, in England at least,
are now generally arranged. The De Burgy, named in the title-
page, was the proprietor of a very large collection of Rembrandt's
prints, at the Hague. Marcus was a person, of whose prints a cata-
logue was published, on occasion of a sale which took place of
them in 1770.
" CATALOGUE RAISONNE DE TOUTES LES ESTAMPES QUI
FORMENT L'CEUVRE DE REMBRANDT ET CEUX DE SES PRINCI-
PAUX IMITATEURS, COMPOSES PAR LES SlEURS GERSAINT, HELLE,
GLOMY, ET P. YVERS. NOUVELLE EDITION, ENTIEREMENT RE-
FONDUE, CORRIGEE, CONSIDERABLEMENT AUGMENTEE, PAR ADAM
BARTSCH. VIENNE, 1797.''
This work is an extension of the former catalogues, and pro-
ceeds on a similar plan. In it are three folding plates, exhibiting
the differences, in a variety of instances, between the originals and
copies of many of the prints, and between different states of the
same original.
"CATALOGUE RAISONNE DE TOUTES LES ESTAMPES QUI FOR-
MENT L'CEUVRE DE REMBRANDT ET DES PRINCIPALES PIECES
DE SES ELEVES COMPOSE PAR LES SlEURS GERSAINT, HELLE,
GLOMY, ET P. YVER. NOUVELLE EDITION, CORRIGEE ET CON-
SIDERABLEMENT AUGMENTEE, PAR M. LE CHEV. DE CLAUSSIN.
PARIS, 1824."
This catalogue is a still further extension of the former, and is
more accurate and particular in its description, and corrects former
mistakes.
" SUPPLEMENT AU CATALOGUE DE REMBRANDT, ETC., ON Y A
JOINT UNE DESCRIPTION DES MORCEAUX QUI LUI ONT ETE
FAUSSEMENT ATTRIBUES, ET DE CEUX DES MEILLEURS GRAVEURS
D'APRES SES TABLEAUX ou DESSINS, PAR M. LE CHEV. DE
CLAUSSIN. PARIS, 1828."
THE PRINT COLLECTOR. 195
The title sufficiently explains the work. At the end is a table,
showing the correspondence between the numbers by which the
prints are classified by Bartsch, and the new numbers by which
Claussin marks them.
" A DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE OF THE PRINTS OF REMBRANDT,
BY AN AMATEUR. LONDON, 1836." 8vo.
The amateur is Mr. Wilson, the catalogue of whose collection
of prints has been mentioned. This work professes to be built on
the English foundation of Daulby, of which it is an extension. At
the end is a table of correspondence of numbers.
" CATALOGUE DE L'CEUVRE DE F. DE POILLY. 1752."
This catalogue is by C. A. Jombert, a bookseller and amateur
at Paris.
" CATALOGUE DE L'CEUVRE DE FRANCOIS DE POILLY, JEAN
VlSSCHER, ET PHILIP WOUVERMAN, PAR R. HECQUET. PARIS,
1752." I2IT10.
"CATALOGUE DE L'CEUVRE DE C. N. COCHIN, FILS. PARIS,
1770." 8vo.
This is by C. A. Jombert, mentioned above.
" DESCRIPTION OF THE WORKS OF THE INGENIOUS DELIN-
EATOR AND ENGRAVER, WENCESLAUS HOLLAR. SECOND EDI-
TION, WITH ADDITIONS, BY GEORGE VERTUE. LONDON, 1759."
4to.
"CATALOGUS VAN ALLE DE PRENTEN VAN NICHOLAS BER-
CHEM, ETC. AMSTERDAM, 1767."
This catalogue is by Henry de Winter, and is called, by Hein-
ecken, a much esteemed work; but it is in Dutch, and is now quite
superseded by the " Peintre-Graveur" of Bartsch, in which the
whole of it is included.
" ESSAI DU CATALOGUE DE L'CEUVRE DE LA BELLA, PAR
CH. ANT. JOMBERT. PARIS, 1792." 8vo.
"CATALOGUE RAISONNE DE L'CEUVRE DE GEORGE FRED.
SCHMIDT, PAR HUBER. LONDON, 1789."
196 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
" CATALOGUE RAISONNE DES ESTAMPES GRAVES A L'EAU FORTE
PAR GUIDO RENT, ET DE CELLES DE SES DISCIPLES, PAR ADAM
BARTSCH. VIENNE, 1795." i2mo.
"CATALOGUE RAISONNE DE TOUTES LES ESTAMPES QUI
FORMEI.T L'CEUVRE DE LUCAS DE LEYDEN, PAR ADAM BARTSCH.
1798." 8vo.
The catalogues, aftenvards inserted by Bartsch, of these artists,
in his " Peintre-Graveur," supply several deficiencies in these cata-
logues of Guido and Van Leyden. A list of Van Leyden's engrav-
ings is given by Meusel, in his " Nouveaux Melanges," etc.
" CATALOGUE DE LA COLLECTION DE MESSIRE DEL MARMOL,
CONSEILLER DE BRABANT, CONTENANT L*UN DES PLUS BEAUX
(EUVRES QUI AIENT ETE FORMES DES ESTAMPES GRAVEES D'APRES
RUBENS, ETC. 1794." 8vo.
"A COLLECTION AND DESCRIPTION OF THE WHOLE OF THE
WORKS OF THE CELEBRATED JAQUES CALLOT, CONSISTING OF
ONE THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY PIECES, ETC., BY
J. H. GREEN. LONDON, 1804." 12010.
A short life of Callot is prefixed, as also some observations on
his works, which, however, are merely transcribed from Strutt.
The catalogue classes the prints by subjects; describes each, and no-
tices different states ; but does not give the dimensions. Catalogues
of Callot's works are also found in the " Eloge historique par le
pere Husson," published at Brussels, in 1766, in 4to ; and also in
several catalogues of collections, as presently mentioned.
A catalogue of the copper-plate engravings of ALBERT DURER
was published, in 1778, in German, by H. S. Husgen, of which
Bartsch says that it is very incorrect, omits many rare prints, and
does not describe the copies.
Bartsch mentions a catalogue of the works of ALBERT DURER,
by an anonymous author, published, in 1805, at Dessau, and which,
he says, is a mere compilation of what had gone before.
" CATALOGO DELLE OPERE D'INTAGLIO DI.RAFFAELLO MOR-
THE PRINT COLLECTOR. 197
GHEM RACCOLTE ET ILLUSTRATE DE N. PALMERINI. FlRENZE,
1824." 8vo.
BERVIC'S engravings are enumerated in the sale catalogue pub-
lished of his collection after his death, entitled " CATALOGUE D'UN
CHOIX PRECIEUX D'ESTAMPES DE CELEBRES GRAVEURS SUR FEU
M. BERVIC, PAR REGNAULT DE LA LANDE. PARIS, 1822."
8vo.
" LEBEN UND WERKE ALBRECHT DURERS, ETC., PAR J.
HELLE. LEIPSIG, 1831." Being the Life of Albert Durer, with a
catalogue of his works.
Only one volume of this work has been published, and that not
the first ; two more are promised. The catalogue, contained in this
volume, of the prints by Albert Durer, is the most perfect and full
of any hitherto published, and it attempts explanations of the
allegorical subjects or mysterious thoughts of this philosophical
artist.
" ELOGE HISTORIQUE, PAR M. DUGAS DE MONTBEL, AVEC
LE CATALOGUE DES OUVRAGES DE M. DE BOISSEAU. LYONS,
1840."
The editor of the " Impostures innocentes de BERNARD PIC-
ART," folio, Amsterdam, 1734, has given, at the end of that work
a catalogue of all the prints composing the works of that
artist.
The engravings by SCHELTIUS BOLSWERT, after Rubens, are
enumerated in the catalogue, which has been already noticed, of
the works of that painter.
By the completeness of collections, formed occasionally of some
one artist's engravings, the sale catalogues of such collections
amount to a catalogue of his works. In this way we are presented,
in the Paignon Dijonval catalogue, composed by M. Morel de
Vinde, 4to, Paris, 1810, with a list of the works of CALLOT,
VANDYCK, and DREVET. And we have VANDYCK, again, in the
catalogue of the Del Marmol collection, in 1794; in that of AH-
I9 8 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
bert, in 1803 ; and, again, as also CALLOT, in that of SlLVESTRE, in
1810; and CALLOT, again, in the catalogue of the Baron de Non.
A list of SUYDERHOOF'S engravings appears in the catalogue of the
Mariette collection ; and of JULIO COMPAGNOLA'S, in those of the
Duke of Buckingham and Mr. Ottley.
The Rigal catalogue, which has been already spoken of, is en-
titled "CATALOGUE RAISONNE DES ESTAMPES DU CABINET DE
M. LE COMPTE RIGAL, PAR F. L. REGNAULT DE LA LANDE,
PEINTRE ET GRAVEUR. PARIS, 1 8 1/." 8vo.
Of the numerous prints called " Hogarth's," most of the minor
plates, and several of the principal ones, were engraved by himself ;
but others were engraved by himself, in conjunction with some
other artist, and the rest by other engravers, without any part
taken by himself. The engravings executed wholly, or partially,
by Hogarth, are nowhere separately catalogued. The catalogues
that have been published, of Hogarth's works, include all prints
published by him, after his own designs, by whomsoever engraved ;
and a compendium of the whole is comprised in the last edition of
Nichols' "Anecdotes of Hogarth." London, 1839. 8vo.
APPENDIX.
/ V '
APPENDIX.
TREATING OF THE PRACTICE OF THE ART OF ENGRAVING, WITH
THE VARIOUS MODES OF OPERATION, UNDER THE FOLLOWING
DIFFERENT DIVISIONS VIZ. : ETCHING, SOFT-GROUND ETCH-
ING, LINE ENGRAVING, AQUATINT, MEZZOTINT, CHALK AND
STIPPLE, WOOD ENGRAVING, AND LITHOGRAPHY.
ETCHING.
IN the following instructions we shall consider etching, not as
the beginning of line engraving, or as practised by line engravers,
but as generally executed by painte'rs. In this style the needle
and aquafortis are the only means employed, the graver being sel-
dom called into action, and the parallel ruler for ruling flat tints
never. Prints from plates done in this manner are generally
termed painters' etchings, to distinguish them from those made by
the line engraver ; and as their worth is derived from the skill in
drawing possessed by the person who etches them, so every at-
tempt to imitate the engraver's beautiful, but more or less mechan-
ical arrangement of lines, will only deprive the artist of that facil-
ity of drawing and freedom of execution by which his works ought
to be distinguished.
The process of etching consists in covering a metal plate with a
varnish called etching-ground, through which the lines composing
the subject are drawn with a sharp-pointed etching-needle, cutting
through the varnish into the surface of the plate ; these lines are
afterwards corroded with an acid till of a sufficient depth : but be-
202 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
fore we proceed to the details of the process, we shall enumerate
and describe the various objects which may be wanted, and which
are as follow :
ETCHING-GROUND. This is to be had at all the shops where
they sell engraving materials ; but for those who wish to make it
themselves, the following recipe will be found one of the best :
' To two ounces of asphaltum add one of Burgundy pitch, and an
ounce and a half of white virgin wax. The asphaltum must be
finely powdered, and then melted in a glazed earthen vessel over a
moderate fire, before the Burgundy pitch is put in ; the wax must
be added last, when the whole composition must be well stirred,
and then poured into warm water, to be further incorporated by
means of the hands, and made up into balls." When used, a ball
ought to be tied up in a piece of stout silk cloth.
TRANSPARENT ETCHING-GROUND may be made by putting one
ounce of common resin and two ounces of virgin wax into a glazed
pipkin ; set it over a gentle fire until it simmers, and when cool it is
fit for use, and is laid in the same way as the common etching-
ground, except that instead of being smoked it must be warmed
with a piece of writing-paper after being dabbed. A very good
transparent etching-ground may be made by covering the plate
with thin turpentine varnish, in which a small quantity of oxide of
bismuth has been mixed ; this should be laid on very evenly with a
camel's-hair brush, and has the property of showing the original
etching in the plate, over which it is laid, much better than the
former transparent ground, as it is less dazzling. Great care, how-
ever, is requisite to have the right quantity of oxide ; if too much,
the work over which it is laid will scarcely be visible ; if too little,
the ground becomes dazzling. After it has been laid a day or two
on the plate, this ground is apt to become brittle, which may be
remedied by warming it gently at the fire, or heating the plate a
little. Oxide of bismuth is sold at most chemists, and should be
impalpable.
APPENDIX. 203
TURPENTINE VARNISH may be bought at all the color-shops, or
may be made by putting common resin into a bottle of spirits of
turpentine, and then setting the bottle in an oven, or near the fire,
till the resin is quite melted.
BRUNSWICK BLACK, used for stopping out or covering any lines
that are not correctly etched, may also be bought at all the oil and
color shops. If not to be had, a piece of etching-ground, dissolved
in spirits of turpentine, will answer the same purpose.
BORDERING WAX is made by melting over a slow fire in a
glazed pot three pounds of Burgundy pitch, one pound of bees-
wax, to which is added, when melted, a gill of sweet-oil. When it
has been melted a little time, take it off to cool ; then pour it into
water, and afterwards pull it well to make the ingredients unite
more intimately. It may be bought at all shops which sell engrav-
ing materials.
A HAND-VICE, not less than five inches in length, will be
wanted to hold the plate while heating it.
ETCHING-NEEDLES (Plate I, Fig. i) should be of three or four
different degrees of fineness. To sharpen them well requires some
degree of manual dexterity and practice. First, grind the point on
a flat Turkey stone, or hone, turning the needle round in your fin-
gers while rubbing it on the stone ; next, take the handle of your
needle between the palms of your hands, and placing the point in a
groove on the hone, turn it rapidly round by rubbing your hands
against each other, backwards and forwards, in different directions ;
then rub them on a strap, prepared with washed flour of emery
and tallow, to take off any roughness and make them perfectly
round. When used for dry-pointing, the etching-needle should
only be sharpened on the flat hone, so as to procure an angle on
one side of the point, to cut with, and ought not to be strapped.
THE GRAVERS (Plate I, Fig. 5) should be of different forms, from
the extreme lozenge to the square, the lozenge being for fine and
the square for broad lines. To sharpen the belly, or sharp edge of
204 777^ PRINT COLLECTOR,
the graver, requires great nicety. Lay one of the flat sides of the
graver on the oilstone, keeping the right arm close to the side, and
the forefinger of the left hand pressed upon that side of the graver
which is uppermost ; next, sharpen the other side the same way.
The face or point is sharpened by holding it firmly in your hand,
with the belly upwards, in a slanting position ; then rub it back-
wards and fonvards on the stone, taking care to carry it evenly
along, and not to make more than one face on the point ; this be-
ing done, hold the graver a little more perpendicularly to square the
point, which will be done in a very short time, as it should not be
squared too much.
THE SCRAPER (Plate I, Fig. 2) should be three-sided, and fluted,
as they are easier to sharpen : it is used to take off the burr left by
the etching-needle or dry-point.
THE BURNISHER (Plate I, Fig. 3) is used to soften lines which
have been bit too dark. We recommend the kind used by mezzo-
tint engravers as being the best form for all kinds of neat and deli-
cate work (Plate I, Fig. 4).
THE OIL-RUBBER should be made of woollen cloth, rolled up as
tight as possible, and tied round with string ; one, six or seven
inches long and two inches or two inches and a half in diameter, is
sufficiently large for almost all purposes. Where a small one is
wanted, a piece of cloth laid over your forefinger may be advan-
tageously used, or a piece of very soft cork will do. The oil-rub-
ber is used with oil alone, or with oil and
WASHED FLOUR OF EMERY, which is emery in a state of im-
palpable powder, and of the greatest use in rubbing down parts
that are too dark, as is also
EMERY PAPER, not such as is used by servants to clean iron uten-
sils, but such as is made with washed flour of emery, and, like it,
only to be had, I believe, at some of the great ironmongers, or at
some of the coppersmiths. When washed flour of emery is not to
be had, crocus martis may be used, but is not so good.
c
APPENDIX. 205
. CHARCOAL is also used, with either oil or water, in rubbing
down dark parts, or taking out blemishes in copper plates : to be
procured best at your coppersmith's, who will give you the kind
you want.
A CAMEL' S-HAIR BRUSH with very long hair will be wanted,
to sweep off loose varnish while etching ; some small ones for stop-
ping out, and larger ones for laying on transparent ground, and
varnishing broad parts of the plate.
THE DABBER (Plate I, Fig. 14), to lay the etching-ground even,
is made by tying up cotton-wool very tight in a piece of silk, which
should be as even as possible, without any threads larger than the
rest. We recommend fine wool instead of cotton wool ; and if it is
laid very thick on a round piece of cardboard, three inches in
diameter, and a double silk stretched over it and tied behind, so as
to make a soft elastic even cushion, well raised in the middle, it
will be found more convenient to handle than the common dabber.
THE BRIDGE, or REST, is a thin board planed smooth, with the
edges sloped off, and of a length and breadth proportioned to the
size of the plate you are working upon. At each end is fastened a
piece of wood sufficiently high to raise it above the plate when the
wall of wax is on. There should also be another, much lower, to
be used in etching, before the wall is made.
THE BLIND, or SHADE, is made of tissue-paper, stretched
upon a frame, and placed between your work and the light, to en-
able you to see better on the surface of the bright copper. A very
convenient one is made in the following manner : Take a heavy
piece of wood about fifteen inches long, three inches broad, and
one inch thick ; then take about one yard of stiff wire, and place
the ends of it in each end of the wood, so as to form an arch, over
which stretch tissue-paper, and you may bend the wire so as to
throw the light in any direction you may require.
Besides the above-mentioned objects, it is necessary to have a
Turkey stone, or hone, a couple of glass bottles with glass stoppers,
206 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
one of them with a small mouth capable of holding a pound of
pure nitrous acid, the other with a wide mouth and capable of con-
taining a pint or more, according to the size of the work which will
have to be covered, of diluted nitrous acid. When bottles with
glass stoppers are not to be procured, a common bottle with a wax
stopper will do for the pure nitrous acid, which it is better to reduce
in strength, by adding exactly the same quantity of water, to pre-
vent its destroying the wax stopper, which it soon would if left
the full strength : the wide-mouthed bottle may be advantageously
replaced by a pint pitcher, on which a piece of wood may be laid,
that the strength may not evaporate. Should architecture form
the subject of the plate to be etched, a tee-square and brass-
edged parallel ruler will be wanted. A pair of steel screw com-
passes will also be useful for etching arches.
Copper or steel plates are, or ought to be, sufficiently well pol-
ished when brought home from the coppersmith's, to admit of hav-
ing the etching-ground laid upon them without any further prepara-
tion ; but the former being a softer metal, is extremely liable to
get scratched or the polish destroyed. When this is the case, the
scratches ought to be burnished, and the burnisher's marks taken
out by oil-rubbing the plate with washed flour of emery and sweet-
oil ; when the scratches are too deep to be effaced with the bur-
nisher, they may be taken out with the scraper, which must be
used very lightly, so as not to scratch ; the scraper-marks must
then be taken out by rubbing the place either with charcoal and
oil or a piece of cloth on the finger with emery and oil. // may be
as well to remark here that whenever the word emery is used in this
work, washed flour of emery is to be understood.
Sometimes, however, it happens that the scratch is too deep, or
a line or point bit in so strongly as not to admit of being effaced
either by the burnisher or the scraper. In this case recourse must
be had to the process of knocking up, an operation requiring great
nicety and dexterity, and which we shall briefly describe.
APPENDIX. 207
The instruments required are a polished steel anvil, a hammer
(Plate I, Fig. 13) having a head, with one end flat, and the other
with a rounded point, and a pair of calliper compasses. These last
are easily made out of a pair of iron compasses, such as are used by
carpenters and coopers, by heating the points, and then bending a
quarter of an inch of each inwards, so that they shall exactly meet,
leaving a space of half an inch between the two legs (Plate I,
Fig. 1 6). By placing the plate between the legs of the compasses,
with one of the points on the spot to be effaced, you can easily
mark on the back with the other point the place immediately oppo-
site to it. The plate is then placed with the part to be effaced on
the anvil, and struck at the back with the round end of the ham-
mer, till the line or hole is filled up. The jarring of the plate in
the hand, and the noise of the hammer, will sufficiently indicate
whether the part of the surface immediately opposite to where you
strike is fairly on the anvil or not. Before, however, you proceed
to the actual hammering, the work on the part to be effaced must
be carefully taken out with an instrument called a scooper (Plate I,
Fig. 6), so as to leave a clean smooth hollow.
When the part to be effaced is very minute, an iron punch is
used, and the plate must then be held on the anvil by an assistant,
whilst you hold the punch steadily with the left hand, on the spot
marked at the back with the compasses, and strike it gently, but
smartly, with the hammer, till the place is filled up.
However neatly the operation of knocking up is performed, the
lines of the etching in the immediate vicinity of the part knocked
up will be more or less weakened or effaced, and will want re-etch-
ing with a transparent ground, or working up to their original
strength with the graver. It often happens, also, that the part
effaced is raised above the level of the plate, in which case it must
be brought down with the scraper, and afterwards finished with the
charcoal.
When a new plate has been oil-rubbed, the oil is first wiped off
208 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
with a rag ; it is then washed with spirits of turpentine, and after
that is wiped off, is cleaned and polished with a dry rag and whit-
ing ; it is then ready for an etching-ground, which is laid in the
following manner :
Fasten the plate in the hand-vice, and hold it with the surface
upwards over a charcoal fire, or heat it with pieces of paper, till so
hot that you cannot bear your finger on it ; then rub the etching-
ground, wrapped up in a piece of silk, backwards and forwards, till
the plate is covered as evenly as you can with the ground, which,
melting with the heat, oozes through the silk. Next, with the
dabber, dab the plate gently all over till it appears of the same
color, as it is darkest on those places where there is most etching-
ground, and continue the dabbing till the plate begins to cool, and
no longer. Then, whilst the ground is yet warm, take a candle, or,
what is still better, a wax taper twisted together, so that six or
more flames unite in one, and, cutting the wicks short, hold them
under the plate turned with the ground downwards, and keep the
flame moving backwards and forwards till every part of the ground
is of a shining black color. The greatest care must be taken never
to let the flame remain a moment in the same place, as the ground
would burn, which is easily seen by its becoming dull and cracked.
When cold, the plate is ready for the reception of the design.
As a subject is seldom etched upon a plate at once without a pic-
ture, or at least an outline on paper, having previously been made,
we must now describe the various methods of reducing, tracing,
and transferring the tracing on to the plate.
When the picture is larger than the plate on which you intend
to copy it, take a pair of compasses and divide the top and bottom
into an equal number of parts, marking each part on the edge of
the picture with a pencil or chalk ; then with the compasses in the
same position measure off along the sides of the picture, beginning
at the bottom, as many parts as the sides will^contain, so that the
remainder or fraction of a square, if any, may be at the top ; for it
APPENDIX. 209
seldom happens that the same measure which equally divides
the top and bottom of a picture will also equally divide the
sides, and it is better that the picture be marked out into perfect
squares, leaving only a line of imperfect squares along the top, than,
as usually recommended, by dividing the sides equally as well as
the top and bottom, cut the picture into a set of long squares.
You can now, if an oil painting, draw lines either with a black
water-color, which is easily cleaned off afterwards by a sponge, if
the picture be light, or white water-color, if dark : or if the subject
be a painting in water-colors, wrap round it threads from top to
bottom, and from side to side ; take a piece of smooth writing-
paper the size of the intended subject (which must always be so
much less than the plate as to leave at least half an inch or more
of margin all around) and divide it with a pen and a pale tint of lake
or vermilion into exactly the same number of squares as the pic-
ture ; then with an F, HB, or B pencil, copy whatever is in each
square of the picture into the corresponding square on your paper,
and,- to prevent mistakes, number the squares both on the painting
and the paper. This being done, damp the paper well, fix it with
the face downwards on the etching-ground with wax at one side,
and let the printer pass it through a moderately tight rolling-press,
by which means the pencil-marks will be transferred to the ground,
so that the subject will appear reversed, in fine silvery lines.
When the subject you mean to copy is to be the same size on
the plate, take a piece of thick transparent tracing-paper, and fast-
ening it firmly to the painting by turning a part of it over the top
and pasting it behind, trace the outline with a blacklead pencil,
and then transfer it to the ground as directed above. To make
tracing-paper, mix together equal parts of spirits of turpentine and
drying oil, and with a rag or piece of cotton-wool rub it evenly
over a sheet of tissue-paper, which must be hung to dry for a day
or two. Thick tracing-paper may be made with very smooth thin
writing-paper.
210 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
When no rolling-press is to be had, another method must be
pursued to transfer the outline to the etching-ground. Having
made the tracing or reduction on thin transparent paper, take a
piece of the thinnest and smoothest foreign letter-paper, or, what is
still better, a piece of glazed tissue-paper, and rub it evenly over
with vermilion, chrome-yellow, white-lead, or any other light color
in impalpable powder till well covered. Then having turned down
the tracing on to the plate, and fastened it with wax at the top
edge, place the vermilion paper between it and the ground with the
color side downwards, and with a blunt-pointed etching-needle,
called a tracing-point, go over the outline, using a moderate pres-
sure, by which means it will be transferred in color to the etching-
ground. A still quicker method is often used, but one which re-
quires the greatest delicacy as well as firmness of touch, and a tracing
point perfectly rounded so as not to cut the paper and so injure the
ground. It is to rub the front of the tracing itself with vermilion,
and lay it on the plate so as to do away with the necessity of an
intermediate colored paper.
The bridge being placed over it, the plate is now ready for the
commencement of the etching, and but few instructions are requi-
site to enable the painter to proceed without difficulty. The etch-
ing-needles with the most tapering points should be used for the
skies and distance, pressing more heavily and changing them for
others as we approach the foreground, sharpened, with a thicker
point made by holding it more perpendicularly on the stone, so as
to give a broader and deeper line. Wherever the ruler is used for
buildings, ship-masts, etc., it is to be remembered that the lines
made with it will be much darker than those made by the hand, so
that a much less pressure is required ; and it should be the
endeavor of every one who wishes to give a pleasing effect to his
work, to etch with an equal pressure, so as to produce lines of the
same strength wherever a flat tint is wanted, as in the shade side of
a house, a mass of distant trees, etc. It is of course needless to
APPENDIX. 2 1 1
mention that the closer the lines are laid together the darker will
be the part so etched, and where extreme depth is wanted it is
usual to cross the lines ; this, however, looks better when the lines
that cross the others are done with a second transparent ground.
Wherever any error has been made the part must be covered
evenly, and not too thickly, with a camel's-hair pencil dipped in
Brunswick black, and when dry the lines re-etched through it. We
must here remark that the etching must always penetrate so well
through the etching-ground as to scratch the metal ; and when the
plate is steel, it is better, as much as possible, to avoid breathing
upon it, as the slightest humidity will often rust it. Steel plates,
when no longer wanted by the printer, ought to be well cleaned,
and then covered with white wax by heating them, and then pass-
ing the wax over them.
Though the shade sides of white objects may generally be
etched and bit in with aquafortis, it is better to do them with the
dry point, which is peculiarly well adapted for the fur and hair of
white animals, the light of white drapery, light clouds and sky, and
extreme distances.
It is difficult, nor is it indeed the province of this work, to give
further directions to the painter as to the manner of his work. It
depends entirely on his skill in drawing, and his facility in using
the pen or pencil ; on his taste in the choice of his subject, and his
knowledge of general or particular effects in the arrangement of
forms, and the disposition of lights, shades, etc.
The etching being finished, the plate must be carefully exam-
ined, and all accidental scratches stopped out with Brunswick
black. When this is dry, a wall or border is put round the plate,
which is done by softening the bordering wax in warm water till
perfectly ductile ; it is then pulled out into straps about six inches
long, one inch broad, and a quarter of an inch thick, and the edge
pressed down immediately before it cools on the margin, and the
thumb of the left hand passed along the inner edge with a strong
212 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
pressure so as to squeeze the wax close down to the plate : another
piece is to be immediately joined to the first, and so on till the
plate is surrounded, leaving a spout at one corner to pour off the
acid.
It is difficult to give exact rules for biting-in, but the following
will be found sufficient. Procure some strong nitrous acid, and
then mix, in a wide-mouthed bottle, one part of the acid with five
parts of water, adding to it a small portion of sal-ammoniac, in the
proportion of the size of a hazelnut, to one pint of acid, when
mixed for biting.* The advantage of using the sal-ammoniac is,
that it has the peculiar property of causing the aquafortis to bite
more directly downwards, and less laterally, by which means lines
laid very close together are less liable to run into each other, nor
does the ground so readily break up, by thus preventing the natural
tendency to lateral erosion. Pour the mixture, when cool (nitrous
acid becoming warm when mixed with water), on to the plate, and
leave it to bite in the delicate parts about a quarter of an hour,
sweeping off the bubbles as they form on the plate with an old
camel's-hair brush or feather ; take off the acid, wash the plate
with water, and dry it either by blowing with bellows or pressing
on it gently with a piece of blotting-paper ; stop out with Bruns-
wick black those parts which are sufficiently bit in ; again put on
the acid, let it remain twenty minutes or half an hour, to give the
next degree of depth, wash and stop out as before, and leave the
acid on for half or three quarters of an hour for the last biting, as
three bites are generally sufficient for most painters' etching.
The wall is now to be taken off by warming the margin of the
plate at the back with a piece of lighted paper ; it is then to be
washed clean with spirits of turpentine, then oil-rubbed, then again
washed with spirits, and after being wiped dry may be taken to the
printer's for a proof.
* We should have earlier observed that biting, or biling-in t is the technical term for
eroding the copper that has been laid bare by the etching-needle.
APPENDIX. 213
The process of biting-in, described above, is only applicable to
copper plates ; for steel plates another method is pursued, which is
as follows :
Mix together
Pyroligneous acid i part.
Nitric acid i part.
Water 6 parts.
In biting in with this composition the first tint will be only on
and off, washing the plate immediately with water, and never using
the same water twice ; when washed, the plate must be set on one
edge, and blown dry with bellows as soon as possible to prevent
rusting.
If pyroligneous acid is not to be had, from sixty to seventy
drops of nitric acid to one pint of water will do nearly as well.
In biting in steel, one minute will be generally found long
enough for the darkest tint.
If, on examining the proof, all or part of the etching is found
too weak, it may be made stronger either by etching over it with a
transparent ground, or, when the tint is not too delicate, by rebit-
ing, in which case a rebiting ground must be laid ; which is per-
formed in the following manner :
Clean the plate well with spirits of turpentine, then wash it
with pure water of potass, which is to be had at the chemist's ; next
rinse the plate with perfectly clean water several times, till entirely
free from the potass, and wipe it quite dry with a clean rag. This
being done, heat a spare piece of copper or steel plate, on which melt
some etching-ground, then with a silk dabbcr (a new one is best)
take up a small quantity, and having previously heated the plate
which is to be rebit, dab it very lightly all over, and continue till
every part of the surface is well covered with the ground, leaving
the lines perfectly clear. This is an operation which requires great
214 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
patience and the utmost delicacy of touch, and as it takes consider-
able time, the plate must be heated very often to keep up the same
degree of warmth, which is extremely difficult. For this reason it
is better to employ the following method, which is now generally
used by most engravers, not only for rebiting, but also for common
etching-grounds : Procure a tin box twelve inches long, nine
broad, and three deep, without any opening, except a hole at one
corner, by which it is to be filled with hot water. This is placed
on a stand so as to admit of a small charcoal stove underneath, by
which the water must always be kept at a boiling heat. The plate
is laid on this box, and by this means kept at an uniform tempera-
ture, so that there is no danger of burning the ground, which so
often happens when the plate is heated in the common way.
When the ground is cold, a wall may be put round it, and the sub-
ject bit in as before.
Should it be intended to rc-ctcJi the plate, a transparent ground
must be laid, the manner of doing which we have already described
under the head of TRANSPARENT GROUND.
A well-practised etcher, after each biting-in, takes off a very
small portion of the ground, and can then judge in what manner it
will print. He then stops out, or passes over all the lines which
may be sufficiently deep, with Brunswick black, and proceeds with
the rest as we have already mentioned.
When any line or small part is too dark, it may be made lighter
with the burnisher ; but when any broad tint or the whole of the
plate is too dark, the quickest way is to rub it down with the
emery-paper before mentioned. This, however, should be well
rubbed on a piece of copper or steel, to take off the sharpness,
which might othenvise scratch, and even then it will leave a mark,
which would show strongly in the proof if not first taken out with
soft charcoal and oil, and then polished with the oil-rubber.
A pleasing way of giving more effect to an etching, when fin-
ished, is to take off the polish of the plate with the emery-paper, by
APPENDIX. 215
which means a delicate tint is laid all over it, and on which the
lights on clouds, white figures, water, etc., may be burnished.
Pumice-stone finely powdered and sifted through muslin, and
rubbed on with a rag, will do the same ; and Rembrandt often, by
leaving the surface of the plate only partially cleaned from the
printing-ink, when proving, produced a singular effect on some of
his etchings.
When etching or engraving by lamp-light, we recommend the
use of a globe of water, placed between the lamp and the plate, as
described under the head of Wood Engraving.
We shall conclude with a short account of ETCHING ON GLASS,
a process which, we are afraid, is more curious than useful. The
glass employed should be a piece of the best plate, which must be
covered with a mixture of lamp-black and turpentine varnish.
When dry, the subject is etched in the same way as on copper ;
and as soon as finished a wall is put round, and fluoric acid poured
over the glass, on which it will require to be left five or six hours
exposed to the sun before the work is sufficiently corroded. In
winter the glass is but slightly acted upon in four days, and would
never be finished if not placed in a very hot room.
SOFT-GROUND ETCHING.
Etching on soft-ground is a style of engraving formerly much
employed to imitate chalk or pencil drawings. Since the invention
of lithography, however, it has been almost entirely abandoned,
though for those who live too far from any town where a litho-
graphic press is established, it will be found a great source of
amusement, as the rapidity and facility with which it is executed
will often tempt those who have not sufficient patience to pursue
the more tedious operation of etching on hard-ground.
Soft-ground for winter use is made by adding one part of hog's
lard to three parts of common etching-ground ; but for warm
weather, less hog's lard is required. The ground is laid and
2l6 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
smoked in the same way as the hard etching-ground, taking care
that nothing touches it after it is done till the paper is laid on.
The process is as follows : Draw the outline of your subject
faintly on a piece of smooth thin writing-paper, which must be at
least an inch larger every way than the plate ; then dampen it, and
spread it cautiously on the ground, and, turning the edges over,
paste them down to the back of the plate : in a few hours the
paper will be dry, and stretched quite smooth. Resting your hand
on the bridge, take an H or HB pencil, and draw your subject on
the paper exactly as you wish it to be, pressing strongly for the
darker touches, and more lightly for the more delicate parts, and
according as you find the ground more or less soft, which depends
on the heat of the weather or the room you work in, use a softer
or harder pencil, remembering always that the softer the ground
the softer the pencil. When the drawing is finished, lift up the
paper carefully from the plate, and wherever you have touched
with the pencil the ground will stick to the paper, leaving the cop-
per more or less exposed. A wall is then put around the margin,
the plate bit in, and if too feeble, rebit in the same way as a com-
mon etching, using hard etching-ground for the rebite. If the acid
has been successfully applied to the plate, the proof will be exactly
the same as the drawing made by the soft etching-ground sticking
to the underside of the paper, which is indeed itself a proof how
far you have succeeded.
It may be here observed, in anticipation of our remarks upon
aquatint engraving, that an outline in soft ground for aquatint is
'much less apt to cause white lines than the continuous line of com-
mon etching.
LINE ENGRAVING.
Of all the various kinds of engraving, the art we are about to
describe stands pre-eminently the first. However it may be sur-
passed by other branches of the profession in the representation of
APPENDIX. 217
certain objects, yet as a whole it is decidedly superior to the rest.
It cannot produce the velvety softness, intense depth, and harmo-
nious mingling of light and shade which is given by mezzotint.
Neither can it, even when aided by the ruling-machine, produce
that silvery clearness or deep transparent tone perceived in aqua-
tint ; nor, like it, reproduce the dragging, scumbling, and accidental
touches of the artist's brush. In crispness and brilliancy it is far
exceeded by wood-engraving. Still it stands before all others, and
we cannot but see with regret, though not surprise, its present
declining state.
When steel was first applied to line engraving, the immense
number of impressions it was found capable of producing enabled
the publishers to offer to the world works beautifully illustrated
at a much cheaper rate than had hitherto been done. A new class
of publications we mean the annuals were introduced as a vehicle
for spreading more rapidly the impressions from steel plates, and
the most beautiful productions of our best engravers were flung
with a prodigal hand before the public, at a price for which they
ought never to have been sold, and which only an excessive sale
could render profitable. We are no enemies to cheapness in any
thing, and still less in whatever may contribute to the mental
enjoyment of the public ; but when that cheapness is obtained by
the reduced income of the artist, reduced, not from extravagant
gains to fair remuneration, but from fair remuneration to insuffi-
ciency when such is the case we cannot but lament, whilst we ad-
mire the beautiful works which fill our portfolio, the sacrifice by
which they have been so cheaply obtained.
The cause of this deterioration was simply the excessive sale of
these illustrated works, which created a demand for line engravers
far beyond what the population of England, rich as she is, ought
to support. But the fashion for annuals, like all other fashions,
passed away. One by one they sunk into oblivion, and left the
artists they had helped to create to seek an existence in other
2l8 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
countries, or by attempting some other branch of the profession.
The public, weary with seeing in every shop and on every table the
beautiful engravings which steel plates had showered upon the
land, like a child surfeited with sweets, was glad to turn to some-
thing else, and mezzotint became the fashion. Then it was that
the reduced sale of illustrated works no longer allowed the pub-
lishers to offer a fair remuneration, and the many engravers un-
employed were forced to accept the little they could afford to
give.
Such are the causes of the present depressed state of the art ;
and were these all the evils arising from engraving on steel, if it
were merely a stagnation arising from too great a production, how-
ever much we might regret the losses which line engravers must for
a while sustain, still we know that a few years must bring back the
art to a more healthy state. But when the hardness of the metal
was found to admit of finer work, then came in fashion the exces-
sively finished style of the present day, which, whilst it increases
the mechanical difficulties, tends to reduce all engravers to the same
level, or, what is still worse, allows some whose only merit consists
in a capability of laying lines closer than others to usurp the place
of real talent. This is indeed an evil, and we are afraid that many
years must pass away before the vitiated taste of the public can
bear the works of real genius, unfettered by the microscopic finish
of the present style.
The process of line engraving consists, at present, in first etching
the plate, and then, after it is bitten-in, finishing it with the graver
and dry-point. Formerly, however, it was the custom to begin and
finish a plate with the graver only ; but this method has long been
laid aside, as the use of the etching-needle gives so much greater
freedom in the representation of almost every object.
Of the method of laying the ground, transferring the subject to
the plate by means of tracing, and of sharpening the graver, nee-
dle, etc., we have already spoken under the head of etching. The
APPENDIX. 219
manner of handling the needle is, however, very different, as in all
the flat tints a ruler is made use of. Clear blue skies are done by
means of the ruling-machine, of which the following is a descrip-
tion : " On a straight bar of steel is placed a socket, which slides
backwards and forwards with a steady but even motion. To the
side of the socket is fitted a perpendicular tube, which receives a
steel wire or any other hard substance, called a pen. This pen has
a point like an etching-needle, and is pressed down by the action of
a spring. If, then, a copper plate covered with the etching- ground
is placed under the ruler, which should be supported at each end,
and raised about an inch above it, the point of the pen may be
caused to reach it ; and if the socket to which the pen is attached
be drawn along the bar, it will form a straight line upon the plate,
more even, but in other respects the same as if that line had been
drawn by hand with a ruler. Now, if the plate or the ruler be
moved, backwards or forwards, in a direction parallel to this first
line, any number of lines may be drawn in the same manner."
In the machine, therefore, a very exact screw, acting upon a
box confined by a slide and connected with the bar or board upon
which the plate rests, produces the requisite motion ; and a con-
trivance or index is used to measure the exact portion of a turn
required before any stroke is drawn. Such is the principle of the
machine most generally used ; but the point or pen employed
should not be made of steel, which, however well tempered, will
require frequent sharpening, and must therefore inevitably draw
strokes deficient in perfect uniformity. The pen should have a dia-
mond point, which when once properly figured remains constantly the
same, and imparts an admirable degree of regularity and sweetness
to the work.
Though the ruler is used in laying flat tints, it docs not follow
that the lines made with it are to be straight ; on the contrary,
they are made to take the form most suited to the object by
slightly moving the hand, taking care to make them parallel. But
220 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
the greatest difficulty, and what requires the longest practice to at-
tain, is to give that equal pressure to the needle, so that every line
may be the same depth, width, and distance from each other, with-
out which it is entirely hopeless to obtain an even tint. This capa-
bility of laying flat tints, and of ruling parallel lines excessively
close without running into each other, is so essential that no one
can expect to make a decent plate till he has fully accomplished it ;
and the first business of the learner should be by continual practice
to obtain a readiness and certainty in the management of the ruler
and needle. He must also be equally capable of laying parallel
lines of the same strength without the aid of the ruler, and must
seek to acquire a freedom of handling in etching grass and the foli-
age of trees in landscape, and the flowing lines required in drapery
and the waves of the sea.
In etching a plate to be finished as a line engraving, every part
which is white, such as white drapery, satin, light water, ice, white
clouds, the white fur of animals except when in shade, and the
light parts of flesh, etc., ought to be left untouched by the aqua-
fortis, and laid in with the dry-point or graver.
The following extracts from a celebrated work on Engraving,
aided by the examination of the prints of the best professors of the
art, will be found worthy of attention : ' The strokes of the
graver should never be crossed too much in the lozenge manner,
particularly in the representation of flesh, because sharp angles pro-
duce the unpleasing effect of lattice-work, and take from the eye
the repose which is agreeable to it in all kinds of picturesque de-
signs ; 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
too much of the hardness of stone. In conducting the strokes, the
action of the figures and of all their parts should be considered, and
it should be observed how they advance towards or recede from
APPENDIX. 221
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 lights, 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 pecks 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 to-
gether.
In engraving the hair and the beard, the engraver should begin
his work by laying the principal grounds and sketching the chief
shades in a careless manner, or with a few strokes, and he may fin-
ish it at leisure with finer and thinner strokes at the extremities.
When architecture is to be represented, except it be old and ruinous
buildings, the work ought not to be made very black, because as edi-
fices are commonly constructed either of stone or white marble, the
color being reflected on all sides does not produce dark shades as in
other substances. When sculpture is to be represented, white points
must not be put in the pupils of the eyes of figures as in engrav-
ings after paintings, nor must the hair or beard be represented as
in nature, which makes the locks appear flowing in the air, be-
cause in sculpture there can be no such appearance.
In engraving cloths of different kinds, linen should be done with
finer and closer lines than 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 when the strokes are
crossed, the second should be smaller than the first, and the third
222 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
than the second. Shining stuffs, which are generally of silk or
satin, and which produce flat and "broken folds, should be engraved
more hard and more straight than others, with one or two strokes
as their colors are bright or otherwise ; and between the first course
of lines other smaller must be occasionally introduced, which is
called interlining. Velvet and plush are expressed in the same man-
ner, and should always be interlined. Metals, as armor, etc., are
also represented by interlining, or by clear single strokes. In
architecture, the strokes which form the rounding of objects 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. The strokes ought to be
frequently discontinued and broken for sharp and craggy objects.
Objects that are distant, towards the horizon should be kept very
tender. Waters that are calm and still are best represented by
strokes that 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
forms of objects reflected upon the water at a small distance from
it, or on 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 ought to be
very lozenge. In cascades, the strokes should follow the fall and
be interlined. In engraving clouds, the graver or needle should
sport where they appear thick and agitated, in turning every way,
according to their form and their 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 that are lost insensibly in the
clear sky should be made by strokes parallel to the horizon, and a
APPENDIX. 223
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,
herbage, and indeed every part except white objects, should be
etched as much as possible ; nothing should be left for the graver
but perfecting, softening, and strengthening."
The above observations will be found very useful to refer to,
though perhaps, after all, the examination of the prints of the best
engravers will be found the best instruction that the beginner can
have ; but then that examination ought to be, not merely to see
how certain work is performed, but the manner of executing the
representation of the same object by different engravers should be
carefully observed, and that which is best selected as a model, re-
marking at the same time wherein consists its excellence, and in
what manner it differs from the rest.
AQUATINT ENGRAVING.
This art, so beautiful yet so difficult, so peculiarly adapted to
those subjects requiring broad flat tints of extreme delicacy or ex-
cessive depth, so capable of expressing light foliage on a dark back-
ground, and the only style of engraving which can faithfully render
the touches of the artist's brush, has of late years been degraded to
the mere production of colored prints, though there is no one who
has seen the spirited engravings done in the latter end of the last
century by Madame Prestel, after Rosa da Tivoli, or in the present
day the beautiful productions of Reeves and others, after Copley
Fielding, Vicars, etc., etc., but must acknowledge that it deserves a
higher station than at present it seems to hold.
Engraving in aquatinta is said to have been invented by a French
artist of the name of ST. NON, who communicated it to JKAN
BAPTISTE LE PRINCE, a painter and engraver who died in 1783.
224 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
PAUL SANDBY introduced it into England and greatly improved
it, and Madame CATHERINE PRESTEL, a German, produced works
which even at the present day cannot but be admired.
The process of aquatint engraving, as now followed, consists in
pouring over a highly polished copper plate a liquid composed of a
resinous gum dissolved in spirits of wine, which latter evaporating
leaves the resin spread all over the plate in minute grains that
resist the action of the aquafortis, which, however, corrodes the bare
surface of the copper that is left between them. This granulated
varnish is called a ground ; but before the invention of this process,
dust grounds were made use of, though they are no longer used in
England. The method of making them is as follows : Powder
some common black resin very finely, and tie it up in a muslin
bag ; then having rubbed the plate very slightly with a greasy rag
so as just to dim the copper, shake the bag over it till it is com-
pletely covered with the powder ; strike the plate smartly at the
back to shake off any loose particles, and fix the resin which re-
mains on it by warming it at the back with a piece of lighted paper
till it begins to change color.
To make liquid ground, powder five ounces of common resin,
and put it into a bottle with a pint of the strongest spirits of wine.
Shake it up several times during the day till the resin is dissolved,
which will be in twenty-four hours, and then leave it another day
for the impurities in the resin to settle to the bottom. This mix-
ture will be much too strong for use. You must therefore have an-
other bottle, and mix some of it up with more spirits of wine, in
the proportion of one third of the mixture to two thirds of spirits,
though even this will be too strong, for it is obvious that the
greater the proportion of resin the larger will be the granulations.
Almost all the resinous gums, when dissolved in spirits of
wine, will make grounds more or less adapted for aquatinting, and
though the common resin is one of the best that can be employed
if properly managed, yet some of the other gums granulate in a very
APPENDIX. 225
different manner, and can be employed, if found upon trial to be
more satisfactory. The following are some of these :
1. Turpentine varnish dissolved in spirits of wine.
2. Burgundy pitch and resin, equal quantities.
3. Burgundy pitch alone.
4. Common black resin alone.
5. Mastic and Burgundy pitch, equal quantities.
6. Mastic alone.
7. Frankincense alone.
8. Mastic and common resin, equal quantities.
These different specimens should be examined through a strong
magnifying-glass to distinguish their peculiarities. No. I, Turpen-
tine varnish, is merely a variety of the resin ground ; and this, and
No. 3, Burgundy pitch, No. 4, Common resin, and No. 7, Frankin-
cense, will be found the best. Some aquatint engravers prefer mix-
tures, but we have always found that the simple resins Burgundy
pitch, resin, and frankincense are much better when used alone
than any compound of them.
Before laying an aquatint ground, it is necessary to provide a
tin trough rather longer than your plate to receive the superfluous
ground, with a spout at one end by which you can pour it back into
an empty bottle, and never into the same you have taken it from,
as it is certain, however clean the trough may be kept, to gather
some dust or impurities, which must be allowed to settle before it
can be again made use of.
As the beauty of an aquatint ground depends not only on the
manner in which it is laid, but also on the degree of polish possessed
by the plate, we cannot but recommend a long and vigorous oil-rub-
bing ; first with washed flour of emery and oil, then with oil alone.
The plate should next be wiped clean from the oil, then washed with
spirits of turpentine, which must be wiped off with a rag, and after-
wards the plate must be well rubbed with a clean dry rag and whit-
ing. To know when a plate is perfectly clean, breathe gently upon
226 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
it, and your breath will dim every part with a white mist or cloud,
except such places as have any dirt or grease, which will remain
bright. When any such spots appear, the plate should be oil-
rubbed again and cleaned as before.
When the plate is clean, hold it slanting on your left hand with
the edge resting in the trough, pour over it the aquatint ground,
and when the superfluous fluid has run off, lay it in the same slant-
ing direction, with the lower edge a little way off the table, and
keep it well wiped. If, when dry, the ground is too fine, clean it
off and lay another ; but instead of pouring it once over, move the
plate in your hand in such a way that the ground may flow back-
wards and forwards two or three times before you allow it to run
into the trough : by this means a greater quantity will remain on
the plate, and the grain will be coarser. When, on laying it once
over only, the grain is too coarse, more spirits of wine must be
added to the ground, but it is better that it should be so weak as
to allow of its being allowed to run at least twice over.
Those only can be considered good grounds in which every grain
is of the same size, for where they are of different sizes the smaller
particles of resin are destroyed by the acid before the plate is half
bit in. A badly polished plate is certain to make a smudgy grain,
as it is called, and it is the culpable negligence of aquatint engravers
which has given to aquatint plates the unfortunate reputation of
not being able to throw off many impressions. We have seen in
Paris the five hundredth impression of one of the plates of Oste-
wald's " Voyage Pittoresque en Sicile," engraved with a very fine
grain, in which even the most delicate tints had not become more
weak, and have no doubt but that two thousand good impressions
might be taken off. The copper was double hammered, and when
polished had a peculiar silvery appearance.
It now remains to speak of the various accidents which may
happen in laying an aquatint ground. The first and worst is water-
ing, as it is called, and which consists in the formation of drops of
APPENDIX. 227
water on the ground as it begins to granulate, and which has the
effect of making it much coarser under each drop than it is in the
surrounding parts, so that when bit in, what ought to be a flat tint
has the dappled appearance of the feather of the guinea-fowl, being
speckled with white. In England this always happens through
want of strength in the spirits of wine, remembering that the same
ground which waters on a very wet day will frequently make a per-
fect ground in dry weather. In Paris, however, we have found
that the strongest spirits of wine will frequently water, and to those
who have to practise the art of engraving in aquatinta in France,
the following method of obviating its ill effects will be found of
the greatest use : Lay your ground, set it to drain, and as soon as
the grains are completely formed on the lowest part of the plate,
take it on your left hand and dash over it a large basinful of cold
water in such a manner that every part of the plate is immediately
covered ; set it to drain, and when dry the ground will be its natu-
ral color in some places and white in others, which, however, will
not prevent its biting even.
The accidents accruing from dust may be obviated in a great
measure by placing the plate, as soon as the ground is laid, under a
board sufficiently large to cover it, and supported at each end by
hooks, etc.
If, as often happens when a ground is laid in very hot weather
during the heat of the day, or in a cold room when there is a severe
frost, it will not granulate, the only remedy is to lay the ground
very early in the morning in hot weather, and if possible in a room
looking towards the north or north-west ; in short, the best time
for laying grounds is in very dry weather with a moderate tempera-
ture, excess of heat, cold, or humidity, being against a good forma-
tion of the grain.
It often happens that an outline of the subject to be engraved is
etched on the plate before the aquatint ground is laid, and occa-
sions considerable difficulty, as the ground settling in the etching
228 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
causes a white line to be formed by the side of every dark etched
line, producing an effect extremely disagreeable. This may be ob-
viated by getting the printer to fill up the etching with ink, which
must be left twenty-four hours to harden, when the plate may
be cleaned as before directed, and the ground laid over it. This
method has the advantage of preventing the etching from being bit
in too deep by the aquafortis used in biting in the aquatint.
A ground having been obtained, the margin of the plate should
be varnished over or stopped out, as it is technically termed, with a
mixture of lamp-black, or oxide of bismuth and turpentine varnish,
leaving a narrow slip on the lower margin ; and if the sky is a gra-
dation, a small piece at the end where the sky is darkest. The use
of the slip is to see the degree of strength each application of the
acid has given to the plate, as will be explained hereafter. We
must here recommend oxide of bismuth in preference to lamp-
black, as resisting the aquafortis better ; at the same time it is
more cleanly, though a mixture of the oxide with sufficient lamp-
black to make it of a gray middle tint has peculiar properties,
which makes it give a sharper line over grounds deeply bit in than
either of the substances used separately : these properties are of
the greatest utility in working architecture, more especially where
there is no etched outline.
The best palette for mixing the oxide with varnish is a marble
slab with a deep hollow at one corner to hold spirits of turpentine ;
a small glass muller is required to mix them intimately by grinding
them on the slab, and a thin palette-knife to scrape the color to-
gether.
Brushes of four different sizes, as represented in Plate I, Fig. 15,
will be wanted, the three smaller being red sables, which are best
on account of their stiffness, and the larger one a flat camel's-hair
brush, for the margin or any other broad tints of varnish ; and we
must be allowed again to press on the young aquatinter's memory
the necessity of having the oxide of bismuth in a perfectly impal-
pable state.
APPENDIX. 229
When the margin is quite dry, the subject to be aquatinted
must be transferred to the plate, either by tracing or drawing with
a pencil. If the former method be preferred, the tracing must be
carefully fastened down to the copper by bits of wax along the
upper edge. A piece of thin paper, covered on one side with lamp-
black and sweet oil, is placed between the tracing and the ground
with the colored side downwards, and every line of the subject
must be passed over with the tracing-point, using a moderate pres-
sure. One of the greatest difficulties is the preparation of the col-
ored paper, for if too much oil be used, every touch of the tracing-
point stops out, and of course makes a white line when the plate is
bit in ; if, on the contrary, there is too little oil, the lamp-black
does not adhere sufficiently to the ground, and is washed off after
the first or second bites.
When the subject is drawn on the plate, a BB pencil is to be
used, with which every part may be sketched on the ground with
nearly the same facility as on paper, and where there is no paint-
ing or drawing to engrave from, this method is to be preferred.
The greatest care must be taken that there be no grit or sand in
the pencil, as it would scratch the ground and make a black line
when bit in ; for this reason a hard lithographic chalk is to be pre-
ferred, though there is great danger, as it is a greasy material, of
stopping out if the pressure be too great.
The tracing being finished and the papers removed, a wall of a
moderate height (that is, three quarters of an inch) must be put
around the plate, with a large spout, which ift he sky is a gradation
should be at that corner where it is the darkest.
Everything is now ready for stopping out ; and in describing the
method of engraving an aquatint plate, we trust we shall be able,
by leading our readers step by step through all its intricacies, to
make them clearly understand this difficult art.
To five parts of water in a wide-mouthed bottle with a glass
stopper add one part of strong nitrous acid, and set it by till the
heat occasioned by the mixture is entirely gone off.
23 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
Grind up together on your marble slab a little oxide of bismuth
and turpentine varnish, diluting it with spirits of turpentine till of
a proper consistence to work freely. With a small sharp-pointed
red sable stop out every part of the plate which is to be quite
white ; in a few minutes the varnish will be sufficiently dry. We
have already observed that the spout is at that corner of the plate
opposite what is to be the darkest part of the engraving.
Hold the plate with your left hand in a sloping position, with
the spout off the table, and lower than the other parts of the plate,
which must rest on the edge of the table. Pour the aquafortis
you have prepared very slowly on the lower part of the plate, in
such a manner that it shall gradually rise till it first reaches
the darkest part of the background, and so goes on gradu-
ally, forming nearly a diagonal line across the plate, the direc-
tion of which will be indicated by the character of the compo-
sition or design. In this manner proceed, gently raising your left
hand, and adding more aquafortis till it has covered the lighter
parts ; then raise your left hand suddenly that the acid may flow
immediately all over the plate, and again sink it (holding the mouth
of your bottle under the spout) so as to pour off the aquafortis as
quickly as possible. Cover the plate with water, and wash off with
a feather all the bubbles which the effervescence of the acid has
left on the plate. Throw away this water, and rinse the plate
twice ; wipe it dry with a clean soft towel, being exceedingly care-
ful not to press so hard as to remove any of the stopping-out.
In warm weather, or a very warm room, two minutes will be
quite enough for the acid to have remained on the plate ; but to
know the exact time required for each bite is one of the greatest
difficulties in aquatinta engraving, and can only be acquired by
long experience. The aquafortis, which at eight o'clock in the
morning in winter, before a fire has had sufficient time to warm the
room, requires six minutes to procure a certain tint, will, in the
evening, after candles are lighted, bite in the same in two minutes,
APPENDIX. 231
so that no rule can be given. The best method of judging is to
sweep away the bubbles which form on the surface whilst the acid
is on the plate, and the rapidity with which they are renewed will
be the best criterion of the energy of its action on the copper.
The darker parts of the plate will have now been bitten two
minutes, whilst the parts over which the acid was only allowed to
pass for a moment will scarcely have had more than fifteen seconds.
The acid must be again poured on the plate in the same way, and
for the same time, then washed off and dried, and the operation
repeated a third time. This will have given six minutes to the
darker parts and ONE MINUTE for the lighter part of the plate,
which will be sufficient for the FIRST BITE.
To see the degree of strength on the plate, first clean off with
spirits of turpentine and rag the small piece of ground left uncov-
ered on the margin at the end, and having wiped it quite dry, and
freed it from every particle of varnish, take a little dry oxide of
bismuth on the tip of your finger and rub it well in, then with an-
other finger, previously covered with whiting, polish it off, and you
will see by the quantity of oxide remaining in the part bit in the
exact strength of the dark part. Pursue the same process with one
end of the slip, and you will also see the strength you have ob-
tained by this first process.
Stop out the parts you have uncovered on the margin, drawing
the varnish in a straight even line across the slip where it had been
opened for trial. The background perhaps is now of sufficient
strength, and to stop it out so as to preserve the forms to be de-
signed upon it, a new process must be resorted to.
Mix together equal quantities of whiting, sugar, and gamboge
with water sufficient to bring it to the consistence of cream, adding
enough lamp-black to make it of a dark color. With this composi-
tion paint in every part of the design which comes against the back-
ground. Then with a flat camcl's-hair brush, dipped in turpentine
varnish and lamp-black diluted with spirits of turpentine, pass
23 2 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
evenly over every part of the background, taking care not to leave
more on one place than another. Allow it to dry for one hour.
Then cover the plate with water, and in another hour or less every
part you have painted in with the composition will come up, leav-
ing the ground ready for a fresh bite with the acid, whilst the tur-
pentine varnish and lamp-black will effectually stop out every part
uncovered by the composition. Wash the plate clean with water
and wipe it dry.
Stop out every part which is sufficiently strong, and proceed to
your SECOND BITE, for which the acid must remain on one minute
and a half.
The whole plate may be done with the same acid, but in gen-
eral practice we recommend a small portion of strong aquafortis to
be added each bite, by which less time is required, and the work
shows out sharper. Aquafortis which has already been used and is
impregnated with copper should never serve a second "time, as the
work done with it will appear dull, and the grain dingy and indis-
tinct, instead of that silvery clearness which forms the peculiar
charm of the best aquatint engravings. The reader no doubt now
understands that engraving in aquatint is like making an Indian-ink
drawing : each time the aquafortis is put on the plate a fresh tint
is produced, and as each part successively becomes dark enough, it
is stopped out. In this manner a plate is often finished with one
ground bitten about twelve times.
To clean the plate, warm the back with a piece of burning paper,
and the wall will easily come off. Scrape off what wax remains stick-
ing to the plate with the palette-knife. Clean off the varnish with
spirits of turpentine and rag. Oil-rub the plate well, wash it clean
with spirits of turpentine, and send it to the printer's for a proof.
When the plate comes back, oil-rub it thoroughly. Wash it
several times with spirits, rubbing it dry each time with a clean
rag, and, lastly, polish it off with a soft clean dry rag with a very
little whiting, and it will then be ready for a second ground.
APPENDIX. 233
Every second ground ought to be a rebiting ground on those
parts you intend to work upon, and we must here inform our read-
ers that rebiting grounds are those in which the resin granulates in
exactly the same form as the one already bitten in. To do this,
the spirits of wine must contain more resin and be laid fuller, for
which reason a rebiting ground can never be obtained all over the
plate, as when it rebites on the dark parts it will be coarser on the
very light parts, and when a rebite on the light parts it will be
finer, or, as it is termed, a cut grain, on the darks. A strong mag-
nifying-glass is useful to examine peculiarities of the ground. Var-
nish the margin as before, but do not leave any slip : lay in all the
dark parts with the composition ; when dry, varnish evenly as be-
fore directed, put a wall around your plate, and in an hour's time
pour on the water : let it remain till all the composition comes up.
The best and least tedious method of biting in dark touches is
by applying very strong aquafortis with a brush, or feather, hence
technically termed feathering. Mix the strong nitrous acid with
water in equal parts, have ready a basin of water and sponge, and
then apply the acid by means of a feather, or, what is better, a
common camel's-hair brush. No rule can be given for the time of
biting-in, and there is the greatest danger in leaving the aquafortis
on too long, as the ground might thereby be entirely destroyed,
and the plate ruined. The acid corrodes the copper downwards
and side-ways, and so gradually undermines the grains of resin till
they give way, and the part becomes one even hollow incapable of
holding the printing ink, instead of a succession of small holes.
The dark touches being all bit in, there only remain to be finished
the minor details, which are done by etching through a thin coat of
turpentine varnish to which a little white has been added. This
method of laying in fine lines will be found very convenient in
doing the rigging of ships, the lines in architecture, etc.
When any part of the plate is too dark it must be made lighter
by means of burnishing, and this operation may be performed in
234 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
two ways, either with oil and lamp-black, or dry, with very fine
white-lead or oxide of bismuth. In the former method the part to
be burnished is filled in with oil and a little lamp-black : a shade of
tissue-paper is then placed between the plate and the light, in
order to allow the different tints to be more distinctly seen, and
the burnisher is then rubbed with a firm even pressure till the part
is sufficiently light. In this method, though generally used by
almost every engraver, there is the greatest difficulty in distinguish-
ing two tints which are nearly the same strength, and it is only
long practice which will enable any one to burnish a delicate tint
without reducing the strength of the edge of the one next to it,
and so make a white line.
In the second method, the plate is made perfectly clean, and
then filled in with the finest white-lead in powder or oxide of bis-
muth ; the former, however, for general purposes is best, when it
can be had sufficiently fine, as the oxide has a certain greasiness r
which makes it clog the plate ; for fine and very delicate tints r
however, the bismuth will be found more useful, as you can ob-
serve the difference between two tints, however slight, which no
white-lead is capable of showing.
As a plate becomes worn by printing, all the fainter tints are
effaced, so that care should be taken that the first bite is suffi-
ciently strong to allow for it ; for even should it be a little too
strong, if all the other tints are in proportion by printing with a
slacker press, or by adding a little white to the ink, it may easily
be brought down to a proper standard.
Whenever one part of a plate is generally too dark, instead of
burnishing, the quickest way is to rub it down with the oil-rubber
and washed flour of emery, or a piece of flannel stretched over the
finger in place of the oil-rubber : if this is not found sufficiently
expeditious, the paper prepared with washed flour of emery, after
it has been first rubbed on a piece of copper to take off the rough-
ness and prevent its scratching, will reduce even the coarsest
grounds very rapidly.
APPENDIX. 235
There are few who have not seen and admired the lithographic
drawings by Harding and others, which have been published within
the last few years, and which, by employing a second stone to give
the broad flat tints and high lights, imitate in the most perfect
manner pencil sketches on colored paper with the lights laid in with
white chalk or paint.
In the same manner sepia or Indian-ink sketches on colored
paper may be equally well imitated in aquatinta, with this advan-
tage, that as with the second stone only about six different degrees
of strength of color are obtained, with the second plate as many as
twelve can be produced, if the color in which it is printed is not
too light.
We shall conclude our account of aquatinta engraving by
strongly advising every one who wishes to excel in this art to prac-
tise featJicring and the use of the acid with the brush as much as
possible, not only for dark touches, but for all those parts where a
gradation of tint is required, as clouds, mountains, etc., especially
if dark, as a plate may be executed in this way with half the num-
ber of bites, and look much richer than when worked in the ordi-
nary way.
MEZZOTINTO.
Mezzotinto engraving was most probably invented by Ludwig
von Siegen, a lieutenant-colonel in the service of the Landgrave of
Hesse, as there is a portrait by him of Amelia Elizabetha, Princess
of Hesse, dated 1643. He is said to have communicated his inven-
tion to Prince Rupert, to whom the honor of it has been fre-
quently but unjustly ascribed.
The process of Mezzotint engraving consists in passing over
a plate of steel or copper an instrument called a cradle, by which
a burr is raised on every part of the surface in such quantity that
if filled in with ink and printed, the impression would be one
mass of the deepest black. On the plate so prepared the lights
236 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
and middle tints are burnished or scraped away, leaving it un-
touched for the darkest shades.
The instruments used in mezzotinto engraving consist of bur-
nisher, Plate I, Figs. 3 and 4 ; scrapers, Figs. 2 and 7 ; roulettes of
different kinds, Figs. 9 and 11 ; shading tools, Fig. 10 ; and a cradle,
or rocking tool, which is the same shape as the shading tool, and is
used in laying grounds. The use of the roulette, Fig. n, is to
darken any part which may have been scraped away too much, and
ought to be of different sizes. Roulettes of the form of Fig. 9 are
used for making dotted lines.
Formerly it was the custom to finish plates entirely in mezzo-
tint, and most beautiful engravings have been produced in this
style. At present, however, the outline of the subject is almost
always laid in with a strong bold etching, somewhat resembling
chalk engraving, and this serves to destroy that excessive softness
which was formerly so much complained of. Indeed, so general
has the practice of introducing lines and dots to express the differ-
ent kinds of texture in objects become, that no plate is ever exe-
cuted at the present day in pure mezzotint alone*
When the outline is etched, the ground must be laid, an opera-
tion which is performed in the following manner : The plate is
divided equally by lines parallel to each other, and traced out with
very soft chalk. The distance of these lines should be about one
third of the face of the cradle which is to be used, and these lines
should be marked with capital letters or strokes of the chalk. The
cradle is then to be placed exactly betwixt the two first lines, and
passed forwards in the same direction with them, rocking it from
side to side, and proceeding till every part of the plate between the
* We consider this a great misfortune, for no one can examine the beautiful pure
mezzotints of Earlom, Green, Houston, and other masters of this branch of the art,
who flourished in the latter part of the eighteenth and the beginning of the present
century, without regretting that this species of engraving has not received greater
attention of late years. Perhaps, however, it is satisfactory to reflect that genius
such as inspired these artists now finds development in other forms and methods of
expression.
APPENDIX. 23?
lines is covered with a burr. The same operation must be re-
peated with respect to all the other lines till the instrument has
passed over every part of the plate, care being taken to press stead-
ily and firmly upon the tool.
Other lines must be drawn then from the other two sides in the
same manner, which, intersecting the first at right angles, will form
them into squares. The same operation must be repeated with the
cradle between each row of lines as before. New lines must then
be drawn diagonally, and the cradle passed between them ; and
when the first diagonal operation is performed, the lines must be
crossed at right angles, and the cradle passed between them in the
same manner. The plate having undergone the action of the cra-
dle according to the disposition of the first order of lines, a second
set must be formed, having the same distances from each other as
the first ; but they must be so placed as to divide those already
made into spaces one third less than their whole width that is, every
one after the' first on each side will take in one third of that before ;
for instance, beginning at A, of which the first third must be left
out, the third of B will consequently be taken in, and so of the
rest. These lines of the second order must be marked with small
letters or lesser strokes, in order to distinguish them from the first ;
and the same treatment of the plate must be pursued with respect
to them as was practised with the others. When this second op-
eration is finished, a third order of lines must be drawn, the first of
which, for instance in A, must omit two thirds of it, and conse-
quently take in two thirds of B, etc. By these means the original
spaces will be exactly divided into equal thirds, and the cradle
must be again employed between these lines as before. When the
whole of this operation is finished, it is called one turn ; but in
order to produce a very dark and uniform ground the plate must
undergo the repetition of all these several operations, until a
ground has been produced that will print a perfectly black tint.
When the subject is traced on to the plate, the work is com-
238 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
menccd by scraping and then burnishing the highest lights, after
which the next lightest parts are scraped away, and so on, proceed-
ing gradually from light to dark, leaving for the deepest shades the
ground untouched.
We have already spoken of etching in the outline, which we
must here remark is a very delicate operation, for if too strong it
will appear spotty and dirty in the light parts, and if too feeble it
will be entirely lost when the ground is laid. It is therefore more
advantageous to do nothing, before the ground is laid, but the mere
outline, and then when the burnishing and scraping are nearly
finished, to cover the plate with a thick coat of transparent etch-
ing-ground. On this lines are etched to give texture to the differ-
ent parts, and of course ought to be varied as in line engraving,
according to the nature of the object represented, making use of
clean-cut lines for polished surfaces, irregular broken lines for
earth, etc. ; in short, whatever may best express the texture of the
substance upon which they are placed. This depends in a great
measure on the natural taste of the engraver ; but the best method
for the learner is to observe the works of the best engravers, not
only in mezzotint, but also in line ; more particularly good etch-
ings, by which he will see how any object may be best represented.
Wood engravings will also be useful.
Almost every engraver has his own style of working, and it is
extremely difficult to say where such and such lines ought to be
used. Many artists use a great number of different kinds of rou-
lettes for more readily etching in the dotted straight lines on walls,
etc. Some again rely on the needle and graver, as, for instance,
some of the French engravers, but a judicious employment of every
kind of work will be found the best, taking care not to destroy, by
an over-anxiousness to procure texture, the peculiar properties of
mezzotint, where its softness and velvet-like appearance are best
suited to the object.
The great deficiency of mezzotint, when applied to landscape, is
APPENDIX. 239
seen when a clear sky or light foliage is represented. However
well the former may have been executed, it will ever have a misty
appearance when compared with the clear, silvery, and brilliant
tints of aquatint or line engraving ; and we are sorry that the diffi-
culty of procuring an even grain on steel has hitherto prevented
the union of two styles so peculiarly adapted to each other as
mezzotint and aquatint. Might not something be done by cover-
ing steel with an excessively thin plate of copper, which is easily
polished, and on which aquatint ground forms so well ?
Light foliage coming away from a dark background is seldom
well represented in mezzotint, which is too soft and undefined for
the crisp and sparkling isolated lights which are continually, occur-
ring in the leaves of trees. Here again aquatint would be of the
greatest assistance, and this is felt not only in England, but in
France, in which country the author has been continually asked to
lend his assistance, but which has been rendered unavailing on ac-
count of the difficulty above mentioned.
In all the works on engraving which we have consulted, and in
which mezzotint is mentioned, we find an account of printing this
style of engraving in colors by means of different plates, as in-
vented by Le Blon of Frankfort, a pupil of Carlo Marata. Print-
ing in colors, however, is not peculiar to mezzotint, but may be ap-
plied to every style of engraving, as may be seen in oil-color print-
ing from wood blocks, and lithographic printing in colors.
CHALK AND STIPPLE ENGRAVING.
We have preferred to treat these styles of engraving under the
same head, as .the process in each is so much alike that they
scarcely ought to have a different name.
The invention of chalk engraving has been attributed to three
different French artists : G. E. Dcmarteau, J. J. Francois, and
Louis Bonnet, all of whom lived in the first half of the eighteenth
century.
Stipple engraving is said to have been invented by Bylacrt, a
240 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
painter and engraver of Leyden, although dotting is to be seen in
the works of Albert Durer, and almost all the earliest engravers.
It was introduced into England by the unfortunate Ryland, and
brought to perfection by Bartolozzi, since whose time it has been
used with great success in portrait, being particularly well adapted
for the representation of flesh, and we should say for that alone.
The process of stipple engraving is very simple. An etching-
ground being laid on the plate, and the subject transferred to it as
in etching, the outline is laid in by means of small dots made with
the needle, after which all the darker parts are etched likewise in
dots, which ought to be larger and laid closer together for the deep
shades. The work is then bitten in, taking care not to let the
aquafortis remain too long on the middle tints. When the ground
is taken off the plate, all the lighter parts are laid in with the dry-
point or stipple graver, Plate I, Fig. 12, the form of which resem-
bles the common kind, except that the blade bends down instead
of up, thereby allowing greater facility in forming the small dots or
holes in the copper. When a stipple graver is not to be had, a
common graver will do exceedingly well, if its position in the han-
dle be changed, so that the bend which was downwards is now up-
permost : in using it, of course it must be held with the bend down-
wards, the usual position of the handle in the hand being changed.
We have already said that all the lighter parts must be laid in with
the dry-point or graver, which gives much greater delicacy than
can be obtained with the aquafortis : the middle tints also, which
have been but faintly bitten in, must be worked up with the graver,
which will make them softer, and the dark shades strengthened
wherever they may want it, though should these be much too faint
they are better deepened by laying a rebiting ground, as explained in
etching. As every stroke of the dry-point or graver raises a burr
on the plate, it ought to be scraped off occasionally, and the work
recommenced till sufficiently dark. When using the graver, the
plate ought to be placed on a sand-bag, or a button fastened to the
back with wax.
APPENDIX. 241
Chalk engraving is merely the imitation of chalk drawings by
means of stipple engraving, and, like the latter, is a very easy style.
The grain which the chalk leaves on the paper is imitated by irregu-
lar dots of varied forms and sizes, and the whole process is exactly
the same as stipple engraving.
Chalk engraving since the invention of lithography is much less
practised than before, and we trust that the use of chalk as a
material for sketching even the human figure is gradually giving
way to the superiority of its rival, the blacklead pencil. There is
nothing that chalk can execute that cannot be done better and
quicker with a BB blacklead pencil, to say nothing of the dirt and
trouble in forming a point to chalk, and the difficulty of fixing the
drawing when done.
WOOD ENGRAVING.
The greatest uncertainty exists as to the exact time when
wood engraving was first invented, or rather applied to the produc-
tion of pictorial representations. Long before 1423, the earliest
date yet found on any wood-cut, wooden stamps, having figures
in relief, were used to impress on paper and parchment the signa-
tures and marks of kings, nobles, the clergy, merchants, and others ;
and there is no doubt that at a very early period the illuminators of
manuscripts often made use of a stamp to form their ornamented
capital letters, and they may therefore claim in some measure the
credit of inventing wood engraving, though Mr. Jackson, in his
splendid work on this division of the art, attributes the discovery to
the German card-makers, who used wooden stamps to form the
outline of their figures, which were aftenvards colored by means of
stencilling.
The limits of our work will not allow us to pursue any further
the history of wood engraving ; to tell how it rose to eminence in
the time of Albert Diirer ; how it gradually declined during the
seventeenth century ; or how, towards the end of the eighteenth,
the rare talents of Thomas Bewick restored it to its former excel-
242 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
lence. For these details we must again refer the reader to " A
Treatise on Wood Engraving," by John Jackson, a work which
ought to have a place in every library, and which no wood engraver
who has any love for his profession should be without. The pro-
cess of wood engraving is exactly the reverse of engraving on steel
or copper, in which the portions of the print required to be left
white remain untouched, while the black and tinted parts are pro-
duced by a series of lines cut out of the metal with the graver ;
whereas in wood the black and tinted portions are left even with
the surface, and the white parts are cut out. Whilst the engraver
on steel produces his effect by a series of incised lines, the wood
engraver cuts away only that part not intended to print.
In printing wood blocks it is necessary that the ink used should
be of a composition much thicker than that employed in the pro-
duction of prints from engravings on copper or steel, in order that
if may lie upon the surface of the block without filling up the hol-
lows. The manner in which type is printed is so well known that
it is only necessary to say that the printing of wood blocks is ex-
actly similar, and generally done at the same time, as they are
chiefly used in the illustration of books.
There are three kinds of wood used in this style of engraving :
Sycamore, Pear, and Box, the two former being only used for large
coarse cuts, such as are often seen at the head of play-bills, as they
are too soft to admit of fine lines being engraved upon them.
Boxwood is grown in England, and though not so large as that
imported from America or the Levant, is equally good, or perhaps
better, as being more rarely of a red color, which is a certain sign
of softness and of course unfitness for fine work, for which the
smallest log should always be chosen, those blocks which are of a
clear yellow color all over being the best. This, however, is very
difficult to obtain, as almost always the centre of the tree is of a
deeper yellow than the outside, which is in general whitish and
much softer.
Box is purchased in small trunks varying from four to twelve or
APPENDIX.
243
fourteen inches in diameter, and from two to five feet in length ;
they are cut into slices of about seven eighths of an inch in thick-
ness, the same as that of type, in order that the engraving may
be printed simultaneously with the letter-press. These slices, after
being cut from the trunk, are laid by for a period varying, according
to circumstances, from twelve months to two years, to ensure their
being properly seasoned.
To prepare a block for drawing, nothing more is requisite than
to cover the smooth surface with a thin coating of Bath-brick
finely powdered and mixed with a little water, which when dry is
to be removed by rubbing it off with the palm of the hand. This
gives a certain degree of roughness which makes the blacklead pen-
cil mark more freely on the block. Drawings on wood are exe-
cuted in two different styles : one in which the principal flat tints
are laid in in Indian-ink, and then touched up with a blacklead
pencil ; the other in which every line is drawn exactly as it is in-
tended to be produced in the engraving.
The tools used by wood engravers are gravers, tint tools,
scoopers or gouges, chisels or flat tools, and a mezzotint scraper
(see Fig. 7, Plate I) for scraping away the wood in the process of
lowering. The gravers are the same as those used in line engrav-
ing, and vary in form from the square lozenge to the extreme
lozenge.
Six or eight will generally be found sufficient.
244 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
Tint tools are deeper in the sides than gravers, and are used
where a succession of fine parallel lines are wanted. Six will be
found sufficient, those for the broadest lines being about as fine as
the most lozenge graver, and five others growing gradually finer.
Scoopers (Plate I, Fig. 6) are chiefly used for scooping out the
wood from the middle parts of the block, and ought to be of six
different sizes.
Flat tools, chis-
els, or, as they are
sometimes called,
blocking-out tools,
are used for cutting
away those parts of
the block which are
towards the sides
after the engraving is finished.
When the drawing is finished, before the engraver begins to
work upon it, the block ought to be covered all over with hot-
pressed Bath post, except that part where he intends to begin. It
is then placed on a sand-bag, which, being higher in the centre,
allows the block to be turned with more facility, and thereby gives
greater freedom of execution.
We have already said that the fac-simile style is much the easiest
kind of engraving. In this style less judgment and artistical power
are required, as every line is here drawn for the engraver, and all
that is required of him is sufficient mechanical practice to enable
him clearly to cut out those parts which have been Jeft white by
the artist, and leave standing up, sharp and clear, every line in the
APPENDIX.
245
drawing. Thus in the fac-simile style the print of a wood engrav-
ing is little more than an exact representation in ink of the drawing
of the artist.
In all those parts of the drawing which are meant to be ex-
tremely soft and light, the surface of the block should be lowered
before the engraver begins to work upon it. As of course this
operation, which is done with a mezzotint scraper, entirely effaces
those parts of the design on which it is performed, and which the
engraver must either draw in again himself or take it back to the
artist, it is much better that only an outline be made at first, and
the parts to be lowered indicated with tints of white color. The
wood engraver proceeds to lower the block in the necessary places,
and then gives it back to the draughtsman, who finishes his draw-
ing. By these means there is less danger of the drawing being in-
jured during the process, but at the same time it requires that the
artist should perfectly understand the principle of lowering.
It is in those designs which are made on the block with Indian-
ink that the mechanical skill and artistical powers of the engraver
are fully shown. Left almost entirely to himself, the choice of the
kind of work with which he proposes to make out the different
parts of the drawing depends more on his knowledge as a
draughtsman than his skill in handling the graver : for instance, let
an Indian-ink drawing of a fox be given to two engravers, one of
whom shall be eminent for the cleverness with which he can man-
age his tools, and the other very deficient in this respect, but at
the same time more used to the drawing of animals, the latter shall
produce an engraving which, however roughly executed, will have
that resemblance to nature for the want of which no skill or
beauty of execution on the part of the former can compensate.
We have been led to these observations by having lately seen a
work on animals where the subjects badly drawn arc no doubt
made worse by the want of artistical knowledge displayed by the
engraver in his elaborate and careful execution of them.
246 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
As in line engraving, so in engraving on wood, we can give no
rules for the use of such or such lines for expressing certain ob-
jects : it is true we can say that straight parallel lines are best for
indicating blue sky, and waving lines for clouds, but that is about
all we can say. We cannot tell with what lines the engraver
should make out the light leaves of the willow, or the stiff foli-
age of the yew ; the long grass of the meadow left unmown till
autumn, or the clean-cut lawn where not one blade rises higher
than another. These, and almost every other object, each en-
graver will represent after his own manner, and that manner is
best which approaches nearest to nature. We repeat, the best
method for the engraver is to practise drawing from nature in
blacklcad, or pen and ink, those objects which it is his intention to
make the subject of his profession, whether it be landscape, fig-
ures, architecture, or animals.
When the engraving is finished, a proof is obtained in the fol-
lowing manner : With a small silk dabber dipped in printing-ink,
the whole surface of the block is evenly covered by dabbing it with
a light steady hand, and not too much ink, so as not to force it
between the lines. A piece of India paper is next laid on the block
with a card over it to prevent the fine lines from being injured by
the pressure. A burnisher is then rubbed firmly all over, by which
an impression of the work is taken off on to the India paper.
When an injury has happened to any part of the work, the only
remedy is to introduce a fresh piece of wood : for this purpose a
circular hole is drilled nearly through the block, sufficiently large to
cut out the part to be obliterated ; a plug of box is then driven in,
and the part re-engraved.
In engraving on wood by lamplight, a most excellent method is
to place between the work and the lamp a glass globe filled with
clear water, in such a manner that the concentrated rays of light
may fall upon the block. This has the advantage of giving a much
more brilliant light than the lamp itself, and at the same time
APPENDIX. 247
much cooler, as the lamp is at a greater distance. It is also much
more economical, as a single lamp will serve several persons, each
having a globe. We have seen in France four persons working
very comfortably with one candle in the midst of them ; but in
England we do not study economy so much, nor is it so well under-
stood as amongst the nations of the continent. We remember also
to have seen in France a letter engraver make use of clear blue
water, or rather weak aquafortis strongly impregnated with copper,
in his globe, the light through which, he said, was much more
agreeable, clear water being too dazzling.
Chiaroscuro drawings are easily imitated on wood by printing
over the impression of the finished engraving a second block with
the high lights cut out : this, if printed in gray ink, will give the
appearance of a pen-and-ink drawing done on gray paper with the
high light touched in with white color.
LITHOGRAPHY.
Lithography is the art of drawing or writing on stone, though
many restrict the signification of the term to the mere printing or
taking impressions from such drawings or writings. We shall,
however, take it in the former sense, for though we propose to
briefly explain the process of lithographic printing, it is that part
which is executed by the artist which properly belongs to this
treatise.
The process of lithography depends on the facility with which
some kinds of stone absorb either grease or water, and on the nat-
ural antipathy which grease and water have for each other. An
even surface having been given to the stone, a drawing is made
upon it with a greasy chalk. The stone is then wet, and the
printer passes over it a roller covered with printing-ink, which ad-
heres to those parts only which are drawn upon with the chalk ; a
damp paper is then pressed upon it, and receives an impression of
the drawing.
248 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
Lithography was accidentally discovered about the year 1792 by
Alois Senefelder, the son of a performer at the Theatre Royal of
Munich. He was a student of law at the university of Ingold-
stadt, and after his father's death tried a theatrical life, but with-
out success. He then became an author, but being too poor to
publish his works, tried various methods of writing on copper in
order that he might print them himself, and soon found that a
composition of soap, wax, and lamp-black formed an excellent ma-
terial for writing, capable, when dry, of resisting aquafortis. To
obtain facility in writing backwards, as copper was too expensive,
he procured some pieces of calcareous stone, which when polished
served him to practise upon. His mother having one day desired
him to take an account of some linen she was sending to be
washed, he wrote it out on a piece of this stone with his composi-
tion of soap and wax. It afterwards occurred to him 1 that by cor-
roding the surface with acid the letters would stand out in relief,
and admit of impressions being taken from them. He tried the
experiment and succeeded, and soon found that it was not abso-
lutely necessary to lower the surface of the stone, but that simply
wetting it was sufficient to prevent the printing-ink from adhering
to any parts except those which were marked with the composition.
Such was the invention of lithography, and Senefelder contin-
ued to pay unremitting attention to the improvement of the art.
In 1796 pieces of music were printed, and it was perhaps the first
time that lithography became of real use. The difficulty of writ-
ing backwards brought about the invention of the transfer-paper.
In 1799 Senefelder took out a patent at Munich, and soon after
entered into partnership with a Mr. Andre of Offenbach, who pro-
posed to establish presses and take out patents in London, Paris,
and Vienna. He came to London in 1801, with a brother of Mr.
Offenbach, and communicated the new art, then called polyautog-
raphy, to many of our best English artists, who tried it ; but the
continual failures, through want of skill in the printing, and the
APPE?fDIX. 249
difference between German and English materials, caused it to be
abandoned.
Having separated from Mr. Andre, Senefelder went to Vienna,
where he tried to apply lithography to the printing of cottons, but
apparently without success, and he returned to Munich in 1806, in
which year the professor of drawing at the public school at Munich,
Mr. Mitterer, succeeded in multiplying copies of his drawings for
his pupils by lithography. He is also said to have invented the
composition for chalk as now made.
In 1 809 we find Senefelder inspector of the royal lithographic
establishment at Munich, and engaged in printing a map of Ba-
varia, and soon after invented the stone paper, which, however, did
not succeed : it was exhibited in 1823 at London, by a partner of
Senefelder, but its liability to crack by being wet and the pressure
of the press rendered it useless.
Little was done in England after 1806, till its revival in 1817,
since which time it has been gradually improving, till lately it has
acquired still greater powers by the means of employing a second
stone, by which is obtained a perfect imitation of drawings made
on tinted paper, having the lights laid on with white.
In France, also, it was not till the year 1815 that any thing can
be said to have been done in lithography, when Count Lasteyrie
took it up.
The stones used in lithography are calcareous, and readily ab-
sorb grease and moisture, and effervesce with an acid. The best
are from Bavaria, though those of Chateauroux, in France, would
perhaps be found still better were they not so full of spots of a
softer nature ; for it is highly necessary that a stone should possess
the same degree of hardness throughout its entire surface. In
England, stones have been found at Corston, near Bath, which,
though of a coarser grain than the German stone, arc sufficiently
good for writing or transfers.
Stones are prepared for chalk drawings by rubbing two together,
250 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
with a little silver sand and water between them, taking care to sift
it to prevent any large grains from getting in, by which the surface
would be scratched. The upper stone is moved in small circles
over the under one till the surface of each is sufficiently even, when
they are washed, and common yellow sand is substituted for the
silver sand, by which means is procured a finer grain. They are
then again washed clean and wiped dry. We must remark that
the upper stone is always found of a finer grain than the under
one.
To prepare stones for writing or ink drawings, the same process
is used. After being rubbed with the brown sand, it is washed off,
and powdered pumice-stone used instead : the stones are after-
wards washed, and each polished separately with a fine piece of
pumice-stone, or water Ayr-stone. Chalk can never be used on
the stones prepared in this manner.
Exactly the same process is followed in order to clean a stone
that has already been used.
Lithographic ink is composed of
Tallow 2 ounces.
Virgin wax 2 ounces.
Shell-lac 2 ounces.
Common soap 2 ounces.
Lamp-black \ an ounce.
"These materials are prepared in an iron saucepan with a
cover. The wax and tallow are first put in and heated till they
ignite ; whilst they are burning the soap must be thrown in in
small pieces one at a time, taking care that the first is melted be-
fore a second is put in. When all the soap is melted, the ingredi-
ents are allowed to continue burning till they are reduced one third
in volume. The shell-lac is now added, and as soon as it is melted
the flame must be extinguished. It is often necessary, in the course
APPENDIX. 251
of the operation, to extinguish the flame and take the saucepan from
the fire, to prevent the contents from boiling over ; but if after the
process above described any parts are not completely melted, they
must be dissolved over the fire without being again ignited.
The black is now to be added, having previously mixed it with
thick varnish, made by heating linseed-oil till it will ignite from the
flame of a piece of lighted paper, and allowing it to burn till
reduced to one half. When it is completely dissolved, the whole
mass should be poured out on a marble slab, and a heavy weight
laid upon it to render its texture fine."
The utmost care and experience are required in the making
both of the ink and chalk, and even those who have had the great-
est practice often fail. Sometimes it is not sufficiently burned,
and when mixed with water appears slimy ; it must then be re-
melted and burned a little more. Sometimes it is too much
burned, by which the greasy particles are more or less destroyed :
in this case it must be remelted and a little more soap and wax
added. This ink is for writing or pen drawing on the stone. The
ink for transfers should have a little more wax in it.
Lithographic chalk is made of
Common soap i ounce.
Tallow 2 ounces.
Virgin wax 2 ounces.
Shall-lac I ounce.
Lamp-black \ of an ounce.
The manner of mixing the ingredients is exactly the same as in
preparing the lithographic ink.
Transfer-paper is made as follows :
Dissolve in water half an ounce of gum tragacanth. Strain it,
and add one ounce of glue and half an ounce of gamboge. Then
take of
252 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
French chalk 4 ounces.
Old plaster of Paris ^ an ounce.
Starch I ounce.
Powder and sift them through a fine sieve ; grind them with the
gum tragacanth, glue, and gamboge ; then add sufficient water to
give it the consistence of oil, and apply it with a brush to thin
sized paper.
The drawing or writing being made on the prepared side of this
paper, is transferred to the polished stone (which must be warmed
to about 125 Fahrenheit) by being wet at the back and placed
with the face downward on the surface. The stone is then passed
four or five times under the press, and the paper, being damped,
is taken off, when the writing will be found transferred from the
paper on to the stone. This process is extremely useful for maps
and plans, etc., where expedition and economy are required.
The subject intended to be drawn ought to be traced on to the
stone in red, as the lines will more readily be distinguished from
those of the lithographic chalk, and in this operation, as well as all
others, the greatest care must be taken not to lay the fingers on
any part of the stone intended to be worked upon, as the insensible
perspiration of the hand will be sufficient to print. If in speaking,
also, the smallest speck of saliva should fall upon the stone, it will
prevent the chalk from adhering to it, and make a white spot.
The subject may also be drawn on the stone with a soft black-
lead pencil, but we do not recommend it, as the similarity of color
occasions frequent mistakes as to which is chalk or which is black-
lead, so that parts where the pencil has been are frequently left un-
touched by the chalk through this mistake.
When the tracing is made, a bridge is placed over the stone to
prevent the hand from touching it, and the work is commenced
exactly in the same way as in making a drawing with a BBB black-
lead pencil on smooth paper, with this difference, that lithographic
APPENDIX. 253
drawing requires a greater degree of firmness to make each stroke
tell ; for if sufficient strength be not employed to make the chalk
adhere firmly to the stone, it will come off in places in the prepara-
tion, and spoil the whole. The execution of the details, where
nothing but lines are wanted, is extremely simple, but when a flat
tint is required considerable practice is necessary to lay it even,
and it is only to be done by continually working in different direc-
tions a great many times with faint strokes. This operation is so
extremely tedious that many artists who are in the habit of work-
ing on stone employ an assistant to do all the flat tints.
Whenever a light is wanted, it may either be left or scraped out
with a scraper : the last method is best whenever a thin white line
is wanted, or such lights as the foam of the sea.
If any part is made too dark, the only remedy is to pick out the
chalk with a very fine needle till it is reduced to the requisite
strength.
When the drawing is finished, it is prepared for printing by
etching-in, which operation consists in pouring over it aquafortis,
diluted in the proportion of one part acid to one hundred parts of
water. The stone is placed in a sloping direction, and when the
aquafortis has run over it, it is turned so that the acid may run
back again, producing a slight effervescence : the drawing on the
stone is then washed with water, and afterwards weak gum-water is
poured over it. The use of the acid is to destroy the alkali in the
lithographic chalk, making the stone refuse the printing-ink except
where touched by the chalk : the gum-water helps to fill up
the pores, and thereby prevents the lines of the drawing from
spreading. The proportion of acid in the water should always be a
little stronger for drawings made with ink than those made with
chalk.
When the stone is not too wet, the roller charged with printing-
ink is passed over it, and the stone is ready for printing.
To etch on stone, a highly polished one, such as is used for
254 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
writing on, is prepared by pouring over it the aquafortis as men-
tioned above, which is immediately washed off. As soon as dry,
cover it with gum-water and lamp-black, which must also dry, when
it is ready to etch upon.
In etching, you make use of a needle as in etching on copper,
with this difference, that you merely cut through the gum, the lines
that are to be dark being obtained by a broader point, and not by
pressing deeper into the stone : when the etching is finished, it is
rubbed all over with linseed-oil, and the gum washed off with
water. Let it be remembered that the line in this style of work
looks much thicker than it will print.
Wood-cuts maybe imitated on stone by covering with ink those
parts which are meant to be black, as in middle tint, and then
scratching out the lights with an etching-needle, whilst those lines
which come against a white background are best laid in with a
very fine brush and lithographic ink.
Very beautiful effects are produced in lithography by employ-
ing a second stone, and thus pencil sketches on colored paper
touched up with white are imitated in the most perfect manner.
The method is as follows :
Take wax 2 parts.
soap i part.
And a little vermilion to color it. Melt it in a saucepan, and cast
it into sticks. Rub this composition with water till it is as thick as
cream, and then cover with it a polished stone such as is used for
writing upon. An impression of the first stone is applied to the
stone so prepared, and the parts intended to be white are then
taken out entirely with the scraper, whilst those intended for half
tints are scraped somewhat less, so that by this method half a
dozen tints are obtained. The manner of printing is, first to take
an impression of the second or tint stone in any color the artist
APPENDIX. 255
may think will best suit his subject ; on this impression the first
stone is printed in black, the greatest care being taken by marks in
the first stone that the two impressions fit exactly, otherwise the
effect will be entirely spoiled.
Another method is, after an impression has been taken from the
first stone to the second, to cover the bright lights, which are to be
left white, with thick gum-water and a little vermilion. The whole
is then covered by rubbing a stick of the composition all over it
very thick, after which the superfluous composition is scraped off
with the straight edge of a piece of ivory or horn, and what
remains well rubbed in with a piece of the finest woollen cloth
stretched over the end of an oil-rubber which has never been used.
In performing this operation, a fresh place in the cloth should be
laid over the end of the oil-rubber after each stroke, which should
be carried the whole length of the stone, and the greatest care
taken to leave on, or rather rub in, to the stone the same quantity
of composition on every part, so as if printed it would give one
even tint all over the impression.
The next thing is to procure the different degrees of middle
tint, which is to be obtained in two different ways. First, where a
defined edge is not wanted the composition is to be rubbed off
with the woollen cloth, and this method is extremely useful for
clouds, and to soften the hard edges of the positive whites which
have been laid in with gum. In this way also the gradation of
evening skies are executed.
In the second method all the middle tints, which have a defined
edge, must be scraped up very carefully, otherwise they will be
uneven. The scraper may also be advantageously used to soften
the positive lights.
When only one tint with the edges of the lights not softened is
required, the quickest method is to lay in the white touches with
gum, as before directed, on the tint stone, after the impression of
the first stone is transferred to the stone intended to print the col-
256 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
ored tint, and then send it to the printer, who, by passing the roller
two or three times over it, will give it a tint, which, if necessary,
may be softened at the edges of the white places, or have fresh
lights taken out afterwards with the scraper.
Drawings are now made on zinc plates : the operation is then
called zincography ; and the most beautiful work, quite equal to
lithography, is produced by it. At the same time the great porta-
bility of zinc plates, when compared with the ponderous stones re-
quired for large drawings in lithography, would always cause them
to be preferred, were it not for the circumstance that nothing that
is once done can be effaced and again retouched, nor can we take
out the lights, which on zinc plates ought always to be left.
These difficulties render zincography only fit to be practised by
an artist certain of his work and of what he intends to do : in such
hands it has this great advantage, that the faintest line, which in
lithography would perhaps be effaced in the etching in, is certain
to print.
Although, throughout this work, we have purposely abstained
from entering into those details which belong exclusively to the
printer, still we think we ought not to omit the following extracts
from the Magazine of Science.
If the drawing should run smutty the following mixture for
cleaning the drawing, while printing, must be used : Take equal
parts of water, spirits of turpentine, and oil of olives, and shake
them well together in a glass phial until the mixture froths ; wet
the stone, and throw this froth upon it, and rub it with a soft
sponge. The printing-ink will be dissolved, and the whole drawing
will also disappear, though, on a close examination, it can be dis-
tinguished in faint white lines. On rolling it again with printing-
ink the drawing will gradually reappear as clear as at first.
Accidents sometimes occur in the printing from the quality of
the paper. If the paper have been made from rags which have
been bleached with oxymuriatic acid, the drawing will be incurably
APPENDIX, 257
spoiled after thirty impressions. Chinese paper has sometimes a
strong taste of alum ; this is so fatal as sometimes to spoil the
drawing after the first impression.
When the stone is to be laid by after printing, in order that it
may be used again at a future period, the drawing should be rolled
in with a preserving-ink, as the printing-inks when dry would be-
come so hard that the drawings would not take the ink freely.
The following is the composition of the preserving-ink : Two
parts of thick varnish of linseed-oil, four parts of tallow, one part
of Venetian turpentine, and one part of wax. These must be
melted together ; then, four parts of lamp-black very carefully and
gradually mixed with it, and it must be preserved for use in a close
tin box.
CONTEMPORARY
ETCHING AND ENGRAVING.
CONTEMPORARY ETCHING AND ENGRAVING.
THE present has been called an aggressive age. In nothing is
it more truly so than in matters of art. With the beginning of the
nineteenth century classicism seems to have died in the affections
not only of the artist, but of the art-appreciating public. The liv-
ing generation is no better satisfied with the studied formalities in
which its fathers delighted, than with the measured classical versi-
fication they esteemed as poetry. This is an age which calls for
striking results rapidly and promptly attained, and art has taken
forms in harmony with the romantic impetuosity of the century.
Men's thoughts travel quickly, and strike at the essence of things.
Time seems too short for art ; therefore art has to condense
itself, and appeal to its patrons in forms which shall arrest their
attention. We find the student, who half a century ago would
have been sent to Italy to perfect his education by a careful study
of ancient classic art and the old masters, hastening hither and
thither over the world. In the far East, one transfers the richness
of Oriental color and imagination to his canvas. Another ex-
plores the Arctic regions of the globe, or wanders amid the lofty
mountain-ranges of the tropics in search of new and striking ob-
jects, the portrayal of which shall attract the attention and cater to
the demand /or novelty. In art, as in literature, the craving of the
people is for sensationalism.
With these facts in view, is it to be wondered at that lovers of
true art regarded with despair the possibility of any revival of the
262 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
art of engraving ? * Yet out of this very disruption of time-hon-
ored systems, from this rebellion against the set rules of the classic
schools, have arisen new forms of art whose influence is now only
commencing to be felt. It is not a revival, but a new era, inaugu-
rated in France, where under existing circumstances only could it
have originated.
Victor Hugo and his school helped to accomplish in literature
what such artists as Rousseau, Daubigny, and Corot did for paint-
ing. Such men do not find it necessary to draw inspiration from
the ends of the earth. They see that Nature has provided more
than abundant material near at hand, and a close intimacy with
and study of her enables them to place her before us in new aspects.
There is no medium so well adapted to the spirit of such a
school of art as etching. It has no rival in the rapidity with which
the varied effects of Nature can be seized and transmitted to the
copper, and in the boldness as well as delicacy of execution of
which it is susceptible.
The painting of the three artists referred to is oftentimes like
etching in its qualities. The charm it possesses is not found in the
importance of the subjects treated, for these are often of the most
trivial character : a foreground with perhaps a pool or a morass ; a
cluster of trees beyond, underneath or through whose branches is
a luminous effect of light or sunset, and the whole pervaded with
an atmosphere whose subtle charm cannot be analyzed. The
colors are subdued, the tones low but harmonious. The whole
is suggestive, so that the beholder realizes that although the artist
has grasped much of what he saw, he has left much more for the
imagination to feed upon. Such paintings as these are executed in
the true spirit of etching, and transition from the brush to the
needle seems natural and easy.
Rousseau, Daubigny, and Corot were not great either as engrav-
* We use the word Engraving in its broadest sense, as comprising Etching, as well
as Engraving in its various branches.
CONTEMPORARY ETCHING AND ENGRAVING. 263
ers or etchers, but are cited as embodying the characteristics of the
contemporary school of art. Both Daubigny and Corot executed
plates, some of which will be referred to further on.
All the greatest etchers of the past centuries were also masters
in painting.
Mr. Hamerton, in his work " Etching and Etchers," has given a
most exhaustive analysis of the art, with a critical appreciation of
the best masters of the present century, and the reader is referred
to his book as by far the best published on the subject. As an
Englishman, he naturally devotes a large space to the consideration
of the works of his countrymen. The English school, however,
appears in its best work to be in a great degree the offspring of the
French. At the same time it might be claimed that both have
been inspired by the works of Rembrandt.
At this time the French school stands at the head, and, with the
exception of Seymour Haden, there is no one now in England
who can be ranked as above mediocrity, unless it be Whistler.
The German school is advancing rapidly, and bids fair to take a
higher rank than it now occupies. The art is also practised to
some extent in Spain. In the United States it is but in its incipi-
ent stages ; but there is no reason why it should not attain a devel-
opment here enabling us to take a place with the best the world
can produce.
The American mind is especially adapted to the expression of
art in this form, and, with the encouragement offered by the con-
stantly increasing numbers of collectors and purchasers, it will no
doubt attain to a development at once rapid and vigorous. The
scenery of this continent in its variety and picturesqueness furnishes
ample material and scope to artistic genius.
Pure line engraving is not neglected, although meeting with less
hearty appreciation than in the days of Raphael Morgan, and Sir
Robert Strange, whose works are sought for more ardently than
ever, and constantly increasing in price.
264 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
To aid the collector to select with discrimination from the works
of contemporary etchers and engravers, we give the names of some
of the principal artists of the different schools or nationalities, and
their most desirable productions. By contemporaries are meant,
not only living artists, but those who have flourished within the past
fifty years.
THE FRENCH SCHOOL.
CHARLES MERYON.
M6ryon was one of those erratic geniuses who, like many
others before him, died in obscure misery, but left a precious
legacy in his works. During his life, however, or until nearly its
close, he was neither famous nor appreciated. Born in Paris in
1821, he struggled for livelihood as an engraver's drudge, and
what he produced in his riper years was the result of a pure love
of his art, unstimulated by popular recognition or pecuniary return.
He died in the madhouse at Charenton in 1868. Some of his
finest plates were produced in the midst of despair and penury,
when he seems to have turned to his art for solace. His subjects
are all taken from the familiar surroundings of his Parisian life,
and, like Michel, who wandered alone in the suburbs of Mont-
martre with his canvas and colors, Meryon sought the sombre and
quaint old buildings of the Paris of the past, which, in their contrast
to the gayer and happier quarters of the city, supplied the nourish-
ment for his morbid appetite. He labored at reproducing these
monuments of the past with an intensity of thought and imagina-
tion, which surrounded them with an interest unfelt before. His
principal plates are as follows, viz. :
" Eaux-Fortes sur Paris, par C. M6ryon, MDCCLII." Height,
; Width, 5.
"A Reinier, dit Zeeman, peintre et eau-fortier." H. 7;
CONTEMPORARY ETCHING AND ENGRAVING. 265
To the artist "painter of sailors," one of whose plates had
helped to inspire Meryon with the love of the architecture of cities.
"Old Gate of the Palais de Justice." H. 3! ; W. 3^. The
Palais faces us, its round towers flanking the gate.
First state. Before all letters.
Second state. With " Paris, C. Meryon f. it MDCCCLIV.
Imp. rue N. S. Etienne du Mont, 26."
" Qu'ame pure Gemisse." H. 2^; W. i^. Verses begin-
ning thus, and bewailing the life of Paris.
" Arms of Paris." H. 5^; W. 4 T 4
" A Sunset in Ireland." Early state, sold for 5 $s.
" Early Morning, Richmond Park." Sold for 4-
" Kew Side." A trial proof was sold for .10 IO.T.
" A River in Ireland." A copy in first state sold for 9.
The plates named do not by any means comprise all that have
been executed by Haden, but are some of those most esteemed. In
the ordinary or later states of impression the prices realized at
auction are lower than those quoted above, which are given not so
much as a guide to the collector as an indication of the estimate
placed upon these prints by collectors.
J. M. W. TURNER.
A notice of the English school of etching and engraving
would be incomplete without the mention of the name of Turner.
By the present generation of his countrymen he is regarded as the
greatest painter in landscape England has ever produced, and his
works sell at fabulous and constantly increasing prices.
He will doubtless always occupy a high place in the artistic
annals of his country ; but it is probable that many of his pictures,
and especially those executed in the latter part of his long and
busy life, will cease to attract the attention now bestowed upon
them.
It is not, however, as a painter that Turner is to be considered
in this notice, but as an engraver. He executed and published a
series of copper-plates known as the " Liber Studiorum." These
plates are neither etchings nor engravings, but a union of both
CONTEMPORARY ETCHING AND ENGRAVING. 281
these methods. He etched in his thoughts, and created lights and
shadows by means of mezzotint.
When first published they met with comparatively no favor
from the public, and quantities of the earlier impressions are said
to have been used to kindle fires.
Turner's engravings are printed in brown ink, in imitation of
sepia, after the manner of Claude's " Liber Veritatis." Much of
the work is so delicate, that in order to fully appreciate the merit
of these prints, it is necessary to see them in the earliest states of
impression. They are now difficult to procure, and costly.
Were Turner known to the world as the author of this series of
engravings only, it is curious to speculate what would have been
its judgment respecting them, uninfluenced by the lustre shed upon
them by his great works in painting.
It is difficult to give any very correct idea of the market value
of Turner's etchings, but a few quotations from a late sale at
Sotheby's, in London (June, 1879), may be of service :
" The Hindoo Worshipper." (The pure etching) sold for
2 los.
" Windmill and Lock." Etching, 4 4*.
" Inverary Pier, Loch Fyne." Etching, 4 gs.
" Water-Mill." 4.
" Crypt of Kirkstall Abbey." 4.
" The Mildmay Sea Piece." Second state of the etching, ,2 5$.
" Mer de Glace, Valley of Chamouny." 4 6s.
" Solitude." 4.
" Dumblaine Abbey, Scotland." 3 3*.
282 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
" Bonneville, Savoy." 2 i$s.
"^Esacusand Hesperie." 3 i$s-
" East Gate, Winchelsea." S.
"Isis." $.
4 The Felucca." (One of the early impressions of an unpub-
lished plate),
In Turner's house, after his death, were found some mezzotint
copper-plates, from which a number of impressions were printed.
For these, which are considered as the earliest states, the fol-
lowing prices have been realized at sales :
" Thunderstorm at Sea." 3 $s.
" Thunderstorm, with View of a Town." 3 los.
" Calm, Study of Clouds and Sea." 2 los.
" Hereford." 4. 43.
" Two Boats Taken in a Squall." ^3 ?s. 6d.
Among the noted artists of the English school were Sir David
Wilkie, Geddes and Samuel Palmer, who etched plates worthy of
especial mention, although their works are few.
Wilkie's etchings are seven in number, all figure-subjects, and
mostly dry point. Those of Geddes are also few in number and
executed in dry point.
Samuel Palmer etched six plates of great merit. His work re-
sembles mezzotint, although apparently done entirely with the
needle and bitten with acid.
CONTEMPORARY ETCHING AND ENGRAVING. 283
SPANISH ARTISTS.
ANY account of modern etchers would be incomplete without
some mention of such artists as Francisco Goya and Mariano
Fortuny.
It would be difficult to imagine a greater contrast than is exhib-
ited between the works of Murillo and Velasquez, and those of
Goya and Fortuny. The former lived under the old regime, and
were guided by the same influences which gave to the world the great
Italian and Spanish masterpieces of the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries ; those earnest and serious works, appealing to the high-
est sentiments which religion and poetry in art are capable of in-
spiring. In the works of the latter we have an exemplification of
what emancipation of thought, revolutions and scepticism can
do for art. In the case of Goya it was more than this ; it was a
degeneration into license worthy of the epoch of the great revolu-
tions in Europe, which overturned monarchies and inaugurated the
reign of political and moral disorder.
Goya was born in 1746 and died in 1828. His talent as a painter
is acknowledged, and as an etcher he is bold and vigorous as he
is incomprehensible. The work of M6ryon, weird and replete as it
is with the vagaries of a vagabond imagination, is tame when com-
pared to the artistic ravings of Goya. It is difficult to describe
them or their incoherencies. At the same time, their claim as ar-
tistic productions cannot be disputed, nor his name effaced from
the catalogue of Spanish artists. He etched street scenes, vaga-
bonds, bull-fights, and the darkest scenes in which Spanish human
nature can be supposed to figure. The series of eighty plates known
as the " Caprichos " comprise subjects of all classes, from the pa-
thetic to the demoniacal. Many of them are puerile in their exe-
cution, while others are works of a high order of genius. They are
etched in a coarse, black manner, with vigorous lights and the
blackest of shadows.
284 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
The set of the " Caprichos " sells for from ten to twenty pounds,
according to their condition.
He also etched a series of eighty plates, " Los desastres de la
Guerra," a set illustrating bull-fights, and a series called " Los Pro-
verbias." Impressions from all of these are found in early states,
and are sought after by collectors.
Fortuny, although one of the most original of the modern ro-
mantic school, is far from possessing the qualities enumerated as
characteristic of Goya. His originality is conspicuous, while his
aspirations are far nobler.
Born in 1838, he succeeded, in his comparatively short life of
thirty-six years, in making his mark in the world of art, and almost
creating a school of his own in Spanish art. He etched a few plates
which entitle him to distinction in this department.
These were published by Goupil, of Paris, a few years since.
Among them are :
" La Victoire et 1'Idylle."
" L'Arabe Veillant le corps de son Ami," and " L'Arab Mort " ;
two large plates, not pleasing in their subjects, but remarkable in
their execution.
"La Tireuse de Cartes."
" Etude Academique."
He also etched several portraits of Velasquez.
The set published by Goupil would be an acquisition to the
portfolio of a collector.
GERMANY, during the present century, has developed compar-
atively little talent in the field of etching. Artists of whom Unger
may be quoted as a type have published many plates after the pic-
tures of the old masters, but these, although extremely faithful and
CONTEMPORARY ETCHING AND ENGRAVING. 285
displaying great talent, give no evidences of originality, and in this
respect nothing produced in that country can bear the slightest
comparison to the genius displayed in the Western parts of Europe.
AMERICAN ETCHERS.
THE art of etching in this country is a matter of the future, and
not of the past or present. Whistler is claimed as an American,
although he both learned and practises his art abroad.
At the present time he resides in London. His etching-needle
has gained for him a wider celebrity than his brush, but both as a
painter and an etcher he is more suggestive than conclusive, if such a
term may be applied to a work of art.
His productions show an impatience of restraint. They are
original, dashing, and vigorous. To such a nature as his appears to
be, a freedom of method and execution are especially congenial.
It is not the province of a narrator to criticise with the view of
correcting the defects which may appear in an artist's work ; and of
Whistler's etchings, while their faults are apparent, there is so much
in them of real merit, that his countrymen may claim him with pride
as their first and greatest artist in this department. In London his
abilities are acknowledged, and, as in the case of every man who is
original and shows much individuality, hostile criticism is excited.
The plates by which Whistler is best known are his views on the
Thames and of Thames life. In addition to these he has executed
a number of figure-pieces, many of them in dry point.
An admirer and collector of his works, Mr. Ralph Thomas, pub-
lished in London, in 1874, a book detailing the etchings done by him
up to that date. The catalogue describes eighty-six plates, and was
probably incomplete at that date. Since then others have been
published. As is the usual custom of modern etchers, first impres-
sions were taken upon special kinds of paper, in various states of
progress, and these early states are, many of them, very rare.
286 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
It remains to say a word in reference to the art as it promises to
be developed in this country. Professional artists are turning their
attention to it and practising it to some degree.
Views of old New York, in its picturesque and primitive build-
ings, have been etched by Henry Farrer and are most creditable
performances. As mentioned in another part of this work, there is
no country more prolific in material attractive to the etcher, and the
growing taste in the community for prints and print-collecting will,
without doubt, encourage further attempts in this direction, and, it
is to be hoped, lead to a development of the art which shall be cred-
itable to us as a nation.
The etching inserted opposite this page is a very creditable performance by an
amateur of New York, Mr. J. F. Sabin.
CATALOGUE OF
DURER'S ENGRAVINGS ON COPPER
AND ETCHINGS.
I.
CATALOGUE OF DURER'S ENGRAVINGS ON COPPER
AND ETCHINGS.
WITH ENUMERA TION OF COPIES.
SUBJECTS FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT.
Adam and Eve. Dated 1504, one of Durer's earliest dated engrav
ings on copper, and one of his most perfect
Copies. (i.) By John Wierix, whose name appears on the table
hanging from the tree, and the date 1568 on the corner.
(2.) By John van Goosen, "Johannes van -" being inscribec
on the tablet after Durer's name.
(3.) Without the tablet, a poor engraving with a death's head on
the ground.
(4.) A small copy.
(5.) Copy by Marc' Antonio, reversed.
(6.) Another Italian copy, also reversed, supposed by Augustino
Veneziano.
(7.) Another Italian copy, by Antonio of Brescia.
SUBJECTS FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT.
The Birth of Christ. The Virgin, with her hands in the attitude ol
adoration, looks down on the Holy Child lying before her.
Dated 1504
Copies. (i.) Very beautiful imitation by Wierix.
(2.) By Adrian Huber, 1514, inscribed.
(3.) Without Durer's tablet, as in the original.
(4.) With the tablet.
THE PASSION, IN SIXTEEN DESIGNS.
Ecce Homo. The Virgin and S. John Looking sadly'at the Suffer-
ing Christ. Dated 1509
Christ on the Mount of Olives. 1508
The Kiss of Judas. 1508
Christ before Caiaphas. 1512
Christ before Pilate. 1512
The Scourging. 1512
The Crowning with Thorns. 1512
Christ Presented to the People (Ecce Homo). 1512
Pilate Washing his Hands. 1512
Bearing the Cross. 1512
Our Lord on the Cross. 1511
Christ Freeing Souls from Hades. 1512
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
ii
12
13
14
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
ii
12
13
14
20X>
THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
The Descent from the Cross. 1507 15
The Entombment. 1512 16
The Resurrection. 1512 17
SS. Peter and John Healing the Cripple. 1513 18
Christ on the Mount of Olives, 1515. This is one of Durer's etch-
ings, or, as they have been called, his " iron-plates." 19
Christ Dying on the Cross, 1508. The holy women at the foot of
the Cross and S. John on the right, with stretched-out hands.
A small plate 20
The Little Crucifix. A circular miniature, little more than an inch
and a half diameter 21
Christ with his Hands Bound, 1512. An Etching, or dry-point
(" iron-plate") 22
Christ Showing his Five Wounds 23
Christ Seated, 1515. The crown of thorns is on the head. Etch-
ing, or rather drypoint. A pewter plate (?) 24
S. Veronica, 1510. A small plate three inches high 25
An Angel Flying with the Cloth exhibiting the Veronica, 1516.
An etching ("iron-plate") 26
Two Flying Angels displaying the Holy Cloth with the Image of
our Lord's face. 1513 27
The Prodigal Son 28
The Virgin and Anna 29
Mary on the Half Moon, without Crown. The Holy Child is sit-
ting on her right arm. Her hair flows behind her 30
Mary on the Half Moon, without Crown, but with date, 1514. She
looks to the right. This print is called by Bartsch the "Virgin
with the Short Hair." 31
Mary on the Half Moon, with the Crown of Stars, 1508 32
Mary on the Half Moon, with the Crown of Stars and Sceptre,
1516 33
Mary Crowned by an Angel, 1520. She sits on a cushion placed on
a bank 34
Marj- Crowned by two Angels, 1518. The Virgin sits looking to the
right, with a crown of roses 35
The Nursing Mary, 1503. The Holy Child is held by the right
hand to the left breast. The tablet, with the year 1503, hangs
behind her on a twig 36
The Nursing Mary, 1519. In this print also the child is held to the
left breast. The Virgin sits on a bank 37
Mary with the Swaddled Child, 1520. She sits on a cushion placed
on a great stone 38
Mary Sitting under a Tree, 1513. She sits on a bank at the foot of
a tree 39
Mary by the Wall, 1514. The Virgin holds the child in both her
arms, he having an apple in his right hand 40
Mary with the Pear, 1511. She sits at the foot of a great tree, in
her right hand a pear 41
Mary with the Monkey 42
The Holy Family with the Butterfly. A larger plate than any other
of the Marienbilds 43
The Holy Family. One of the etchings, or "iron-plates;" or pos-
sibly on a softer metal, done principally with drypoint 44
HELLER.
NO.
THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
291
SAINTS.
S. Philip. He holds in his left hand the long staff with the cross... .
S. Bartholomew, 1523. The knife is in his left hand, a book in his
right ami
HELLER.
NO.
BARTSCH.
NO.
45
46
47
48
49
50
5i
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
4 6
47
48
49
50
58
51
52
63
57
53
54
60
59
61
62
56
55
65
63
71
72
73
69
79
78
77
74
76
S. Thomas, 1514. In his right hand is the instrument of his mar-
S Simon 1523. In his right hand is the saw
S Paul 1514. His left arm supports the open book
S. Anthony, 1519. He sits in the foreground, and reads in a book
held by both hands
S. Christopher, 1521. In this design the saint turns his head as il
to remonstrate with the miraculous burden which weighs him
S. Christopher, same date. In this the Holy Child lays his right
arm on the saint's head, the fingers being in benediction
S. John Chrysostom. The saint creeping on hands and knees to-
wards the left, and in the middle of the composition, at the
mouth of a grotto, a woman nurses a child at her breast
S. Hubert, properly S. Eustachius, no date. The most elaborate ol
all Durer's plates. The size of this plate is only 13! by 10^,
but the elaboration and the detail make it equal to a larger
field
S. George on Foot. His right hand holds a banner with the cross.
S. George on Horseback, 1508. The dead dragon lies along by the
horse's feet
S. Jerome in his Study, 1514. On the foreground lies the lion ;
beside him a curious dog.
S. Jerome. An etching or "iron-plate." The saint sits in a wild
place in a storm of wind and rain
S. Jerome Praying. One of the larger plates upright
The little Praying Jerome. He kneels to a crucifix which is at-
tached to a tree
S. Sebastian bound to a Pillar
S. Sebastian bound to a Tree
MYTHOLOGY AND OTHER SUBJECTS.
Judgment of Paris
Apollo and Diana. Apollo bends his bow, looking to the right. . .
The Rape of Anymone. Called by Durer in his "Journal" a
" Meerwunder." The Triton carries her through the water.. . .
Pluto carrying away Proserpine. An etching, or " iron-plate.". . .
Jealousy. A large plate
The Satyr's Family, 1505. The Satyr advances from the left, play-
ing on a pipe or trumpet
The Vengeance of Justice. It represents a man riding on a lion,
in his right hand a sword in his left cales
The Little Fortune. A naked woman of common type, the back
Temperance ; usually called " The Great Fortune."
Melancholy, 1514
The Dream. A young man sleeps on a bench by the side of a great
stove, while a demon blows into his ear with a pair of bellows.
292
THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
The Four Naked Women, 1497. They stand in a chamber, the
one in the middle having her back to the spectator 74
The Witch. A wild woman rides a 'flying or leaping animal, her
face being towards the left 75
The Three Genii, or Cupids 7
The Bath. An etching, or "iron-plate." Five figures, or rather
studies of figures, naked for the most part 77
Gentleman and Lady Walking. They go towards the left ?8
The Love Offer. A middle-aged man, with a short beard, sits be-
side a young woman 79
The Wild Man Seizing a Woman 80
The Bagpiper, 1514. Small 81
The Dancing Peasants 82
The Peasant and his Wife. They stand looking towards the left. . 83
The Peasant going to Market. He goes to the left, stretching out
his right hand 84
The Three Peasants. They stand together in talk 85
The Cook and the Housekeeper 86
The Turk and his Wife. He is on the left, the woman on the right
of the print 87
The Standard-bearer. A soldier with bare head holding a banner. 88
The Six Soldiers 89
The Little Courier. He gallops to the left, his right hand flourish-
ing a whip 9
The Lady on the Horse 9 1
The smaller War-horse, 1505. The white heavy charger is turned
to the right \ 92
The larger War-horse, 1505. A foot-soldier, holding a halbert,
and with a helmet on his head, steps towards the left 93
The Knight, with Death and the Devil, 1513 94
The Cannon, 1518. A landscape, with a great cannon and two
figures. This is the best of the so-called " iron-plates." 95
The Monster Pig 96
The Shield with the Lion and Cock 97
The Shield of the Death's Head, 1503 98
PORTRAITS.
The smaller Cardinal Archbishop Albert of Magdeburg and Maintz,
1519 99
The larger Portrait of the same J oo
Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony, 1524 z oi
Erasmus, 1526 j J O2
Philip Melanchthon, 1526 103
Bilibald Pirkheimer, 1524 104
HELLER.
NO.
II.
CATALOGUE OF DURER'S WOOD ENGRAVINGS.
OLD TESTAMENT SUBJECTS.
Cain Killing Abel
Samson Killing the Lion
2 2
NEW TESTAMENT SUBJECTS.
Adoration of the Magi, 1511
The Greater Passion: A Series of Twelve. Size, 15 inches by lof.
The Title
The Last Supper, 1510
The Agony in the Garden j?
The Seizing of Christ, 1510
The Flagellation
The Mocking
Bearing the Cross X Q
The Crucifixion IX
Christ taking the First Redeemed from Hades 12
The Bewailing of the Maries 13
The Entombment j.
The Resurrection j ,
The Little Passion : A Series of 37, title included. Size, 5 inches
byaf
The Title l6 l6
Adam and Eve taking the Apple j
The Expulsion from Paradise j
The Annunciation by Gabriel j
The Nativity : Adoration of the Shepherds 2O 2O
The Entry into Jerusalem 2I 21
The Cleansing of the Temple 22 22
Christ taking leave of his Mother before his Passion 2 o 23
The Last Supper 2 .
The Washing of the Feet 2 g
The Agony in the Garden 2 6
The Kiss of Judas 2 7 27
Christ brought before Annas 2 8 28
The High-priest Caiaphas rends his Clothes 29 29
The Mocking in the House of Caiaphas 30 30
Our Lord brought before Pilate 31 31
Before Herod o 2
The Flagellation 33 33
The Crowning with Thorns 34 34
Presented to the People 35 35
Pilate Washing his Hands 36 36
Bearing the Cross 37 37
The Veronica 38 38
Nailing Christ on the Cross, prone on the Ground 39 39
The Crucifixion 40 40
HELLER.
NO.
BARTSCH.
NO.
294
THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
HELLER.
NO.
The Harrowing of Hell 4!
The Descent from the Cross 42
The Weeping of the Maries 43
The Entombment 44
The Resurrection 45
Christ in Glory appearing to his Mother 46
Appearing to the Magdalene 47
At Emmaus . 48
The Unbelief of S. Thomas 40
The Ascension 50
The Descent of the Holy Ghost 5 r
Christ Seated for Judgment 52
The Last Supper, 1523. This is a long-shaped design 53
The Mount of Olives . . 54
Pilate showing Christ to the People. (Not in Bartsch.) 55
The Head of Christ 5 6
The Great Head of Christ. Larger than life 57
Christ on the Cross, 1510 58
Christ on the Cross, 1516 gg
Calvary 60
The Crucifixion 61
Christ on the Cross with Three Angels 62
The Trinity, 1511 63
The Apocalypse of S. John : A Series of 16 Designs, including
Title, 1498, viz. : 64
The attempted Martyrdom of S. John, in a Cauldron of Burning
Oil, under Domitian 65
The Seven Golden Candlesticks and the Seven Stars 66
The Throne of God, with the Beasts and the Twenty-four Elders. 67
The Four Horses with their Riders 68
The Martyrs clothed in White, and the Stars Falling 69
The Four Angels Holding the Winds, and the Multitude who
were Sealed 70
The Seven Angel Trumpeters 71
The Four Angels Slaying the Third Part of Man 72
John is made to eat the Book 73
The Woman clothed with the Sun, and the Seven-headed Dragon. 74
The Archangel Michael fights with the Dragon 75
The Worship of the Seven-headed Dragon and of the Horned Lion. 76
The Lamb in Zion 77
The Woman of Babylon Sitting on the Beast 78
The Angel Imprisoning the Dragon 79
Celebrations of the Virgin. The Life of the Virgin : 20 Designs,
1511, viz. :
Title 80
Joachim's Offering Rejected 81
The Angel of the Lord appears to Joachim with a promise he
shall have a child 82
Joachim returns Home, and Anna meets him at the Golden Gate 83
The Birth of Mary 84
The Virgin ascending the Steps of the Temple 85
The Marriage of Joseph and Mary 86
THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
295
The Annunciation 87 83
The Visitation of Elizabeth 88 84
The Nativity : with the Adoration of the Shepherds 89 85
The Circumcision go 86
The Adoration of the Three Kings 9I 87
The Purification of Mary 9 2 88
The Flight into Egypt 93 89
The Repose in Egypt 94 90
Christ Teaching in the Temple 95 gl
Christ Bidding his Mother Farewell 9 6 g2
The Death of the Virgin, 1510 97 93
The Assumption of the Virgin 9 8 94
A Celebration of the Virgin-mother 99 95
The Holy Family, 1511. An upright composition 100 9 6
The Holy Family, "with the Citbern," 1511 101 9 7
The Holy Family, 1526. 102 98
The Holy Family in a Chamber 103 100
Mary with the Swaddled Child 104
Mary Crowned by two Angels, 1518 105 101
The Holy Family with the Three Rabbits 106 102
SAINTS.
S. Arnolf, Bishop 107
S. Christopher, 1511 108 103
S. Christopher with the Birds 109 104
S. Christopher, 1525 no 105
S. Colman, 1513 m 106
S. Francis receiving the Stigmata 112 1 10
S. George 113 m
The Mass of S. Gregory, 1511 114 123
S. Jerome in a Chamber, 1511 115 114
S. Jerome in the Grotto, 1512 116 113
The Little S. Jerome 117 115
The Beheading of S. John the Baptist 118 125
The Head of the Baptist brought to Herod, 1511 119 126
S. Sebald ; with his foot on a pillar, in his left the model of S. Se-
bald's kirk in Nlirnberg 120 Ap. 22
The Penitent 121 119
The Prophet Elias and the Raven 122 107
SS. John and Jerome 123 112
SS. Nicholas, Udalricus, and Erasmus 124 118
SS. Stephen, Gregory, and Lawrence 125 108
The Eight Austrian Saints 126^ 116
The Martyrdom of the 10,000 in Nicomedia, Bithynia 127" 117
The Beheading of S. Catharine 128 120
S. Mary Magdalene 129 121
Kaiser Max attending Mass 130 App. 31
MYTHOLOGICAL AND NATURAL SUBJECTS.
Judgment of Paris. Very small 131 134
" Hercules" 132 127
The Rider 133 131
HELLER.
NO.
BARTSCH.
NO.
THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
The Bath
HELLER.
NO.
114
BARTSCH.
NO.
128
The Embrace
lie
I-JC
1 16
jaa
Death and the Soldier, 1510
117
n8
117
The Rhinoceros, 1515
I -30
116
The Triumphal Chariot of Kaiser Maximilian I. This is a series of
large blocks, eight in number, engraved by Jerome Rosch
The Triumphal Arch of the Kaiser Max. This is a combination of
ninety-two blocks, making an engraved surface of n feet 3
I4O
I4.I
139
n8
The Great Column with the Satyr, 1517
14.2
I2O
A Man Sketching, another sitting opposite, by means of a square
141
146
144
147
A Man sketching an Urn
I4C
148
A Man sketching a Woman
146
I4Q
Hemispherium Australe
147
ISO
Imagines Coeli Septentrional is
148
151
Imagines Cceli Meridionalis
1 40
151
Six round ornamental Designs, on Black Ground ; supposed pat-
terns for embroidering
I ^O-I^
140-145
A Decoration, with the figures of God the Father holding the cha-
lice in one hand and tables of the law in the other, and Christ
bearing his Cross
156
App. 28
A Title-Border
JC7
A pp. 30
Another Title-Border, for a book published 1526
I8
The Pirkheimer Title-Border
ICQ
HERALDIC PIECES.
160
154
161
1 60
The Shield of Arms of the Nurnberg families Ebner and Furer,
i<;i6. . .
162
App. 45
The Shield of Arms of the Kressen Family
163
161
The Arms of the Town of Niirnberg 1521
164
The Shields of Albert von Scheuerl and of Ann Ziuglin
165
164
Arms of Johann Stabius
1 66
165
The Shield of Stabius with a Border
167
166
The Arms of Lawrence Staiber
1 68
167, 168
The Shield with Three Lions' Heads
1 60
169
170
170
PORTRAITS.
The Emperor Maximilian, 1519. A head nearly the size of life. . . .
171
172
153
*54
Ulrich Varnbuler, 1522. A profile turned to the right
173
155
Albert Durer's Portrait. Inscribed " Albrecht Durerscontrefeyt in
seinem alter Des LVI Tares.". .
174
156
THE WHOLE ETCHED WORK OF
REMBRANDT.
TABLE
OF
THE WHOLE ETCHED WORK OF REMBRANDT
ARRANGED IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER.
*#* The Studies, Sketches, and Portraits are placed first ; then the Scriptural and
Religious Compositions ; General and Fancy Compositions ; and lastly the
Landscapes.
S. followed by a number in the first column to the right refers to Pierre Yvers
Supplement.
Numbers in the Catalogues of
Gersaint
Yver Da-ilby.
De Claussin.
Bartsch.
o
c
Jjj
S
Wilson.
1628
Two small figures, etc., unfinished
340
S. 130
S. 141
138
321
320
S. 133
363
327
365
133
343
342
30
373
335
375
139
354
352
336
123
261
252
106
193
192
230
150
149
129
47
303
MS
35
77
"3
215
210
367
331
369
139
348
347
30
162
179
368
i So
170
in
147
318
12
6
A little bust, a man with a ruff and feathers
Head of a woman ; on the right side of the plate
A man on horseback, etc. (R.H) ...
Bust of an old woman, lightly etched (Rn 1628)
An old woman's head, full face, seen only to the chin
(Rn 1623)
1629
Rembrandt, a bust ; supposed to be engraved on pewter
(RH 1629)
A beggar by the road side ; an old woman in the distance
A dealer in old clothes
Two beggars, a man and a woman coming from behind a
bank (Rn)
158
174
341
175
167
."
S. 53
296
16
7
162
179
364
180
170
109
146
313
12
6
165
182
374
183
<7 :
106
149
3i8
12
6
Two beggars, a half length, and a head
Three profiles of old men
Two beggars, a man and a woman, side by side
A beggar warming his hands over a chafing-dish
St. Jerome; an outline
St. Jerome, seated ; with a large book
1630
A Philosopher with an Hour-glass (Rn 1630)
Rembrandt with a conical cap ; in an oval
Rembrandt, in a fur cap and dark dress. .
300
THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
Numbers in the Catalogues of
Gersaint
Yver Daulby.
De Claussin.
Bartsch.
d
1
1 Wikon.
Bust, the features resembling Rembrandt, with a jewel in
Rembrandt a small head, stooping
6
S. 131
13
18
M
298
294
5
3i
9
13
10
33
29
27
24
307
288
3i3
305
148
159
171
176
3M
161
300
289
291
290
70
55
52
150
58
187
4
324
14
16
5
336
9
13
10
320
310
27
24
3"
291
325
309
151
162
i?4
179
321
164
34
292
294
293
66
5*
48
153
54
190
4
332
14
16
1^2
2O9
221
213
219
214
217
216
205
226
260
28 5
282
283
"5
125
136
142
266
128
265
272
274
273
37
24
21
14
27
155
208
227
225
223
207
5
31
9
13
10
33
29
27
24
312
293
323
310
149
159
171
176
319
161
304
294
295
308
70
56
53
47
59
187
4
34
14
16
120
Rembrandt the plate an irregular octagon (RH)
Rembrandt with very small black eyes
Rembrandt, with an open mouth (Rn 1630)
Rembrandt with an air of grimace (Rn 1630)
Rembrandt with haggard eyes (RH 1630)
Rembrandt a full face laughing (Rn 1630)
Rembrandt, with curly hair, rising into a tuft over his
left eye (RH 1630)
Rembrandt with fur cap and light dress (Rn 1630)
S. it
288
269
304
286
144
155
1 68
172
299
157
280
270
270
284
65
5i
47
146
163!
S.a6f
182
5
S. 127
19
S.g\
21 f
Portrait (unknown) of a man with a broad-brimmed hat
and a ruff 'RH 1630)
An old man a bust shaded only on the right .
An old man with a large beard ; the shoulders rise above
the ears (RH 1630)
An old man with a large beard ; the shoulders lower than
the ears (RH 1630)
An old man with a bushy beard ; a full length (Rn)
A beggar standing and leaning upon a stick
A beggar sitting on a hillock ; with his mouth open (Rn
1610). .
A beggar with a wooden leg
An old man sitting on a chair, and wearing a high cap
(Philon the Jew) (Rit 1630)
Two beggars, a man and a woman conversing (RH 1630)..
Head and bust, full face ; looking from behind a wall
(RH 1630)
Profile of a bald man with a jewelled chain (Rn 1630). . .
Head resembling the last, smaller and more stooping
(RH 1630)
Profile of a man, bald headed, and coarsely etched
Jesus Christ disputing with the Doctors ; a small upright
print (RH 1630)
The Presentation ; with the angel (Rn 1630)
The Circumcision ; a small upright print
Tobit ; seen from behind
A flight into Egypt ; a sketch
A man standing towards the right (RH 1630)
i63i
Rembrandt, with a broad nose
Rembrandt, with bushy hair, and strongly shaded (RH). . .
Rembrandt, with a cap and robe of fur (RH 1631)
Rembrandt, with a round fur cap, full face (Rn 1631)
A young man, full face ; with a low misshapen cap (Rn
1631'). .
THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
301
Numbers in the Catalogues of
06
>
Rembrandt, with a soft round cap ; known as 'L'homme
a trois crocs'
Rembrandt, with a fur mantle or cape (RH 1631)
Rembrandt, with bushy hair (injured with the acid) (RH j
1631.
I
Rembrandt, with bushy hair (the head nearly fills the
plate)
Rembrandt, with bushy hair, and small white collar (RH).
Portrait of Rembrandt, with broad hat and embroidered
mantle (Rn 1631) ,
Rembrandt's mother in a black dress ; a small upright
(RH 1631)
Rembrandt's mother seated, looking to the right (Rn. f.). .
Rembrandt's mother, her hand resting upon her breast
(RH 1631)
Bust of a bald man, leaning forward to the right, with
his mouth open (RH 1631)
Bust of a bald-headed man with a large nose (Rn 1631). .
Bust of an elderly man with a cap and robe of fur (RH
1631)
An old man wearing a calotte edged with fur (Rn 1631). .
Bust of a man turned to the left, with an action of grim-
ace
Head and bust, upright, with bushy beard (Rn 1631)
Bust of an old man with a long beard (RH 1631)
An old man with a large beard ; a square plate (Rn 1631)
Man with a large beard, and low fur cap
An old beggar seated, with a dog by his side (Rn 1631). .
An old woman in a cottage; 'the Onion Woman' (Rn
1631)
An old woman wearing a dark head-dress with lappets
(RH 1631)
A woman in a veil ; the lower part of the plate an irreg-
ular oval
Head and bust, the head nearly filling the upper right of
the plate (Rn 1631)
A beggar in a ragged coat ; in the manner of Callot (Rn
1631)
Small full-length figure of a beggar in a large cloak (Ru
1631)
Lazarus Klap, or the Dumb Beggar (Rit 1631)
Two Venetian figures
A beggar with a crippled hand ; in the manner of Callot
A beggar woman, with a leathern bottle
A beggar sitting in an elbow chair
A man with a short beard, and embroidered cloak (Ru
1631
The Blind Fiddler (Rn 1631)
The Little Polander (Rit 1631)
A beggar standing to the left ; a small upright print (Rn)
297
20
S. 12 j
S.I3!
313
317
275
302
283
291
285
274
240
292
289
169
322
325
295
160
M3
165
148
158
161
S. 62
243
137
140
162
339
333
338
294
3U
303
310
304
293
257
3H
308
172
345
348
312
164
M7
i6S
162
165
157
260
37
'4'
1 66
319
15
349
343
348
298
324
307
3H
308
297
260
315
312
175
134
355
358
317
167
150
171
154
1 66
1 68
160
263
138
142
169
224
222
220
212
2O4
211
195
196
198
275
276
264
279
263
277
28l
2S 4
278
I 39
245
243
298
138
119
130
132
124
267
91
108
133
28
15
25
8
I
344
339
343
298
322
307
315
309
297
261
316
313
172
349
353
317
164
148
168
151
I6 3
165
157
265
138
142
166
302
THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
Numbers in the Catalogues of
Gersaint
Yver Daulby.
De Claussin.
Bartsch.
o
J
pa
Small head, with a high misshapen cap
2 7 8
3361
337)
332
S. 129
S. 129
141
279
277
134
190
183
193
196
242
M5
313
140 .
298
36O
356
326
325
142
299
296
135
195
188
198
20 1
259
149
334
140
302
370
366
334
333
143
303
300
135
198
191
201
204
262
152
344
141
296
238
308
290
292
109
293
291
103
162
156
165
168
270
105
197
118
302
364
360
330
329
i43
303
300
136
195
188
198
2OI
264
150
340
141
Sketches, with a so-called 'Head of Rembrandt' (Rn j
1631) (
A sheet of sketches ; afterwards divided into five (RH).. .
Bust of an old man, in profile, to the right.. . 1 f
Small bust of an old man with an aquiline nose Parts of
An old man, seen from behind . . . > J ' a / <
* T- i L i 1 sheet of |
A 1 urkish slave | sketches 1
Bust of a man crying out, turned to the left. . J
A peasant with his hands behind him (RH 1631)
A woman sitting upon a hillock
A woman beneath a tree (RH 1631)
Diana bathing (Rn f.)
Dianae and Jupiter (Rn)
1682
An old man with a large white beard, and fur cap (RH f.)
The Persian (Rn 1632)
Rembrandt's mother in a widow's dress (Rembrandt f.). . .
A Polander turned to the left a full length
Head of an old man with dark eyes
Head of a bald old man inclined to the left
273
S. 132
306
305
61
IOI
118
117
22
4
319
139
52
77
84
74
35
121
292
328
320
319
66
104
124
123
17
3
341
139
56
94
83
77
42
in
296
337
327
326
62
IOI
122
121
17
3
351
140
52
90
81
81
73
38
in
300
280
299
301
33
72
96
95
229
207
191
107
25
41
56
56
48
:o
281
296
332
325
324
66
106
126
125
17
3
346
140
57
95
83
84
77
42
n*,
Old man with a gray beard ; his hair short and wavy. . . .
Grotesque head of a man crying out
Grotesque head in a high fur cap
A Holy Family. The Virgin with a basket of linen (RH)
St. Jerome kneeling; an arched print (Rembrandt ft.
16^2) .
The Rat Killer (RH 1632)
i633
Rembrandt, with a scarf round his neck (Rembrandt f.
l6^T). .
Rembrandt, with the bird of prey
An old woman, etched no lower than the chin (Rembrandt
f. i6n) . .
A Polander ; walking towards the right
The Flight into Egypt ; a small upright (Rembrandt in-
ventor et fecit 1633)
The Good Samaritan (Rembrandt inventor et fecit 1633). .
The Descent from the Cross (Rembrandt ft. 1633)
The Descent from the Cross (Rembrandt cum pryvP 1633)
The Resurrection of Lazarus ; a large print (Rn v. Ryn f.)
Jacob lamenting the supposed death of Joseph (Rem-
brandt van Ryn fet )
Adverse Fortune (Rembrandt f. i6n). .
THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
303
Numbers in the Catalogues of
Gersaint
Yver Daulby.
De Claussin.
Bartsch.
u
a
n
5
Wilson.
1684
A skater
151
142
23
3
316
3"
3M
246
28
i?i
171
IOO
43
36
82
91
72
67
"5
259
333
3^3
127
276
281
282
1 66
266
266
266
267
268
qS
153
143
18
2
337
330
335
263
23
174
175
103
48
43
85
92
75
72
121
276
357
340
130
295
301
302
169
283
284
285
286
287
IOO
156
144
18
2
347
340
345
266
23
177
178
IOO
44
39
80
88
71
68
119
279
307
350
129
299
305
306
172
286
287
288
289
290
97
121
no
231
2O6
2OI
199
242
1 86
232
140
141
71
17
n
55
162
46
42
90
190
250
244
92
302
259
294
137
173
288
289
253
286
68
153
144
18
2
342
337
341
268
23
174
175
105
49
43
86
93
75
72
123
281
361
345
132
299
305
306
169
288
289
2JO
291
292
I O2
Two travelling peasants
Rembrandt, with a drawn sabre, held upright (Rembrandt
f. 16-54).
Rembrandt, wi f h moustache and small beard
Rembrandt's wife with pearls in her hair (Rembrandt f.
1 6^1)
Study of Saskia ' the Great Jewish bride ' (R 1634)
A young woman reading (Rembrandt f. 1634)
Jan Cornelis Sylvius (Janus Sylvius) (Rembrandt f. 1634)
Portrait, unknown, of a man with a sabre (Rembrandt f.
i6-u)
A beggar and a companion piece ; a man turned to the
left (Rembrandt f. 1634)
A beggar and a companion piece ; a man turned to the
right (Rembran. f. 163)
St. Jerome, sitting at the foot of a tree (Rembrandt f.
1634)
The Angel appearing to the Shepherds (Rembrandt f.
1634)..
Joseph and the wife of Potiphar (Rembrandt f. 1634)
The Crucifixion ; a small square plate (Rembrandt f.). . . .
Our Lord and the Disciples at Emmaus ; a small print
(Rembrandt f. 1634)
The Samaritan Woman; 'at the ruins' (Rembrandt f.
1634)
The Tribute Money
The Travelling Musicians
1635
Three heads of women
An old woman sleeping
The Mountebank (Rembrandt f. 1635)
Bust of an old man, in a very high fur cap
A man with curling hair, and his under lip thrust out. . . .
An old man with short straight beard ; a profile to the
right
A ragged peasant, with his hands behind him
Three Oriental heads. First head, full face (Rembrandt
1635)
Three Oriental heads. Second head, a profile to the left
(Rembrandt) ....
Three Oriental heads. Third head, a profile to the right
(Rembrandt 1635)
A young man in a mczetin cap (R)
Hust of an old man asleep (Rembrandt)
The Martyrdom of St. Stephen (Rembrandt f. 1610...
304
THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
Numbers in the Catalogues of
Gersaint
Yver Daulby.
De Claussin.
Bartsch.
u
e
1
5
Wilson.
Jesus Christ driving out the money-changers (Rembrandt
f. 1615)...
69
103
1 2O
249
24
331
83
70
89
132
334
290
248
3i
293
25
312
37
29
329
26
261
239
131
156
S. 63
J5o
335
97
49
ion
73
105
126
266
19
355
82
95
89
38
358
309
265
37
26
20
332
4i
34
353
21
2 7 8
256
133
1 6O
158
152
359
102
53
in
69
102
124
269
19
365
77
9i
85
33
368
313
268
30
29
20
342
37
28
363
21
281
259
133
I6 3
161
155
369
99
49
109
44
73
93
183
203
249
52
43
59
4
251
269
258
3
216
233
200
9
i
237
234
189
268
IOI
126
127
116
122
70
22
7Q
73
107
128
2?I
19
359
82
96
9 *
135*
362
314
270
37
26
20
338
41
35
357
21
283
260
135
1 60
158
152
363
IO4
54
m
St Jerome kneeling (Rembrandt f. 1635)
The Pancake Woman (Rembrandt f. 1635)
1636
Menasseh Ben Israel (Rembrandt f. 1636)
Rembrandt and his wife (Rembrandt f. 1636)
Rembrandt's wife and five other heads (Rembrandt f.
1636)
The Ecce Homo (Rembrandt f. 1636 cum privele et)
The Prodigal Son (Rembrandt f. 1636)
The Virgin mourning the death of Jesus
Abraham caressing Isaac (Rembrandt f )
1637
Three heads of women, one asleep (Rembrandt f. 1637) . .
An old man, wearing a rich velvet cap (Rembrandt f.
1637). ..
A young man seated ; turned to the left (Rembrandt f.
1617). .
Abraham sending away Hagar and Ishmael (Rembrandt
f. 1637)...
1638
Rembrandt with a flat cap and slashed vest (Rembrandt).
Rembrandt in a mezetin cap and feather (Rembrandt f.
1638)
The St. Catharine, or the Little Jewish Bride (Rembrandt
f. 1638)
Joseph telling his dreams (Rembrandt f. 1638)
Adam and Eve (Rembrandt f. 1638)
1639
The head of Rembrandt, and other studies
Rembrandt leaning on a stone sill (Rembrandt f. 1639).. .
Wittenboogaert : ' The Goldweigher ' (Rembrandt f. 1639)
An old man lifting his hand to his cap
A Jew with a high cap ; a full length (Rembrandt f. 1639)
A beggar standing, seen in profile : to the left
Three beggars a man, a woman, and a child
A physician feeling the pulse of a patient
Two women in separate beds, etc
The Death of the Virgin (Rembrandt 1639)
The Presentation in the Vaulted Temple
Youth surprised by death (Rembrandt f. 1610). . .
THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
305
Numbers in the Catalogues of
Gersaint
Yver Daulby.
De Claussin.
Bartsch.
d
c
a
CO
e
|
*
267
97
365
155
185
204
207
273
263
3"
356
103
65
122
4 8
137
133
131
118
119
120
121
230
222
223
353
350
258
no
76
87
146
tin
1640
Portrait, unknown an old man in a divided fur cap
(Rembrandt, f. 1640)
245
9 2
338
153
1 80
199
2O2
251
241
287
S. 140
95
60
114
42
135
128
126
"3
"3
H3
U3
225
217
222
326
323
237
105
73
85
142
224
262
96
361
155
185
204
207
268
2 5 8
306
352
IOI
65
1 20
47
136
131
129
116
"7
118
119
230
222
222
349
346
254
1 08
7 6
86
'45
220
265
9 2
371
158
188
207
2IO
271
26l
3IO
302
9 8
61
118
43
136
130
128
114
115
116
"7
233
225
226
359
356
257
105
73
82
148
272
271
40
351
352
153
310
313
170
257
177
2 4 8
69
32
7
16
104
IOO
99
86
87
88
->
333
327
326
202
240
262
76
47
57
112
112
The Decollation of St. John the Baptist (Rembrandt f.
Sketch of a dog
The little dog sleeping ..
The Flute-player (Rembrandt f. 1640)
A large tree and a house : an early morning effect (R)... .
A view of Amsterdam
1641
Cornelis Claesz. Anslo (Rembrandt 1641)
Portrait : a man with a crucifix and chain (Rembrandt f.
1641)
Portrait of a boy, half length (Rembrandt f. 1641)
An old woman reading
The Baptism of the Eunuch (Rembrandt f. 1641)
The Virgin and the Holy Child in the clouds (Rembrandt
f. 1641)
Jacob and Laban (Rembrandt f. 1641)
The Angel ascending from Tobit and his family (Rem-
brandt f. 1641)
A man playing cards (Rembrandt f. 1641)
The Draughtsman
The Schoolmaster (Rembrandt f. 1641)
The large Lion Hunt (Rembrandt f. 1641)
A small Lion Hunt with a lioness
A Lion Hunt ; a companion piece
A battle piece
Rembrandt's Mill (Rembrandt f. 1641)
A large landscape, with a Dutch haybarn (Rembrandt f.
1641)
A large landscape, with a mill sail (Rembrandt f. 1641) . .
1642
A man in an arbor (Rembrandt f. 1642)
St. Jerome ; in Rembrandt's dark manner (Rembrandt f.
1642)
The Resurrection of Lazarus; a small print (Rembrandt
f 1642)
The Descent from the Cross ; a sketch (Rembrandt f.
1642)
A student in his chamber
A cottage with white pales (Rembrandt f. 1642)...
306
THE PRINT COLLECTOR,
Numbers in the Catalogues of
Gersaint
Yver Daulby.
De Claussin.
Bartsch.
1
M
1643
Three peasants travelling . ....
129
339
152
204
212
88
58
58
32
201
223
2OO
219
26O
142
I6 4
188
185
1 86
181
179
178
211
2 5 8
265
57
184
116
27
257
81
132
362
154
209
217
88
62
99
39
206
228
205
225
277
144
167
193
190
191
186
184
183
216
275
282
61
189
122
22
274
84
131
372
157
212
22O
8 4
58
9 6
34
209
231
208
228
280
M7
170
196
193
194
189
187
186
219
278
285
57
192
1 20
22
277
79
1 2O
349
350
315
321
60
31
67
5
312
331
3ii
329
187
in
134
1 60
158
159
154
152
151
320
172
184
30
157
83
235
171
54
134
366
154
209
217
89
63
IOI
38
206
228
205
225
282
145
167
193
190
191
186
184
183
216
280
287
62
189
124
22
279
85
Sketch of a tree etc
The Hog (Rembrandt f. 1643)
The Three Trees (Rembrandt f. 1643)
1644
The Shepherd and his Family (Rembrandt f. 1644)
1645
Jesus Christ's Body carried to the Tomb (Rembrandt)
A Repose in outline (Rembrandt f 1645)
St. Peter (Rembrandt f. r645)
Abraham with his son Isaac (Rembrandt 1645)..
View of Omval, near Amsterdam (Rembrandt f. 1645) . . .
The Boat-house, called 'A Grotto with a Brook ' (Rem-
brandt 1645)
Six's Bridge (Rembrandt f. 1645)
A village with a river and sailing vessel
1646
Jan Cornelis Sylvius ; an oval portrait (Rembrandt 1646).
An old man resting his hands on a book
A beggar woman asking alms (Rembrandt 1646)
An Academical figure seated on the ground (Rembrandt
f. 1646)
A figure, formerly called 'The Prodigal Son* (Rembrandt
1646)..
Academical figure of two men .
The Shepherds in the wood
The Friar in the Cornfield
Ledikant (Rembrandt f. 1646)
A landscape, with a man sketching the scene
1647
The Portrait of Jan Six (Rembrandt f. 1647)
1648
The Crucifixion : an oval olate. . .
THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
307
Numbers in the Catalogues of
Gersaint
Yver Daulby.
De Claussin.
Bartsch.
u
J
-
Wilson.
St. Jerome writing, seated near a large tree (Rembrandt
f 1648)
IO2
124
170
122
221
215
75
S. 91
228
68
154
216
205
2IO
227
227
218
209
262
S. 125
252
4i
53
39
250
187
226
15
330
66
4 w ' tn 8 pages of
specimens.
The book describes a new style of etching, in be called, not " ectypography," but "typographic
which the lines are raised or in relief, instead of etching."
being depressed or sunk in. The system would now
DEMBOUR (A.). Die Metall-Ektypographie. Aus dem Franzosischen von Heim.
Meyer. Braunschweig : 1835. 410.
DENMSTOUN (James) of Dennistoun. Memoirs of Sir Robert Strange, engraver,
member of several foreign Academies; and of his brother-in-law, Andrew
Lumisden, private secretary to the Stuart princes. 2 vols. London : 1855.
Svo.
DESCAMPS Vie des peintres. Svo. 1653.
DESMARETZ (M.). Eloge historique de Callot. Nancy : 1828. In-S.
THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
319
DIDOT (A. F.)- Essai Typographique et Bibliographique sur 1'Histoire de la Gra-
vure sur Bois. Paris : 1863. Svo.
This treatise on wood-engraving was prefixed to a Vecillio's " Costumes anciens." Didot's Essay oc-
sumptuous edition, published by Didot Freres, of cupies five preliminary pages.
DOISSIN (Ludovico). Sculptura : Carmen. Parisiis : 1752. I2mo.
The second edition of this poem on engraving, published in 1753, had a French translation.
DONLEVY (John). The Rise and Progress of the Graphic Arts, including notices of
illumination, chalcography, wood-engraving, lithography, chromography, and
intagliography, elucidating the new art of Chromoglyphotype, invented by John
Donlevy. New York : 1854. 410. pp. 24.
This work gives a rapid but interesting sketch of by the economical operation of the typographic
the origin of the several graphic arts, but appears to press in a style of art immeasurably superior to any-
have been written to introduce some new processes thing which it is possible to produce by engraving or
of printing which the author had invented, and lithography. Intagliotypes have hitherto been much
which he called Chemitype Transfer, Typographic neglected by printers. . . . Their extraordinary
Modelling, and Chromoglyphotype Copying. He capacity for polychromatic production has been en-
says that "he discovered the principle of antago- tirely overlooked for four centuries from the inven-
nistic union that is, a chemical medium in which tion of printing by John Guttenberg to the invention
acids, alkalies, greasy and resinous substances, which of chromo-glyphotype by John Donlevy." The,
previously repelled each other, are compelled to patents for these new methods of printing were held
unite and change their character, and their union, by Horace Greeley, New York, by whom a printing
or portions of them, in a peculiar manner, consti- office and stereotype foundry, based on this inven-
tutes a solvent by which he is enabled to transfer tion, were established. We do not know the exact
and print manuscript, written on ordinary paper, nature of Mr. Donlevy's invention, or whether it
with greater ease than it could be transferred if was ever carried out. We find, however, in search-
written on lithographic paper ; as well as woodcuts, ing the specification of American patents, that on
engravings, new and old books, and printed matter Jan. 3, 1854, Mr. John Donlevy was awarded a
of every description." He also invented a new litho patent for "a method of producing intagliographic
press and a cylindrical machine for chemical print- printing and other plates, from forms of types, by
ing. In regard to " Chromoglyphotype," it is stated surrounding the types, whilst in contact with a glass
that " the principal characteristic of this mode is plate, or its equivalent, with plaster of Paris, or
the exclusive use of intagliotypes instead of the or- some equivalent therefor ; so that when set the sur-
dinary relief types generally used by printers, in face of the plaster will be on the same plane with
combination with peculiar plastic processes, by the surface of the types, and then stereotyping the
which polychromatic plates, adapted to every variety form of types thus surrounded."
of chromographic effect, can be produced and printed
DUCHESNE aine (Jean). Essai sur les Nielles, Gravures des Orfevres Florentins du
XV Siecle. Paris : 1826. Svo. pp. xii. 381. Six copies printed on large
paper in quarto.
Although this work chiefly concerns itself with device or ornament in intaglio, with the chisel, in a
niello, it embraces a large amount of information silver plate. These intaglie, or sunken portions of
upon the different kinds of engraving on wood, the plate, were then filled up with an alloy or corn-
stone, and metal. The historical part begins with position of silver and lead. This mixture, from in
a chapter on engraving among the nations of an- dark color, was called nifdlttm. Being melted intn
tiquity, on the printing of playing-cards, on xylog- the intaglio devices and reduced to a uniform surface,
raphy, and on the first books printed in movable it caused the ornaments or figures to appear in dark
characters. The book is well illustrated with plates relief on a silver ground, and gave to the work the ap-
of the objects described. The relation of niello to pearance of a picture in chiaroscuro at once rich and
copper-plate engraving is little understood. The harmonious in effect. Maso Finiguerra, or Fingu-
latter art is of comparatively recent origin, and it era, a goldsmith of Florence and a proficient in the
was foreshadowed in the former, an ancient method art of nitllo, has obtained the honorable distinction:
much in use, and extremely popular in the Italian of being considered the inventor of the art of cop-
states, and especially in Florence, in the fifteenth per-plaie engraving. The above work contains a
century. The workers in nitllo used to cut the portrait of him and many specimens of hi* works in
320 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
nitllt. Some of these are taken from the original obtained in this mannsr. M. Duchesne is also the
plates, for the engraving in this style was not deep, author of the article "Gravure" in the "Moyen
and it has been found that excellent prints may be Age et la Renaissance."
DUCHBSSE aine. Notice des estampes exposees a la Bibliotheque du roi. 8vo.
1828. p. 44 et 42.
DUERER (Albert). Albert DUrer. Chemnitz : 1802. 8vo. pp. 62. 1823. 8vo.
An account of the life and works of Duerer.
DUERER. Von dem Leben und den vorziiglichsten Werken des berUhmten Meisters
Albrecht Dlirer von NUrnberg. Basle : 1855. 410. pp. 8 and 2 lithog. plates.
DUERER. Zu Diirer's Ehre. Am 7. April, 1828. Sacularfeier. NUrnberg : 1828. 410.
DUERER (Albert). See AREND, CAMPE, EYE, GALICHON, HAUSSMANN, HELD, HELLER,
HESSE, HUSSGEN, MARGGRAFF, NAGLER, ROTH, SCHOBER, THAUSING, WEISE.
DUMESNIL (A. P. F. Robt.). Le Peintre-graveur fransais, ou Catalogue raisonne
des estampes gravees par les peintres et les dessinateurs de 1'ecole fransaise.
Paris : 1835-1871. n vols. 8vo.
This fine work gives not only a list of the produc- as a work of reference. It is intended as a sequel to
tions of the modern French masters of engraving, the similar production of M. Bartsch.
but memoirs, and therefore becomes of great value
DUPLESSIS (Georges). Essai de Bibliographic, contenant 1'indication des ouvrages
relatifs a 1'Histoire de la Gravure et des Graveurs. Paris : 1862. 8vo. pp. 48.
This very accurate list of books, relating to the increased, another list was required, and it assumed
history of engraving and memoirs of engravers, ex- such dimensions as to suggest its publication as a
tends to nearly 700 items. We are largely indebted bibliography of the subject. The very complete
to it for titles in this Bibliography of Printing, and " Kunst-Catalog" of R. Weigel and the Bibliogra-
are glad to acknowledge the remarkable accuracy of phy which M. P. Cheron contributed to the Gazette
its annotations, in so far, at least, as we have tested des Beaux-Arts have, however, been utilized. A
them. The Essay of M. Duplessis found its origin very small number of copies of this essay were
in a mere catalogue of the private collection of printed, and it is consequently of rare occurrence,
books belonging to the author. When these became
DUPLESSIS (Georges) Essai d'une Bibliographic generale des Beaux-Arts. Paris :
1866. 8vo.
DUPLESSIS (Georges). Les Graveurs sur Bois contemporains. Paris : 1857. 8vo.
DUPLESSIS (Georges). De la Gravure de Portrait en France. Paris : 1875. 8vo.
DUPLESSIS (Georges). Des Gravures sur bois dans les livres de Simon Vostre,
libraire d'Heures. Par Jules Renouvier, avec un avant-propos par G. D. Paris :
1862. 8vo. pp. vii. 22. 3 plates.
In the preface M. Duplessis shows how necessary gross. The books, too, of his own country he con-
it becomes for the investigator into the istory of siders especially suitable for the prosecution of such
wood-engraving to acquaint himself with the devo- an inquiry. This little work is exceedingly interest-
tional works known as Books of Hours, and how ing, and cannot be overlooked by any future his-
considerable is the light they throw upon its pro- torian.
DUPLESSIS (Georges). Histoire de la Gravure en France, ouvrage couronne par
1'Institut de France, Academic des Beaux-Arts. Paris : 1861. 8vo. pp. 408.
This is the standard work on the history of French be desired except, perhaps, some illustrations, for
engraving. The memoirs, as well as the descrip- the book is very dry reading indeed,
tions, are laboriously accurate, and leave nothing to
THE PRINT COLLECTOR. 321
DUPLESSIS (Georges). Memoires et Journal de J. G. Wille, graveur du roi. Publics
d'apres les manuscrits autographes de la Bibliotheque imperiale. Avec une
preface par Edmond et Jules de Goncourt. Paris : 1857. 8vo. vol. i. pp. xvii.
584 ; vol. ii. pp. 437.
M. Duplessis disinterred the diary of this eel- historical matter, and is otherwise exceedingly inter-
ebrated royal engraver, which abounds in valuable esting.
DUPLESSIS (Georges). Les Merveilles de la Gravure. Ouvrage illustre par P. Sellier.
Paris: 1869. 8vo pp. 419. 2d ed., Paris: 1871. 8vo.
DUPLESSIS (Georges). The Wonders of Engraving. Illustrated with ten reproduc-
tions in autotype and 34 wood-engravings by P. Sellier. London : 1871. 8vo.
PP- x. 338.
This work does not attain to the dignity of being those who require this kind of information dished up
an historical account of the origin of wood-engrav- in the very lightest style.
ing, but is rather intended for popular use and for
DUPLESSIS (Georges). Notice sur la Vie et les Travaux de Gerard Audran, graveur
ordinaire du roi. Paris. 8vo. Only 100 copies printed.
DUPLESSIS (Georges). Catalogue de I'reuvre de Abraham Bosse. Paris : 1859. In-8.
DURAZZO (Conte Jacopo). Descrizione della Raccolta di Stampe, esposta in una
dissertazione sull' arte dell' intaglio in stampa. Parma: 1784. 410.
EBNER (L.). Verzeichniss der von Johann Adam Klein, Maler und Kupferstecher,
gezeichneten und radirten Blatter (vom Jahre 1805 bis 1846). Stuttgart: 1853.
8vo.
EKTYPOGRAPHIE : oder, die Kunst Zeichnungen auf Kupferplatten hoch zu atzen.
Quedlinburg : 1840. 8vo.
EMERIC-DAVID (Toussaint Bernard). Discours Historique sur la Gravure en Taille-
douce et sur la Gravure en Bois. Paris : 1808. 8vo, pp. 83.
Extract from the Moniteur Universe!, October, 1808.
EMERIC-DAVID. Histoire de la Peinture au Moyen Age, suivi de 1'Histoire de la
Gravure. Paris: 1863. I2mo.
ENGRAVERS. A Chronological Series of Engravers from the Invention of the Art to
the Beginning of the present Century. Cambridge : 1770. i2mo.
ENGRAVERS (Society of). The Rules, Orders, and Regulations of the Society of En-
gravers, instituted at London, 1802, giving a list of the Governors, Officers, and
Committee, pp. 70. London : 1804.
The same year was published an " Abstract of the Rules, Orders, and Regulations of the Society of
Engravers," etc.
ERNESTI (J.A.). Prolusio, in qua quseritur, quibus litterarium disciplinis, ct quatc-
nus, Chalcographia prosit. Lipsue : 1740. 410.
EVELYN (John). Sculptura, or the History and Art of Chalcography and Engraving
on Copper, with an ample Enumeration of the most renowned Masters and their
Works. To which is annexed a new manner of Engraving, or Mczzotinto, com-
municated by his Highness Prince Rupert to the author of this treatise. London:
1662. I2mo. 2d Edition, corrected and enlarged, with Memoir and Portrait
322 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
of the Author. London: 1755. pp. xxxvi. and 140. 8vo. London: 1769.
8vo.
The engraved plate by Prince Rupert has in many is due to Prince Rupert for having brought the art
copies been cut out to enrich the collections of the into England ; but there is no doubt that the invent-
curious. It is, however, the principal singularity of or was a German officer named L. von Siegen, who
the book, which speaks for the first time, and wi'h served in the army of the Landgrave of Hesse, and
mystery, of engraving in mezzotinto as a secret who imparted his secret to Prince Rupert. A list of
which had not before been made public. All praise engravings by Prince Rupert will be found at p. 131.
EYE (A. von). Leben und Wirken Albrecht Dtirer's. Nordlingen: 1860. 8vo.
pp. 525. 2d Edition, with appendix. Nordlingen 1869. Svo, pp. 533.
FAITHORNE (William). The Art of Graveing and Etching, wherein is exprest the
true way of graveing in Copper. Also the manner and method of Callot and
Mr. Bosse in their severall ways of etching. London : 1662. Svo. 1702.
i2mo. 10 plates.
William Faithorne, a celebrated engraver, was business, he fell into great distress, and died at the
born in London in the year 1616, and died in the early age of thirty.
same city in 1691. He was a pupil of "Peak, the Wm. Faithorne the elder is remembered in typo-
painter. In the civil war Faithorne espoused the graphic history as the fabricator of the portraits of
cause of the Royalists, and was taken prisoner, but early printers. Sir Hans Sloane appears to have en-
released with permission to retire to the Continent, gaged him to engrave likenesses of some of the pa-
in France he nut with protection and encourage- irons and disseminators of learning, desiring to have
ment from the Abbe de Marolles, and associated those of Caxton, Wynken de Worde, and others,
himself with the celebrated Nanteuil. On his re- Faithorne was not very scrupulous in obtaining ma-
turn to England, about the year 1650, he commenced terial for executing this commission. He resorted
business as printseller and engraver near Temple to Bagford, who had collected some engraved por-
Bar, where he remained till the year 1680, when he traits, and copied what were supplied to him ; but
left his shop and retired to Printing-house Yard, where, as in the case of the English proto-printer, a
where he still continued to work for the booksellers, portrait was unattainable, he seems to have drawn
His son William did not follow his father's mode of upon his imagination. We have alluded tochis cir-
engraving ; he engraved in mezzotint, and might cumstance in our sketch of Caxton, ante: and refer-
have acquired some celebrity, but, neglecting his ence to other fabrications, for which Faithorne is
responsible, will be found hereafter.
FERADINY (J. F.). Memoire pour Jean-Franc.ois Feradiny, 'graveur en estampes,
detenu es prisons de la Conciergerie du Palais, intime, contre M. le Procureur-
General, appellant. [Paris: no date.] 410.
FERRARIO (Giulio). Le classiche Stampe dal Cominciamento della Calcografia fino
al presente. Milano : 1836. Svo. pp. cxiii. 401.
FIELDING (Theodore HA The Art of Engraving, with the various modes of opera-
tion. Illustrated with specimens of the different styles of engraving. London :
1841. Royal Svo. pp. vii. 109.
FIORILLO (Johann Dominik). Geschichte der zeichnenden Kiinste in Deutschland
und den Vereinigten Niederlanden. 4 vols. Hanover : 1815-20. 8vo.
FLODING (P.). Handlingar vorande en ny upfmning i Gravuren. Stockholm : 1766.
4to.
FI.OUHOFFER (Ludwig.) Ueber das Studium der Kupferstecherey. Svo. 1781.
FRANCOIS (Jean Charles). Lettre de M. Fran9ois, graveur des dessins du cabinet du
roi. . . . a M. Saverien sur 1'Utilite du Dessin et sur la Gravure dans le gout
du crayon. Paris : 1760. 8vo
THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
323
FRANCOIS. Au Sujet du nouveau Mode de Gravure inventfe par J. C. F. An article
in the " Registres de 1'Academie Royal de Peinture et de Sculpture," 26th March,
1757, and again 26th Nov., 1757.
FRAUENLOB (Rudolph). Die graphischen Kiinste auf der Pariser Ausstellung.
Separatabdruck aus dem k. k. officiellen Ausstellungsberichte. Wien : 1868.
8vo. pp. iv. 68.
A special edition of the Report on the Graphic Arts at the Paris Exhibition, 1867.
FUESSLI (Joh. Caspar). Raisonirendes Verzeichniss der vornehmsten Kupferstecher
und ihrer Werke. Zurich : 1771. Svo. pp. 360 and 12 pp. of Register.
GALICHON (Emile). Albert Durer, sa Vie et ses CEuvres. Paris : 1861. Svo, pp. 84.
Woodcuts.
Reprint from the Gazette des Beaux-Arts.
GALIMARD (Aug.). Les grands Artistes contemporains. Aubry-Lecomte, dessina-
teur-lithographe, 1797-1858. Paris: 1859. 8vo, pp. 24.
GANDELLINI (Giovanni Gori). Notizie Istoriche degl' Intagliatori. 3 vols. Siena:
1771. 8vo. Siena : 1808. Svo.
GANDELLINI. Notizie degl' Intagliatori, raccolte da varj scrittori ed aggiunte a G. G.
Gandellini dal Luigi de Angelis. 12 vols. Siena: 1808-16. 8vo.
GARZONUS (Thomas). Piazza Universale, das ist Allgemeine Schauplatz oder Markt
und Zusammenktinfte aller Professionen, Klinsten, Geschafften, HSnseln und
Handwercken in der gantzen Welt, wann, und von wemste erfunden, zugenom-
men, verbessert, etc. Frankfort : 1626. Folio.
GATTEAUX. Considerations sur la Gravure en Taille-douce et sur Gerard Audran.
[Paris :] 1850. 410.
This notice was reprinted in the A rtiste, for January, 1851.
GAUCHER (Charles Etienne). Essai sur 1'Origine et les Avantages de la Gravure, lu
a la Seance publique de la Societe libre des Sciences, Arts, et Belles-Lettres de
Paris, le 9 vendemiaire de 1'an VI. [Paris. 1805.] 410.
GAUCHER (C. E.) Lettre iM. Quatremere de Quincy, sur la Gravure. [Paris : 1791.]
12010.
This writer contributed the article, considered a Charles Etienne Gaucher was a French engraver
very valuable one, on " Engravers," in Fontenay's and man of letters. He was born at Paris, 1740,
" Dictionary of Artists," 1770. where he died, 1804.
GAUTIER. Lettre concernant le nouvel art de Graver ct d'Imprimer les Tableaux.
Paris : 1749. I2mo, pp. xvi. 22, and colored plates.
GAUTIER. Lettre a 1'Auteur du Mercure sur 1'Invention et 1'Utilite de 1'Art d'im-
primer les Tableaux. [Paris :] 1756. I2mo.
GAUTIER. Seconde Lettre a 1'Auteur de Mercure sur 1'Invention et 1'Utilite de 1'Art
d'imprimer les Tableaux, et Rcponse & celle de M. Robert. [Paris : 1756.]
I2mo.
3*4 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
GEHRKEN (Dr. F. J.). Heinrich Aldegraver, Goldschmied, Maler, Kupferstecher,
und Pragschneider, biographisch und kunsthistorisch dargestellt. Mdnster :
1841. 8vo.
GESCHICHTLICHE Uebersicht der Kupferstechkunst. 3 parts. Leipzig : 1841. 8vo.
GILKS (Thomas). The Art of Wood-Engraving. A Practical Handbook. With
numerous illustrations by the Author. 2d edition. London : 1867. 8vo, pp. 84.
Mr. Thomas Gilks was a practical wood-engraver pletely explains the different processes involved in
of reputation. He died in June, 1877. This work, wood-engraving, describes the tools and materials
which forms one of a series of books on art, pub- used, the mode of using the graver, preparation of
lished by Winsor & Newton, Rathbone Place, com- the wood, the jointed and amalgamated blocks, etc.
GILKS (Thomas). A Sketch of the Origin and Progress of the Art of Wood-Engrav-
ing. London : 1868. 8vo.
A rSsumS of the history of wood-engraving, from its origin down to our times, full of accurate infor-
mation and with excellent illustrations.
GILLOT (Veuve et Fils). Album de Gravure Paniconographique et Photogravure.
Paris : 1875. Oblong 410.
GOBIN (Henri). Etude sur la Gravure. [Nos. 26 and 27 of " Eludes sur 1'Exposition
de 1867, publiees sous la direction d' E. Lacroix."] Paris : 1868. 8vo.
GOULD (John). Biographical Dictionary of Printers, Sculptors, Engravers, and Ar-
chitects, from the earliest ages to the present time. 2 vols. London : 1838.
I2mo.
GRANGER (James) and NOBLE (Mark). A Biographical History of England from Eg-
bert the Great to the End of George I.'s reign. With upwards of 600 engraved
portraits by Richardson and others. 5th edition, with additional lives by Caul-
field. 6 vols. London : 1824. 8vo.
GRAPHIC (The) Portfolio, a selection from the admired engravings which have ap-
peared in the Graphic, and a description of the art of wood-engraving, with
numerous llustrations. London : 1876. Folio.
The description of the art of engraving is very meagre. Its facts are derived from Jackson & Chatto's-
treatise.
GRAVURES DE 1468 (Les). Les Armoiries de Charles le Temeraire, gravees pour son
manage avec Marguerite d'York. Liege: 1877. :6mo.
GUETLE (Johann Conrad). Kunst, in Kupfer zu stechen, zu radiren und zu aetzen,
in schwarzer Kunst und punktirter Manier zu arbeiten. Ehemals durch Abra-
ham Bosse etwas davon herausgegeben, jetzo aber ganz neu bearbeitet und mit
den neuesten Erfindungen der heutigen Kunstler beschrieben, zur Belehrung
far angehende Kunstler und Liebhaber. 3 vols. Niirnberg und Altdorf : 1795-
6. 8vo.
Vol. I., pp. xxii. 552 and 19 copperplates, treats of plates, of the After-Treatment of the Plate ; Vol.
the Preparation of the Copper- Plate and Art of En- III., pp. xxiv. 135, 13 copper-plates, of the Print-
graving on it ; Vol II., 8 leaves, pp. 350, 2 copper- ing, Description of Presses etc.
GUTTLE (J. C.). Kunst in Kupfer zu stechen. 8vo. 1795.
THE PRINT COLLECTOR 325
HAMERTON (Philip Gilbert). Etching and Etchers. London : 1868. 8vo.
HAMERTON (P. G.). A new edition, illustrated. London : 1876. 8vo. pp. xxx.
459. 12 etchings by the Author.
The most comprehensive treatise, practical as well as historical, on the recently revived art of etching,
by one of its acknowledged masters.
HAMILTON (Edward). A Catalogue raisonne of the engraved works of Sir Joshua
Reynolds. London : 1874. 8vo. pp. viii. 143.
HAMMANN (J. M. Herman). Des arts graphiques destines a multiplier par 1'impres-
sion, consideres sous le double point de vue historique et pratique. Geneve :
1857. I2mo. pp. xii. 489.
HANCKWITZ (J.). An Essay on Engraving and Copper-plate Printing ; to which is
added Albumazar: or, the Professors of the Black Art, a Vision (a Poem).
London : 1732. 410.
HANDBUCH, Praktisches, zur Kupferstichkunde oder Lexikon derjenigen vorziiglichen
Kupferstecher, sowohl der alteren, als bis auf die neueste Zeit. Magdeburg :
1840. Large 8vo.
HANDMAID to the Arts. Vol. I. London : 1764. 8vo. Vol. II. Teaching. . . II.
The art of engraving, etching, and scraping mezzotintos ; with the preparations
of the aquafortis, varnishes, or other grounds, etc., in the best manner now
practised by the French ; as also the best manner of printing copper-plates ; an
improved method of producing washed prints, and of printing in chiaro-oscuro,
and with colors, in the way practised by M. Le Blon. London : 1764. 8vo.
HARTZHEIM (J.). Vitse Pictorum, Chalcographorum, et Typographorum celebrium
nostratium. [In " Bibliotheca Coloniensis." Col. Aug. Agripp.: 1747. Folio.]
HASPER (Wilhelm). Galvanoplastik-Grtindliche Anleitung ftir Buchdrucker, Schrift-
gieszer, Kupferstecher und Holzschneider, auf die einfachste und billigste Art
Typen und Kupferplaten darzustellen. Carlsruhe : 1855. 8vo. pp. viii. 56.
HAWES (Stephen). Bibliography ; or, the History of the Origin and Progress of
Printing and Bookmaking, embracing the various substitutes for Printed Liter-
ature, the Invention of Type, Paper, and Printing. Newspaper and Book Pub-
lishing in all their varieties; rare old Books and Manuscripts; the Discovery
and Progress of Engraving, Lithography. Photography, Photo Engraving. Print-
ing in Colors, and a general review of the Literature of the day. New York :
1874. 8vo.
HEINECKEN (Karl Heinrich, Baron von). Dictionnaire des Artistes dont nous avons
des estampes, avec une notice detaillce de leurs ouvrages gravies. Vols. i. to iv.
Leipzig: 1778-80. 8vo.
The publication of this dictionary was arrested at death of the author. The original manuscript is in
the fourth volume, which extended to />/-, by the the Library of Dresden.
HEINECKEN (Karl Heinrich, Baron von). Idee generale d'une Collection complette
d'Estampes, avec une dissertation sur 1'Originc de la Gravure, et sur les pre-
miers livres d'images. Leipsic et Vienne : 1771. 8vo.
HEINECKEN (Karl Heinrich, Baron von). Nachrichten von Ktlnstlern und Kunst-
326 THE PRINT COLLECTOR,
sachen. Two parts. Leipzig: 1768-69. 8vo. Part I. pp. xxiv. 436 and index ;
Part II. pp. xxxviii. 524 and index.
In the second part, pp. 85-240 comprise a. disserta- subjects intermingled with texts. All his attempts
tion on the earliest forms of wood-cutting as applied to cut single letters at Strasburg proved ineffectual,
to the illustration of books ; pp. 222-237 describing and brought ruin both upon himself and his part-
the ''Speculum Humana: Salvationis," with several ners, without producing a clean legible leaf. This
facsimile woodcuts ; pp. 241-314, account of the ear- failure induced him to quit Strasburg, and return to
liest Dutch writers on chalcography, by whom his native city, where he joined Fust. Here their
Koster is credited with the invention of printing, endeavors were crowned with complete success.
Heinecken conjectures that Gutenberg took the Heinecken is of opinion that their first productions
idea of printing from the playing-card makers, who were taken from wooden blocks,
are said to have been the first engravers of historical
HEINECKEN (Karl Heinrich, Baron von). Schreiben an J. P. Krause fiber die Beur-
theilungender Nachrichten von Kiinstlern und Kunstsachen. Leipzig: 1771. 8vo.
Heinecken's name stands deservedly high among voted the whole of his leisure time to the culture
typographical antiquaries. He was born at Liibeck, of the fine arts, and his collection of engravings was
in 1706, and died at Alt-Doelern (basse Lusace), one of the finest to be found in Germany. A num-
January 23d, 1791. He studied law at Leipzig, berof most interesting articles written by this author
afterwards became secretary to Count Briihl, minis- will be found in the Leipziger Bibliothek der schoe-
ter at the court of Saxony, and was entrusted with nen Wissenschaften.
the execution of many important missions. He de-
HELLER (Jos.). Geschichte der Holzschneiderkunst von den altesten bis auf die
neuesten Zeiten, nebst zwei Beilagen, enthaltend den Ursprung der Spielkarten
und ein Verzeichniss der sa'mmtlichen xylographischen Werke. Bamberg .
1823. 8vo.
One of the best German works on xylography, with a history of the origin of playing-cards. It con-
tains many wood-engravings, and is no\v very scarce.
HELLER (Jos.). Das Leben und die Werke Albrecht Durer's. Tome II. Bam-
berg : 1827. 8vo. pp. viii. 945 and 2 plates.
The first volume of this work was never published. A Supplement was issued in 1831.
HELLER (Jos.). Monogrammen-Lexicon, enthaltend die bekannten, zweifelhaften
und unbekannten Zeichen sowie die Abkiirzungen der Namen der Zeichner,
Maler, Formenschneider, Kupferstecher, Lithographen, mit kurzen Nachrichten
ttber dieselben. Bamberg: 1831. 8vo.
A dictionary of the monograms used by engravers and others, including those known, doubtful, and
unknown.
HELLER (Jos.). Praktisches Handbuch fur Kupferstichsammler, oder Lexicon der
vorzUglichsten und beliebtesten Kupferstecher, Formschneider, und Lythogra-
phen. 2 vols. Leipzig: 1823-25. 8vo. Second edition, 3 vols. Leipzig:
1850. 8vo.
A supplement to the first edition was issued with the following title :
HELLER (Jos.). Lexikon flir Kupferstichsammler uber die Monogrammisten, Xylo-
graphieen, Niello, Galleriewerke. Bamberg : 1838. I2mo. pp. vi. 226.
HELLER (Jos.). Versuch uber das Leben und die Werke Lucas Cranach's. Bam-
berg : 1821. 8vo. pp. xvi. 532, with folding genealogy at page 36. Seconde
edition augmentee. NUrnberg : 1854. 8vo.
Joseph Heller, a German writer, born at Bamberg, cities and towns of Germany, Italy, and Switzer-
on the 22d of September, 1798, died in the same city, land. His productions are held in great esteem by
on the 4th of June, 1849. He visited the principal those engaged in the study of the fine arts.
THE PRINT COLLECTOR. 327
HENRICI (M.). Die Kupferstecherkunst und die Stahlstich. Leipzig : 1834. 8vo.
HERLUISON (Henri). Artistes Orleanais, peintres, graveurs, sculpteurs, architectes.
Liste, sous forme alphabetique, des personnages nes pour la plupart dans la
province de 1'Orleanais ; suivie de documents inedits. Orleans : 1863. Svo.
115 copies printed.
HISTORY and Art of Engraving. 1747. i2mo.
HUDSON (Thomas). The Cabinet of the Arts, or a complete System of Drawing,
Etching, Engraving, etc. 1803-6. 4to.
HOLLOWAY. Memoir of the late Mr. Thomas Holloway, by one of his Executors ;
and most respectfully dedicated to the Subscribers to the Engravings from the
Cartoons of Raphael. London : 1827. So pp (with Appendix, pp. x.)
The first great work on which this celebrated en- " the splendid press of Bensley." Holloway had
graver entered was the English publication of Lava- the pleasure of seeing the only remaining plate of
ter's "Physiognomy." a work containing seven the seven cartoons of Raphael fairly commenced
hundred plates, and extending to five volumes im- before his death, which took place in his eightieth
perial 410, the letterpress of which was executed at year, at Cottishall, near Norwich, in February, 1827.
HOLT (F. H.). Observations on Early Engraving and Printing. In Notes and Que-
ries, Oct. 3, 1868.
HUBER (Michael). Manuel des Curieux et des Amateurs de 1'Art, contenant une
Notice abregee des principaux Graveurs et un Catalogue Raisonne de leurs
ouvrages. 9 vols. Zurich: 1797-1808. Svo.
In spite of its imperfections, a very useful work, the ninth volume having been published some years
but seldom met with in a complete form, owing to after the previous eight.
HUBER (Michael). Notices genferales des Graveurs, divises par nations, et des
Peintres ranges par ecoles. Prec6dees de 1'Histoire de la Gravure et de la
Peinture depuis 1'origine de ces Arts jusqu'a nos jours, et suivies d'un Cata-
logue raisonne d'une Collection choisie d'Estampes. 2 parts. Dresde ct
Leipsic : 1787. Svo. pp. xlviii. 701. Allegorical frontispiece.
This is the first edition of the more generally well-known and standard book 01 reference by Huber
bearing the following title :
HUBER (Michael). Handbuch fur Kunstliebhaber und Sammler tlber die vornehm-
sten Kupferstecher und ihre Werke. vom Anfange der Kunst bis auf gegenwSr-
tige Zeit ; chronologisch und in Schulen geordnet, nach der frunzosischen
Handschrift des Michael Huber bearbeitet von C. C. H. Rost. Bde. 6-9 von C.
G. Martini. 9 vols. Zurich : 1796-1808. Svo.
Michael Huber was born at Frontenhausen, Bavaria, in 1727, and died at Leipzig, April t$th, 1804.
[HuMWKRTj. Abregfe historique de 1'Origine et des Progres de la Gravure et des
Estampes en bois et en taille-douce, par le Major H . . . . Berlin: 1752.
I2mo. pp. 62.
HUMPHREYS (Henry Noel). Masterpieces of the Early Printers and Engravers. A
series of facsimiles from rare and curious books remarkable for illustrative
devices, beautiful borders, decorative initials, printers' marks, elaborate title-
pages, etc. London : 1870. Folio, pp. vi. Si examples, and Si leaves of de-
scriptive letterpress.
323
THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
HUSSON (F.)- Eloge historique de Callot, noble Lorrain, celebre Graveur. lirux-
elles : 1766. 8vo. Portrait.
IMMERZEEL (J.). De Levens en Werken der Hollandsche en Vlaamsche Kunstschil-
ders, Beeldhouwers, Graveurs en Bouwmeesters, van het begin vijftiende eeuw
tot heden. 3 vols. Amsterdam : 1842-43. 8vo. -woodcut portraits. De
Levens. . . . van den vroegsten tot op onzen tijd, door Christian Kramm.
Strekkende tevens tot vervolg op het Werk van J. Immerzeel, Jr. 6 vols.
Amsterdam: 1864. 8vo.
The standard work of authority for the lives of Dutch and Flemish painters and engravers.
JACKSON (John Baptist). An Essay on the Invention of Engraving and Printing in
Chiaro-Oscuro, as practised by Albert Dlirer, Hugo di Carpi, etc., and the
application of it to the making of Paper Hangings of Taste, Duration and Ele-
gance. Illustrated with prints in proper colors. London : 1754. 410. pp. 19,
with 8 plates.
This is an essay, not written ostensibly by Mr.
Jackson, but by some one else, to eulogize the in-
vention of "Mr. Jackson, of Battersea.'' It begins
with th somewhat trite observation that the inven-
tors of particular arts are those who draw the least
advantage from the discovery., and that a whole na-
tion is often indebted to the ruin of one man for the
subsistence of many thousands of its inhabitants.
''The author of that paper-manufactory now carry-
ing on at Battersea," says he, has printed these sheets
to tnduce gentlemen of taste to look into and give
vigor to " his invention and infant art. . . . Mr.
Jackson has not spent less time and pains, applied
'ess assiduity, or travelled to fewer distant countries
in search of perfecting his art than other men, hav-
ing past twenty years in France and Italy to com-
pleat himself in drawing after the best masters in
the best schools, and to see what antiquity had most
worthy the attention of a student in his particular
pursuits. After all this time spent in perfecting
himselt in his discoveries, like a true lover of his
native country, he is returned with a design to com-
municate all the means which his ende-avours can
contribute to enrich the land where he drew his first
JACKSON (John R.). On Box and other Woods used for Engraving. An article in
the Leisure Hour, January gth, 1875.
The author, who is the curator of the museum at the utilization of various other woods for the same
the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, gives an account purpose, there being a deficient supply of good box-
of boxwood, and its manufacture into blocks for the wood,
use of engravers. He offers some suggestions for
JACQUES (Charles). "Gravure sur bois." Articles \nLeMagasinPittoresque, 1852,
pp. 188, 236, 292, 331, 372.
JAKOBY (Prof.). Plate Engraving and Printing at the Vienna Exhibition. An article
translated from the German, in the Lithographer, March 15th, 1874.
JANSEN (Hendrik). Essai sur 1'origine de la Gravure en Bois et en Taille-douce, et
sur la Connoissance des Estampes des XV et XVI" siecles, ou il est parle
breath, by adding to its commerce, and employing
its inhabitants ; and yet, like a citizen of it, he
would willingly enjoy some little share of those ad-
vantages before he leaves this world, which he must
leave behind him to his countrymen when he shall
be no more." The " discovery" seems to have been
a kind of color-printing from wood engravings, as it
is stated that Albert Diirer, as well as Titian, Sal-
viati, Campagniola, and other Italian painters who
drew their own works on blocks of wood to be cut
by the engravers, practised the art in its rudiments.
It is claimed that this is an " art recovered," as no
writings are to bs found by which the former meth-
ods can be ascertained. The essay asserts that the
prints are unchangeable by time or damp, but the
copy in the British Museum sadly belies this state-
ment. Every leaf is stained and mildewed, and
some of the prints have turned to almost a copper
color.
Savage (" Decorative Printing," p. 15) says that
"Jackson began at Venice in 1744. with the publi-
cation of six landscapes, and ended with printing
paper-hangings in printing-ink all failures.
THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
329
aussi de 1'origine des cartes a jouer et des cartes geographiques. Suivi de
recherches sur 1'origine du papier de colon et de lin ; sur la calligraphic depuis
les plus anciens manuscrits ; sur les Filigranes des papiers des XIV", XV", et
XVl e siecles ; ainsi que sur 1'origine et le premier usage des signatures et des
chiffres dans 1'art de la typographic. 2 vols. Vol. I. Paris : 1808. 5 leaves,
pp. iv. 404, 2 leaves of table and errata, 19 plates of nielli, old woodcuts and
engravings, monograms and watermarks. Vol. II. Paris : 1808. Large paper,
PP- 373-
jEUNESSE(Aug-). L'Art de Peindre la Parole. Etudes sur I'lmprimerie, la Librairie,
les Cartes et Globes, la Fonderie en Caracteres, la Stereotypie, la Polytypie, la
Lithographic, la Gravure, sur bois, sur cuivre, sur pierre, etc. Par MM. Gobin
(H.), Jeunesse (A.), Kaeppelin (D.), et Pieraggi, redacteurs des Annales des
Genie Civil. Paris : 1874. 8vo. With cuts. 164 pp.
JOMARD. Rapport fait a la Societe d'Encouragement sur les Machines a Graver en
Taille-douce. 410. Woodcuts.
JOUBERT. Manuel de 1'amateur d'estampes. 8vo. 1821.
JOULLAIN (F. C.). Reflexions sur la Peinture et sur la Gravure. Metz: 1786. I2mo.
KOBELL (Franz von). Die Galvanographie, eine Methode, gemalte Tuschbilder
durch galvanische Kupferplatten im Drucke zu verviefaltigen. Mlinchen : 1842.
410. pp. 1 8. 7 plates.
KOBELL (Franz von). Ueber die Bildung galvanischer Kupferplatten, vorzilglich
zum Zweck der Galvanographie, mittelst des Trommel - A pparates. (In the
Abhandlungen tier kon. Bayer' schen Akademie der Wissenschaften, vol. 6.) 410.
KRESS (Georg Ludwig von). Die Galvanoplastik fur industrielle und kilnstlerische
Zwecke. Frankfurt-on-the-Main : 1867. 8vo. pp. viii. 112.
KRUEGER (Julius). Die Zinkogravtire, oder das Aetzen in Zink zur Herstellung
von Druckplatten aller Art, nebst Anleitung zum Aetzen in Kupfer, Messing,
Stahl u. a. Metallen. Wein : 1878. 8vo. pp. vii. 142.
LAB ITT K (A.). Gravures sur bois tirees des livres Fran9ais du XV* Siecle. Paris:
1868. 410.
A series of fac-similes of wood-engravings of the 151)1 century, with some valuable typographical
information, elucidations of old printers' marks, etc.
LABORDR (Leon Emmanuel Simon Joseph, Marquis de). Les Dues de Bourgogne.
Eludes sur les lettres, les arts, et 1'industrie pendant le XV- Siecle. et plus par-
ticulierement dans les Pays-Bas et le Duche de Bourgogne. 3 vols. Paris:
1849. 8vo.
In Vol. I. there it an account of the engravers and der Goes, and Alart du Hameel, 1482. In the third
printers, beginning with " Laurent Coster, 1425." volume are given the illuminators, writers, copyists,
and ending with Wynkcn de Worde, Matthias van publisher*, bookbinders, etc.
LABORDR (Leon Emmanuel Simon Joseph, Marquis de). Essais de gravure pour
servir a une histoire dc la grnvurc en bois. Premiere livraison [all that was
published]. Paris : 1833. Small 410., 25 plates.
33 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
LABORDE (Leon Emmanuel Simon Joseph, Marquis de). Histoire de la gravure eu
maniere noire. Paris : 1839. Royal 8vo. pp. vi. 413, and leaf of table. 300
copies printed.
This volume is the fifth and only one issued of a sontt/ of books on the art of etching. The work it-
projected series in eight volumes : " Histoire de la self consists of biographical notices of engravers in
decouverte de 1'impression et de son application a la mezzotint, with fac-similes of their marks, and an ac-
gravure, aux caracteres mobiles et a la lithographic." count of some of their chief works.
In the introduction there is a good catalogue r.ii-
LABORDE (Leon Emmanuel Simon Joseph, Marquis de). La plus ancienne gravure
du Cabinet des Estampes de la Bibliotheque Royale, est-elle ancienne? [Ex-
tract from /'Artiste.] Paris : 18 . 410. pp. 9.
There are four fac-similes at the end. i. The St. The Marquis Leon Emmanuel Simon Joseph de
Bernard, engraved in relief on a plate of metal, and LABORDB was born at Paris, June 12, 1807. He
bearing the date 1454 ; 2. Copy of the original im- studied at Gottingen, and afterward travelled ex-
pression of the St. Christopher of 1423, in the pos- tensively in the East. He subsequently held several
session of Lord Spencer ; 3. A fac-simile of a copy of diplomatic positions, and was curator of the antiqui-
the same, made in 1775 by S. Roland ; 4. The Vir- ties of the Louvre from 1848 to 1854, and director of
gin and the child Jesus, an ancient engraving cut the Archives of the Empire from 1856 to his death,
on wood, and preserved in the French Cabinet des on March 30, 1869. He wrote a large number of
Estampes. works relating to archaeology and art.
LACROIX (Paul), FOURNIER (Edouard), et SERE (Ferdinand). Le Livre d'or des me-
tiers. Histoire de rimprimerie et des arts et professions qui se rattachent a la
typographic, calligraphic, enluminure, parcheminerie, librairie, gravure sur bois
et sur metal, fonderie, papeterie et reliure ; comprenant 1'histoire des anciennes
corporations et confreries d'ecrivains, d'enlumineurs, de parcheminiers, d'im-
primeurs, de libraires, de cartiers, de graveurs sur bois et sur metal, de fondeurs
de caracteres, de papetiers et de relieurs de la France, depuis leur fondation
jusqu'a leur suppression en 1789. Paris : 1852. 410. pp. 160, with 19 plates.
LALANNE (Maxime). Traite de la gravure a 1'eau forte, texte et planches. Paris :
1866. 8vo. pp. 106. 2me edit. nouv. corrigee et augmentee. Paris : 1878.
8vo. pp. xii. 112 and 10 plates. 17 copies on papier de Hollande and 100 on
ordinary paper.
LANCESSEUR. Memoire pour les graveurs et marchands d'estampes a Paris ayant des
fonds de planches gravees, centre les jurez de la communaut6 des imprimeurs
en taille-douce. M. Lancesseur, avocat. 1734. Folio.
LANDSEER (John). Lectures on the Art of Engraving, delivered at the Royal Insti-
tution of Great Britain. London : 1807. 8vo. pp. xxxviii. 341.
This book is printed by J. McCreery. Blackhorse Court, Fleet Street.
LANGALERIE (Charles de). Notice sur 1'art de nieller. Orleans : 1858. 8vo. Cuts.
LEBER (C.). Essai d'une pantographie comparee, ou collection d'estampes originales
de toute nature et de toutes les ecoles representees par leurs principaux maitres,
et comparees par epoques, depuis la premiere moitie du XV e Siecle jusqu'au
commencement du XIX e , pour servir a 1'histoire de la gravure par ses produits.
[In " Memoires de la Societe Archeologique de 1'Orleanais." Tome I. pp.
31-74]. 1851. 8vo.
THE PRINT COLLECTOR. 331
LEBER (C.). Histoire de la gravure par ses produits. Catalogue d'une collection
d'estampes originates de tout nature et de toutes les ecoles, repr6sentes par
leurs maitres et compares par epoque, depuis la i e moitie du XV*. Siecle
jusqu'au commencement du XIX 6 ., suivie des proced6s employes pour graver
et pour nettoyer les estampes. Orleans . 1872. 410. pp. 39.
LENORMANT (Ch. M.). Les Johannot. Paris : 1858. In-8.
LKPPEL (Guilliaume de L.). Ouvre de Claude Gelee, dit le Lorrain J. Dresde :
1806. In-8 fig.
LEPRINCE (J. Bpt.). Decouverte d'un precede de gravure en lavis. [A prospectus.]
1780. 410.
LIPOWSKY. Baierisches Kunstler lexicon. 8vo. 1810.
LOEDEL (Johann Heinrich). Des Strassburger Malers und Formschneiders Johann
Wechtlin, genaant Pilgrim, Holzschnitte in Clair-Obscur in Holz nachgeschnit-
ten. Leipzig: 1863. 410.
LOMBARD (Lambert). Lettre a Vasari. Notes sur la premier ecole de gravure.
Liege : 1874. 8vo. pp. 146.
LONGHI (G.). La Calcografia propriamente detta, ossia 1'Arte d'Incidere in rame
coll' acqua forte, col bulino, e colla punta. Vol. I. concernante la Teorica dell'
Arte. Milano : 1833. 8vo. All that was published.
LONGHI (Guiseppe). Die Kupferstecherei, oder die Kunst in Kupfer zu stechen und
zu atzen. i r Theoret. Theil von J. Longhi aus den Italien, Uberstezt von C.
Barth ; 2 Praktischer Theil von C. Barth. Hildburghausen : 1837. 8vo.
LUEDEMANN (W.). Gesch-der Kupferstechkunst. 8vo. 1828.
MALASPINA DI SANNAZARO (M.). Catalogue di un raccotta di stampe antiche. 8vo.
1824.
M. DE M. Idee de la gravure. s. 1. ni d. In-12.
MARCENAY DE GHUY (M.de). Idee dc la gravure. Paris: 1764. In-4 de 16 et 10
pag.
MAROI.I.ES (Michel de), abbe de Villeloin. Le Livre des Peintres et Graveurs.
Nouvelle edition revue par G. D. Paris: 1855. I2mo. pp. in. Second edi-
tion, Paris : 1872. with new biographical, critical, and other notes.
The Aimfc MAROLLBS wax in hit day a ditlin- M. Duplessis, whose identity is indicated by the int-
guished litterateur and collector of prints. He tials on the title-page, has reprinted several of these
wrote a number of poetical eulogies on different en- in the above little volume (which forms one of the
graven, painters, sculptors, etc., some of them dis- " Bibliolhccjue Klxeviricnne"), along with various
playing great liicr.iry ability, and others a deep prose piece* on the same subject. Stt DurLBSSis.
knowledge of the hi-tory of the chalcographic art.
MARTIAL (A. P.). Nouveau traite de la Gravure & 1'cau forte. Paris: 1873. 8vo.
With 13 engravings.
332 . THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
MARTIAL (A. P.). Lettre sur les elements de la Gravure a 1'eau-forte. Paris : 1864.
MASSON (Georges). Les arts graphiques a 1'Exposition de Vienne, 1873 (Groupe
xii.) : imprimerie et librairie, lithographic, gravure en taille-douce, sur bois, etc.
Paris : 1875. 8vo. pp. 140, 2 leaves.
Reprint of the report published by the "Com mission supericure."
MEADOWS (Robert Mitchell). Three Lectures on Engraving, delivered at the Surrey
Institution in 1809. London: 1811. 8vo. With a preface by J. H.
MEAUME (Edouard). Recherches sur la vie et les Ouvrages des Jacques Callot,
suite au Peintre-Graveur Fran9ais de R. Dumesnil. 2 vols. Nancy: 1860.
8vo.
MEYNIER (J. Ch.). Anleitung zur Aelzkunst besonders in Crayon und Tuschma-
nier. Hof : 1804. 8vo. With twelve tables.
MILLIN. Diet des Beaux-Arts. 8vo. 1806.
MONNIN. De la Gravure. (Articles in the February, March, and April numbers of
the Annales des Arts.) Paris : 1818. 8vo.
MORITZ (Henrici). Die Kupferstechkunst und der Stahlstich. 8vo. 1834.
MURR (Christoph Gottlieb von de). Bibliotheque de Peinture, de sculpture, et de
Gravure. Frankfort and Leipzig : 1770. 2 vols. I2mo.
NAGLER (G. K.). Nencs allgemeines Ktinstler-Lexikon, oder Nachrichten von dem
leben und den Werken der Maler, Bildhauer, Baumeister, Kupferstecher,
Formschneider, Lithographen, Zeichner, Medailleure, Elfenbeinar beiter, etc.
22 vols. Munchen : 1835-52. 8vo.
NARREY (Charles). Albert Durer a Venise et dans les Pays-Bas. Autobiographic,
Lettres, Journal de Voyages, Papiers divers Traduits de 1'Allemand avec des
Notes et une Introduction. Paris : 1866. 410, pp. 164, 27 engravings on India
paper.
NAUMANN (Rob.). Archiv fiir die Zeichnenden Kunste mil besonderer Beziehung
auf Kupferstecher und Holz-Geschichte. Leipzig : 1855. 8vo.
NIEPCE DE ST. VICTOR (Claude). La Gravure heliographique sur acier et sur verre.
Paris : 1856. 8vo.
OFFARD (C. H.). Notice historique sur laet de la gravure. 8vo. 1804.
OTTLEY (William Young). An Inquiry into the Origin and Early History of Engrav-
ing upon Copper and in Wood. With an account of Engravers and their works
from the Invention of Chalcography by Maso Finiguerra, to the time of Marc
Antonio Raimondi. 2 vols. London : 1816. 410.
OTTLEY (W. Y.). 129 Fac-similes of Scarce and Curious Prints Illustrative of the
History of Engraving. London : 1828. 410-
PAPILLON (J. M.). Traite Historique et Pratique de la Gravure en Bois, ouvrage.
THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
333
enrichi des plus folis morceaux de sa composition et de sa Gravure. 3 vols.
Paris : 1766. 8vo.
PARKES (Mrs. Mary). The Electrotype, as misapplied to Engraving in the National
Art-Union. A letter to Mr. Moon, of Threadneedle Street, London : 1842.
8vo.
PARTINGTON (C. F.). The Engravers' Complete Guide, comprising the theory and
practice of Engraving, with its modern improvements, in steel plates, litho-
graphy, etc. London : 1825. 8vo.
PASSAVANT (Johann David). Lepeintre-Gravure, contenant 1'historie de la Gravure
sur jbois, sur metal, et au burin proque vers la fin du 16* Siecle, 1'histoire du
nielle, etc. 6 vols. Leipzig : 1860-64. Royal 8vo.
PERNETY (A. J.). Dictionnaire de Peinture, Sculpture et Gravure. 1757. 8vo.
PERROT (A. M.). Manuel de Graveure, on harte complet de 1'art de la gravure en
tous genres d'apres les renseignemens fournis par plusieurs artistes. Paris :
1830. 8vo. Plates.
POELITZ (K. H. L.). Die Aesthetilz fur gebildete Leser. 8vo. 1707.
POUBLON (P. A.). Projet d'un Institut de Gravure a Anvers. Bruxelles : 1802. 410.
QUANDT. Enteourf einer geschichte der Kupferstechkunst. 8vo. 1826.
RAIMBACH (Abraham). Memoirs and Recollections of the late Abraham Raimbach,
Esq., Engraver, Corresponding Member of the Institute of France, and Honorary
Member of the Academies of Arts of St. Petersburg, Geneva, and Amsterdam.
Including a Memoir of Sir David Wilkie, R.A. Edited by Mr. T. S. Raim-
bach. London : 1843. Small 410. [not published]. Portrait by Freebairn
engraved by Bates's patent anaglyptograph. Pp. viii. 203.
REIFFENBERG (Le Baron de). La plus ancienne Gravure connue avec une date.
Bruxelles : 1845. 410.
REIFFENBERG (Baron de). Gravure anterieure a la plus ancienne connue jusqu'ici et
qui vient d'etre acquise en Belgiqu. Article in " Bulletin du Bibliophile Beige,"
tome I, pp. 435-438. Bruxelles : 1844. 8vo.
RENOUVIF.R (Jules). Des Gravures en bois dans les livres d'Anihoine Verard,
maitre libraire, imprimeur, enlumineur et tailleur sur bois. de Paris, 1485-1512.
Paris : 1859. 8vo., pp. 52, with two large plates on wood. Only 200 copies
printed.
RENOUVIER (J.). Des Gravures sur bois dans les livres de Simon Voshe libraire
d'Heures. Avec un avant-propos par Georges Duplessis. Paris: 1862. 8vo. r
pp. viii. and 23 with 8 vignettes.
RENOUVIF.R (J.). Histoire de 1'origine et des progrt-s de la Gravure dans lei Pys-
Bas et en Allemagne, jusqu'a la fin du quinzieme siecle. Bruxelles : 1860.
Svo., pp. 317, with monograms. 200 copies printed.
334 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
RENOUVIER (J.)- Des Types et des Manures des Maitres Graveurs, pour servir i
1'histoire de la Gravure en Italic, en Allemagne, dans les Pays bas et en France.
Montpellier : 1853-56. 4to.
RUEDA (Manuel de). Instruccion para Gravar en Cobre, y perfeccionarse en el
gravado a buril alagua fuerte, y al humo, con el nuovo methodo de gravar las
planchas para estampar en colores a imitacion de la Pintura, y un compendio
Historico de los mas celebres Gravadores, que se ban conocido desde su inven-
cion hasta el presente. Madrid : 1761. I2mo.
RUMOHR (C. F. Von). Hans Holbein der jiingere in seinem Verhaltniss zum
Deutschen Formschnitteresen. Leipzig: 1836. 8vo., pp. iv., 127.
On the title is a fac-simile of one of the Dance of Death series of woodcuts.
RUSKIN (John). Ariadne Florentino. Six Lectures on Wood and Metal Engraving,
given before the University of Oxford, in Michaelmas term, 1872. 6 parts.
Orpington : 1873-75. 8vo.
SAINT-AVROMAN (Raoul de). La Gravure a 1'eau forte, essai historique. Comment
je devins graveur & 1'eau forte par le Comte Lepic. Paris : 1876. 8vo., pp. 115.
Portrait.
SALMON (William). Polygraphice ; or, the Arts of drawing, engraving, etching,
limning, painting, washing, varnishing, coloring, and dyeing. 2 vols. London :
1701. I2mo.
SCHELLENBERG (Johann Rudolf). Kurze Abhandlung liber die Aetzkanst. Winter-
thur: 1795. 8vo. Plates.
SCHWEGMAN (H). Het overbrengen von een tokening op een koperenplat. Harlem :
1793. 8vo.
SCHWEGMAN (H). Verhandeling over het gravuren in de manier von gewassen
tekeningen of acquatinta, op twee verschillende wyzen. Harlem : 1806. 8vo.
SCOTT (William B). Albert Diirer, his life and works. London : 1869. Svo.
SCULPTURA Historico-Technica ; or, the History and Art of Engraving. Containing
I. The Rise and Progress of Engraving ; II. Of Engraving in General ; III. Of
Engraving, Etching, and Scraping on Copper as now Practised ; IV. An Idea of
a Fine Collection of Prints ; V. The Repertorium of a Collection of various
Marks and Cyphers, with additions. To which is now added a chronological and
historical series of the Painters from the Eleventh Century. Extracted from
Baldinucci, Florent le Compte, Faithorne, the Abeccdario Pittorico, and other
authors. With copper plates. The fourth edition. London : 1770, cr. Svo.
SEROUX (d'Agincourt). Hist, de 1'Art. Folio. 1811-20.
SIMONEAU (Louis). Recueil d'Estampes gravees en taille douce pour servir a
1'histoire de 1'art de I'lmprimerie et de Gravure. 1694. Folio.
SINGER (Samuel Weller). Researches into the History of Playing Cards. With Illus-
trations of the Origin of Printing and Engraving on Wood. London : 1816.
4to.
THE PRINT COLLECTOR. 335
[SPILSBURY (F.)]. The Art of Etching and Aqua-Tinting, strictly laid down by the
most approved masters, sufficiently enabling Amateurs in Drawing to transmit
their works to posterity ; or as amusements among their circle of friends. To
which is added the most useful liquid colors, well adapted for staining and
coloring the above, etc., etc., with a specimen of Landscape and Profile, by F.
Yrubslips. London : 1794. I2mo.
STAPART. L'art de Graver au pinceau, nouvelle methode qu'on peut excecuter sans
avoir 1'habitude au burin. Paris : 1773. I2mo.
STRUTT (Joseph). A Biographical Dictionary, containing an Historical Account of
all the Engravers from the earliest Period of the Art of Engraving to the present
time, and a short list of the most esteemed works with the cypher, monograms,
and particular marks used by each master, accurately copied from the originals
and properly explained. 2 vols. London : 1785-6. 410.
SULZER (J. G). Allgemeine Theorie der Schoenen Kilnste. 2 parts. Biel : 1779.
8vo.
TER BRUGGEN (Edouard). Histoire metallique et histoire de la Gravure d'Anvers,
appuyees par des pieces et documents. Anvers : 1875. 8vo. Supplement.
Anvers : 1875. 8vo.
THAUSING (Moriz). Dtirer, Geschichte seines Lebens und seiner kunst, mil Illustra-
tionen. Leipzig : 1876. 8vo.
THON (Theodor). Lehrbuch der Kupferstecherkunst. 1831. 8vo.
TICOGZI (Stef). Dizionario deg*li architelli, scultori, pittori. intagliatori, etc.,d'ogni
eta e d'ogni nazione. 4 vols. Milano : 1830-33. 8vo.
TISSANDIER(G). Histoire de la Gravure Typographique. Conference faiteau Cerclc
de la Librairie. Paris : 1875. Imp. 8vo. Reprinted from the Journal Central
de la Libraire.
TISSIER (Louis). Historique de la Gravure Typographique sur Pierre et la Tissiero-
graphic. Paris : 1843. 8vo.
VASARI (Giorgio). Vite di piu eccellente Pittori, Scultori ed Architetti, edizione
arricchita di note oltra quelle dell' Edizione Illu strata di Roma. 7 vols.
Livorno : 1767-72. 8vo. Numerous portraits.
VASARI (Giorgio). Vite de' Pittori, con note da Bottari. 3 vols. Roma : 1750-60,
Small 410. Frontispiece and 156 portraits.
VERTUF. (George). A catalogue of Engravers who have been born, or resided, in
England ; digested by Horace Walpolc, Earl of Oxford, from the MSS. of Mr.
George Vertue ; to which is added an account of the life and works of the latter.
London : 1794. 8vo.
PORTRAITS. Pp. 230, and two leaves of index.
VERTUE (George). A descripiion of the works of the ingenious delineator and en-
33 6 THE PRINT COLLECTOR.
graver, Wenceslaus Hollar, disposed into classes of different sorts ; with some
account of his life. Second edition, with additions. London : 1759. 4 to I'P-
vi. 151. Portrait in title.
VOIART (J. P). Eloge historique de Claude Gelee dit le Lorrain. Nancy : 1839.
In-8vo.
VOISIN (A). Josse Lambert, imprimeur, graveur, poSte et grammarien Gantois du
XVI*. Siecle Gand : 1842. Royal 8vo., pp. iv. 48. Frontispiece of marks.
Only 53 copies printed.
WALPOLE (Horace). Catalogue of Engravers who have been born, or resided, in
England ; digested from the MSS. of George Vertue ; to which is added an ac-
count of the life and works of the latter. Second edition. Strawberry Hill :
1765. 410.
WEDMORE (Frederick). Masters of Etching. A series of Articles in " Macmillan's
Magazine." London : 1874. 8vo.
WILLEMS (A). Rembrandt Discours sur la vie et sou g6ine avec ungrand nombre de
documents historiques par le Dr. P. Scheltema ; revue et annote par W. Burger.
Bruxelles : 1859. In-3vo.
WILLSHIRE (William Hughes). An Introduction to the Study and Collection of
Ancient Prints. Second edition, revised and enlarged. 2 vols. London : 1877.
8vo.
WILSON (Thomas). A Catalogue raisonne of the select collection of engravings of an-
amateur. Illustrated with Etchings. London : 1828.
WILSON (Thomas). A descriptive catalogue of the prints of Rembrandt, by an ama-
teur. London : 1836. 8vo. Portrait.
WINTER (Hendrick de). Beredencerde catalogus von alle de prenten von Nicolaas
Berghem. Amsterdam : 1767. 8vo.
ZANI. Enciclopedia delle belle Arti. 1819. 8vo.
ZANI (Pietro). Materiali per servire alia Storia dell' Origine e de' progress! deir
Incisione in rame, e in legno, e sposizione dell* interessante scoperta d'una
stampa originate del celebre Maso Finiguerra fatta nel Gabinetto Nazionale de
Parigi. Parma : 1802. 8vo., pp. vi. 248.
THE END.
Prf of Jam A. GAT, Ag't, 16 and 18 Jcob Street, New York.
9094
This book is DUE *~> +he 'a*t date stamped below
UCLA-Art Library
NE880M11p
L.
LOS Ai
LIBRARY