Engraving is the art of representing objects and depicting characters on metal, wood, precious stones, etc, by means of incisions made with instruments variously adapted to the substances operated upon and the description of work intended.
Impressions from metal plates are named engravings, prints, or plates those printed from wood being called indifferently wood engravings and wood-cuts. While, however, these impressions are not altogether dissimilar in appearance, the processes are distinct. In plates the lines intended to print are incised, and in order to take an impression the plate is daubed over with a thick ink which fills all the lines. The surface is then wiped perfectly clean, leaving only the incised lines filled with ink. A piece of damp paper is now laid on the face of the plate, and both are passed through the press, which causes the ink to pass from the plate to the paper. This operation needs to be repeated for every impression, for the wood block, on the contrary, the spaces between the lines of the drawing are cut out, leaving the lines standing up like type, the printing being from the inked surface of the raised lines, and effected much more rapidly than plate printing.
Engraving on wood, intended for printing or taking impressing from, long preceded engraving on metals. The art is of eastern origin, and at least as early as the 10th century engraving and printing from wood blocks was common in China. We first hear of wood engraving being cultivated in Europe by the Italians and Germans in the 13th century. For a hundred and fifty years, however, there is small indication of the practice of the art, which was at first confined to the production of block-books, playing cards, and religious prints. In the 15th century the art of printing from engraved plates was discovered in Florence by Maso Finiguerra.
Engraving had long been used as a means of decorating armour, metal vessels, etc, the engravers generally securing duplicates of their works before laying in the niello (a species of metallic enamel) by filling the lines with dark colour, and taking casts of them in sulphur. The discovery of the practicability of taking impressions upon paper led to engraving upon copper plates for the purpose of printing from.
The date of the earliest known niello proof upon paper is 1452. The work of the Florentine engravers, however, was almost at once surpassed in Venice and elsewhere in North Italy by Andrea Mantegna, Girolamo Mocetto, Giovanni Batista del Porto, and others. In Marc Antonio Raimondi, who wrought under the guidance of Raphael, and reproduced many of his works, the art reached its highest point of the earlier period, and Rome became the centre of a new school, which included Marco da Ravenna, Giulio Bonasone, and Agostino de Musis.
In the meantime, in Germany the progress of the art had been not less rapid. Of the oldest school the most important engraver is Martin Schongauer. He was, however, surpassed a generation later by Albert Durer who excelled both in copper and wood engraving, especially in the latter. Among his most famous contemporaries and successors were Burgkmair and Lucas Cranach. The Dutch and Flemish schools, of which Durer's contemporary Lucas van Leyden was the head, did much to enlarge the scope of the art, either by paying increased attention to the rendering of light and shade, and the expression of local colour, as in the case of Cornelius Cort and Bloemart; or by developing freedom and expression of line, as in the case of Goltzius and his pupils.
Rubens influenced engraving through the two Bolswerts, Vorstermann, Pontius, and de Jode, who engraved many of his works on a large size. Towards the end of the 17th century etching, which had before been rarely used, became more common, and was practised with great success by Rembrandt and other painters of that period. In France Noel Garnier founded a school of engraving about the middle of the 16th century; but it produced no work of any high distinction until the reign of Louis XIV, when Nanteuil's pupil Gerard Edelinck and Gerard Audran flourished. The former was skilled in using his graver to produce colour effects, the latter is famed for his engravings from Nicolas Poussin and Le Brun. But these were all surpassed about the middle of the 18th century by Wille, a German resident in Paris.
Before the middle of the 17th century England produced little noteworthy work, availing herself principally of the work of foreign engravers, of whom many took up temporary and even permanent residence. The first English engraver of marked importance was William Hogarth, whose works are distinguished for character and expression. Vivares, a Frenchman by birth, laid the foundation of the English school of landscape-engraving, which was still further developed by William Woollet, who was also an excellent engraver of the human figure.
In historical engraving a not less remarkable advance was made by Sir Robert Strange, and Richard Earlom produced some admirable works in mezzotint. In succession to these came William Sharp, James Bazire, Bartolozzi, James Heath, Bromley, Raimbach, and others.
The substitution of steel for copper plates around 1820 to 1830 gave the power of producing a much larger number of fine impressions, and opened new possibilities for highly-finished work.
During the closing years of the 18th century line engraving attained a depth of colour and fulness of tone in which earlier works generally are deficient, and during the following century it reached a perfectness of finish which it had not previously attained. A picture, whether figure or Landscuape, may be translated by line engraving with all its depth of colour, delicacy of tone, and effect of light and shade; the various textures, whether of naked flesh, silk, satin, woollen, or velvet, all successfully rendered by ingenious modes of laying the lines and combinations of lines of varying strength, width, and depth. Among engraverswho have produced historical works of large size and in the line manner the names of Raphael Mrghen, Longhi, Anderloni, Garavaglia, and Toschi, in Italy; of Forster, Henriquel-Dupont, Bridoux, and Blanchard, in France; of John Burnet, J H Robinson, Doo, J H Watt, and Lumb Stocks, in England, stand pre-eminent.
Among historical and portrait engravers in the stipple or dotted manner the names of H T Ryall, Henry Robinson, William Holl and Francis Holl, may well be mentioned.
In the period 1820 to 1860 landscape engraving attained a perfection in Great Britain which it had not attained in any other country, or at any other time. Among landscape engravers the names of George Gooke, William Miller, E Goodall, J Cousen, K Brandard, and William Forrest hold the foremost places. In mezzotinto engraving Samuel Cousins is unrivalled.
In the period 1830 to 1845 various publications called Annuals, composed of light literature in prose and verse, and illustrated by highly-finished engravings in steel, were very popular. The engravings were necessarily of small size, and are generally of great excellence. A number of them both figure and landscape are executed with such finish and completeness as to be esteemed perfect works. The unrivalled illustrations of Rogers' Poems and Rogers' Italy after Turner and Stothard belong to this period. Many of the originals of the engravings in the Annuals were finished pictures of large size.
A great part of the difficulty in engraving on a small scale from a large picture, consists in determining what details can be left out, and still preserve the full effect and character of the original. The most noted engravers for work of small size are Charles Heath, Charles Bolls, W Finden, E Finden, E. Portbury, J Goodyear, F Engleheart, Henry Le Keux, E Goodall, and W Miller.
After 1870 many plates were produced by a combination of etching and dry point, a comparatively cheap and rapid process. Such works were fashionable and very popular with collectors. But while some of them have been excellent of their kind, the process is of limited resource, and the best works in this manner will not stand comparison with the masterpieces of line engraving. Through lack of encouragement, change of fashion, and the adoption of other methods of reproduction such as photography, line engraving rapidly becoming a lost art in Great Britain. The men who made line engraving famous died, and there was no sufficient inducement for younger men to pursue that art. In France and in Germany some able line engravers were still in practice at the start of the 20th century.
Line Engraving, as implied by the term, is executed entirely in lines. The tools are few and simple. They consist of the graver or burin, the point, the scraper, and the burnisher; an oil-stone or hone, dividers, a parallel square, a magnifying lens; a bridge on which to rest the hand; a blind or shade of tissue paper, to make the light fall equally on the plate, callipers for levelling important erasures, a small steelanvil, a small pointed hammer, and punches. In etching, the following articles are required: a resinous mixture called etching-ground, capable, when spread very thinly over the plate, of resisting the action of the acids used; a dauber for laying the ground equally; a hand-vice; some hair-pencils of different sizes, and bordering wax, made of burgundy-pitch, bees'-wax, and a little oil.
In engraving, the plate, which is highly polished and must be free from all scratches, is first prepared by spreading over it a thin layer of ground. The surface is then smoked, and the outline of the picture transferred to it by pressure from the paper on which it has been drawn in fine outlines by a black-lead pencil. The picture is then drawn on the ground with the etching-needle, which removes the ground in every form produced by it, and leaves the bright metal exposed. A bank of wax is then put round the plate and diluted acid poured on it, which eats out the metal from the lines from which the ground has been removed, but leaves the rest of the plate untouched. The plate is then gone over with the graver, the etched lines clearly defuned, broken lines connected, new lines added, etc. Sometimes the plate is rebitten more than once, those parts which are sufficiently bitten in the first treatment being stopped with varnish, and only the selected parts exposed to after-biting. Finally the burnisher is brought into play alternately with the graver and point to give perfectness and finish.
Such is the process for landscape engraving. In historical and portrait engraving of the highest class, the lines are first drawn on the metal with a fine point and then cut in by the graver, first making a fine line and afterwards entering and re-entering till the desired width and depth of lines is attained. Much of the excellence of such engravings depends on the mode in which the lines are laid, their relative thickness, and the manner in which they cross each other. In historical engraving etching is but little used, and then only for accessories and the less important parts.
In Soft-ground Etching the ground, made by mixing lard with common etching-ground, is laid on the plate and smoked as before, but its extreme softness renders it very liable to injury. The outline of the subject is drawn on a piece of rough paper larger than the plate. The paper is then damped, and laid gently over the ground face upwards, and the margins folded over and pasted down on the back of the plate. When the paper is dry and tightly stretched the bridge is laid across, and with a hardish pencil and firm pressure the drawing is completed in the usual manner. The pressure makes the ground adhere to the back of the paper at all parts touched by the pencil, and on. the paper being lifted carefully off, these parts of the ground are lifted with it, and the corresponding parts of the plate thus left bare are exposed to the subsequent action of the acid. The granulated surface of the paper, causing similar granulations in the touches on the ground, gives the character of a chalk-drawing. The biting-in is effected in the same manner as already described, and the subject is finished by re-biting and dotting with the graver.
Stipple, or Chalk Engraving, in its pure state, is exclusively composed of dots, varying in size and form as the nature of the subject demands, but few stipple plates are now produced without a large admixture of line in all parts, flesh excepted. A great advance, however, was made in stipple engraving by the introduction of large and varied forms of dotting in the draperies, the results almost rivalling line engraving in richness and power.
The Mixed Style is based on mezzotinto, which, still forming the great mass of shading, is in this method combined with etching in the darker, and stipple in the more delicate parts. By this combination a plate will produce a larger number of good impressions than were it done entirely in mezzotinto.
The wood best adapted for engraving is box. It is cut across the grain in thicknesses equal to the height of type, these slices being subjected to a lengthened process of seasoning, and then smoothed for use. Every wood engraving is the representative of a finished drawing previously made on the block; the unshaded parts being cut away, and the lines giving form, shading, texture, etc, left standing in relief by excavations of varied size and character, made between them by gravers of different forms. Drawings on wood are made either with black-lead pencil alone or with pencil and indian ink, the latter being employed for the broader and darker masses. It is now much the practice to photograph drawings made in black and white upon the wood instead of making the drawing on the wood block. When the drawing is put on the wood by washes or by photography instead of being entirely done by pencil lines, the engraver has to devise the width and style of lines to be employed instead of cutting in facsimile, as is the case when the drawing is made entirely in lines. The tools required for wood engraving are similar but more numerous than those of the engraver on copper or steel. Research Engraving
Stocks are two boards with semi-circular holes, set one above the other within two posts, and padlocked so as to confine the legs of a seated person just above the feet. Formerly every parish had stocks fixed in some public spot in which petty offenders were confined as punishment. Research Stocks
Dentaria or coral-root is a genus of plants of the natural order Cruciferae. There are about twenty species, natives of temperate countries. They are ornamental herbs, with creeping singularly toothed root-stocks, from which they receive the names of coral-root and tooth-wort. The stem-leaves are opposite or in whorls of three, and the flowers are large and purple. Dentaria bulbifera, the only British species, is a rare plant in the south-east of England. Dentaria diphylla, or pepperwort, a North American species, has roots that are used as mustard. Research Dentaria
The pig (hog or swine) is a hoofed woodland mammal of the genus Sus, of the suidae family. The head is prolonged into a pointed snout. The feet have four toes, two of which reach the ground and the skin is very thick, and mostly covered with stiff bristles.
The prevailing colour of the domestic pig is a dull yellowish white, sometimes marked irregularly with black, and sometimes totally black. It is omnivorous in its habits, devouring almost any vegetable or animal substance. It is also very prolific, has usually two litters in a year, a litter consisting of from ten to even twenty piglets.
Pigs are very alert, co-operative and inquisitive animals, in the wild found in forests, particularly Beech forests, where they dig around in the forestlitter with their sensitive snout. Domesticated pigs will co-operate, with piglets organising structured raiding parties, with lookouts, on stocks of foodstuffs given the opportunity. Pigs communicate, both with each other and with other animals. While not aggressive, adult pigs will defend themelves against perceived threats, but will issue warning grunts before attacking.
The flesh of the pig, called pork, takes salt better than almost any other meat, and hence traditionally formed an important article in military and naval stores. The lard of the pig is used in a variety of preparations, and the bristles are used in large quantities in the manufacture of brushes, whilst the skin, when tanned, is used by saddlers, bookbinders, etc..
Pigs wallow in mud and mire, not through a desire to get dirty, but through a peculiarity of all the pachydermata to cool themselves and provide a protection against insects. The wild-boar, from which most of our domesticated varieties are derived, is found in most parts of Europe and Asia. In size the wild animal considerably exceeds the domesticated pig, the legs are longer and more muscular, and the back therefore much higher. Hunting this animal has long been a favourite amusement, and can still be practised in various parts of Europe. The wild hogs of Hindustan, which formerly afforded the amusement of 'pig-sticking' to the British residents there, belongs to the species Sus cristatus, closely allied to the European wild-boar. Another species is found in south-eastern Asia, Java, and various islands, and distinct from it is the Guineahog of West Africa, which is also said to have been naturalized in Brazil. As allied to the pig may be mentioned the Babiroussa, the genus Phacochoerus, or wart-hogs, and the peccaries. Research Pig
The zander (Stizostedion lucioperca) is a fish resembling a cross between the pike and the perch. It has a grey-green back, white underside, two dorsal fins and wide mouth with fangs. It is about 60 centimetres long and weighs about 7.5 kg. It is a solitary and voraciouspredator and lays up to two million eggs per year on vegetation in slow-flowing or still water. It was introduced to Britain 1878, but because it reduces stocks of fish including perch, roach and bream, there have been attempts to control its numbers. Research Zander
An attack was planned by the Americans on the town of York (now Toronto), Ontario, preparatory to an invasion of Canada. On April the 27, 1813, General Pike with 1700 men and thirteen armed vessels effected a landing, and against a determined resistance fought his way to the town. The British blew up their powder-magazine. By this fifty-two Americans were killed, 180 wounded, and the rest thrown into confusion. During the dismay caused by the explosion General Sheaffe, in command of the British, withdrew with the larger part of his army, after having destroyed some vessels on the stocks and a large amount of stores. The town was then surrendered by the civil authorities together with 290 regulars and militia, a war-vessel and a large quantity of naval and military stores. The Americans lost in killed and wounded 286 including General Pike himself, the British 149. The provincial government buildings were burned. Research Battle of York
The Beretta BM59 was an Italian variant of the American M1 Carbine produced from the end of the Second World War until 1966, remaining in service until at least 1980. The M1 was modified to allow automatic fire, a larger removable magazine and the barrel was adapted to grenade launching. The BM59 was originally chambered for the .30 inch cartridge, and was later modified and chambered for the 7.62 mm NATOcartridge which it takes from a 20 round magazine and fires in single shot; semi-automatic or full automatic at a cyclic rate of 750 rounds per minute as selected by the firer. The Beretta BM59 has an effective range of 600 metres and is fitted with a blade foresight and an adjustable aperture rearsight. Various models of Beretta BM59 were produced with a fixed stock and folding stocks and with a bipod. Research Beretta BM59
The Harris Talon Safari is an American bolt-actionhuntingrifle produced in various .30 and .40 Magnum calibres and also .416 Rigbycalibre and takes a 3 to 5 round magazine accordingly. The Harris Talon Safari is made from blued steel with a choice of stocks including glass-fibre, laminate, wood and walnut and has a 25 inch barrel and adjustable folding sights. Research Harris Talon Safari
The Sten was a British blowback operated selective fire sub-machine-gun which went through a number of changes and variations from its development in 1941 until production ceased in 1945 by which time more than four million of various models (or marks) had been made. The Sten took a 9 mm Parabellum round from a 32-round box (though generally only 30 rounds were loaded to reduce jamming) and had a cyclic rate of 550 rounds-per-minute and a muzzle velocity of 365 meters per second, except the silenced models (MkIIS and MkVI models) which had a muzzle velocity of 305 meters per second. All models had fixed sights set to 100 meters. The original Sten, the Mark I was made in very few numbers, the first and most prolific model was the Mark II which had a 197 mm long barrel, over two million of this model were made. The Mark III was a simplified model usually produced with a single tube stock, but other stocks could be supplied. The Mark V had a 198 mm long barrel and solid wooden stock and a pistol grip but was otherwise essentially a Mark II. The Sten Mark V remained as the standard sub-machine-gun in the British Army until it was replaced by the L2A3 ('Sterling') during the 1960's. Research Sten
Active stocks are the stocks and shares that have been actively traded, as recorded in the Official List of the London Stock Exchange. Research Active Stocks
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Engraving
