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THE PROCESSES tOK THE FRODIICT

EX LIBRIS

John Vinycomb

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By John Yinycomb, m.r.i.a. ^|

FeIIow of a,
Member

e Royal Society pf Aniiquaries Df Ireland ^^^H
inl o( Uie Belfast An Sooiely, 1891-92 ^^^H
of Council of the Ei Ubris Sodely ^^H

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ARTHUR VICARS, f.s.a.,

ULSTER KING OF ARMS

A VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE EX LIBRIS SOCIETY
AND AN EMINENT COLLECTOR

I RESPECTFULLY DEDICATE
THIS LITTLE BOOK.

Fhanklin Press.
lo-a. Philadelphia, U.S.A.

In acceding to the author's request that I would add
a few words of introduction to these reprinted articles,
I do so with pleasure, although entering a mild protest
thereon, inasmuch as the writer has handled his sub-
ject so well that it leaves very little to say, except in
commEndation of the work to the favourable con-
eideration of those for whom it was written.

Mr. Vinycomb has in these articles aimed to give
his readers a practical dissertation upon the modes
of e\ecution, rather than upon the history and classifi-
cation of styles in the production of book-plates; and
in this he has certainly departed from the beaten track,
and has furnished a very concise and clear account
of the various processes hy which our book-plates are
produced and reproduced, and the numerous and inge-
nious methods of manipulation resorted to in their
manu^cture.

Some people may take exception to the word manu-
facture, used in this connection, as being inappropriate
to a description of what may be defined as one of the
modern arts. But the terms, though by no means
synonymous, are at any rate akin ; for doubtless the
majority of book-plates are artistically designed, but
for their reproduction and final manipulation the aid of
science must be resorted to.

«. Pr.fac.

Mr. Vinycomb, in his opening remarks, says : " The
production of book-plates, by whatever means, is but a
side branch of the art by which pictorial and decorative
illustrations of every kind are executed, and copies
multiplied by some of the ordinary processes of print-
ing." He then tells us that whereas in former times
wood engraving and copper engraving were responsible
for most of the book-plates evisting, " the advance ai
modern science has, however, changed all that, and we
may now possess a charming book-plate, which is
neither engraved on wood Or on copper, and yet may
pass for either the one or the other, or have charac-
teristics entirely its own." It must be borne in mind,
however, that many persons have a great abhorrence
of processes of all kinds, and cannot be satisfied with
anything short of an Ex Libris worked direct from the
copper. In the highest interests of Art, they are
doubtless right ; but whereas it is only the rich man
who can purchase the work of an old master or of a
modern pamter, by means of the despised process-
blocks these same works of art can be placed in the
hands of everyone. This, however, is too wide a
subject to be dealt with here ; yet a glance at the
pages of the Studia and other current periodicals
should convince the most sceptical that the most
beautiful work may be produced by these same pro-
handiwork being reproduced in absolute facsimile.

Mr. Vinycomb leads us, in these pages, by easy
stages, through the various developments of engraving,
from the rough woodcuts which are to be found in the
earliest printed books to the beautifully finished work
of Dflrer and other masters of engraving. Then comes

Preface. vii.

the engraving on metals and etching; and last we are
let into the «ecrets of (he various means adopted for
the duplication of artists' sketches by means of blocks
or transfers, from which any number of copies may be
taken. He has, as we have already staled, tieateil his
subject in an eminently practical manner, so that the
veriest tyro may be able to understand the methods
□sed in the multiplication of Ex Libiis ; and by means
of the well-selected illustrations, and the hints so
freely scattered over these pages, it is an easy matter
for those who have not studied the art of engraving
and process-working to gain a fair knowledge of the

Some of the illustrations have already appeared in
connection with these articles in the Ex Libris yoiirual
(Vol. III., pp. 151, 170 ; Vol. IV., pp. 17, 43, 57, 92) ;
Others are introduced here for the first time ; but they
are all well calculated to enhance the value of Mr.
Vinycomb's work, and to show what can be done by
the various methods in use. Further, it may be safely
assumed that all systematic collectors of book-plates
will be glad to have in this handy and independent
form an essay upon the practical side of a subject in
which they have up to the present taken, perhaps, but
a general or sentimental interest.

Thanks to the formation of the Ex Libris Society,
the collection and preservation of book-plates has now
reached something akin to a scientJRc position, and in
large and valuable collections it has become more and
more necessary to know how best to classify and
arrange our acquisitions. This knowledge can there-
fore best be secured by studying such works as the
present, by means of which the collector is able to

viii. Preface,

judge of the age and value of a plate, or at any rate
to fix an approximate date to those (and they are
many) >vhich have no printed date to fix their identity.
This little work comes as a valuable companion to
Mr. Hamilton's recently published work on ** Dated
Book-plates," in which he deals with almost all the
branches of the subject of most interest or value to
collectors, but has, naturally, little to say upon the
practical production of Ex Libris — leaving that to an
expert in the person of the writer of the present essay.
For practical engravers Mr. Vinycomb has probably
said too much, or not enough, or has, perhaps, only
told them what they knew already ; but as the majority
of collectors cannot be classed in this category, it may
fairly be assumed that the author has filled a gap in
book-plate literature which no previous writer has
attempted to supply, and that his work will be found of
great value to members of the Ex Libris Society, and
to collectors of book-plates in general.

W. H. K. WRIGHT,

Editor Ex Libris Journal.

CONTENTS.

Page

Preface - - - - v.

Introduction - - - i

Wood Engraving - - 9

Engraving on Copper and Steel - 27

Lithography - - - - 58

Chromo-Lithography - 65

Photo-Lithography - - - 65
Drawing for Photo-Litho. and Process Work 67

Process Blocks— Line Work - - 6g

„ Half-tone Blocks - 83

Hints to Collectors of Ex Libris - 91

"Au Revoir" - - - 95

EX LIBRIS ILLUSTRATIONS.

R. S. Mansergh — Armorial, printed in tinctures

by Chromo- Lithography - Frontispiece

Modern Engraved Plates — Facing

R. Day, f.s.a., engraved by C. W. Sherborn, P^^ge
printed from the copper plate -

R. Day, F.s.A.-Vesica Armorial |i|iho^aph^y|

R. S. Mansergh — Armorial

Edward Cox — Circular Armorial

W. H. K. Wright, f.r.hist.soc. )
— Library Interior j

R. Day, f.s.a. — Pictorial, Etching

R. J. Welland, Bishop of Down)
and Connor and Dromore j
J. F. Wilson — Circular Armorial v

J. Neville Cross — Circular Seal)
Armorial - j

Lithographed and Photo-Lithographed
Examples—

Joseph McChesney — Pictorial - -58

Robert Day, f.s.a. — Library Interior - 60

Fredk. Arthur Beale — Armorial - - 62

Wood Institute, Rugby — Decorative - 64

Robert Day, f.s.a. — Ogham, Landscape, etc. 66

Free Public Library, Belfast — Decorative Arm. 70

Rev. J. H. Bibby — Library Interior - 72

Robert Cochrane, c.e., f.r.i.b.a., f.s.a., etc. —

Armorial - » » - 80

42
45

47
48

52
54
56

EX LIBRIS ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT

■

J, H. Fryet— Etching, Landscape, by Lambert,

p'^g' ^^H

Newcastle ... -

Biandenburg or Buxheim plate — Early wood

^^H

engraving ....

^^^1

Hans Igler plate— Early wood engraving (double-

page) - . . .

^^H

Kress of Kressenstem, by Albeit Diiier

^^1

Wm. Taylor, by Bewick— Wood engraving

^^H

(No name)

^^^1

graved on copper

^^M

Samuel Pepys— Portrait plate by R. White, en-

graved on copper

^^H

Hen? Jas Pye— Chippendale plate by Playner -

^^H

Baiiow— Armorial Book -pile, by Lightboune,

engraved on copper

William Cow per— Decorative Armorial, engraved

on copper ....

^^1

Hogarth, engraved on copper

^^M

William Hogarth— Decorative Monogram plate,

^^H

Edw. Loveden Loveden— Engraved on cupper -

^^H

H. Stamford— Pictoiial, etching on copper

^^H

— S^enct 1 '^*° Pictorial Etchings by Bewick

^^1

Joseph Pollard 1

^^^1

Chas.Fenwick|

^^^1

Charles Bragge- Urn Armorial, etching

^^H

Arthur Vicars, f.s.a., Uliiir King of Arms-

Pen and ink, by Rev. W. FitzGerald

^^1

^^^^^B Francis Joseph Bigger, M.R.i.A.~(Old Belfast)

^^^K

^^H

xii. List of lilusttattons,

Robert Day, f.s.a. — Armorial Masonic - 72

Walter Besant, m.a. — Library Interior - 74

Francis Joseph Bigger — Armorial - - 76

George Rollo — Smithy Interior - - 78

F. D. Ward, j.p., m.r.i.a., ch.l.h. — Armorial - 80

I. M. F. H. Stone, m.a., f.l.s., f.c.s. — Armorial 82

Arthur Acton — Emblematic - - 84

Belfast Art Society, 3 sizes — Emblematic - 86

Dublin Naturalists' Field Club - - 88

Masonic Province of Down — Armorial Masonic 90

John Vinycomb, m.r.i.a. — Armorial - - 96

Fine Half-tone Process Blocks —

Facing

Antiquarian subject, reproduced from Mono- Page

tint Drawing - - - 83
Virgin and Child, reproduced by Aquatint

Engraving - - - - 89

George G. Ward, reproduced from Design in

Colours for Stained Glass - - 93

Vinicombe Bey, reproduced from Soft-ground

Etchmg - - - - 94

ILLUSTRATIVE CUTS IN TEXT.

Page

Franklin Press, now at Philadelphia - - iv.

Caxton's " Printer's Mark " . . g

Form-Schneider at Work - - - 13

Engraver's Knife, from Papillon's Treatise, 1766 15

Press of Ascensius - - - 16

Engraver's Tools - - - - 24

Mode of Engraving - - - 25

Copper-plate Printing Press - - 46

Lithographic Printing Press - - 58

ON THE PROCESSES FOR THE
PRODUCTION OF EX LIBRIS.

By John Vinycomb, M.R.I.A.

Introductory,

npHE production of book-plates, by whatever
means, is but a side branch of the Art
by which pictorial and decorative illustrations
of every kind are executed, and copies multi-
plied by some of the ordinary processes of
printing. Without, at this stage, going

2 The Production of Ex Libris.

minutely into the history of pictorial illustra-
tion and printing, it may be briefly stated that
in times past, the only available modes of
reproduction were either by eng^raved wood
blocks with the lines in relief to print with
letterpress, or by engraved copper plates
having the lines cut into the polished surface
of the metal and printed by the copper-plate
press (the modus operandi m each method
will be explained later on).

The processes for the production of Ex
Libris — as it is now the fashion to term these
dainty little works of art we so delight to
collect and preserve — are to-day so numerous
and so varied in their style and character of
work as to be wholly dissimilar, yet in very
many instances we find the results to be so
nearly alike that only a practical expert can,
with any degree of certainty, state how and
by what means they have been executed. It
ia not therefore surprising that the collector —
that picker-up of unconsidered trifles — how-

Introductory. 3

ever deeply versed he may be in the hterature
of the subject, for want of some technical
knowledge should sometimes be mystified and
unable to declare how a particular specimen
has been produced. In the older examples
there is little or no difficulty in distinguishing
the difference hetween a wood-cut and a print
from a copper-plate ; to one or the other of
these two methods it must of necessity belong.
The advance of modern science has, however,
changed all that, and we may now possess a
charming book-plate, which is neither engraved
on wood nor on copper, and yet may pass for
either the one or the other, or have character-
tsticB entirely its own.

Some account of these two older methods
and their later developments, as well as a
sketch of some of the modern processes
arising out of the invention of lithography
and photography, will be of interest to col-
lectors of Ex Libris ; particularly the process
blocks so much in vogue at the present time

The Production of Ex Lihris.

for high-class book iilustrations, magazines,
the illustrated weeklies, etc., by means of
which the artist's drawing, through a happy
union of these Eater aits and chemical science,
may be translated into a printing surface of
metal or other material for giving off impres-
sions by the type press, the copper-plate
press, by lithography, or by one of the photo-
mechanical processes, such as calotype, etc.
By reference to representative examples, it
is hoped to enable the collector to form a
pretty accurate idea of the mode of execution
of similar works.

Whatever merit of originality or of fancy
the earlier examples may possess, it is in-
teresting to observe how largely book-plates
partake of the prevailing style or fashion of
the times. By this test alone, collectors are
led almost to a certainty to fix an approximate
date when they were designed and engraved.
Again, how clearly the character of the artist
appears upon the face of each example, whe

ines, ^^^

Introdtu:tory. 5

ther he was a " base mechanick " at his trade,
or a true artist, who lent his thought and
skilful hand to embellish the library of his
friend or client. The artist himself, in old
times, generally a versatile many-sided man,
adapted himself to his work and wrought out
his ideas con amore in whatever direction he
might be called upon, whether it was to paint
some great picture, to draw and perhaps en-
grave on wood or copper some of his immortal
conceptions, or it may be only a simple book-
plate for his friend and patron. Such a man
was Albrecht DQrer. A book-plate by him,
cut on wood, for his friend, Bilibaldi Pirck-
heimer, forms the frontispiece to the Hon.
Leicester Warren's book on " The Study of
Book-piates." Men like Michael Angelo, who
could vary his occupation to every phase of
Art, now as an architect, conceiving and
carrying out the erection of the great Church
of St. Peter's at Rome, painting the grandest
and most sublime pictures, and in sculpture

6 The Production of Ex Librts.

without a rival, but who could also bring his
lofty mind to the consideration of works of
less importance. To him, to Hans Holbein,
and others of highest rank as artists, we are
indebted for the immense advancement of the
fine arts at this period, which, starting with
the Renaissance of Literature and Art in the
15th and i6th centuries, gradually dispersed
the darkness of the middle ages. Drawing
and engraving on wood were brought to a
high degree of perfection, and a race of artists
was educated, who devoted themselves exclu-
siveiy to illustrating books which the recently
invented art of printing had called into
requisition.

Wood engraving, as an adjunct to printed
books, was the earliest form in which good
art became popularised: book illustration by
engraved copper plates was a later develop-
ment, though the art was not unknown : at a
later period, copper-plate illustrations almost
entirely superseded wood for the purpose.

Introductory. 7

One who has carefully studied the illustra-
tions in early-printed books — from printer's
mark on title-page to colophon — cannot fail
to be struck with the manly and vigorous style
of drawing in the cuts, shewing a real grasp
of the subject and mastery of detail, and while
we may be amused at the quaint conceits,
and somewhat crude lines, we cannot but be
charmed with the natural simplicity of the
drawing, though lacking almost entirely in
local colour. In the infancy of the art of
engraving on wood, it necessarily followed
that there should be some want of refinement
in the execution. The engraver on wood waa
bom very young, and had to grope his way
by tedious practice to acquire skill and know-
ledge for his work. The artist, on the
contrary, like Minerva, came into being fully
equipped, or, to be literal, he already existed ;
with mature experience he adapted his skill to
the requirements of the new art, the first and
most important being that, as the tools of the

The Production of Ex Ltbris.

engraver and the wood he used were unfitted
for small details, the lines to be drawn by the
artist on the wood must necessarily be few
and well chosen.

WOOD ENGRAVING.

"TJEYOND giving some idea of what wood
engraving is and how it is produced, it
is not intended to do more than refer to the
early history of the art— a subject on which
bulliy volumes have been written — or to enter
minutely into the details and modes of exe-
cution of modern work. To those who desire
further information, special works on the sub-
ject may be consulted.*

• Jackson's '■ History and Practice of Wood Engrav-
ing"; Fiimin Didot's ■■ Essai sur THistoire de la
Gtavuresur BoLs"; "The Book, its Printers, IllusUa-
lora, and Binders," by Henri Bouchot; "Wood En-
graving ; a Manual of Instruct ion," by W. J. Linton.

10 The Production of Ex Libris.

WOOD ENGRAVING AND COPPER -PLATE
ENGRAVING — THE DIFFERENCE.

Copper-plate engraving, which almost entirely
superseded wood in the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries, differs in principle from
wood engraving in this— that a woodcut has
the lines of the design standing up in relief,
the wood between the lines incised or cut
away, so that when the surface is inked the
lines so charged will give off an impression
upon paper hy rubbing the back, or by the
use of the type press. In the copper plate
the lines are cut into the polished surface of
the metal, which, when smeared over with
printing ink, and the surface wiped clean,
leaves the incised lines Hlled with ink; an
impression is taken by the use of a press
specially adapted to the purpose.

It will be seen that surface printing is the
necessity and characteristic of wood engraving.
Simple and crude in its beginnings, owing
chiefly to the imperfect mechanical means of

Wood Engraving. 1 1

cutting the wood in sufficiently fine or exact
lines ; it was employed first in the production
of playing cardsj the outlines of which were
formed by impressions from wood blocks, and
the colouring filled in by hand or stencil. In
Europe the earliest application of the art to
pictorial illustration took place in Germany
about the close of the fourteenth or beginning
of the fifteenth century. The oldest woodcut
with a date known is of 1423- It represents
St. Christopher carrying our Saviour on his
shoulders across a river. Other specimens,
though undated, from their greater rudeness,
have been held to have superior claims to
antiquity. With the invention of printing
the art soon made rapid strides, and on the
introduction of moveable types to print in
conjunction with engraved blocks, a new
impetus was given to the production of en-
graved wood blocks. In the early part of the
sixteenth century, several artists of celebrity
were either designers on wood or engravers.

12 The Production of Ex Libris.

Books at this period were profusely illustrated.
Among the most distinguished in this line
was Albert Dflrer, whose productions as a
painter and an engraver on copper and wood
are so numerous that he could not possibly
have engraved a tithe of the wood engrav-
ings attributed to him ; probably he only put
the design on the blocks, leaving them to
others to execute.

The art was chiefly practised in Germany,
where it was patronised by the Emperor
Maximilian, for whom Burgmair produced
the great work, "The Triumphs of Maxi-
milian." The next great name in the annals
of wood engraving is that of Hans Holbein,
whose "Dance of Death" was printed in
Lyons in 1538.

In England Caxton brought out his " Game
and Playe of Chesse " in 1476, with cuts.
There are woodcuts also in the " Golden
Legend," 1483 ; " Fables of jEaop," 1484 ;
Chaucer's " Canterbury Tales," and other

IVood Engraving. 13

books of his printing — all scarce and poor in
execution, but noticeable in the history of Art.
From 1545 to 15S0 wood engraving continued
to be much used for illustrating books in
England, chiefly by John Daye. From this
period there is little to be recorded of essen-
tial importance till the appearance of Bewick,
to whom the revival of wood engraving is
chiefly to be attributed.

14 The Production of Ex Lihris.

EARLY METHOD OF ENGRAVING ON THE SIDE
OF THE WOOD WITH KNMVES.

In early days of wood engraving a close-
grained slab of wood of a suitable thickness
to print with type was used for the purpose
by the engraver — cut the long way of the
tree, and not upon the end or section of the
wood as in modern work ; and the cutting
was necessarily executed with the knife. The
quaint and rude cut on the accompanying
double page is a fair example of the earliest
species of woodcut, and is the most ancient
Ex Libris known.

Regarding the knife as a cutting instrument,
Mr. W. J. Linton, in his " Manual of Wood
Engraving," p. 28, says: "As far as I have
been able to ascertain, with the one possible
exception of the cuts to Croxall's Fables,
1722, all engravings on wood from the earliest
time to the time of Bewick were done with
the knife instead of gravers."

We can to some extent realise the

le diffi- ^H

^ >.

■I.' .• • ■•■X

^^^t^

male dal« ia mo, Harr Ludwig Roientha], intiqiltllu^ \K.tuu.ti&.
[Decks' I ■' bie deatieben Bacheitelchea" ^Ex \.'Anvl^,0«yl'

> t .

15 Wood Engraving.

culties the early wood engravers laboured
under in this respect in producing fine work,
but when we examine the later works of the
German engravers, and observe the gradual
improvement from crudeness to really excel-
lent work, we are amazed that with such
disabilities such splendid results were at-

From Papillon's TreadBe, i?6S.

tainable by the knife. The Fonn-schiteider,
as the engraver of block pictures was termed,
increased in skill and dexterity in deftly cut-
ing the design exactly as it was drawn on the
wood, and with exceeding truthfulness ; using
a finer grained and harder wood and tools
more perfectly adapted for the work, so would
the art advance by leaps and bounds, until in
the time of Diirer and Holbein it had reached

The ProducHon of Ex Lthrt's.

its high-water mark of excellence. Boxwood
was then, as now, in use, but for delicate
work only, and cut plank-wise. For larger

Wood Engraving.

1 the plank

; the engraver's business airi

nply to ^^^

1 cut away

the white spaces between the lines.

ft cutting, as before said, with knives

in the

■ Small DUBEK Woodcui. of ihe Nuremberg fsmi

Kress of Kressenslein.

^1 smaller spaces, and with chisels and

gouges ^^M

H clearing away the larger to a sufficient depth ^^H

H to escape

the ink in printing.

1 At the

present day, in the skilfully

drawn ^^M

1 8 The Prodttcticni of Ex Libris.

and engraved block books of the Ja]
the illustrations will be found to be drawn
with the brush upon the side of the wood,
and cut with a knife ; but we are not now
astonished at anything done by this wonder-
ful people, who have knocked the wind out of
ua in BO many forms of art-

MODERN WOOD ENGRAVING.

To understand the scope and practice of wood
engraving, it will be necessary to glance
through the illustrated publications of a few
years ago, before process blocks had to so
large extent superseded the work of the
graver, The immense popularity the art
has obtained in this country owing to the
establishment of the Illustrated London News,
Graphic, Art journal. Magazine of Art, and
similar publications, not to speak of book
illustrations, has been remarkable. The ex-
cellence of the work and the infinite variety
of style introduced by the best artists

panese, |

ts and I

Wood Engraving.

engravers show it to be capable of represen-
ting every artistic quality supposed to be

20 The Production of Ex Libris.

peculiar to copper and steel engraving ; other
qualities it has, auch as power and force in the
darker portions, and the use of white line
work on tint, or solid ground — effects obtained
with extreme difficulty upon the metal plate.

Wood engraving for pictorial work may be
divided into two kinds ; —

I. — Black-Line or Facsimile Work. —
The drawing on wood is engraved exactly as
it is drawn, line for line. All examples up to
the time of Bewick, and a great many since,
are of this kind. As illustrating the best
qualities of this style of wood engraving, no
more apt examples could be named than the
Artoons and drawings in Punch by Tenniel,
Doyle, Leech, and others, before the introduc-
tion of photo-etched process blocks. (Bewick
himself, an artist as well as an engraver, made
a departure from the old crude manner of wood
engraving by introducing a new style of work,
imitating more truly the local colour and the
textures of nature ; drawing the subject of the

Wood Engraving.

design on wood in pencil and afterwards tinti,
in the masses of shade and local colour with
washes of china ink ; and with the graver .
giving all the characteristic markings and

minuter details by white lines upon the dark
ground. In his Natural History Cuts he '
imitated in the most marvellous manner the
textures of trees, grass, and natural scenery,
the plumage of birds, the shaggy or smooth

11 The Production of Ex Lihris.

coats of animals, etc. A number of Ex Libris
executed by him on wood have the same
characteristic handling}. The two wood en-
gravings by Bewick are reproduced by process
blocks. Though inferior to many of his Natu-
ral History Cuts, they fairly show the style
and character of his handiwork — the careful
execution of details and the use of white-line
work upon solid black ground.

II, — Tinted Work. — In this mode the
subject is drawn in tints or washes, and
partly with the pencil. To be successful in
work of this kind, to interpret the artist's ideas
truly, the engraver must himself be an artist
of considerable ability, as he has to adapt the
lines to the work, and in this lies rare judg-
ment and discretion, as not only the direction
of the line most conducive to develop the
form, but the width and thickness of the lines
and spaces must be accurately judged; the
various qualities of surfaces must likewise be
suggested by the engraved lines.

IVood Engra-ving. 25

MATERIALS AND MODE OF PROCEEDING.

The wood used by engravers is boxwood, on
account of its dose grain and firm texture ;
it is principally imported from Turkey, cut
transversely or across the grain (so that the
engraving is done upon the end way of the
wood). It is made seven-eighths of an inch
in thickness (type height). It takes a beauti-
&illy smooth surface, and cuts under the
graver with the utmost clearness and fineness-
The polished surface of the wood being un-
suitable for drawing on, a slight "tooth" is.
given to it by a little water-colour white
rubbed over the face of the block with the
ball of the thumb until nearly dry, when it.
presents a pleasant surface for the pencil.

The drawing or design having been sketched
Out and perfected on paper, it is then traced
the reverse vray upon the wood block, and the
drawing then worked out, either in black-line
facsimile or in tints, as may be intended.
The Mack lead pencil, of sufficient hardness.

24 The Production of Ex Libris.

of lead to stand the pressure upon the solid
surface, is the fevourite instrument for draw-
ing. For tinting, either the pencil or the
brush with washes of china ink can be used.
The tools used are gravers, tint-tools, and
scoopers, or cutting out tools^n all about a

dozen different sizes ; the several kinds are
here indicated. With the gravers the out-
line and all the details are cut ; the tints,
by which the proper tones or light and shade
are obtained, can best be rendered with tint
tools of various widths of cut. The parts
not required to be printed are hollowed out

Wood Engraving. 25

with scoopers. It will be understood that
all the blanks or white parts of an engraving
have been cut awaj in the block

: of Engraving on Wood.

There are several et ceteras also required
by the engraver, as, an oil-stone to sharpen
his gravers ; an eye-glass, when engraving
very fine work; a small circular sand-bag, on

26 The Production of Ex Libris.

which the block is held while being engraved;
an instrument called a burnisher, with which
to take proofs. A glass globe filled with
water, to concentrate the light from lamp or
gas jet upon the block, is used at night.

The engraving being completed, the surface
of the block is inked very lightly with printing
ink, and a piece of India paper, or any fine
paper of similar quality, being laid upon it,
an impression is taken by rubbing the paper
with the burnisher until it is fully printed.
From this proof the engraver can judge
whether any alterations are required and what
improvements can be effected.

The revival of wood engraving by Bewick
and others, and the high state of perfection to
which it had been brought by his immediate
successors, to a very great extent superseded
copper-plate engraving for book illustrations,
though for Ex Libris, copper-plate held, and
still holds its place as the chief and deservedly
favourite style.

Creit Bx Libri! of R. Day, f.s.a., Cori.

ENGRAVING ON COPPER AND

STEEL.

TT THERE be the equal now of those glori-
ous editions of the poets, the "Annuals,"
"Keepsakes," "Books of Beauty," and other
delightful volumes that still charm the eyes
and glad the hearts of those who have the
taste and the wit to possess them ? As work&
of the highest art quality, they have never
since been equalled for beauty of work, with
their engraved titles, frontispieces, and illus-
trations in the text, drawn by Stothard,
Turner, Creswick, Stanfield, Harding, and a.
host of the first names in British Art, and
engraved in the rarest and most exquisite
manner by men equally eminent in their line.
"Woodcuts," however, cut them out for the

Copper and Steel Engraving.

time, owing to the excellence to which the
had attained, and the greater rapidity and
cheapness in printing.

In all the changes and inventions in the
modes of art reproduction the engraved plate
has steadily held its own as the most finished
and perfect. For Ex Libris it is particularly
suitable ; it is par excellence the style for
the attainment of the highest art quality.

The Art journal, supported by one or
two similar publications, has heroically en-
deavoured to maintain the traditions of the
best period of the Art in its steel plate illus-
trations, but, except for pictures of this kind,
and of larger size for framing, illustrations on
steel and copper for books may be said to be
practically extinct.

Time, however, has its revenges : wood en-
graving, in its turn, is being rapidly displaced
by "process blocks" (of which more anon),
and now, if we take up any recent illustrated
book or journal, we find the bulk of the

: art ^J

30 The Production of Ex Lihris.

pictures and designs not wood engravings but
process blocks.

In every good collection of Ex Libris the
majority of examples will be found to be
printed from engraved plates, very few rela-
tively being from wood blocks. The reason
is not far to seek. The wood engraving as
practised in England previous to the opening
of the present century was poor in execution,
and did not lend itself sufficiently to working
out minute details with the same ease and
readiness with which they can be executed on
copper.

That it was the favourite mode of producing
these dainty little works is evident also from
the fact that copper-plate pictures for book
illustrations of every kind had almost entirely
superseded wood engraving, which had indeed
fellen completely into disfavour. Until the
beginning of the present century, when Bewick
and others had elevated it into a fine art,
wood engraving was in an exceedingly rude

■ con

T&e Production of Ex Libris.

condition, and little fitted for smali works.
Copper-plate engraving, on the contrary, had
for several centuries flourished successfully;
every goldsmith was able to "chase" and en-
grave the decorative and heraldic work upon
silver plate and goldsmiths' work, or upon
metal of any kind, in relief, or intaglio, aa in
medals, coins, etc. That this is no mere as-
sumption we know from historical evidence,
as well as from a careful comparison of the
"handling," or the manner of cutting the
lines upon silver work, which is identical with
the style of cutting the lines in so very many
engraved book-plates of the last and early part
of the present century. Whatever may he
thought of the vagaries of the accessories in
the Jacobean, Chippendale, and other kindred
styles — which are essentially silver engraving
patterns— much of this class of work shows
at least a true heraldic spirit in the treatment
of the charges.

Benvenuto Cellini, whose works now bring

34 "^he Production of Ex Libris.

fabulous prices in goldsmith work, was an
expert engraver as well, as were probably
moat of the workers in the precious metals of
his time. Hogarth, in the earlier part of his
career, did much in the way of engraving
arms, crests, etc., for the silversmiths ; so did
Bevrick, who worked on wood and on metal
indifferently. The writer has done a fair
share of similar work in his younger days ;
and to his knowledge it was the custom in
many establishments for the engravers to do
both, as the exigencies of business required,
though the tendency when work was plentiful
was to specialise, each man doing that part for
which he seemed to have an aptitude. This
refers particularly to graver work ; the pictorial
engraver executing his work principally by
means of the etching process, and only finish-
ing up with the graver.

No doubt a life -long practice in one
particular class of work of this kind is cal-
culated to engender a stiff and formal manner,

Copper and Steel Engraving. 35

and set patterns to become stereotyped, were
it not for the capricious changes of fashion;
sometimes slowly developed, at other times, a
new fashion suddenly sets in and changes all ;
the later chasing the earlier out of the field,
only to be elbowed aside in its turn.
Styles of ornament, as they course each other
down the stream of time, invariably leave
their high-water marks on the margin, which
serve as valuable data for the student; the
prevailing styles of decorative and heraldic
art, having, like all mundane things, their
periods of development, full-blossoming, and
decadence, the dates of which, book-plate
collectors, aided by dated specimens, arrive at
with tolerable certainty.

The prevalence of a particular style, its
vogue and duration, wilt account in a great
mtasure for the family likeness observable in
so many book-plates; the chief factors, how-
ever, may be set down to the general low
State ol the art, the paucity of designers and

Copper and Steel Engraving. 37

engravers ot merit, and the ample supply of
the ordinary article — the mechanical crafts-

As to the history and development of styles
in Ex Libria, a reference to the works of the
Hon. J. Leicester Warren, J. Paul Rylands,
F.s.A., Egerton Castle, m.a., f.s.a., W. J.
Hardy, and the pages of the Bx Libris
jfournal, will find the subject fully and plainly
set forth.

A word as to the origin and history of
Copper-Plate Engraving, The art of engrav-
ing on metal plates, for taking impressions on
paper, was first practised by Tommaao Fine-
guerra, a Florentine goldsmith, about the year
1460. Some writers have claimed the inven-
tion for Germany, but it is generally considered
that the art was first practised in Italy, and
had its origin in the workshops of the
goldsmith. An assistant is said to have
suggested to Fineguerra the possibility of
taking an impression from an engraved design

38 7he Production of Ex Libris.

with ink on moistened paper. The first book
printed at Rome was illustrated by the first
plate engraving. This work is dated 1478,
but was commenced in 1472. Engraving
made rapid strides towards excellence in
Germany. Albert Diirer was a man whose
universality of talent extended the boundaries
of every department of art, and carried all to
a degree of perfection previously unknown.
He had great command of the graver, and
carried his plates to a higher state of finish
than his Italian contemporaries. He is also
believed to have invented the art of etching
by corrosion : on examining his etchings,
we see that they have all been corroded at
one " bitiiig-in," which sufficiently explains
their monotonous appearance, and pnives
that "stopping-out" was not then understood.
To the Dutch and Flemish schools we owe
many improvements in the art. The celebrity
of the French school dates from the time of
Louis XIV. Gerard Audran was the first

Pore I-ine EaRravinp, reproduced by process bloci

.ibris. n

40 The Production of Ex Libris.

engraver who successfully united to any
extent the use of the graver and the etching
point. The English school of engraving

dates only from the middle of the eighteenth
century, previous to which those who prac-
tised the art in England were chiefly foreign-
ers. Hogarth engraved many of his own

■/my oleMirmy^^

42 The Production of Ex Libris.

designs. Francis Vivares introduced the art
of landscape etching : he, Woollet, and
Brown produced some of the first landscape-
engravings extant. Sir Robert Strange ex-
celled in portrait engraving. Of the moderns
who have attained eminence in the various
branches of the art, the very enumeration of
them would lead to needless length, the
present purpose being chiefly to describe-
the processes.

THE VARIOUS MODES OF ENGRAVING ON
COPPER AND STEEL PLATE.

There are many kinds of engraving on steel
and copper for the purpose of printing by the
copper plate press. We will specify those
principally in use and indicate their chief
characteristics; afterwards, some further ex-
planation may be necessary. It may be here
stated that the various processes are of such
a technical nature that it would be impossible
in a short compass to explain all the details of

Copper and Steel Engraving.

execution ; we may, however, refer those who-
desire to pursue the subject further to an
excellent little handbook (price one shilling)
published by Winsor and Newton,* which, as
stated in the preface, will, by means of any of
the modes of engraving on copper therein
treated of, enable anyone " skilled in pen and
ink drawing to reproduce their designs with
greater delicacy and added depth of effect."
Other books on the subject there are, of
greater cost, as Hamerton's splendid work,
but for the amateur the handy little manual
just named is an admirable guide.

To one skilled in drawing, and with some
leisure and enthusiasm for the work, Etching
offers a delightful field for the exercise of the
artistic mind. There are no technical difB-

ft of ■•

K Newi

•"The Art of Etching explained and illustrated,
with remarks on the allied processes of D^-point,
Mezzotint, and Aqualint." By H. R. Robeitson.
Fellow of the Society of Painter-Etchers; Author
the Upper Thames," etc. Winsor and
Newton, Limited, 38 Rathbone Place, London.

JBuJfcot ParA. BeritS.

. reproduced b; pTOCCU block.

r ^

'>per and Steel Engraving. 45

cultiea that may not be surmounted by care
and patience. The few tools and necessary
appliances are not of a costly nature, if we
except the copper-plate printing; press.

There are different kinds or methods of
engraving, the six principal varieties of which
need only be considered, namely : —

(i) Line Engraving.

(2) Etching.

(3) Soft-ground Etchikg.

(4) Aquatint Engraving.

(5) Mezzotint Engraving.

(6) Stipple Engraving,

The distinctive features of all copper-plate
and ateel-plate engraving consist in this, that
the lines or strokes composing the design are
cut or ploughed into the surface of the metal
with a fine tool termed a graver, etched or
corroded out with acid or by other means.
A Print is obtained by filling the lines so
made with a special ink composed of a drying

46 The Production of Ex Libris.

oil and colour- pigment. During the process
of inking the plate is kept warm, the super-
fluous ink being wiped ofT with a coarse

muslin rag, and made perfectly clean. The
plate, placed in the travelling bed of the
copper-plate press, is covered with a sheet of
paper slightly damp ; on turning the press, it
is subjected to such pressure as forces the
paper into the lines ; by this means the ink is
transferred to the paper, and the result is an

Copper and Steel Engraving. 47

I. — LINE ENGRAVING.

The majority of the earlier book-plates are
engraved, or cut into the plate entirely with
the graver, and may properly be termed line
engraving par excellence.

As early examples of this style of work we
are enabled to give reproductions of several
book-plates, viz., Kress of Kressenstein, by
Hans Troschel, 1699, p. 28 ; the portrait plate
of Samuel Pepys, by Robert White, p. 31 ; two
plates engraved by Hogarth, pp. 40-41. The
Ex Libris of William Cowper, Clerk of the
Parliaments; Edward Loveden Loveden ;

Barrow; and Henv Jams Pye, also

illustrate the quality of line or graver work
alone. The examples interspersed in the text
carry their own explanation.

As modem examples of this style we are
enabled to give several characteristic varieties
—the library interior of W. H. K. Wright, by
J. E. Wood, of Plymouth, and a number de-
signed by the writer and engraved by Marcus

48 The Production of Ex Libris.

Ward & Co., Limited, printed by lithography
— all of which will be found useful as keys to
the style of handling of graver work alone,
and in combination with etching.

Among the chief exponents of the art may
be mentioned the name of C. W. Sherborn,
who is faciU princeps as an engraver of
heraldic subjects. One of his smaller works,
engraved in pure line, appears facing page 27,
the dainty crest plate of R. Day, f. s. a,,
printed direct from the copper plate; a favourite
old toast, in playful allusion to the wings in
the crest, doing duty as a motto.

This method admits greater freedom of hand-
ling than graver work. The design is drawn
through a resisting ground with the etching
point, and the exposed lines on the surface of
the copper corroded to the requisite depth
with aquafortis, the finishing of the work
being usually done with the graver.

1 The Production of Ex Libris.

Machine ruling or tinting is row much
used in conjunction with line engraving and
etching, for the even tints of skies and level
surfaces in pictorial work, and for the sym-
bolical lines denoting tinctures in heraldry, of
which several examples are given.

Stetl plates were used for engraving very
fine work, or when large numbers of copies
were required to be printed from the plate.
Any advantage over copper which steel for-
merly possessed is now neutralised by the
process known as steel facing, that is, coating
the copper plate with an electro deposit of iron.

Copper-plate printing, as it is termed, though
giving the most perfect result, is slow and
tedious, and necessarily costly. A much
speedier method of printing — by Lithography
— is now much used instead, transfers from
the engraved plate being put on the litho-
graphic stone and printed therefrom, the
original plate being retained intact. {See
examples under Lithography.)

52 The Production of Ex Libris.

Some early examples of etched plates are
given. The um design of Charles Bragge,
Armorial Landscape, and Bewickian Land-
Bcape show the character and handling of
etched work as distinguished from line en-
graving. Other examples illustrate the com-
bination of Lim, Etching, and Machine Ruling
work.

3. — SOFT-GROUND ETCHING.

A very charming style of work which was
much used by Bartolozzi and other engravers
of his time, but now gone entirely out of
use. A suitable book-plate engraved in
this manner not turning up in time, the
present fine example of the style was selected
to illustrate the character of the work, which
bears a close resemblance to a chalk drawing,
and on that account offers considerable difH-
cultiea in the way of reproduction by the half-
tone process. The result is, however, suc-
cessful in a remarkable degree in translating
the peculiar texture of the original.

54 The Production of Ex Libris.

The allegorical device represents the turret-
crowned goddess Cybele, " mother of a hundred
gods," standing upon an isolated rock in the
sea, holding out an olive-branch, and with her
attribute, the rudder, as guide and director of the
destinies of cities and states ; youthful figures
representing the Arts and Sciences — which are
the glory of a State — are disporting themselves
in the clouds.

Though not originally intended for a book-
plate) a friend is desirous of adopting it, with
the motto from Virgil, "Fata prudenlia major"
— to intimate that, in his opinion, prudence is
greater than fate.

4- AQUATINT ENGRAVING.

A style of work having all the appearance of
a china ink drawing, and frequently used by
artists in conjunction with etching, to give
body and consistency to the tints. An ad-
mirable example of this combination of etching
and aquatint is the charming book-plate of the

r Hoi

Copper and Steel Engraving. 55

Hon. Leicester Warren, by W. Bell Scott,
well known to collectors. It does not, how-
ever, lend itself well to reproduction.

The texture, which may he of various de-
grees of fineness, is produced on the plate by
a solution of resin (dissolved in pure spirit),
which is poured over the surface; as the spirit
evaporates it leaves the resin in minute iso-
lated particles adhering to the plate. The
design is traced or transferred upon it, the
highest lights "stopped out" with engravers'
varnish. The etching (or biting-in with acid)
is then proceeded with ; repeated stoppings
out and etchings are made as the deeper
shades are attained.

5. — MEZZOTINT ENGRAVING.

Produced by roughening the surface of the
plate by a rocking tool, and the lights and
shades attained by scraping and burnishing.
Seldom used for small work, but largely used
combined with Nos. i and 2 for prints and

56 The Production of Ex Libris.

pictures. The small French print of the
Virgin and Child, reproduced by half-tone
process block, represents fairly well the cha-
racter of the work. (See example under
"Half-tone Process Blocks.")

6. — STIPPLE ENGRAVING.

Performed with the graver or other tool, which
is so managed as to produce the tints by small
dots. This method is much used for statuary
and for portraits particularly, the rest of the
picture being generally executed by some of
the other methods, Nos. i and 2 especially.

LiTHOCRAFHIC PRINTING PRES3.

LITHOGRAPHY.

T ITHOGRAPHY, as one of the modera
arts, dates only from about the end of
the last century. The inventor, Aloys Sene-
FELDER, the son of an actor, was bom at
Munich in 1771, and died there on the 26th
February, 1834. Intended for the profession
of the Law, he, on the death of his father,
was obliged to retire from the University.

Thrown on his own resources at the age
of eighteen, he turned to his father's profes-
sion, but met with little success. Writing

Lithography. 59

for the stage, he found difficulty, owin^ to his
poverty, in getting his writings pubHshed,
and it was in trying to find out some ready
process to attain this end that he arrived at
what we now term the Art of Lithography.
Senefelder lived to perfect his art to a high
degree, and to see it brought into general
use, but without bringing much profit to him-
self. Since his time many advances have
taken place, and new developments in various
directions, as in the beautiful art of chromo-
lithography and photo-lithography.

The term Lithography is derived from the
Greek, litkos, a stone, and grapho, to write.
Lithographic stone is a species of limestone,
the best qualities of which are obtained from
the quarries at Solenhofen, near Munich, and
from Papenheim, on the Danube. The stoneS
are cut into slabs or blocks of various sizes to
suit the work required; to print an octavo
page, quarto, etc., up to sixty inches by forty,
and even larger. The thickness varies from

The Production of Ex Libris.

an inch and a half in the smaller, to four or
five inches in the larger sizes. The stones
are ground perfectly level with sand and
water, and finished off with a fine stone
until a perfectly smooth polished surface is
produced, when it is ready to receive the
drawing, or to have transferred to its surface
a drawing or writing made upon specially
prepared paper {lithographic transfer paper).
For chalk or crayon drawings, the smooth
surface of the stone is grained with sifted
silver sand, which gives a beautifully even
granular texture, and the drawing is made
upon it with lithographic chalk. For drawing
upon the smooth stone, or upon transfer
paper, lithographic ink is used.

The principle underlying the process
OF Lithography is simply this : — The nature
of the stone is such that it retains with great
tenacity the resinous and oily substances con-
tained in the ink or the crayon employed to
form the design. The lithographic stone

Lithography.

also absorbs water freely; this, combined
with the pecuHar affinity between resinous
substances and their mutual power of repel-
ling water, causes the ink on the printing
roller to adhere to the design and to leave
untouched the damp surface of the stone.

The process of Lithographic Printing
is as follows: — After the drawing on the
litho. stone is completed, it receives a wash
of dilute acid and gum arabic, and this, by
removing the alkali from the ink, leaves the
design on it in a pennanent form, at the same
time that it etches away a minute portion of
the surface of the stone, and renders it more
absorbent of water. After etching, all trace
of the acid is removed with a sponge and
water, the atone is rubbed over with a damp
muslin cloth to equalise the moisture upon
the surface, the lithographic roller charged
with printing ink is passed over the surface,
the lines of the design alone taking ink ; the
paper is then laid upon the stone, and a copy

62 The Prodtcction of Ex Librts.

is obtained by means of the lithographic press.
The damping of the stone and inking is re-
peated for every impression.

Lithographic Writing and Drawing Ink
and Lithographic Crayons for chalk drawing
on stone, are similar in composition, but differ-
ent in proportions, suited to the particular kind
of work, white waXy shell-lac, hard soap, tallow,
and lamp black being the chief ingredients.
For writing and drawing all kinds of line-work
on stone or transfer paper, the ink is made
in sticks, and rubbed down with water to a
proper consistency for use, and used with a
pen or sable pencil. For chalk drawings upon
a grained stone, the ink is cast into the form
of crayons, and used in a port-crayon for
convenience in drawing, sharpening the point
as required.

Chalk Drawing on Stone is rarely used
for such small work as book-plates. We need
not therefore more particularly refer to it,
than to say that excellence in this department

of Lithography may be attained more readily
than in fine-line work, for which constant
practice, and a very delicate handling of the
implements, the lithographic pen and fine
sable pencil, is required.

The technical difficulties to be overcome in
Lithography are very great; to the unprac-
tised they seem insuperable: the magic of
handling acquired by long-continued practice
in the use of the materials, as seen in good
examples, exhibits a degree of technical skill
which the amateur may not hope to rival.
To draw with the pen or small sable pencil
with the requisite degree of fineness of line
of the expert, and with the precision and
apparent freedom of the accomplished artist,
is a thing of difficult attainment. This is a
disadvantage to artists generally, who are
obliged to entrust the translation of their
drawings to the professional lithographer —
not always with a satisfactory result (!)

Grained or Textured Paper, of which

64 The Production of Ex Libris.

there are many varieties specially made
a chalky surface for photolithography, are
□ow much used, on which the artist makes
his drawing in litho-chalk or suitable black-
lead pencil. As the knife point may be used
to scrape out lights on the chalky surface, it
admits of very effective work for pictorial
illustrations. A photo-litho transfer is then
put to stone, or a process block made from it,
as may be required. Drawings made on this
prepared textured paper with lithographic chalk
may also be transferred to stone direct, and
printed from. Extreme beauty and fineness
are, however, gained by the photo-reduction.

Very beautiful Pictorial and Heraldic Ex
Libris have been executed by the lithographic
process, hardly to be distinguished from plate
engraving.

Engraved Plates may have transfers
taken from them and printed from stone. A
number of examples, with explanatory titles,
aie given of the various modes of lithographic
and photo-lithographic reproduction.

lade with I

Lithography.

CHROMO-LITHOGRAPHY,

Some very dainty examples of Ex Libris
emblazoned in heraldic tinctures are met with,
very charming in their way, principally Ger-
man ones. Colour in the heraldry of book-
plates has not found the same favour in this
country as on the Continent ; for what reason
it is hard to understand. Through the cour-
tesy of Mr. R. S. Mansergh, Friarsfield, co.
Tipperary, we are enabled to print as a frontis-
piece the plate newly designed by the writer,
and executed by Messrs. Marcus Ward & Co.,
of Belfast.

PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHY.

Photo-lithography is now so largely employed
for the reproduction of all classes of work
that a few words in explanation of it may be
very desirable. The process is of a somewhat
technical nature, but simplicity itself when
understood ! It is founded upon the fact that
gelatine, by the addition of a certain chemical,
ia rendered insoluble on exposure to light.
A negative photograph from the original

^ A negative f

66 The Production of Ex Libris.

drawing in black lines having been taken by
the wet or collodion plate, it is intensified to
the required degree, so that the lines of the
design appear perfectly clear upon a dense,
opaque, black film. It is then "exposed" in
the printing Frame, upon paper that has been
coated (in the dark) with the prepared gelatine
— now extremely sensitive to light. Taken
out of the printing frame in the dark room,
the exposed print (which barely shows any
trace of the design at this stage) is then
covered with a thin film or coating of printers'
transfer ink. The lines exposed to the light
have been rendered insoluble, while the white
ground of the design protected by the negative
is still in a soluble condition. Floated in a
bath of warm water, the soluble gelatine (not
acted on by the light), with its coating of ink,
is washed away — the insoluble lines of the
design alone remaining, coated with printers'
transfer ink. This '^ pholo transfer" is theo
ready to be put down to the lithographic stone
and printed from, or it may be transferred to

■SIC-ITUR ADASTRA:,

ex tibns
RObeBC DAI). 1^ psA.mRiA

Lilh

a polished zinc plate, and etched to the requi'

site depth as a block for type printing.

DRAWING FOR PHOTO-LITHO, AND FOR
PROCESS LINE-BLOCKS.

The invention of photo-lithography enables
the artist to make his own drawings or de-
signs in black and white on a larger scale
(usually one-third or one-half larger than
required), which will be photo-litho'd down to
the size required, thus preserving intact every
touch and flexture of line in the original, and,
by the reduction, gaining a fineness of line
and beauty of tinish which the artist could
not himself produce on the reduced size.
Machine Ruling may afterwards be trans-
ferred into the design when it is upon the
stone, as in some of the designs in the accom-
panying examples.

"Process blocks," which reproduce so ad-
mirably all kinds of drawings and engravings,
are, when carefully printed, eometimes very
difficult to detect from direct lithographs.

PROCESS BLOCKS.

LINE WORK.

npHERE are quite a number of processes
that have been brought into use with
more or less success, as Graphotype, Dallas-
type, etc., to which it is not necessary to refer,
as for all practical purposes Zinc Etching
holds the field argainst all others, either for
Half-tone Blocks, or for Line Blocks of
every kind, of which last a number of ex-
amples are here given, with an explanatory
title to each specimen.

For work of the very finest kind, the Photo-
gravure or Heliogravure, printed by the copper-
plate press, bears the palm, but it has the
disadvantage of being very expensive. Those
desirous of knowing more fully concerning
s processes in use may be referred

Ptt ud Ink Dnwisg icproduced by FJioto4ith4^n^y.

Process Blocks.

to a very excellent volume in the " Book
Lovers' Library" — "Modern Methods of
Illustrating Books," by H. Trueman Wood,
M.A., Secretary to the Society of Arts, and
published by Elliot Stock,

These modern methods provide a most
important and valuable means of producing
illustrations for printing purposes. By their
aid, any photograph, drawing, design, or en-
graving of any kind can be translated into a
block, and with such success that, with suit-
able subjects, it is often hardly possible to tell
the original from the copy ; and not only do
they enable surface blocks to be produced with
great rapidity and at slight cost, but they give
blocks capable of producing effects which
could not be obtained at all by wood engrav-
ings, or, if at all, only at great expense.

Many artists have hailed with delight the
process of Zinc Etching, as by its means
they obtain a perfect facsimile of their work,
especially pen-and-ink drawing, which

L more especia!

^^^^

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wiMm

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en nad Ink DrawinE, reproduced by ptucess

- - ATI VA-OI 3.

lyys BOMe ■

(^^S^ Ci» nnnt and ii ib liktinife noux« -
but an iFtl)i«nriU.tiot 6o,t.(llIbi;mine_9ijo6(piea&,
fCT:3nmlljf jjeoter cJ^t^E toe .-

ak Dnwintr KprcHluced by Photo^ithagi^>Iir.

Process Blocks.

could never be reproduced by any other method
with the same accuracy and delicacy of finish
which the zinc process gives, and which could
not by wood engraving be an absolute fac-
simile.

Mr, Carl HentEchel, head of an eminent
firm of photo-etchers, to whom we applied for
information upon certain points in the mani-
pulation of his process, courteously offered
some very interesting statements as to the
development of zinc etching. He says the
process of Zinc Engraving was introduced
into England about thirty years ago, but
really did not "catch on," as the Yankees
would say, for twenty years after ; nor was
there any real value attached to it from a
commercial point of view until about twelve
jeara ago, when, as Mr. Hentschel assures
us, the system he adopted rendered it possible
to have blo::ks of all kinds for newspapers,
books, magazines, and journals of every de-
scription produced in such time that their

Process Blocks.

delivery could be relied upon for the most
urgent publication, and, only then, the vast
possibilities of the zinc process began to
dawn upon publishers, and soon the method
was gradually adopted for all purposes of
engraving. Some idea of the extent to which
it is made use of may be gathered from the
fact that this firm alone delivers weekly about
three thousand blocks for various publications
throughout the country, and even to far-off
India, where the plates of whole volumes of
educational works have been despatched by
this enterprising firm. To keep pace with
the requirements of the times it has been
found necessary recently to add largely to the
facilities for the execution of half-tone blocks,
using engine power to the extent of forty
horse for the production of the electric light,
essential for this branch of the business, so
that in this respect they are practically inde<
pendent of sunlight. In cases of emergency
it is no unusual thing to deliver half-tone

K:)c-i-isiSi>iia

Process Blocks.

blocks in five to seven hours, and Line work,
from transfers, one and half hours, and in
the case of having to photo the subject, two
and half to three hours. This would have
been impossible under the old system, trust-
ing to daylight, and this fact, coupled with
the cheaper rate of cost, has given an impetus
to illustrated journalism that could hardly
have been dreamt of under the old regime.

Under the head of photo -lithography, the
initiatory stage in the making of what are
termed " Process Blocks " was explained,
namely, the making of photo -transfer from
the original drawing — in printer's ink — for
transference to the lithographic stone and
printed form. The metal Zinc possesses
the same or similar properties as lithographic
stone, and may be used to print from in the
same way. The term Zincography is ap-
plied to the process, though practically it is
the same as lithography.

To convert the design upon the zinc plate

Process Blocks.

into a relief block to print with type ia only
one step farther — to bo protect the lines of
the design on the zinc plate, as to resist the
corrosive action of add, and by etching the
plate, produce a relief block. For this pur-
pose, a resinous or bituminous Rubstance is
introduced into the composition of the print-
ing ink. Here, then, we have the lines of
the design in an acid-resisting material upon
the surface of a metal piate exceedingly
susceptible to the action of acids. If the
prepared plate is now placed in an acid bath,
the entire surface of the zinc, except the
protected lines, will become etched, or dis-
solved away, leaving the design in its integrity,
with the lines standing up in relief: the
etched plate has now only to be mounted
upon wood to the height of type to be ready
for the printer's use.

Such is a brief outline of the process in the
production of Line Blocks. The design

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Peu and Ink Drawing, reproduced by process bloEk. ^^^|

Process Blocks. Si

may be put on the metal plate in any of the
following ways: —

(a) By direct drawing on the zinc plate.

(6) By a drawing on transfer paper to zinc
or stone.

{d) By transfer from an engraved plate.

(e) By transfer from a lithographic stone.

(/) By direct photography upon zinc.

The most perfect work is said to be ob-
tained by the latter method. There are
many technical difficulties to be encountered
in working the process, difficulties which for
twenty years kept it at the experimental
stage, and of little practical utility, as, for
instance, after etching the plate for a short
time the acid has a tendency to bite laterally
as well as vertically, and so undermine and
weaken the lines intended to be left standing.
This is obviated by some photo etchers in
using certain chemicals, and others by an
ingenious manner in the working by etching
in stages. This is done by re-inking and

Process Blocks.

dusting with bitumen, heating the plate after
each "etching," which has the effect of melt-
ing and spreading the resinous or bituminous
ink on the face, and slightly down the sides of
the lines. Successful work is only attained
by attention to the various delicate technical
manipulations, which only experience can
give.

HALF-TONE PROCESS BLOCKS.

The subject, whether it is a drawing, en-
graving, painting, or a photo print, must in
each case be photographed to obtain upon
the negative the texture which is the means
of producing the gradations of light and
dark we find in the finished block. The
theory is simple enough, but the practice is
extremely difficult, and one requiring great
skill and care. A glass screen having cross
lines ruled upon it, with perfect mechanical
regularity (about seventy lines to the inch for
large work, up to two hundred lines to the
inch for very fine half-tone blocks, as may be

Process Blocks.

best suited to the subject in hand). The
screen is fixed in the camera between the
lena and the negative to be exposed. The
fine black lines of the screen are reproduced
upon the negative as white lines, breaking up
the picture into a series of minute square
dots, of varying size according to the light
and shade of the original picture. A photo-
transfer is then taken as previously explained.
(In Hentschel's process the secret of the
prepared transfer paper is in the possession
of Mr. Hentschel solely.) After being trans-
ferred to the zinc, and manipulated with
certain chemicals, the plate is gradually
etched until a sufficient depth has been ob-
tained. It is then trimmed and mounted
type height ready for the printer.

PEN AND INK DRAWING.

Drawings for reproduction by the modern
processes of photo-lithography and photo-
etching may be prepared in a variety of

Process Blocks. 87

ways. The most frequently used is termed
Pen and Ink Drawing (often mistakenly
called "etching," which is engraving by
means of an acid). This class of work 13
the most popular of all, and the most easily
got at hy artists and amateurs ; it is trans-
lated with much greater ease, and at less
cost, than photographs or shaded drawings
of any kind. Aa the term indicates, it 19
executed with the pen; many artists, how-
ever, have a predilection for the brush {a
fine sable pencil), which, though it requires
considerable practice to master its use, be-
comes in masterly hands a valuable instru-
ment, capable of greater and more varied
effects than the pen. Good black ink, and
smooth white paper or cardboard, are the
essentials. Much may be said on the style
or modes of different artists in drawing,
the kind or quality of the ink, the pens and
paper to be used. The relative values of
thick and thin, open and close lines, the

Process Blocks. 89

to the art; it gives full instructions on the
best means of working, and the materials to
be used."

For Half-tone Shaded Blocks the de-
sign may be executed in washes as a china
ink drawing, or in any other way. The ilius-
trations are reproductions from various kinds
of originals, as explained under each example.

Messrs. Carl Hentschel & Co., 182-3 F'eet
Street, have been good enough to prepare
several examples to illustrate the half-tone
process ; each block having been made from
an original executed in a different way, as
indicated by the explanatory title ; and may
be considered rather severe tests of what the
process is capable. For these favours we are
much obliged ; we tender also our thanks for
their kindness and courtesy in supplying
much of the foregoing information.

• " The Art of Pen and Ink Drawing, commonly
called Etching." By H. R. Kohertson, Fellow of the
Society of Painter. Etchers, Author of " The Art of
Etching," etc. Winsor & Newton, Limited, London.

HINTS TO COLLECTORS OF

EX LIBRIS.

To distinguish how a book-plate may
have been produced.

A lithograph or a photo- lithograph may be
distinguished from a woodcut, or from a
copper engraving, by the following : By
the quality of the lines, whether cul with the
graver or etched upon copper; drawn with the
pen or with the fine sable pencil. Each has a
character of handling and manner of its own
by which it may be recognised. A little ob-
servation of admitted examples with the aid
of a strong magnifying glass will generally
resolve this.

THE DIFFERENCE IN ENGRAVED OR CUT
LINES, AND ETCHED LINES.

Lines cut with the graver are invariably
smooth and even, and have a clear silvery
appearance ; in isolated lines or cuts it will

Hints to Collectors.

be observed that the beginning of the lines
are finer where the graver has entered than
where it stops. Etched lines, on the contrary,
do not possess the same smooth-edged rigid
character as those cut with the graver; and
where greater strength of line is obtained it is
by deeper etching with the acid bath, and in
this the difference in the quality of line is
more perceptible.

IMPRESSION FROM

In a plate engraving the lines are slightly
in relief (and, if strongly engraved, or the
paper thin, observable on the back). A sensi-
tive finger will detect the stronger raised lines
of the engraving. The mark of the plate,
unless cut off, also betrays it ; the engraved
plate by Mr. Sherbom, facing page 27, will
illustrate this.

TO DISTINGUISH A WOODCUT, OR LINE
PROCESS BLOCK.

I a block the lines of the design are iiideiited

94 Hints to Collectors.

slightly into the paper, which shows itself on
the back of the print (unless thoroughly rolled
out under heavy pressure). Close observation
with the magnifying glass will show the edges
of the lines to be slightly rough — by the ink
from the face of the line being squeezed over
the edge ; in good printing this is not so
apparent. A weakness with nearly all pro-
cess blocks is that the edges of fine tints and
outlying fine lines are apt to print heavier
than they should, unless very carefully worked.

TO DISTINGUISH A LITHOGRAPH.

In a lithograph the surface of the paper is
perfectly smooth, and not indented in any
way. The examples of engraved plates
printed from stone, and the litho. and photo-
litho's printed in brown ink, will serve to
illustrate the qualities of lithography. Unless
well printed, the fine lines are apt to show
weak and rotten, or to have become thick and
blurred, either in transferring to the stone or
by too much ink on the printing roller.

FATO PRUDENTIA MAJOR,

■■AU REVOIR."

TTAVING now rehearsed, I hope clearly
■^ *■ and concisely, the various modes by
which Ex Libris are and have been produced,
and having revealed as many trade secrets as
the limited space at command would allow,
I beg to thank the Council of the Ex Libris
Society for permission to reprint from the
pages of the Journal the series of articles on
the subject — now somewhat expanded — and
for the use of the blocks by which they
were illustrated. To Mr. W. H. K. Wright,
F.R-HiBi.Soc., the able Editor and Secretary of
the Ex Libris Society (to whom all collectors
are infinitely indebted), my thanks are due
for his valued aid and counsel; and on whose
shoulders I have now laid the further obliga-
tion of a preface. As a special favour I have
requested his " library interior " plate to
appear, A similar favour I have desired from
Arthur Vicars, f.s.a., Ulster King of Arms,
to whom I dedicate this little book. With
the exception of these two "library interiors"
and the crest plate of R. Day, f.s.a., by Sher-
born, all the modern Ex Libris designs here

" Au Rffvoir."

printed have been made by, or under the
superintendence of, the writer, and executed
by Marcus Ward & Co., Limited, whom I
beg to thank most heartily for their kind
co-operation, particularly in printing the litho-
graphed specimens, and the use of additional
blocks. I have also to thank several personal
friends who have been good enough to lend '
me their copper plates and process blocks,

John Vinycomb, m.r.i.a

THE

journal

OF THE

]£f Xibris Society?,

PUBLISHED MONTHLY,

Price, Is. 6d. Posf pfee, Is. (^d.

ALSO,

VOLUME I. - - Out of Print

VOLUME M. - - Out of Print

VOLUME IN. Price, 2l5. Post Free, 21s. 8<f.

"••.•*•- •■•■•.-"••,••*-,■*

price, Is. 6d. Post Free, Is 9d.
ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK,

SOHO SQUARE, LONDON.

Dated Book-Plates

With a Treatise on their Origin and Development,

WALTER HAMILTON,

Chairman of Council of the Ex Libris Society ; Vice-President of the
Societe Frangaise des Collectionneurs d*Ex Libris.

With Numerous illustrations.

A LIST of Dated Plates prior to 1700 appears in Part I., with
facsimiles of Ex Libris specially selected as typical examples
of early work.

Part II. will contain Dated Plates of the i8th century.

Part III. will contain Dated Plates of the 19th century.

The work will be printed on paper of the same size as the
jfonrnal of the Ex Libris Society, so as to range with it.

The price of each part will be Seven Shillings and Sixpence
net. Post free, 7s. iid.

Part I. is now ready. Parts II. and III. will be issued very
shortly, as all the materials are ready for the press.

ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK,
iiOHO bQUARE, LONDON.

Booh opiate Hnnual -

ARMORIAL YEAR BOOK,

1894.
Edited by JOHN LEIOHTON, f.s.a.
Price, 2l. 6d. Post Free, 2s. 9rf.

Contents—
t.— Half Title, the Author, the Printer, the Bookbinder, and

the lover of Books.
2. — Memorandum Sheet for the entry of Loans and Exchanges.
3.— The Ex Libris of the Dulte of York and Princess. (By

gracious permission.)
4. — Description of the Royal Wedding Book-piate. By

Arthur Jewers, f.s.a,
5.— Portrait of the Great Master of Symbolical Heraldry,

Albert Durcr.
6.— Should Wales have a place on the Royal Standard of

England.
7.— Suggestions for a Welsh Order of Knighthood. The

Collar and Jewel of St. David.
8.— Cambria upon the Currency in the fourth quatter.
9. — The Library. Books and Binding*. Their Resioraliun

to. — How to keep Ex Libris under any classification or

arrangement.
11.— The Process of Binding. A Book from the Sheets to

the Volume.
la.— Taxes upon Vanity. Armorial. Servants, Horses, and

Carriages.
ij.^Arms of Participation. An Economy m a high Luxury.
14.— RebindingOld Books of value; what should be done ?
15.— The Find of the Year. The Virginian Bcok-plate con-

16.— Cut and come again. The Trimming of Books and
Cutting Down.

ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK, SOHO SQUAHE, LONDON.

THE

DRYBURGH EDITION

OF THE

Mavetle^ Bevels,

With 250 Page Illustrations^ specially Drawn for this Edition by the

well-known Artists whose names are given below^ and engraved

on wood by Mr. J. D. COOPER. In Twenty-five VolMtnes.

Crown 8vo, Cloth. Price^ 5s. each,

CHARLES GREEN

GORDON BROWNE

PAUL HARDY ....

LOCKHART BOGLE

WALTER PAGET
LOCKHART BOGLE

FRANK DADD, r.i. -

WILLIAM HOLE, r.s.a. .

JOHN WILLIAMSON

GORDON BROWNE

JOHN WILLIAMSON

H. M. PAGET . - -

W. H. OVEREND

GODFREY C. HINDLEY

STANLEY BERKELEY

H. M. PAGET - - - .

HUGH THOMSON -

GEORGE HAY, r.s.a.

GODFREY C. HINDLEY

STANLEY BERKELEY

C. M. HARDIE, A.R.S.A.

PAUL HARDY

GORDON BROWNE

PAUL HARDY -
WALTER PAGET -

WAVERLBY.
fU7Y MANNBRING.
THE ANTIQUARY.
ROB ROY.

(BLACK DWARF.

1 LEGEND OF MONTROSE.

OLD MORTALITY.

HEART OF MIDLOTHIAN.

BRIDE OF LAMMERMOOR.

IVANHOE.

THE MONASTERY.

THE ABBOT.

KENIL WORTH.

THE PIRATE.

FORTUNES OF NIGEL.

PEVERIL OF THE PEAK.

QUENTIN DURWARD.

ST. RONAN'S WELL.

REDGAUNTLET.

( THE BETROTHED.
\ HIGHLAND WIDOW.

THE TALISMAN.

WOODSTOCK.

FAIR MAID OF PERTH.

ANNE OF GEIERSTEIN.

COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS.

J THE SURGEON'S DAUGHTER.
1 CASTLE DANGEROUS.

ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK, SOHO SQUARE, LONDON.