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A TREATISE ON ETCHING.
" Amongst Frenchmen Claude is the best landscape etcher of past days, and Lalannc
the best of the present day." — P. G. Hamerton.
A TREATISE
ON
ETCHING.
TEXT AND PLATES
BY
MAXIME LALANNE.
AUTHORIZED AMERICAN EDITION, TRANSLATED FROM
THE SECOND FRENCH EDITION
BY
S. R. KOEHLER.
WITH AN INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER AND NOTES BY THE
TRANSLATOR.
BOSTON
THE PAGE COMPANY
PUBLISHERS
Copyright,
By Estes and Lauriat.
1880.
TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.
So much interest has of late years been shown in England in
the art of etching, that it seems hardly necessary to apologize for
bringing out an English edition of a work on the subject from the
pen of an artist whom a weighty EngHsh authority has pronounced
to be the best French landscape-etcher of the day. It might be
urged, indeed, that more than enough has already been written
concerning the technical as well as the aesthetic side of etching.
But this objection is sufficiently met by the statement of the fact
that there is no other work of the kind in which the processes
involved are described in so plain and lucid a manner as in M.
Lalanne's admirable " Traité de la Gravure à V Eau-forteT In the
laudable endeavor to be complete, most of the similar books now
extant err in loading down the subject with a complicated mass
of detail which is more apt to frighten the beginner than to aid
him. M. Lalanne's Treatise, on the contrary, is as simple as a
good work of art.
It may, however, be incumbent upon me to offer a few words of
excuse concerning my own connection with the bringing out of
this translation ; for, at first sight, it will, no doubt, appear the
height of presumption, especially on the part of one who is not
himself a practising artist, to add an introductory chapter and
notes to the work of a consummate master on his favorite art.
But what I have done has not, in any way, been dictated by the
spirit of presumption. The reasons which induced me to make
the additions may be stated as follows.
31)2254
VI TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.
It is a most difificult feat for one who has thoroughly mastered
an accomplishment, and has practised it successfully for a lifetime,
to lower himself to the level of those who are absolutely unin-
formed. A master is apt to forget that he himself had to learn
certain things which, to him, seem to be self-evident, and he there-
fore takes it for granted that they arc self-evident. A practised
etcher thinks nothing of handling his acid, grounding and smoking
his plate, and all the other little tricks of the craft which, to a
beginner, are quite worrying and exciting. It seemed to me best,
therefore, to acquaint the student with these purely technical diffi-
culties, without complicating his first attempts by artistic consid-
erations, and hence the origin of the " Introductory Chapter."
Very naturally I was compelled, in this chapter, to go over much
of the ground covered by the Treatise itself But the diligent
student, who remembers that "Repetition is the mother. of learn-
ing," will not look upon the time thus occupied as wasted.
The notes are, perhaps, still more easily explained. M. Lalanne
very rarely stops to inform his reader how the various requisites
may be made. Writing, as he did, at and for Paris, there was,
indeed, no reason for thus encumbering his book ; for in Paris the
Veuve Cadart is always ready to supply all the wants of the etcher.
For a London reader, Mr. Charles Roberson, of 99 Long Acre,
whom Mr. Hamerton has so well — and very properly — advertised,
is ready to perform the same kind office. But for those who live
away from the great centres of society, it may oftentimes be
necessary either to forego the fascinations of etching, or else to
provide the materials with their own hands. For the benefit of
such persons, I have thought it advisable to describe, in the notes,
the simplest and cheapest methods of making the tools and utensils
which are needed in the execution of M. Lalanne's precepts.
By the arrangement of the paragraphs which I have ventured
to introduce, M. Lalanne's pleasant little book has. perhaps, lost
something of its vivacity and freshness, especially in the fifth
TRANSLATORS PREFACE. vii
chapter. But this dull, methodical order will be found, I hope, to
add to the convenience of the work as a book of reference, which,
according to M. Lalanne's own statement, is, after all, its main
object.
It is due to the English public to say, that the additions were
originally written for the American edition of this book, published
by Messrs. Estes & Lauriat, of Boston, Mass. To free them from
the American character which they very naturally bear, would
have necessitated the resetting of a great part of the work, and a
consequent increase in its cost. It has been deemed advisable,
therefore, to leave the whole of the text in its original condition,
more especially as the changes are such that they can easily be
supplied by the reader, and do not in the least affect the value of
the information conveyed.
S. R. KOEHLER.
Beech Glen Avenue, Roxbury, Boston,
July, 1880.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Translator's Preface v
Introductory Chapter. — The Technical Elements of Etching xiii
Paragraph
1. Definition of Etching xiii
2. Requisites xiv
3. Grounding the Plate xviii
4. Smoking the Plate xviii
5. Points or Needles xix
6. Drawing on the Plate xix
7. Preparing the Plate for the Bath xx
8. The Bath xx
9. Biting and Stopping Out xx
Description of the Plates xxiii
Letter by M. Charles Blanc ' xxv
Introduction (by the Author) i
CHAPTER I.
definition and character of etching.
Paragraph
1. Definition 3
2. Knowledge needed by the Etcher 3
3. Manner of using the Needle. — Character of Lines 4
4. Freedom of Execution 4
5 How to produce Difference in Texture 5
6. The Work of the Acid 5
7. The Use of the Dry Point 5
8. Spirit in which the Etcher must work 5
9. Expression of Individuality in Etching 6
ID. Value of Etching to Artists 6
II- Versatility of Etching 7
12. Etching compared to other Styles of Engraving 7
13. Etching as a Reproductive Art 7
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER II.
TOOLS AND MATERIALS. — PREPARING THE PLATE. — DRAWING ON THE
PLATE WITH THE NEEDLE.
PAGE
14. Method of using tliis Manual 9
A. Tools and Materials.
15. List of Tools and Materials needed 9
16. Quality and Condition of Tools and Materials 10
B. Prcpari/i'j; the Plate.
17. Laying the Ground or Varnishing 12
18. Smoking 13
C. Drawiiii^ on the Plate with the Needle.
19. The Transparent Screen 14
20. Needles or Points 14
21. Temjjerature of the Room 15
22. The Tracing 16
23. Reversing the Design 16
24. Use of the Mirror 17
25. Precautions to be observed while Drawing 17
26. Directions for Drawing with the Needle 17
CHAPTER in.
BITING.
27. Borderin-; the Plate 20
28. The Tray 20
29. Strength ot the Acid 20
30. Label your Bottles ! 21
31. The First Biting 21
32. The Use of the Feather 22
33 Stopping Out 22
34. Effect of Temperature on Biting 22
35. Biting continued 23
36. Treatment of the various Distances 23
37. The Crevcf. - Its Advantages and Disadvantages 24
38. Means of ascertaining tlie Deptli of the Lines 24
39 The Rules which govern the Biting are subordinated to various
Causes 25
40. Strong A<-id ami Weak Acid 25
41. Strength of Acid in relation to certain Kinds of Work 26
42 Last Stages of Biting ~1
COxNTENTS. XI
CHAPTER IV.
FINISHING THK PLATE.
PAGE
43. Omissions. — Insufficiency of the Work so far done 29
44. Transparent Ground for Retouching 29
45 Ordinary Ground used for Retouching. — Biting the Retouches . . 30
46. Revarnishing with the Brush 31
47. Partial RetouchL-s. — Patching 31
48. Dry Point 3-
49. Use of the Scraper for removing the Bur thrown up by the Dry
Point 33
50. Reducing Over-bitten Passages 33
51. The Burnisher 33
52. Charcoal 34
53 The Scraper 35
54. Hammering Out (Repoussage) 35
55. Finishing the Surface of the Plate 35
CHAPTER V.
ACCIDENTS.
56. Stopping-out Varnish dropped on a Plate while Biting 37
57. Revarnishing with the Roller for Rebiting 37
58. Revarnishing with the Roller in Cases of Partial Rebiting ... 58
59. Revarnishing with the Dabber for Rebiting 39
60. Revarnishing with the Brush for Rebiting 39
61. Rebiting a Remedy only 39
62. Holes in the Ground 39
63. Planing out Faulty Passages 40
64. Acid Spots on Clothing 41
65. Reducing Over-bitten Passages and Crevés 41
CHAPTER VI.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FLAT BITING AND BITING WITH STOPPING OUT.
66. Two Kinds of Biting 43
67. Flat Biting. — One Point 44
68. Flat Biting. — Several Points 44
69. Biting with Stopping Out. — One Point 44
70. Biting with Stopping Out. — Several Points 44
71. Necessity of Experimenting 45
72. Various other Metiiods of Biting 45
xu CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VII.
RECOMMENDATIONS AND AUXILIARY PROCESSES. — ZINK AND STEEL
PLATES. — VARIOUS THEORIES.
A. Recommendations and Auxiliary Processes.
PAGE
T^. The Roulette 49
74. The Flat Point 49
75. The Graver or Burin 49
76. Sandpaper 50
77. Sulphur Tints 50
78. Mottled Tints 51
79. Stopping Out before all Biting 51
B. Zink Plates and Steel Plates.
80. Zink Plates 52
81. Steel Plates 52
C. Various other Processes.
82. Soft-Ground Etching 52
83. Dry-Point Etching 53
84. The Pen Process 54
CHAPTER VIII.
PROVING AND PRINTING.
85. Wax Proofs 55
86. The Printing-Press 55
87. Natural Printing 56
88. Artificial Printing 56
89. Handwiping with Retroussage 57
90. Tinting with a Stiff Rag 57
91. Wiping with the Rag only 58
92. Limits of Artificial Printing 58
93. Printing Inks 59
94. Paper 59
95. ! i^reuves Volantes 60
9'6. Proofs before Lettering 60
97. Epreuves de Remarque 60
98. Number of Impressions which a Plate is capable of yielding . . 60
99. Steel-facing 61
100. Copper-facing Zink Plates 62
Notes. By the Translator 63
List of Works on the Practice and History of Etching 75
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
THE TECHNICAL ELEMENTS OF ETCHING.
As explained in the Preface, this chapter has been added to
enable the beginner to master the most necessary technical ele-
ments of etching, without complicating his first attempts by artistic
considerations. Let him learn how to use his ground, his points,
and his acid, before he endeavors to employ these requisites in the
production of a work of art.
I. Definition of Etching. — To be able to get an impression
on paper from a metal plate in a copper-plate printing-press, it is
necessary to sink the lines of the design below the surface of the
plate, so that each line is represented by a furrow. The plate is
then inked all over, care being taken to fill each furrow, and finally
the ink is cautiously wiped away from the surface, while the fur-
rows are left charged with it. A piece of moist paper pressed
against a plate so prepared, will take the ink up out of the fur-
rows. The result is an impression. In engraving proper these
furrows are cut into the plate by mechanical means ; in etching
chemical means are used for the same purpose. If nitric acid is
brought into contact with copper, the acid corrodes the metal and
xiv INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
finally eats it up altogether ; if it is brought into contact with
wax or resinous substances, no action ensues. Hence, if we cover
a copper plate with a ground or varnish composed of wax and
resinous substances, and then draw lines upon this ground with a
steel or iron style or point, so that each stroke of the point lavs
bare the copper, we shall have a drawing in lines of copper (which
are affected by nitric acid) on a ground of varnish (which is not
thus affected). If now we expose the plate to the action of nitric
acid for a certain length of time, we shall find, upon the removal
of the ground by means of benzine, that the lines have been
bitten into the plate, so that each line forms a furrow capable of
taking up the ink. The depth and the breadth of the lines depends
upon the thickness of the points used, and upon the length of time
allowed for biting ; or, in other words, by varying the size of the
points and the time of exposure the lines may also be made to
vary. This is the whole of the science of etching in a nutshell.
2. Requisites. — The following tools and materials are the only
ones which arc absolutely necessary for a first experiment : —
1. A Copper Plate on which to execute your etching. Do not
waste your money on a large plate. A visiting-card plate is suf-
ficiently large. If you happen to have an engraved plate of that
kind, you can use the back of it. If you have none, get one at a
card-engraver's. The price ought not ,to be over fifteen cents. If
you do not live in any of the large cities named above, or cannot
find a card-engraver, send fifteen cents in stamps to Mr. Geo. B.
Sharp, 45 Gold St., New York, N. Y., who will forward a plate to
you by mail. Be very particular in giving your full and correct
post-office address. These plates only need cleaning to fit them for
use.
2. Benzine, used for cleaning the plate, sold by grocers or drug-
gists at about five cents a pint for common quality.
3. Whiting or Spanish White, also for cleaning the plate. A
very small quantity will do.
4. Clean Cotton Rags. — Some pieces of soft old shirting are
just the thing.
5. ETCHiNCi-GROUND, with which to protect the plate against the
action of the acid. This ground is sold in balls about the size of
a walnut. If you do not live in a city where you can buv the
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. XV
ground, you may as well make it yourself. Here is a recipe for
a very cheap and at the same time very good ground. It is the
ground used by Mr. Peter Moran, one of the most experienced of
our American etchers. Buy at a drug-shop (not an apothecary's)
or painter's supply-store : —
Two ounces best natural asphaltuin (^also called Egyptian asphaltum),
worth about ten cents.
One and a half ounces best white virgin wax, worth about six cents.
One ounce Burgundy pitch, worth say five cents.
Break the wax into small pieces, and reduce the Burgundy pitch
to fine powder in a mortar, or have it powdered at the drug-shop.
Take a clean earthenware pot glazed on the inside, with a handle
to it (in Boston you can buy one for fifteen cents at G. A. Miller
& Co.'s, loi Shawmut Avenue), and in this pot melt your asphaltum
over a slow fire, taking very good care not to let it boil over, or
otherwise you might possibly set the house afire. When the
asphaltum has melted add the wax gradually, stirring all the while
with a clean glass or metal rod. Then add the Burgundy pitch in
the same way. Keep stirring the fluid mass, and let it boil up
two or three times, always taking care to prevent boiling over !
Then pour the whole into a pan full of tepid water, and while it is
still soft and pliant, form into balls of the required size, working
all the while under the water. If you touch the mass while it is
still too hot, you may possibly burn your fingers, but a true enthu-
siast does not care for such small things. You will thus get about
eight or nine balls of very good ground at an outlay of about
thirty-six cents in cash, and some little time. Nearly all recipes
order the wax to be melted first, but as the asphaltum requires a
greater heat to reduce it to a fluid condition, it is best to com-
mence with the least tractable substance. For use, wrap a ball of
the ground in a piece of fine and close silk (taffeta), and tie this
together with a string.
6. Means of heating the Plate. — Any source of heat emit-
ting no smoke will do, such as a kitchen stove, a spirit lamp,
or a small quantity of alcohol poured on a plate and ignited (when
the time arrives).
7. A Hand Vice with a wooden handle, for holding the plate
while heating it; price about seventy-five cents at the hardware-
XVI INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
Stores. But a small monkey-wrench will do as well, and for this
experiment you can even get along with a pair of pincers.
8. A Dabber for laying the ground on the plate. Cut a piece
of stout card-board, two or three inches in diameter ; on this lay
a bunch of horse-hair, freed from all dust, and over this again some
cotton wool. Cover the whole with one or two pieces of clean
tafteta (a clean piece of an old silk dress will do), draw them
together tightly over the card-board, and tie with a string. When
finished the thing will look something like a lady's toilet-ball.
The horse-hair is not absolutely necessary, and may be omitted.
9. Means of Smoking the Ground. — The ground when laid
on the plate with the dabber, is quite transparent and allows the
glitter of the metal to shine through. To obtain a better working
surface the ground is blackened by smoking it. For this purpose
the thin wax-tapers known to Germans as " Wachsstock," generally
sold at German toy-stores, are the best. They come in balls.
Cut the tapers into lengths, and twist six of them together. In
default of these tapers, roll a piece of cotton cloth into a roll
about as thick and as long as your middle finger, and soak one
end of it in common lamp or sperm oil.
10. Stopping-out Varnish, used for protecting the back and
the edges of the plate, and for "stopping out," of which more here-
after. If you cannot buy it you can make it by dissolving an
ounce of asphaltum, the same as that used for the ground, in about
an ounce and a half of spirits of turpentine. Add the asphaltum to
the turpentine little by little ; shake the bottle containing the
mixture frequently ; keep it in the sun or a moderately warm
place. The operation will require several days. The solution
when finished should be of the consistency of thick honey.
11. Camel's-Hair Brushes, two or three of different sizes, for
laying on the stopping-out varnish, and for other purposes.
12. Etching Points or Needles, for .scratching the lines into
the ground. Rat-tail files of good quality, costing about twenty
cents each at the hardware-stores, are excellent for the purpose.
Two are all you need for your experiment, and even one will be
sufficient. Still cheaper points can be made of sewing, knitting,
or any other kind of needles, mounted in sticks of wood like the
lead of a lead-pencil. Use glue or sealing-wax to fasten them in
the wood.
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. xvii
13. An Oil-Stone for grinding the points.
14. An Etching-Tray to hold the acid during the operation of
biting. Trays are made of glass, porcelain, or india-rubber, and
can generally be had at the photographer's supply-stores. A
small india-rubber tray, large enough for your experiment, meas-
uring four by five inches, costs fifty-five cents. But you can
make an excellent tray yourself of paper. Make a box, of the
required size and about one and a half inches high, of pasteboard,
covered over by several layers of strong paper, well glued on. If
you can manage to make a lip or spout in one of the corners, so
much the better. After the glue has well dried pour stopping-
out varnish into the box, and float it all over the bottom and the
sides ; pour the residue of the varnish back into your bottle, and
allow the varnish in the box to dry ; then paint the outside of the
box with the same varnish. Repeat this process three or four
times. Such a tray, with an occasional fresh coating of varnish,
will last forever. For your experiment, however, any small por-
celain {not earthenware) or glass dish will do, if it is only large
enough to hold your plate, and allow the acid to stand over it to
the height of about half an inch.
15. A Plate-Lifter, to lift your plate into and out of the bath
without soiling your fingers. It consists of two pieces of string,
each say twelve to fifteen inches long, tied to two cross-pieces of
wood, each about six inches long, thus tzt It is well to
keep the fingers out of the acid, as it causes yellow spots on the
skin, which remain till they wear off.
16. Nitric Acid for biting in the lines. Any nitric acid sold
by druggists will do, but the best is the so-called chemically pure
nitric acid made by Messrs. Powers & Weightman, of Philadel-
phia. It comes put up in glass-stoppered bottles, the smallest of
which hold one pound, and sell for about sixty cents.
17. Water for mixing with the acid and for washing the
plate.
18. Blotting-Paper, soft and thick, several sheets, to dry the
plate, as will be seen hereafter.
19. Spirits of Hartshorn or Volatile Alkali. — This is not
needed for etching, but it is well to have it at hand, in case you
should spatter your clothes with acid. Spots produced by the
xviu INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
acid can generally be removed by rubbing with the alkali, which
neutralizes the acid.
3. Grounding the Plate. — Having procured all these requi-
sites, the first thing to do will be to clean the plate so as to remove
any oil or other impurities that may have been left on it by the
plate-maker. Wash and rub it well on both sides with a soft
cotton rag and benzine, and then rub with whiting, as you would
do if you were to clean a door-plate. Take care to remove all the
whiting with a clean rag. Now take hold of your plate by one of
its corners with the hand-vice, wrench, or pincers, between the
jaws of which you have put a bit of card-board or stout paper, so as
not to mark the plate. Hold it over the stove, spirit lamp, or ignited
alcohol, and see to it that it is heated evenly throughout. Hold
the plate in your left hand while heating it, and with the other
press against it the ball of ground wrapped up in silk. As soon
as you see the ground melting through the silk, distribute it
over the plate by rubbing the ball all over its surface {\\\q polished
surface, as a matter of course), taking care the while that the
plate remains just hot enough to melt the ground. If it is too
hot, the ground will commence to boil and will finally burn. The
bubbles caused by boiling are liable to leave air-holes in the ground
through which the acid may bite little holes in the plate ; burning
ruins the ground altogether, so that it loses its power of with-
standing the acid. After you have distributed the ground toler-
ably evenly, and in a thin layer, lay the plate down on the table
(keeping hold of it, however, by the corner), and finish the distri-
bution of the ground by dabbing with the dabber. Strike the
plate quickly and with some force at first, and treat it more gently
as the ground begins to cool. If it should have cooled too much,
before the distribution is accomplished to your satisfaction, in
which case the dabber will draw threads, heat the plate gently.
The dabber not only equalizes the distribution of the varnish, but
also removes what is superfluous. An extremely thin layer of
ground is sufficient.
4. Smoking the Plate. — While the plate is yet hot, and the
ground soft, it must be smoked. Light your tapers or your oil
torch, and turn the j)late upside down. Allow the flame just to
touch the plate, and keep moving it about rapidly, so that it may
liiiliiML
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. XIX
touch all points of the plate, without remaining long at any one
of them. If this precaution is ignored, the ground will be
burned, with the result before stated. The smoking is finished as
soon as the plate is uniformly blackened all over, and the glimmer
of the metal can no longer be seen through the ground. Now al-
low the plate to cool so that the ground may harden. Avoid dust
as muck as possible while grounding and smoking the plate. Par-
ticles of dust embedded in the ground may cause holes which will
admit the acid where you do not wish it to act.
5. Points or Needles. — The plaic is now ready for drawing
upon it, but before you can proceed to draw you must prepare
your points or needles. Two will do for this first experiment, a
fine one and a coarse one. For the fine one you may use a sew-
ing-needle, for the coarser one a medium embroidery needle, both
set in wood so that the points project about a quarter of an inch.
If you are going to use rat-tail files, grind the handle-ends on
your oil-stone until they attain the requisite fineness. Hold the
file flat on the stone, so as to get a gradually tapering point, and
turn continually. See to it that even the point of your finest
needle is not too sharp. If it scratches when you draw it lightly
over a piece of card-board, describe circles with it on the board
until it simply makes a mark without scratching. The coarse
needle must be evenly rounded, as otherwise it may have a cutting
point somewhere.
6. Drawing on the Plate. — As the purpose of your experi-
ment is simply to familiarize yourself with the technicalities of
etching, that is to say, with the preparation of the plate, the man-
agement of the points, and the action of the acid, it will be well to
confine yourself to the drawing of lines something like those on
PI. A. It is the office of the point simply to remove the ground,
and lay bare the copper. But this it must do thoroughly, for the
slightest covering left on the plate will prevent the acid from
attacking the copper. You must therefore use sufficient pres-
sure to accomplish this end, but at the same time you must avoid
cutting into the copper by using too much pressure. Wherever
the point has cut the copper the acid acts more rapidly, as the
polished coating of the surface of the plate has been removed.
It is evident from this that an even pressure is necessary to-
XX INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
produce an evenly bitten line. Do not touch the ground with
your hands while drawing. Rest your hand on three or four
thicknesses of soft blotting-paper. When you desire to shift the
paper, //// it, and nci'cr drazv it over the ground. Hold the point,
not slantingly like a pencil, but as near as possible perpendicularly.
The point is a hard instrument, with which you cannot produce a
swelling line, as with a pencil or a pen. Therefore your only aim
must be an even line, produced by even pressure. The minute
threads of ground thrown up by the point you must remove with
your largest camel's-hair brush ; otherwise they may clog your
lines. Before commencing to draw read the description of PI. A
given under the heading " Description of Plates."
7. Preparing the Plate for the Bath. — If you were to put
the plate into the acid bath in the state in which it is at present,
the acid would corrode the unprotected parts. To prevent this
paint the back, and the corner by which you held the plate while
grounding it, and the edges with stopping-out varnish. If you are
not in a hurry {and it is always best not to be in a hurry), let the
varnish dry over night ; if you cannot wait so long an hour will
be sufficient for drying. While the plate is drying you may lay
it, face downward, on a little pile of soft paper, made up of pieces
smaller than the plate, so that the paper may not touch the var-
nished edges.
8. The Bath. — The preparation of the bath is next in order.
Ascertain the capacity of the dish or tray you are going to use by
pouring water into it to fill it to half its height, and then measur-
ing the water. Pour one half of this quantity of water back into
the tray, and add to it the same quantity of nitric acid, stirring
the mi.xture well with a glass rod, or a bit of glass, or a bird's
feather, if you happen to have one, or in default of all these with a
bit of stick. The mixing of water and acid induces chemical action,
and this produces heat. The bath must therefore be allowed to
cool half an hour or so, before the plate is put into it. Nitric
acid being a corrosive and poisonous fluid, it is well to use some
care in handling it. Otherwise it may bite holes into your cloth-
ing, and disfigure your hands, as before noted. By the side of
your bath have a large vessel filled with clean water, in which to
wash the plate when it is withdrawn from the bath, and your
finjrers in case vou should soil them with acid.
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. xxi
9. Biting and Stopping Out. — The bath having been pre-
pared, and the varnish on the back and edges of the plate having
dried sufficiently, lay the plate on the plate-lifter, face upward, and
lift it into the bath. In a few minutes, in hot weather in a few
seconds, the acid will begin to act on the copper. This is made
evident to the eye by the bubbles which collect in the lines, and
to the nose by the fumes of nitrous acid which the bath exhales.
The bubbles must be removed by gently brushing them out of
the lines with a brush or the vane of a feather ; the fumes it
is best not to inhale, as they irritate the throat. After the bit-
in£r has gone on for three minutes in warm, or for five minutes
in cold weather, lift the plate out of the bath into the vessel
filled with water. Having washed it well, so as to remove all
traces of the acid, lay it on a piece of blotting-paper, and take
up the moisture from the face by gently pressing another piece
of the same paper against it. Then fan the plate for some
minutes to make sure that it is absolutely dry. If you have a
pair of bellows you may dispense with the blotting-paper as well
as with the fanning. The lines on the plate, having all bitten for
the same length of time, are now all of about the same depth, and
if the plate were cleaned and an impression taken from it, they
would all appear of about the same strength, the only difference
being that produced by difference in spacing and in the size of
the needles. This is the point where the stopping-out varnish
comes in. With a fine camel's-hair brush stop oiit.AhdX is to say,
paint over with stopping-out varnish, those lines or parts of lines
which are to remain as they are. If the varnish should be too
thick to flow easily from the brush, mix a small quantity of it in a
paint saucer, or on a porcelain slab, or a piece of glass, with a few
drops of benzine. The varnish, however, must not be too thin,
as in that case it will run in the lines, and will fill them where
you do not wish them to be filled. If it is of the right consis-
tency, you can draw a clean and sharp line across the etched lines
without danger of running. When you have laid on your stop-
ping-out varnish, fan it for some minutes until it has dried suffi-
ciently not to adhere to the finger when lightly touched. Then
introduce the plate into the bath again, and let the biting con-
tinue another five minutes. Remove again, stop out as before,
xxii INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER,
and continue these operations as often as you wish. But it
would be useless to let your accumulated bitings on this experi-
mental plate exceed more than thirty minutes. Having finished
your last biting, clean the plate with benzine. Then apply the
same process to your hands, and follow it up with a vigorous ap-
plication of soap and nail-brush. This will leave your hands as
beautiful as they were before.
It is hardly worth while to bother with taking an tmpression
from this trial plate, unless you happen to have a printer near
by. The plate itself will show you how the acid has enlarged
the lines at each successive biting, and it stands to reason that
the broader and deeper lines should give a darker impression than
the finer and shallower ones. If, however, you have no printer at
hand, and still desire to see how your work looks in black and
white, you may consult the chapter on " Proving and Printing,"
p. 55 of M. Lalanne's "Treatise."
You have now gained some idea of the theory of etching, have
acquainted yourself with the use of tools and materials, and have
mastered the most elementary technical difficulties of the process.
You are therefore in a position to profit by the teachings of M.
Lalanne which follow.
In conclusion, let me assure you that the home-made appliances
described in the foregoing paragraphs are quite sufficient, techni-
cally, for the purposes of the etcher. Plate B. Mr. Walter F.
Lansil's first essay in etching, was executed according to the direc-
tions here given, and the artist has kindly consented to let me use
it for the special purpose of illustrating this point.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES.
Plate A A Trial Plate. This plate is given to show the effect of dif-
ference in length of biting. The lines in the eight upper rectangles were a 1
dr.wn before the first immersion of the plate, those on the left with a fine pomt,
those on the right with a somewhat coarser one. After the plate had been m
thebath for three minutes, it was withdrawn, and the upper rectangle on the
left stopped out. The upper rectangle on the right, however, had hardly been
attacked by the acid, as the lines had been drawn with a blunter pomt, wli.ch
had not scratched the copper, while the fine point had. It was there ore
allowed to bite another three minutes before it was stopped out. The other
rectan-les were allowed to bite ten, twenty, and thirty minutes respectively,
bv whrch means the difference in value was produced. The figures a, b, c
perhaps show the results of partial biting still better. The three vvere
simplv lined with the same point. After the first biting they all looked hke
a This was then stopped out. together with the corners of b and c. After
the second biting b and c were both as b now is. The whole of b was now
stopped out, and part of ., allowing only the inner lozenge to remain exposed
to the acid. It is evident that the difference in color in these figures is not
due to the drawing, but is entirely the result of bating.
Plate B. Vessels in Bostcm Harbor. A first essay in etching by Mr.
Walter F. Lansil, marine painter, of Boston. The artist has kindly given
me permission to use this plate, for the purpose of showing that the home-
made tools and materials described in the Introductory Chapter are quite
sufficient for all the technical purposes of the etcher. It is eminently
Miome-made." The ground was prepared according to the recipe given;
the points used were a sewing-needle and a knitting-needle ; the tray m which
it was etched was made of paper covered with stopping-out varnish ; even the
plate (a zink plate by the way) did not come from the plate-maker, but was
ground and poHshed at home. , , , , . u c *
Plate I a. Etching after Claude Lorrain. Unfinished plate, or first
state " (see pp. 23 and 29). This, however, is not the etching itselt : it is a
photo-engraving from the unfinished etching. But it does well enough to
show the imperfections alluded to by M. Lalanne in the text.
Plate I. Etching after Claude Lorrain. Finished plate, or ^^ stcond.
state " (see pp. 36 and 56). Clean wiped.
xxiv DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES.
Plate II. Etching after Claude Lorrain. Printed from the same
plate as PI. I, but treated as described on p. 57. The ditTerence between the
two plates shows wliat the art of the printer can do for an etching. The dif-
ference would be still greater if PI. 11. were better printed; for it is not
printed as well as it might be, although it was done in Paris.
Plate III. A plat, une pointe — flat biting, drawn with one point: that
is to say, the plate was immersed only once, and the lines are all the result
of the same needle, so that the efl'ect is only produced by placing the lines
close together in the foreground, and farther apart as the distance recedes
(see p. 43). À plat, plusieurs pointes — flat biting, several points, that is to
say, one immersion only, but the work of finer and coarser points is inter-
mingled in the drawing. Par couvertures, plusieurs pointes — stopping out
and the work of several points combined.
Plate IV. Fig. i. Seep. 27. Fig. 2. Seep. 45. Figs. ;i,4aful^.
See p. 46.
Plate V. Fig. i. Worked with one point; effect produced by stop-
ping out (seep. 44). Fig. 2. Mottled tint in the building, &c., in the fare-
ground ; stopping out before biting, in the sky (see p. 51).
Plate VI. Soft-ground etchings. Seep 52.
Plate VII. Dry-point etching. Seep. 53.
Plate VIII. À .Sé7'ille. A sketch, given as a specimen of printing
(see p. 58).
Plate IX. A Anvers. Le Haag, Amsterdam. Sketches from nature,
to serve as examples.
Plate X. (Frontispiece). Souvenir de Bordeaux. To be consulted
in regard to the manner of using the points and partial bitings.
MY DEAR MONSIEUR LALANNE,*
If there is any one living who can write about Etching, it
must certainly be you, as you possess all the secrets of the art,
and are versed in all its refinements, its resources, and its effects.
Nevertheless, when I was told that you intended to publish a
book on the subject, I feared that you were about to attempt the
impossible ; for it seemed as if Abraham Bosse had exhausted the
theme two hundred years ago, and that you would be condemned
to repeat all that this excellent man had said in his treatise, in
which, with charming na'ivctc, he teaches tJie art of engraving to
perfection.
I must confess, however, that the reading of your manuscript
very quickly undeceived me. I find in it numberless useful and
interesting things not to be found anywhere else, and I compre-
hend that Abraham Bosse wrote for those who know, while you
write for those who do not know.
I was quite young, and had just left college, when accident
threw into my hands the Traité des manières de graver en taille
donce sur l airain par le moyen des eatix fortes et des vernis durs et
mois. Perhaps I might have paid no attention to this book, if I
had not previously noticed on the stands on the Quai Voltaire
some etchings by Rembrandt, which had opened to me an en-
tirely new world of poetry and of dreams. These prints had
taken such hold upon my imagination that I desired to learn,
from Bosse's "Treatise," how the Dutch painter had managed to
produce his strange and startling effects and his mysterious tones,
* This letter preceded also the first edition of iS66.
XXVI LETTER BY M. BLANC.
the fantastic play of his lights and the silence of his shadows.
Rembrandts etchings on the one hand, and Bosse's book on the
other, were the causes of my resolution to learn the art of engrav-
ing, and of my subsequent entry into the studio of Calamatta and
Mercuri.
As soon as I knew how to hold the burin and the point, these
grave and illustrious masters placed before me an allegorical
figure engraved by Edelinck, whose drapery was executed in
waving and winding lines, incomparable in their correctness and
beauty. To break my hand to the work, it was necessary to copy
on my plate these solemnly classical and majestically disposed
lines. But while I cut into the copper with restrained impatience,
my attention was secretly turned towards Rembrandt's celebrated
portrait of Janus Lutma. a good impression of which I owned,
and which I thought of copying.
To make my début in this severe school — in which we were
allowed to admire only Marc Antonio, the Ghisis, the Audrans,
and Nanteuil — with an etching by Rembrandt, would have
been a heresy of the worst sort. Hence to be able to i isk
this infraction of discipline, I took very good care to keep my
project to myself Secretly I bought ground, wax, and a plate,
and profited of the absence of my teachers to attempt, with
fevered hands, to make a fac-similo of the Lutma. I had followed
the instructions of Abraham Hosse with regard to the ground,
and I proceeded to bite in my [ilatc with the assistance of a
comrade, Charles Nordlinger, at present engraver to the king of
Wurtemburg, at Stuttgart, whom I had admitted as my accom-
plice in this delightful expedition.
\'ou may well imagine, my dear Monsieur Lalannc, that I met
with all sorts of accidents, such as arc likely to befall a novice,
and all of which you describe so carefully, while at the same time
you indicate fully and lucidly the remedies that may be applied.
The ground cracked in several places, — happily in the dark
LETTER BY M. BLANC. xxvn
parts. My wax border had been hastily constructed, and I did
not know then, although Bosse says so, that it is the rule to pass
a heated key along the lower line of the border, so as to melt the
wax, and thus render all escape impossible. Consequently the
acid filtered through under the wax, and in trying to arrest
the flow, I burned my fingers. Furthermore, when it came to the
biting in of the shadows in the portrait of Lutma, the greenish
and then whitish ebullition produced by the long-continued
biting so frightened me, that I hastened to empty the acid into
a pail, not, however, without having spattered a few drops on a
proof of the Vow of Louis XIII., which had been scratched in the
printing, and which we were about to repair. At last I removed
the ground, and, trembling all over, went to have a proof taken,
but not to the printer regularly employed by Calamatta.
What a disappointment ! I believed my etching to have been
suflficiently, nay, even over bitten, and in reality I had stopped
half-way. The color of the copper had deceived me. I had seen
my portrait on the fine red ground of the metal, and now I saw
it on the crude white of the paper. I hardly knew it again. It
lacked the profundity, the mystery, the harmony in the shadows,
which were precisely what I had striven for. The plate was only
roughly cut up by lines crossing in all directions, through the net-
work of which shone the ground which Rembrandt had subdued,
•so as to give all the more brilliancy to the window with its leaded
panes, to the lights in the foreground, and to the cheek of the
pensive head of Lutma. As luck would have it, all the light part
in the upper half of the print came out pretty well ; the expres-
sion of the face was satisfactory, and the grimaces of the two
small heads of monsters which surmount the back of the chair
were perfectly imitated. I had to strengthen the shadows by
means of the roulette, and to go over the most prominent folds
of the coat with the graver ; for I had not the knowledge neces-
sary to enable me to undertake a second biting. Bosse says a
XXViii LETTER BY M. BLANC.
few words on this subject, which, as they are wanting in clearness,
are apt to lead a beginner into error. He speaks of smoked
ground, while, as you have so admirably shown, white ground
must be used for retouching. I therefore finished my plate by
patching and cross-hatching and stippling, and finally obtained a
passable copy, which, at a little distance, looked something like
the original, although, to a practised eye, it was really nothing but
a very rude imitation. It is needless to say that we carefully
obliterated all evidence of our proceedings, and that, my teachers
having returned, 1 went to work again, with hypocritical com-
punction, upon what I called the military Wvxqs of Gerard Edelinck.
But we were betrayed by some incautious words of the chamber-
woman, and M. Calamatta, having discovered " the rose-pot,"
scolded Charles Nordlinger and myself roundly for this romantic
escapade. If my plate had been worse, the good Lord only
knows what might have happened !
All this, my dear M. Lalanne, is simply intended to show to
you how greatly I esteem the excellent advice which you give to
the young etcher, or aqua-fortiste (as the phrase goes now-a-days,
according to a neologism which is hardly less barbaric than the
word artistic). When I recall the efforts of my youth, the ardor
with which I deceived myself, the hot haste with which I fell into
the very errors which you point out, I understand that your book
is an absolute necessity ; and that the artist or the amateur, who,
hidden away in some obscure province, desires to enjoy the
agreeable pastime of etching, need only follow, step by step, the
intelligent and methodical order of your precepts, to be enabled
to carry the most complicated plate to a satisfactory end, whether
he chooses to employ the soft ground used by Decamps, Masson,
and Marvy, or whether he confines himself to the ordinary pro-
cesses which you make sensible even to the touch with a lucidity,
a familiarity with details, and a certainty of judgment, not to be
sufficicntlv commended.
LETTER BY M. BLANC. XXIX
Having read your " Treatise," I admit, not only that you have
surpassed your worthy predecessor, Abraham Bosse, but that you
have absolutely superseded his book by making your own indis-
pensable. If only the amateurs, whose time hangs heavily upon
them ; if the artists, who wish to fix a fleeting impression ; if the
rich, who are sated with the pleasures of photography, — had an
idea of the great charm inherent in etching, your little work
would have a marvellous success ! Even our elegant ladies and
literary women, tired of their do-nothing lives and their nick-
nacks, might find a relaxation full of attractions in the art of
drawing on the ground and biting -in their passing fancies.
Madame de Pompadour, when she had ceased to govern, although
she continued to reign, took upon herself a colossal enterprise, —
to amuse the king and to divert herself You know the sixty-
three pieces executed by this charming engraver (note, if you
please, that I do not say eiigravcrcss !). Her etchings after Eisen
and Boucher are exquisite. The pulsation of life, the fulness of
the carnations, are expressed in them by delicately trembling
lines ; and I do think that Madame de Pompadour could not
have done better, even if she had been your pupil.
At present, moreover, etching has, in some measure, become
the fashion again as a substitute for lithography, an art which
developed charm as well as strength under the crayon of Charlet,
of Géricault, of Gigoux, and of Gavarni. The Société des aqua-
fortistes is the fruit of this renaissance. The art, which, in our
own day, has been rendered illustrious by the inimitable Jacque,
now has its adepts in all countries, and in all imaginable spheres
of society. Etchings come to us from all points of the compass :
the Hague sends those of M. Cornet, conservator of the Museum;
Poland, those which form the interesting album of M. Bronislas
Zaleski, the Life of the Kirghise Steppes ; London, those of M.
Seymour Haden, so original and full of life, and so well described
in the catalogue of our friend Burty ; Lisbon, those of King Fer-
XXX LETTER BY M. BLANC.
dinand of Portugal, who etches as Grandville drew, but with
more suppleness and freedom. But after all Paris is the place
where the best etchings appear, more especially in the Gazette
des Beaux-Arts, and in the publications of the Société des Aqua-
fortistes. Do you desire to press this capricious process into
your service for the translation of the old or modern masters ?
Hédouin, Flameng, Bracquemont, will do wonders for you. You
have told me yourself that, in my Œuvre de Rembrandt, Flameng
has so well imitated this great man, that he himself would be
deceived if he should come to life again. As to Jules Jacque-
mart, he is perfectly unique of his kind ; he compels etching to
say what it never before was able to say. With the point of his
needle he expresses the density of porphyry ; the coldness of
porcelain ; the insinuating surface of Chinese lacquer ; the trans-
parent and imponderable Jiftessc of Venetian glassware ; the
reliefs and the chased lines of the most delicate works of the gold-
smith, almost imperceptible in their slightness ; the polish of iron
and steel ; the glitter, the reflections, and even the sonority of
bronze ; the color of silver and of gold, as well as all the lustre
of the diamond and all the appreciable shades of the emerald, the
turquoise, and the ruby. I shall not speak of you, my dear mon-
sieur, nor of your etchings, in which the style of Claude is so well
united to the grace of Karel Diijardin. You preach by prac-
tising ; and if one had only seen the plates with which you have
illustrated your excellent lessons, one would recognize not only
the instructor but the master I lence. be without fear or hesita-
tion ; pi;t forth confidently your little book ; it is just in time to
help regenerate the art of etching, and to direct its renaissance.
For these reasons — mark my prediction ! — its success will be
brilliant and lasting.
CHARLES BLANC.
INTRODUCTION.
Since the year 1866, when the first edition of this treatise
appeared, the art of etching, which was then in full course of re-
generation, has gained considerably in extent. The tendencies of
modern art must necessarily favor the soaring flight of this meth-
od of engraving, which has been left in oblivion quite too long.
It remained for our contemporary school to accord to it those
honors which the school of the first empire had denied to it, and
which that of 1830 had given but timidly. At the period last
named some of our illustrious masters, by applying their talent
to occasional essays in etching, set an example which our own
generation, expansive in its aspirations, and anxiously desirous
of guarding the rights of individuality, was quick to follow.
The Gazette des Beaux Arts comprehended this movement,
and contributed to its extension by attracting to itself the artists
who rendered themselves illustrious by the work done for its
pages, while, by a sort of natural reciprocity, they shed around
it the prestige of their talents. The Société des ^qua-fortistes
(Etching Club), founded in 1863 by Alfred Cadart, has also, by
the united efforts of many eminent etchers, done its share
towards bringing the practice of this art into notice, and has
popularized it in the world of amateurs, whose numbers it has
been instrumental in augmenting ; while at the same time, owing
to the nature of its constitution, it has given material support
to the artists. Private collections have been formed, and are
growing in richness from day to day. Two royal artists, King
Ferdinand of Portugal and King Charles XV. of Sweden, have,,
2 IXTRODUCTIOxN.
through their works, taken an active part in the renewal of etch-
ing ; they were the happy sponsors of a publication which, under
the name of L Illustration Nouvelle, follows in the footsteps, and
continues the traditions, of the Société des Aqua-fortistes.
Similar societies, organized in England and in Belgium,^ are
prospering. On the other hand, a great number of art journals,
of books, and of albums, owe their success to the use made in
them of etchings. This is true also of those special editions
which are sumptuously printed in small numbers, and are ihe
delight of lovers of books.
Etching has thus taken a position in modern art which cannot
fail to become still more important. " Everything has been said,"
wrote La Bruyère, concerning the works of the pen, "and we
can only glean after the poets." The literature of two centuries
has given the lie to the assertion of the celebrated moralist, and
it may also be affirmed that etching has not yet spoken its last
word. Not only has it no need of gleaning after the old masters,
but it may rather seek for precious models in the works of our
contemporary etchers. In ihcir experience may be found fruit
for the present as well as useful information for the future.
.An Etcher's Studio.
Kmni the Third Edition of .Abrah.itn Bosse's "Treatise," Paris, 1758.
A TREATISE ON ETCHING.
CHAPTER I.
DEFINITION AND CHARACTER OF ETCHING.
1. Definition. — An etching is a design fixed on metal by the
action of an acid. The art of etching consists, in the first place,
in drawing, with a. point or needle, upon a metal plate, which is per-
fectly polished, and covered with a layer of varnish, or ground,
blackened by smoke ; and, secondly, in exposing the plate, when
the drawing is finished, to the action of nitric acid. The acid,
which does not affect fatty substances but corrodes metal, eats
into the lines which have been laid bare by the needle, and thus
the drawing is bitten in. The varnish is then removed by washing
the plate with spirits of turpentine," and the design will be found
to be engraved, as it were, on the plate. But, as the color of the
copper is misleading, it is impossible to judge properly of the
quality of the work done until a proof has been taken.
2. Knowledge needed by the Etcher. — The aspirant in the
art of etching, having familiarized himself by a few trials with
the appearance of the bright lines produced by the needle on the
dark ground of smoked varnish, will soon go to work on his plate
confidently and unhesitatingly ; and, without troubling himself
much about the uniform appearance of his work, he will gradually
learn to calculate in advance the conversion of his lines into lines
more or less deeply bitten, and the change in appearance which
these lines undergo when transferred to paper by means of ink
and press.
It follows from this that the etcher must, from the very begin-
ning of his work, have a clear conception of the idea he intends
4 A TREATISE OX ETCHING.
to realize on his plate, as the work of the needle must harmonize
with the character of the subject, and as the efifect produced is
finally determined by the combination of this work with that of
the acid.
The knowledge needed to bring about these intimate relations
between the needle, which produces the draiviiig, and the biting-
in, which supplies the color, constitutes the whole science of the
etcher.
3. Manner of Using the Needle. — Character of Lines. —
The needle or point must be allowed to play lightly on the var-
nish, so as to permit the hand to move with that unconcern which
is necessary to great freedom of execution. The use of a mod-
erately sharp needle will insure lines which are full and nourished
in the delicate as well as in the vigorous parts of the work. We
shall thus secure the means of being simple. Nor will it be
necessary to depart from this character even in plates requiring
the most minute execution ; all that is required will be a finer
point, and lines of a more delicate kind. But the spaces left be-
tween the latter will be proportionately the same, or perhaps even
somewhat wider, so as to prevent the acid from confusing the
lines by eating away the ridges of metal which are left standing
between the furrows. Freshness and neatness depend on these
conditions in small as well as in large plates.
4. Freedom of Execution. — It is a well-known fact that the
engraver who employs the burin (or graver), produces lines on the
naked copper or steel which cross one another, and are measured
and regular. It is a necessary consequence of the importance of
line-engraving, growing out of its application to classical works
of high style, that it should always show the severity and coldness
of positive and almost mathematical workmanship. With etching
this is not the case : the point must be free and capricious ; it
must accentuate the forms of objects without stiffness or dryness,
and must delicately bring out the various distances, without fol-
lowing any other law than that of a picturesque harmony in the
execution. It may be made to work with precision, whenever that
is needed, but only to be abandoned afterwards to its natural grace.
It will be well, however, to avoid over-excitement and violence in
execution, which give an air of slovenliness to that which ought
to be simply a re very.
DEFINITION AND CHARACTER OF ETCHING. 5
5. How to produce Difference in Texture. — The manner of
execution to be selected must conform to the nature of the objects.
This is essential, as we have at our disposition only a point, the
play of which on the varnish is always the same. It follows that
we must vary its strokes, so as to make it express difference in
texture. If we examine the etchings of the old masters, we shall
find that they had a special way of expressing foliage, earth, rocks,
water, the sky, figures, architecture, &c., without, however, making
themselves the slaves of too constraining a tradition.
6. The Work of the Acid. — After the subject has been drawn
on the ground, the acid steps in to give variety to the forms which
were laid out for it by the needle, to impart vibration to this work
of uniform aspect, and to inform it with the all-pervading warmth
of life. In principle, a single biting ought to be sufficient ; but
if the artist desires to secure greater variety in the result by a
succession of partial bitings, the different distances may be made
to detach themselves from one another by covering up with var-
nish the parts sufficiently bitten each time the plate is withdrawn
from the bath. The different parts which the mordant is to play
must be regulated by the feeling : discreet and prudent, it will
impart delicacy to the tender values ; controlled in its subtle
functions, it will carefully mark the relative tones of the various
distances ; less restrained and used more incisively, it will dig
into the accentuated parts and will give them force.
7. The Use of the Dry Point. — If harmony has not been
sufficiently attained, the dry point is used on the bare metal, to
modify the values incompletely rendered, or expressed too harshly.
Its office is to cover such insufficient passages with a delicate tint,
and to serve, as Charles Blanc has very well expressed it, as a
glaze in engraving.
8. Spirit in which the Etcher must work. — Follow your
feeling, combine your modes of expression, establish points of
comparison, and adopt from among the practical means at com-
mand (which depend on the effect, and on which the effect de-
pends) those which will best render the effect desired : this is
the course to be followed by the etcher. There is plenty of the
instinctive which practice will develop in him, and in this he will
find a growing charm and an irresistible attraction. What happy
effects, what surprises, what unforeseen discoveries, when the var-
6 A TREATISE 0\ ETCHING.
nish is removed from the plate ! A bit of good luck and of inspi-
ration often does more than a methodical rule, whether we are
engaged on subjects of our own invention, — capricci, as the
Italians call them, — or whether we are drawing from nature di-
rectly on the copper. The great aim is to arrive at the first onset
at the realization of our ideas as they are present in our mind.
An etching must be virginal, like an improvisation.
9. Expression of Individuality in Etching. — Having once
mastered the processes, the designer or painter need only carry
his own individuality into a species of work which will no longer
be strange to him, there to find again the expression of the talent
which he displayed in another field of art. He will comprehend
that etching has this essentially vital element, — and in it lies the
strength of its past and the guaranty of its future, — that, more
than any other kind of engraving on metal, it bears the imprint of
the character of the artist. It personifies and represents him so
well, it identifies itself so closely with his idea, that it often seems
on the point of annihilating itself as a process in favor of this idea.
Rembrandt furnishes a striking example of this : by the inter-
mixture and diversity of the methods employed by him, he arrived
at a suavity of expression which may be called magical ; he dif-
fused grace and depth throughout his work. In some of his
plates the processes lend themselves so marvellously to the
severest requirements of modelling, and attain such an extreme
limit of delicacy, that the eye can no longer follow them, thus
leaving the completest enjoyment to the intellect alone.
Claude Lorrain, on the other hand, knew how to conciliate
freedom of execution with majesty of style.
10. Value of Etching to Artists. — Speaking of this subordi-
nation of processes in etching to feeling, I am induced to point
out how many of the masters of our time, judging by the char-
acter of their work, might have added to their merits had they
but substituted the etcher's needle for the crayon. Was not De-
camps, who handled the point but little, an etcher in his drawings
and his lithographs? Ingres only executed one solitary etching,
and yet, simply by virtue of his great knowledge, it seems as if in
it he had given a presentiment of all the secrets of the craft.
And did not Gigoux give us a foretaste of the work of the acid,
DEFINITION AND CHARACTER OF ETCHING. 7
when he produced the illustrations to his " Gil Bias," conceived
in the spirit of an etcher, which, after thirty years of innumerable
similar productions, are still the chef-d' œuvre and the model of
engraving on wood. And would Mouilleron have been inferior,
if from the stone he had passed to the copper plate ? It would be
an easy matter to multiply examples chosen from among the
artists who have boldly handled the needle, or from among those
who might have taken it up with equal advantage, to prove that
etching is not, as it has been called, a secondary method. There
are no secondary methods tor the manifestation of genius.
11. Versatility of Etching. — The needle is the crayon ; the
acid adds color. The needle is sometimes all the more eloquent
because its means of expression are confined within more re-
stricted limits. It is familiar and lively in the sketch, which by
a very little must say a great deal ; the sketch is the spontaneous
letter. It all but reaches the highest expression when it is called
in to translate a grand spectacle, or one of those fugitive effects
of light which nature seems to produce but sparingly, so as to
leave to art the merit of fixing them.
12. Etching compared to other Styles of Engraving. — By
its very character of freedom, by the intimate and rapid connection
which it establishes between the hand and the thoughts of the
artist, etching becomes the frankest and most natural of inter-
preters. These are the qualities which make it an honor to art,
of which it is a glorious branch. All other styles of engraving
can never be any thing but a means of reproduction. We must
admire the knowledge, the intelligence, and the self-denial which
the line-engraver devotes to the service of his art. But, after all,
it is merely the art of assimilating an idea which is foreign to him,
and of which he is the slave. By him the chefs-d'œuvre of the
masters are multiplied and disseminated, and sometimes, in giving
eternity to an original work, he immortalizes his own name ; but
the part he has assumed inevitably excludes him from all creative
activity.
13. Etching as a Reproductive Art. — These reserves having
been made in regard to the engraver, whose instrument is the
burin, justice requires that the reproductive etcher should come
in for his proportional share, and that his functions should be
8 A TREATISE ON ETCHING.
defined. Some years ago, a school of etchers arose among
us, whose mission it is to interpret those works of the brush
which, by the delicacy and elegance of their character, cannot be
harmonized with the severity of the burin. This school, to which
Mr. Gaucherel gave a great impulse, has been called in to fill a
regrettable void in the collections of amateurs. Every one knows
those remarkable publications. Les Artistes Contemporains, and
Les Peintres Vivants, which, for the last twenty years, have re-
produced in lithography the chefs-d'œuvre of our exhibitions of
paintings. To-day etching takes the place of lithography ; it
excels in the reproduction of modern landscapes, and of the
genre subjects which we owe to our most esteemed painters. It
is not less happy in the interpretation of certain of the old masters,
whose works make it impossible to approach them with the burin.
The catalogues of celebrated galleries which have lately been sold
also testify to the important services rendered to art by the repro-
ductive etcher. His methods are free and rapid ; they are not
subjected to a severe convention of form. He may rest his own
work on the genius of others, so as to attain a success like that
of the painter-etcher ; but the latter, as he bathes his inspiration
in the acid and triumphantly withdraws it, finds his power and
his resources within himself alone. He is at once the translator
and the poet.
TOOLS AND MATERIALS.
CHAPTER II.
TOOLS AND MATERIALS. — PREPARING THE PLATE. — DRAWING
ON THE PLATE WITH THE NEEDLE.
14. Method of Using this Manual. — As the general theory
given in the preceding chapter may seem too brief, and may con-
vey but an incomplete idea of the different operations involved in
etching, I shall now endeavor to formulate, in as concise a manner
as possible, such practical directions as I have had occasion to give
to a young designer, and to different other persons, in my own
studio. I shall provide successively for all the accidents which
usually, or which may possibly, occur. But the beginner need not
trouble himself too much about the apparent complication of
detail which the following pages present. They are intended,
rather, to be consulted, like a dictionary, as occasion arises. In
all cases, however, it will be well, on reading the book, to make
immediate application of the various directions given, so as to
avoid all confusion of detail in the memory, and to escape the
tedium of what would otherwise be rather dry reading.
A. Tools and Materials.
15. List of Tools and Materials needed. — To begin with,
we must provide ourselves with the following requisites :^ —
Copper plates.
A hand-vice.
Ordinary etching-ground and transparent ground in balls.
Liquid stopping-out varnish.
Brushes of different sizes.
Two dabbers, — one for the ordinary varnish, the other for the white
or transparent varnish.
lO A TREATISE ON ETCHING.
A wax taper.
A needle-holder.
Needles of various sizes.
A dr)' point.
A burnisher.
A scraper.
An oil-stone of best quality.
A lens or magnifying-glass.
Bordering-wax.
An etching-trough made of gutta-percha or of porcelain.
India-rubber finger-gloves.
Nitric acid of forty degrees.
Tracing-paper.
Gelatine in sheets.
Chalk or sanguine.
Emery paper, No. oo or coo.
Blotting-paper.
A roller for revarnishing, with its accessories.
To these things we must add a supply of old rags.
i6. Quality and Condition of Tools and Materials. — Too
much care cannot be taken as regards the quality of the copper,
which metal is used by preference for etching. Soft copper bites
slowly, while on hard copper the acid acts more quickly and bites
more deeply. It is to be regretted that nowadays plates are
generally rolled, which does not give density enough to the metal.
Formerly they were hammered, and the copper was of a better
quality. Thus hammered, the metal becomes hard, and is less
porous ; its molecular condition is most favorable to the action of
the acid, the lines are purer, and even when the work is carried
to the extreme of delicacy, it is sure to be preserved in the biting.
English copper plates, and plates that have been replaned, are
excellent. It is a good plan to buy thick plates, of a dimension
smaller than that of the designs to be made, and to have them
hammered out to the required size. The plates thus obtained
will not fail to be very good.
The vice must have a wooden handle, so as to prevent burning
the fingers.
To meet all possible emergencies, lamp-black mav be mixed
TOOLS AND MATERIALS. II
with the liquid stopping-out varnish {petit vernis liquide). Some
engravers find that it dries too quickly, and therefore, fearing that
it may chip off under the needle, use it only for stopping out ; for
retouching, they employ a special retouching varnish {vernis au
pinceau).^
For brushes, select such as are used in water-color painting.
The silk with which the dabbers are covered must be very fine
in the thread.
In order to protect his fingers, an engraver conceived the idea
of smoking his plates by means of the ends of several candles or
wax tapers placed together in the bottom of a little vessel : they
furnish an abundance of smoke, and can be extinguished by cov-
ering up the vessel. The smoke of a wax taper is the best ; it is
excellent for small plates.
The needle-holder holds short points of various thicknesses,
down to the fineness of sewing-needles.
To sharpen an etching-needle, pass it over the oil-stone, holding
it down flat, and turning it continually. When it has attained a
high degree of sharpness, describe a large circle with it on a piece
of cardboard, holding it fixed between the fingers this time, and
go on describing circles of a continually decreasing size. The
nearer you approach to the centre, the more vertical must be the
position of the needle. The fineness or the coarseness of the
point is regulated by keeping the needle away from, or bringing
it nearer to, the central point.
The dry point must be ground with flat faces rather than
round, so as to cut the copper, and penetrate it with ease.
If the burnisher is not sufficiently polished, it scratches the
copper, and produces black spots in the proofs. To keep it
in good condition, cut two grooves, the size of the burnisher, in
a piece of pine board. Rub it up and down the first of these
grooves, containing emery powder ; and then, to give it its final
lustre, repeat the same process, with tripoli and oil, in the second
groove.
The stones which are too hard for razors are excellent for the
scrapers. Having sharpened the scraper with a little oil, during
which operation you must hold it down flat on the stone, pass it
over your finger-nail. If the touch discloses the presence of the
12 A TREATISE OX ETCHING.
least bit of tooth, and if the tool does not glide along with the
greatest ease, the grinding must be continued, as otherwise the
scraper will scratch the copper.
You are at liberty to use two troughs, — one for the acid bath ;
the other, filled wiih water, for washing the plate.
A glass funnel, and a bottle with a ground-glass stopper, will
be necessary for filling in and keeping the etching liquid.
Various substances are used for finishing off the copper plates;
the most natural is the paste obtained by rubbing charcoal on the
oil-stone with oil.
Then comes the fine emery paper Nos. oo or ooo. rotten-stone,
tripoli, English red, and, finally, slate. Powdered slate, produced
by simply scraping with a knife, is excellent, used with oil and
a fine rag, the same as other substances.
The varnish for revarnishing is nothing but ordinary etching-
ground, dissolved in oil of lavender. It must be about as stiff
as honey in winter.
The rollers for revarnishing, which can be had of different sizes,
are cylindrical in form, and are terminated by two handles, which
revolve in the hands. The roller ought, if possible, to cover the
whole surface of the copper.-^ As soon as it has been used, it
must be put out of the way of the dust.
These various recommendations are by no means unnecessary,
as the least material obstacle may sometimes hinder the flight of
the imagination. It is well to be armed against all the trouble-
some vexations of the handicraft ; for the difficulties of the art
are in themselves sufficient to occupy our attention.
B. Prkp.xrixo the Plate.
I shall now proceed to give the various talks which I had with
my young pupil.
17. Laying the Ground, or Varnishing. — You have here a
plate, I say to him ; I clean it with turpentine ; then, having well
wiped it with a piece of fine linen, and having still further cleaned
it by rubbing it with Spanish white (or whiting), I fasten it into
the vice by one of its edges, taking care to place a tolerably thick
piece of paper under the teeth of the vice, so as to protect the
PREPARING THE PLATE. 13
copper against injury. I now hold the plate with its back over
this chafing-dish ; but a piece of burning paper, or the flame of a
spirit-lamp, will do equally well. As soon as the plate is sufficiently
heated, I place upon its polished surface this ball of ordinary
etching-ground, wrapped up in a piece of plain taffeta ; the heat
causes the ground to melt. If the plate is too hot, the varnish
commences to boil while melting ; in that case, we must allow the
plate to cool somewhat, as otherwise the ground will be burned.
I pass the ball over the whole surface of the copper, taking care
not to overcharge the plate with the ground. Then, with the
dabber, I dab it in all directions ; at first, vigorously and quickly,
so as to spread and equalize the layer of varnish ; and finally,
as the varnish cools, I apply the dabber more delicately. The
appearance of inequalities, and of little protruding points in the
ground, indicates that it is laid on too thick, and the dabbing
must be continued, until we have obtained a perfectly homo-
geneous layer. This must be very thin, — sufficient to resist
strong biting, and yet allowing the point to draw the very finest
lines, which it will be difficult to do with too much varnish.
18. Smoking. — Without waiting for the plate to cool, I turn it
over, and present its varnished side to the smoke of a torch or a
wax taper, which I hold at a distance of about two centimetres
from the plate, so as not to injure the varnish. I keep moving
the flame about in all directions, to avoid burning the varnish
(which latter would take place if the flame remained too long at
the same point), and thus I obtain a brilliant black surface. All
the transparency is gone ; we see neither copper nor varnish, and
this is a sign that our operation has succeeded. All we need do
now is to allow the plate to cool and the varnish to harden, and
then you can commence making your drawing.
You call my attention to the fact that the varnish, in cooling,
loses the brilliancy which it had in its liquid state. This is
always the case. And see the perfect neatness and evenness of
the varnished and smoked surface ! Here is a plate which was
spoiled in the smoking. The first thing that strikes us is that we
see the marks left by the passage of the taper. At a pinch, these
marks might, perhaps, be no inconvenience to us in working ; but
here the brilliant black is broken by very dull spots. These are
14 A TREATISE ON ETCHING.
places in which the varnish was burned; it will scale off under the
needle, and has lost the power of resisting the acid. We must
therefore clean this plate with spirits of turpentine, and commence
operations afresh.
The ground is blackened, because its natural transparency does
not permit us to see the work of the point. This work produces
what might be called a negative design ; that is to say, a design
in bright lines on a black ground. This is rather perplexing at
first, but you will soon become accustomed to it.
C. Drawing on the Plate with the Needle.
19. The Transparent Screen. — You must place yourself so
as to face this window, and between you and it we must introduce,
in an inclined position, a transparent screen made of tracing paper
stretched on a wooden frame, which will prevent your seeing the
window. This screen will soften and strain the light ; it will
reduce the reflection of the copper, and will allow you to see
what you arc doing.
In designing on the plate out of doors, the screen is unneces-
sary, since, as the light falls equally upon the copper from all
directions, the reflection is done away with, and the copper does
not dazzle the eye as it does when the light emanates from a
single source.
20. Needles or Points. — You may use a single needle, or
you may use several of different degrees of sharpness, even down
to sewing-needles, as you will see later on ; but your work on the
plate will always look uniform, without distance and without
relief. The modelling and coloring of the design must be left to
the acid.
The point must be held on the plate as perpendicularly as pos-
sible, as the purity of the line depends on the angle of incidence
which the point makes with the copper ; furthermore, it must be
possible to direct it freely and easily in all directions, and it is,
therefore, necessary that the needle should not be too sharp. To
make sure of this, draw a number of eights on the margin of
your i^late, or simply an oblique line from below upwards in the
direction of the needle. If it does not glide along easily, if it
attacks the copper and catches in it, you must regrind it.
DRAWING ON THE PLATE WITH THE NEEDLE. 15
This is important, as in principle the function of the needle is
to trace the design by removing the varnish from the copper,
while it must avoid scratching it. By scratching the metal we
encroach on the domain of the acid, and inequality of work is the
result, since the acid acts more vigorously on those parts which
have been scratched than on those which have simply been laid
bare. We must feel the copper under the point, without, how-
ever, penetrating into it.
The opposite effect is produced if we operate too timidly. In
this case we do not reach the copper. We remove the blackened
surface, and it seems as if we had also removed the varnish, since
we see the copper shining through it. But we shall find later,
from the fact that the acid does not bite, that we did not bear
heavily enough on the needle.
At first there is a tendency to proceed as in drawing on paper,
giving greater lightness to the touch of the point in the distances,
and bearing on it more vigorously in the foregrounds. But this
is useless.
There are certain artists, nevertheless, who prefer to attack the
copper with cutting points in the finer as well as in the more
vigorous parts of their work, and to bite in with strong acid ;
others, again, dig resolutely into the copper wherever they desire
to produce a powerful tone. Abraham Bosse, in applying etch-
ing to line-engraving, advises his readers to cut the copper slightly
in the lines which are to appear fine, and to dig vigorously into
the plate for those lines which are to be very heavy, so that deli-
cate as well as strong work may be obtained at one and the same
biting. As it is necessary in this sort of engraving to retouch the
heavy lines with the burin, we can understand that in the way
shown the work of the instrument named may be facilitated.
21. Temperature of the Room. — In summer the tempera-
ture softens the varnish, and the needle works pliantly and easily ;
in winter the cold hardens the varnish, so that it is apt to scale off
under the point, especially at the crossing of the lines. It is
advisable, therefore, to have your room well heated, or to supply
yourself with two cast-metal plates or two lithographic stones, or
even two bricks, if you please, which must be warmed and placed
under your plate alternately, so as to keep it at a soft and uniform
l6 A TREATISE 0\ ETCHING.
temperature. Practice has shown that work done at the right
temperature is softer than that executed when the varnish is too-
cold, even if it is not sufficiently so to scale off".
22. The Tracing. — According to the kind of work to be done,
we shall either draw directly on the plate, or, in the case of a
drawing which is to be copied of its own size, we shall make use
of a tracing. Many engravers emancipate themselves from the
tracing, and accustom themselves to reversing the original while
they copy it. The manner of using a tracing is well known. We
shall need tracing-paper, paper rubbed with sanguine on one side,
and a pencil. The tracing is made on the tracing-paper, and this
is afterwards placed on the prepared plate ; between the tracing
and the plate we introduce the paper rubbed with sanguine; then,
with a very fine lead-pencil, or with a somewhat blunt needle, we
go carefully over the lines of the design, which, under the gentle
pressure of the tool, is thus transferred in red to the black ground.
It is unnecessary to use much pressure, as otherwise your tracing
will be obscured by the sanguine and )ou will find neither pre-
cision nor delicacy in it. Furthermore, you run the risk of injur-
ing the ground. The tracing is used simply to indicate the places
where the lines are to be, and it must be left to the needle to
define them.
23. Reversing the Design. — Whenever your task is the
interpretation of an object of fi.xed aspect, such as a monument,
or some well-known scene, or human beings in a given attitude,
you will be obliged to reverse the drawing on your plate, as
otherwise it will appear reversed in the proof You must, there-
fore, reverse your tracing, which is a very easy matter, as the
design is equally visible on both sides of the tracing-paper. Gela-
tine in sheets, however, offers still greater advantages when a
design is to be reversed. Place the gelatine on the design, and,
as it is easily scratched, make your tracing with a very fine-
pointed and sharp needle, occasionally slipping a piece of black
paper underneath the gelatine to assure yourself that you have
omitted nothing. The point, in scratching the gelatine, raises a
bur, and this must be removed gently with a paper stump, or with
the scraper, after which operation the tracing is rubbed in with
powdered sanguine. Having now thoroughly cleaned the sheet.
DRAWING ON THE PLATE WITH THE NEEDLE. 1/
so that no powder is left anywhere but in the furrows, we turn the
sheet over and lay it down on the plate, and finally rub it on its
back in all directions, for which purpose we use the burnisher
dipped in oil. The design, reversed, will be found traced on the
varnish in extremely fine lines.
24. Use of the Mirror. — The tracing finished, place a mirror
before your plate on the table, and as close by as possible ; between
the plate and the mirror fix the design to be reproduced, and then
draw the reflected image. For the sake of greater convenience,
take your position at right angles to the window instead of facing
it, so that the light passing through the transparent screen on
your left falls on the mirror and the design, as well as on your
work. When drawing on the copper from nature, if the design is
to be reversed, you must place yourself with your back to the
object to be drawn, and so that you can easily see it in a small
mirror set up before your plate. This is the way Méryon pro-
ceeded : standing, and holding in the same hand his plate and a
little mirror, which he always carried in his pocket, he guided his
point with the most absolute surety, without any further support.
25. Precautions to be observed while Drawing. — Before
you begin to draw you must trace the margin of your design,
for the guidance of the printer. To protect your plate, it will
be necessary to cover it with very soft paper ; the pressure of the
hand does no harm, provided you avoid rubbing the varnish. If
you should happen to damage it, you must close up the brilliant
little dots which you will observe, by touching them up, very
lightly and with a very fine brush, with stopping-out varnish.
26. Directions for Drawing with the Needle. — I might now
let you copy some very simple etching ; but your knowledge of
drawing will, I believe, enable you to try your hand at a some-
what more important exercise. Let us suppose, then, that you
are to draw a landscape, although the practice you are about to
acquire applies to all other subjects equally well. Will you repro-
duce this design by Claude Lorrain .'' (PI. II.) It is a com-
position full of charm and color, and very harmonious in effect.
Use only one needle, and keep your work close together in the
distance and more open in the foreground. (See PI. I ".) That
appears paradoxical to you ; but the nitric acid will soon tell you
why this is so. I shall indicate to you, after your plate has been
l8 A TREATISE ON ETCHIXG.
bitten, those cases in which you will have to proceed differently,
or, in other words, in which you will have to draw your lines
nearer together or farther apart without regard to the different
distances. I cannot explain this subject more fully before you
have become acquainted with the process of biting in, as without
this knowledge it must remain unintelligible to you. This remark
holds good, also, of what I have told you on the subject of the
needles of different degrees of sharpness.
"It is curious, my dear sir, to notice how at one and the same
time the point combines a certain degree of softness and of pre-
cision ; those who draw with the pen ought also to be admirers of
etching. It seems to me, however, that my lines are too thick ; I
have already laid several of them, and the varnish is no longer
visible ; I am afraid I have taken it up altogether."
You need not feel any uneasiness about that ; it is simply owing
to the irradiation of the copper, the brilliancy of which the screen
does not completely subdue. The bright line is made to look
broader than it really is by the brilliant gloss of the metal. But
if you lay a piece of tracing-paper on the plate you will see the
lines as they really are ; that is to say, with plenty of space
between them. By the aid of a lens you can convince yourself
still more easily ; you will often have occasion to avail yourself of
this instrument to enable you to do fine work with greater facility,
or to give you a better insight into what you have already done.
As the irradiation of which we have just spoken is apt to
deceive us in regard to the quantity of the work done, we may
happen to find less of it than we expected when the plate has
been bitten. Plates which to the beginner seem to be quite elabo-
rately worked, present to the acid lines widely spaced and insuffi-
cient in number, thus necessitating retouches. It is essential,
therefore, in principle (except in the special cases to be pointed
out hereafter), to give to our work, in its first stages, all the devel-
opment that is necessary.
I forgot to tell you that you must j^rovide yourself with a very
soft brush, say a badger, which, from time to time, you must pass
lightly over your plate so as to remove the small particles of var-
nish raised by the needle. Otherwise you will not be able to see
properly what you have been doing.
DRAWING ON THE PLATE WITH THE NEEDLE. 19
Continue, and follow your own feeling ; work away without fear
of going wrong ; some of your errors you will be able to remedy.
Thus, if you have made a mistake, you can lay a thin coat of liquid
varnish over the spoiled part by means of a brush ; in a few
seconds the varnish will have dried, and you can make your cor-
rection. You can employ this method for the correction of a
faulty line, or to restore a place which should have remained white,
but which you have inadvertently shaded.
Here I shall stop for the present, and shall close by saying,
May good luck attend your point, as well as your acid ! There is
nothing more to be said to you until after your plate has been
bitten.
20 A TREATISE ON ETCHING.
CHAPTER III.
BITING.
27. Bordering the Plate. — This work took some time. Our
young student, impatient to see the transformation wrought by
the acid, came back without keeping me waiting for him.
" Hurry up ! A tray, acid, and all the accessories ! "
Instead of using a tray, I tell him, we can avail ourselves of
another method, which is used by many engravers, and which
consists in bordering the plate with wa.\. This wax,^ having
been softened in warm water, is flattened out into long strips,
and is fastened hermetically and vertically around the edges of
the plate, so that, when hardened, it forms the walls of a vessel,,
the bottom of which is represented by the design drawn with the
point. To avoid dangerous leaks, heat a key, and pass it along
the wax where it adheres to the plate ; the wax melts, and, on
rehardening, offers all possible guarantees of solidity. We now
pour the acid on the plate thus converted into a tray, and as we
have taken care to form a lip in one of the angles made by the
bordering wax, it is an easy matter to pour off the liquid after
each biting. This proceeding is useful in the case of plates which
are too large for the tray. Otherwise, however, I prefer a tray
made of gutta-percha or porcelain.
28. The Tray. — Let us now install ourselves at this table,
and let us cover the margin and the back of the plate with a thick
coat of stopping-out varnish. As soon as the varnish is perfectly
dry, we place the plate into the tray standing horizontally on the
table, and pour on acid enough to cover it to the height of about
a centimetre. This depth, which is sufficient for biting, allows
the eye to follow the process in its various stages.
29. Strength of the Acid. — This acid is fresh, and has not yet
been used ; bought at forty degrees, I mix it with an equal quan-
BITING. 21
tity of water, which reduces it to twenty degrees. This is the
strength generally adopted for ordinary biting. Its color is clear,
and slightly yellow ; but as soon as it takes up the copper it be-
comes blue, and then green. As, in its present state, it would act
too impetuously, I add to it a small quantity of acid which has
been used before. You may also throw a few scraps of copper
into it the day before using it ; the old etchers used for this pur-
pose a copper coin, larger or smaller, according to the volume of
the bath.'
30. Label your Bottles ! — One day, one of my pupils, having
a bad cold, did not notice the difference between the smell of the
acid and that of the turpentine, and so plunged a plate which
he desired to bite, into a bath of the latter fluid. " It 's queer," he
said, " this won't bite, and yet the varnish scales off. . . . The lines
keep enlarging, and run into one another ! What does this curi-
ous medley mean, which appears on the plate .'' " It was simple
enough. The spirits of turpentine had dissolved the ground, and
consequently the plate developed a shining and radiating surface
before the eyes of our wondering student, as if it had just left the
hands of the plate-maker.
Advice to those who are absent-minded, and who are liable to
mistake fluids which look alike for one another, — Label your
bottles !
31. The First Biting. — Let us make haste now, I say to my
pupil, to do our biting. As the heat of the day abates, the acid
becomes less active ; and besides, to judge by the delicate charac-
ter of the original we are to render, we shall need at least two or
three hours, all told, for this operation. The task before us con-
sists in the reproduction of a given work, the merit of which lies
in the gradation in the various distances. It needs time and at-
tention to be able to carry all the necessary processes successfully
into practice.
It will be plain to you, from what I have just said, that the op-
eration you are about to engage in is one of the most delicate in
the etcher's practice. There is the plate in the acid ; the liquid
has taken hold of the copper ; but your sky must be light, and a
prolonged corrosion would therefore be hurtful to it. Hence we
take the plate out of the bath, pass it through pure water, so that
22 A TREATISE ON ETCHING.
no acid is left in the lines, and cover it with several sheets of
blotting-paper, which, being pressed against it by the hand, dries
the plate. We shall have to go through the same process after
each partial biting, because if the plate were moist, the stopping-
out varnish which we arc going to apply to it would not adhere.
32. The Use of the Feather. — You noticed the lively ebul-
litions on the plate, which took place twice in succession. After
the first, I passed this feather lightly over the copper, to show you
its use. Its vane removed the bubbles which adhered to the lines.
This precaution is necessary, especially when the ebullitions
acquire some intensity and are prolonged, to facilitate the biting,
as the gas by which the bubbles are formed keeps the acid out
of the lines. If these bubbles are not destroyed, the absence of
biting in the lines is shown in the proofs by a series of little white
points. Such points are noticeable in some of the plates etched
by Perelle, who, it seems, ignored this precaution.
33. Stopping Out. — The two rapid ebullitions which you saw
may serve you as a standard of measurement ; the biting pro-
duced by them must be very light, and sufficient for the tone of
the sky. You may, therefore, cover the entire sky with stopping-
out varnish by means of a brush, taking care to stop short just
this side of the outlines of the other distances. The importance
of mixing lamp-black with your stopping-out varnish to thicken
it, comes in just here ; because if it remained in its liquid state, it
might be drawn by capillary attraction into the lines of those
parts which you desire to reserve, and thus, by obstructing them,
might stop the biting in places where it ought to continue. Wait
till the varnish has become perfectly dry ; you can assure your-
self of this by breathing upon it ; if it remains brilliant, it is still
soft, and the acid will eat into it ; but as soon as it is dry it will
assume a dull surface under your breath. '^
34. Effect of Temperature on Biting. — Let us now return
the plate to the bath, to obtain the values of the other distances.
The temperature has a great effect on the intensity of the ebulli-
tions, and it is hardly possible to depend on it absolutely as a
fixed basis on which to rest a calculation of the time necessary
for each biting, as its own variability renders it difficult to appre-
ciate the aid to be received from it. In winter, for instance, with
BITING. 23
the same strength of acid, it needs four or five times as much
time to reach the same result as in summer, so that on very hot
days the biting progresses so rapidly that the plate cannot be lost
sight of for a single moment without risk of over-biting.
35. Biting continued. — We have now obtained several moder-
ate ebullitions, and as it would not do to exaggerate the tone of the
mountain in the background, it is time to withdraw the plate once
more. Uncover a single line by removing the ground, either
with the nail of your finger or with a very small brush dipped into
spirits of turpentine, to e.xamine whether it is deeply enough bitten
for the distance which it is to represent. If the depth is not suf-
ficient, cover it with stopping-out varnish, and bite again. This
is not necessary, however, in our present case, and you may there-
fore stop out the whole background. Remember, if you please,
that the line must look less heavy than it is to show in the proof;
for you must take into account the black color of the printing-
ink. With your brush go over the edges of the trees which are
to be relieved rather lightly against the sky, as well as over that
part of the shadow in this tower which blends with the light.
There are also some delicate passages in the figure of the woman
in the foreground, in the details of the plants, and in the folds
of this tent (PI. I"). Stop out all these, and do not lose sight of
the values of the original (PI. II.). Make use of the brush to
revarnish several places which are scaling off on the margin and
the back of the plate. The temperature is favorable ; the ebulli-
tions come on without letting us wait long, and the plate is bluing
rapidly. I do not like to see these operations drag on ; in winter,
therefore, I do my biting near the fire. We soon acquire a pas-
sion for biting, and take an ever-growing interest in it, which is
incessantly sharpened by thinking of the result to which we as-
pire. Hence the desire of constant observation, and that assi-
duity in following all the phases of the biting-in.
I notice that the acid does not act on certain parts of your
work ; you will find out soon enough what that means.
36. Treatment of the Various Distances. — "I am thinking
just now of what you told me in regard to the background: —
that more work ought to be put into it than into the fore-
ground."
24 A TREATISE ON ETCHING.
Nothing, indeed, is simpler. You understand that the back-
ground, which is bitten in quite Hghtly, must show very delicate
lines, while in the middle distance and in the foreground the lines
arc enlarged by the action of successive bitings. When it comes
to the printing, the quantity of ink received by these various lines
will be in proportion to the values which you desired to obtain,
and in the proofs you will have a variety of lighter or stronger
tones, giving you the needed gradations in the various distances.
It follows from this that, if you had worked too sparingly on the
distances which receive only a light biting, you could not have
reached the value of the tone which you strove to get, and if you
had worked too closely on those parts which require continued
biting, you would have had a black and indistinct tone, because
the lines, which are enlarged by the acid, and consequently keep
approaching one another, would finally have run together into one
confused mass, producing what in French is called a crevé (blotch).
In an etching the space between the lines must be made to
serve a purpose ; for the paper seen between the black strokes
gives delicacy, lightness, and transparency of tone.
37. The Crevé. — Its Advantages and Disadvantages. —
In very skilled hands the crevé is a means of eft'ect. If you wish
to obtain great depth in a group of trees, in a wall, in very deep
shadows, you will risk nothing by intermingling your lines pictu-
resquely and biting them vigorously. In this way you can
produce tones of velvety softness, and at the same time of ex-
traordinary vigor. Similarly, you may strike a fine note by
means of running together several lines which, if sufficiently
bitten, will form but a single broad one of great solidity and
power. It is, indeed, only the exaggeration of this expedient,
which, by unduly enlarging the limits of the broad line just spoken
of, and thus producing a large and deep surface between them,
constitutes the crei<é properly so called ; the printing ink has no
hold in this flat hollow, and a gray spot in the proof is the result.
I have warned you of the accident ; later on you shall hear some-
thing of the remedy. We will now continue our biting. Plunge
your plate into the bath again, if )ou please.
38. Means of ascertaining the Depth of the Lines. — "My
dear sir, I see that my thawing turns black; it disappears alniDst
BITING. 25
entirely, and is lost in the color of the ground.^ I am quite per-
plexed. My mind endeavors to penetrate beneath this varnish,
so as to be able to witness the mysterious birth of my œuvre.
See these violent ebullitions ! What do you think of them .'' "
Let them go on a moment longer, and then withdraw your
plate. We have now arrived at a point where the eye cannot
judge of the work of the acid as easily as before ; henceforth we
must, therefore, examine the depth of our bitings by uncovering
a single line, as, for instance, this one here in the ground. Or
we may even lay bare, by the aid of spirits of turpentine, a part of
the foreground, provided, however, that we must not forget to
cover it again with the brush. This will give us an idea of the
total effect so far produced by the biting, and we can then regu-
late the partial bitings which are still to follow, either by a com-
parison of the time employed on those that have gone before, or
by the intensity of the ebullitions, the action of which on the
copper we have already studied. You perceive that, while it is
difficult to fix a standard of time for the bitings at the beginning
of the operation, it is yet possible to calculate those to come by
what we have so far done.
39. The Rules which govern the Biting are subordinated
to various Causes. — In reality, it is impossible to establish
fixed rules for the biting, for the following reasons : —
1. Owing to the varying intensity of the stroke of the needle.
The etcher who confines himself to gently baring his copper must
bite longer than he who attacks his plate more vigorously, and
therefore exposes it more to the action of the acid.
2. Owing to the different quality of the plates.
3. Owing to the difference in temperature of the surrounding
air : — of this we have before spoken.
4. Owing to difference of strength in the acid, as it is impossi-
ble always to have it of absolutely the same number of degrees.
At 15° to 18° the biting is gentle and slow; at 20° it is moder-
ate ; at 22° to 24° it becomes more rapid. It would be dangerous
to employ a still higher degree for the complete biting-in of a
plate, especially in the lighter parts.
40. Strong Acid and Weak Acid. — It is, nevertheless, possi-
ble to put such strong acid to good service. A fine gray tint
26 A TREATISE ON ETCHING.
may, for instance, be imparted to a well-worked sky by passing a
broad brush over it, charged with acid at 40°. But the operation
must be performed with lightning speed, and the plate must in-
stantly be plunged into pure water.
As a corollary of the fourth cause, it is well to know that an
acid overcharged with copper loses much of its force, although it
remains at the same degree. Thus an acid taken at 20°, but
heavily charged with copper from having been used, will be found
to be materially enfeebled, and to bite more slowly than fresh
acid at 15' to 18°. To continue to use it in this condition would
be dangerous, because there is no longer any affinity between the
liquid and the copper, and if, under such circumstances, you were
to trust to the appearance of biting (which would be interminable,
besides), you would find, on removing the varnish, that the plate
had merely lost its polish where the lines ought to be, without
having been bitten. It is best, therefore, always to do your biting
with fresh acid, constantly renewed, as the results will be more
equal, and you will become habituated to certain fixed conditions.
Some engravers, of impetuous spirit and impatient of results,
do their biting with acid of a high degree, while others, more pru
dent, prefer slow biting, which eats into the copper uniformly and
regularly, and hence they employ a lower degree. In this way
the varnish remains intact, and there is not that risk of losing the
purity of line which always attends the employment of a stronger
acid.
41. Strength of Acid in relation to certain Kinds of Work. —
Experience has also shown that, with the same proportion in the
time employed, the values are accentuated more quickly and more
completely by a strong than by a mild acid ; this manifests itself
at the confluence of the lines, where the acid would play mischief
if the limit of time were overstepped.
Another effect of biting which follows from the preceding, is
noticeable in lines drawn far apart. Of isolated lines the acid
takes hold very slowly, and they may therefore be executed with
a cutting point and bitten in with tolerably strong acid.
The reverse takes place when the lines are drawn very closely
together ; the biting is very lively. Work of this kind, therefore,
demands a needle of moderate sharpness and a mild acid.
BITING. 27
Hence, interweaving lines and very dose lines are bitten more
deeply by the same acid than lines drawn parallel to each other,
and widely spaced, although they may all have been executed
with the same needle. If, in an architectural subject, you have
drawn the lines with the same instrument, but far apart on one
side, and closely and crossing each other on the other, you must
not let them all bite the same length of time, if 3iou wish them
to hold the same distance. It will be necessary to stop out the
latter before the former, otherwise you will have a discordant
difference in tone. There will be inequality in the biting, but it
will not be perceptible to the eye, as the general harmony has
been preserved. (See PI. IV. Fig. i.)
In short, strong acid rather widens than deepens the lines ;
mild acid, on the contrary, eats into the depth of the copper, and
produces lines which are shown in relief on the paper, and are
astonishingly powerful in color. This is especially noticeable in
the etchings of Piranesi, who used hard varnish.
42. Last Stages of Biting. — But let us return to our opera-
tion. You noticed that I allowed your plate to bite quite a while ;
this was necessary to detach your foreground and middle-ground
vigorously from the sky and the background. You may now stop
out the trees, the tower, and the tent in the middle-ground, and the
vertical part of the bridge, which is in half-tint, and then proceed.
Note that the number of bitings is not fi.xed, but depends on the
effect to be reached.
" In that case it is to be hoped, for the sake of my apprentice
hands, that I shall never have many bitings to do. Just look at
my fingers ! They are in a nice state. The prettiest yellow skin
you ever saw ! "
Oh, don't let that color trouble you ; it will be all black by
to-morrow.
" Much obliged to you for this bit of consolation ! "
Besides, it will take you a week to grow a new skin. In fu-
ture you must soak your fingers in pure water whenever you have
got them into the acid. You might have used india-rubber finger-
gloves ; they are excellent to keep the hands clean, but it is not
worth while to trouble about them for the present, as we are al-
most done.^*' I think you may now stop out all that remains, with
28 A TREATISE 0\ ETCHING.
the exception of the darkest places in the foreground, to which
we must give a final biting.
There ! Now we 've got it ! Withdraw your plate for the last
time, and as there are some very widely spaced lines in this tree
in the foreground, you will risk nothing by giving them a final
touch with pure acid. The strongest accent in the landscape rests
on this spot ;,it determines the color of the whole. By this ap-
plication of pure acid we shall get a vigorous tone, a powerful
effect.
I may as well tell you here that it is sometimes advisable to add
a small quantity of pure acid to the bath towards the end of the
operation, so as to increase the activity of the biting on certain
parts of the plate without running into excess. But as the place
now under consideration is restricted, we shall adopt another
means, so as to limit the action of the acid to the given point.
See here : I let fall a few drops ; the pure acid eats into the cop-
per with great vehemence ; the metal turns green, and the ebul-
lition subsides. Now take up the exhausted liquid with a piece
of blotting-paper, and let us commence again. Under these
newly added drops of fresh acid, the varnish is ready to scale oft",
the lines sputter, and assume a strange yellow color ; these golden
vapors announce that the operation is finished.
What follows, is the task of the printer ; his press will tell us
whether we have won, or whether we have been mated. Clean
the plate with spirits of turpentine, using your fingers, or with a
very clean old rag (calico, if possible), if you are afraid to soil
your hands. Be sure to have the plate well cleaned, but take
care not to scratch it.
The acid, which may be of use hereafter, we will turn into a
glass bottle with a ground stopper, and will store it in some safe
place.
FINISHING THE PLATE. 29
CHAPTER IV.
FINISHING THE PLATE.
43. Omissions. — Insufficiency of the Work so far done. —
The result you have obtained, I tell my pupil, as he shows a proof
of \.\i& first state of his plate to me, is not final. Your work needs
a few retouches and slight modifications, not counting the little
irregularities which I had foreseen, and which it will be easy
enough to repair. We will proceed in order. (See PI. P). To
commence with, here are certain parts which are sufficiently
bitten, and which, nevertheless, are indecisive in tone, and do not
hold their place. I allude to the columns and to the trees in the
further distance ; one feels that there is something wanting there,
which must be added. You must, therefore, re-cover your plate,
in the manner already known to you, either with transparent
ground, or with ordinary etching-ground, just as if the plate had
never yet been touched by the needle.
44. Transparent Ground for Retouching. — The white or
transparent ground or varnish ^^ admirably allows all previous work
to show through. It is preferred to the ordinary ground for
working over parts that have been insufficiently bitten, on account
of its transparency, which leaves even the finest lines visible, while
under the ordinary ground these lines might be lost entirely. It
will be an easy matter for you to combine the new work with the
old ; the very slight shadow thrown on the copper by the trans-
parent ground will give a blackish appearance to your lines, which
may serve as a guide to you. and, with your proof before your
eyes, you will readily succeed in finding the places which need
retouching. To make assurance doubly sure, you can indicate
the retouches on your proof with a lead-pencil.
The transparent ground has occasionally been found to crack
and scale off, when left in the bath for a long while, or when
30 A TREATISE ON ETCHING.
Strong acid is used. But as you are only going to use it for light
and, consequently, short biting, you need not fear this danger.
Another inconvenience, which may easily be prevented, consists
in the presence of small bubbles of air, which appear on the var-
nish as soon as it begins to melt. Heat the plate just to the
proper point of melting, and dab it vigorously for some length of
time, until the varnish cools ; then hold the back of the plate flat
to the fire ; the varnish melts again, and the rest of the bubbles dis-
appear. II some of them should prove to be obstinate, cover them
very lightly with the brush, as otherwise the acid will penetrate
through the passages thus left open, and will make little holes in
the copper, which, on removing the varnish, will cause an un-
pleasant surprise. You shall hear more of this further on.
43. Ordinary Ground used for Retouching. — Biting the Re-
touches. — Ordinary etching-ground, such as we used in the first
instance, does not show the work previously done as well as the
transparent ground, but the later additions are seen all the better
on it. It may be used in its natural state, or it may be smoked.
It is preferable to the transparent varnish, whenever the work
already achieved is deeply bitten, and hence easily seen.
In the present case my advice is that you use the ordinary
ground. Having made your retouches, introduce your plate into
the bath, and proceed as before, by partial biting, endeavoring, as
much as possible, to obtain the same intensity of tone. These
additions, thus bitten by themselves, will mingle with the lines
previously drawn, and now protected by the varnish.
It is hardly possible to judge of the additions, especially on
transparent varnish, until they have been bitten in. But, if you
should then find that you have not yet reached your point, you
can revarnish the plate once more, and comj^lete the parts that
appear to be unfinished.
I must also call your attention to the fact, that all lines drawn
on transjiarent ground seem to thicken most singularly, as soon
as the acid begins to work. But do not let that deceive you.
Now look at this spot in the immediate foreground (PI. I"),
which has a somewhat coarse appearance. It is much softer in
the original (represented by PI. II.). You must add a few lines,
and must bite them rather lightly ; they will mingle agreeably
FINISHING THE PLATE. 31
with the energetic lines of the first state. You may put the large
trees through the same process, and you will find that they gain
in lightness by it. Later on, when you have acquired more
experience, you will occasionally find it handy to make these
additions between two bitings. You will thus reach the desired
result without the necessity of regrounding your plate.
Sometimes, when using strong acid for these retouches, the lines
first drawn are also attacked by the liquid. In that case, stop
the biting immediately, and rest contented with what you have
got. It is not difïicult to understand why these revarnished lines
should commence to bite again, more especially if they are deep :
the acid, finding the edges of the lines (which are sharp and
angular, and therefore do not offer much hold to the varnish) but
indifferently protected, attacks them, witht)UL going into their
depths. The ravages thus committed along the edges of the
lines may be quite disastrous ; and it is well, therefore, whenever
you revarnish a plate, to give additional protection to those parts
which are not to be retouched, by going over them with stopping-
out varnish.
46. Revarnishing with the Brush. — Instead of revarnishing
with the dabber, the ground may also be laid with the brush.
For this purpose you can use the stopping-out varnish mixed
with lamp-black. Spread a coat of varnish all over the plate,
using a very soft brush ; if the copper should not be perfectly
covered on the edges of the deeply etched lines, add a second coat
of varnish. Do not wait till the varnish has become too dry be-
fore you execute the retouches, which, of course, must also be
bitten in as usual. Mixed with lamp-black, the stopping-oirt
varnish allows even the finest lines to be seen, which would not
show as well if the varnish were used in its natural state. Many
engravers use this varnish instead of the transparent ground.
47. Partial Retouches. — Patching. — For partial retouches
and for patching the stopping-out varnish is also used, but in a
simpler and more expeditious way. Cover the part in question
with a tolerably thick coat of varnish, and when you have finished
your retouch, slightly moisten the lines with saliva, to prevent the
few drops of acid which you supply from your bath with the brush
from running beyond the spot on which they are to act. If pure
32 A TREATISE ON ETCHING.
acid is used, — which is still more expeditious, — the effervescence
is stopped by dabbinj^ with a piece of blotting-paper, and the
operation is repeated as long as the biting does not appear to be
sufficient. For very delicate corrections it is advisable not to
wait until the first ebullition is over ; but it must be left to the
feeling to indicate the most opportune moment for the application
of the blotting-paper. If you proceed rapidly and cautiously, you
can obtain extremely fine lines in this way, as you have had occa-
sion to see under other circumstances (see paragraph 40, p. 25).
You may recollect that I spoke of lines which had not bitten :
1 alluded to this spot in the middle of the bridge (see PI. 1°).
You did not bear on your needle sufficiently, and hence it did not
penetrate clear down to the copper; consequently, after having
compared the proof of the first state with the original (PI. II.),
you must do the necessary patching according to the instruction.s
just given to you.
48. Dry Point. — Whenever it is necessary to retouch, or to
add to very delicate parts of the plate, such as the extreme dis-
tance, or any other part very lightly bitten, it is safer to use the
dry point, as in such cases retouching by acid is a most difficult
thing to do. The tone must be hit exactly, and without exag-
geration.
Your plate offers an opportunity for the use of the dry point :
the sky and the mountain are partly etched ; you can improve
them by a few touches of the dry point.
The dry point is held in a perpendicular position, and is used
on the bare copper. It must be ground with a cutting edge, and
very sharp, so that it may freely penetrate into the copper, and
not mcrclv scratch it. You cut the line yourself, regulating its
depth by the amount of pressure used, and according to the tone
of the p:irticular passage on which you are working. For patch-
ing, it is more frequently used in delicate passages than in others,
as, even with great pressure, the strength of a dry point line will
always be below that of a line deeply bitten. In printing, the
dry point line has less depth of color than the bitten line, as the
acid bites into the copper perpendicularly at right angles ; while
the furrow produced by the dry point, which offers only acute
angles, takes up less ink, although it appears equally broad. Thi.s.
FINISHING THE PLATE. 33
inequality disappears if a plate in which etched lines and dry
point work are intermingled is re-bitten ; the difference in tone
is then equalized.
On the other hand, the difterence in the appearance of etched
lines and dry point work produces curious effects. Thus, if a
passage which is too strong and appears to stand out is to be
corrected, a few touches of the dry point will be sufficient to
soften it, and to push it back to another distance.
The dry point is not only used for retouching ; it is sometimes
employed, without any etching, to put in the whole background.
49. Use of the Scraper for removing the Bur thrown up
by the Dry Point. — The dry point work being finished, the bur
thrown up by the instrument must be removed. The bur is the
ridge raised on the edge of the line, as the point ploughs through
the metal ; you can satisfy yourself of its existence by the touch.
In printing, the ink catches in this ridge, and produces blots.
The bur is removed by means of the scraper, an instrument with
a triangular blade, one of the sides of which, held flat, is passed
over the plate in the opposite direction to that of the stroke of
the point, and so as to take the line obliquely. You need not feel
any anxiety about injuring the plate ; the touch will tell you
when the bur has disappeared. In the case of dry point lines
crossing one another, each set running in a different direction
must be drawn as well as scraped separately, in the manner just
described ; otherwise you will run the risk of closing the lines
which cross the path of the scraper, by turning the bur down into
the furrows.
50. Reducing Over-bitten Passages. — So much for the addi-
tions. We will now pass on to the very opposite : the shadow
thrown by the parapet, and the ground between the man and the
woman, have been over-bitten. These parts do not harmonize
with the neighboring parts, and are stronger in tone than the
corresponding parts of the original.
To remedy this, there are four means at your command : —
The Burnisher. The Scraper.
Charcoal. Hammering out.
51. The Burnisher. — As these passages are limited in extent,
and not very deeply bitten, you may use the burnisher to reduce
34 A TREATISE OX ETCHING.
them. Moisten it with saHva, and take only a small spot at a
time, holding the instrument down flat. If you were to use only
the end, you might make a cavity in the copper. The burnisher
flattens and enlarges the surface of the copper, and consequently
diminishes the width of the line. The tone, therefore, is reduced.
On fine, close, and equal work the burnisher does excellent
service, the effect being analogous to that of the crumb of bread
on a design on paper.
It is less efficacious on deeply bitten work, because it rounds
off the edges of the lines as it penetrates into the furrows, and
thus detracts somewhat from the freshness of tone, — an unpleas-
ant result, which, in very fine work, is beyond the power of the
eye to see.
You may use the burnisher to get rid of certain spots produced
in the foliage by lines placed too closely together, and by the
same means you can reduce those exaggerated passages in the
stone-work of the right-hand column.
You can also burnish these useless little blotches in the moun-
tains.
52. Charcoal. — Whenever it is necessary to reduce the whole
of a distance, the use of charcoal is to be preferred. Charcoal
made of willow, or of other soft woods, which can be had of the
plate-makers, is used flat, impregnated with oil or water ; it must
be freed from its bark, as this would scratch the plate. It wears
the metal away uniformly, and does not injure the crispness of
the lines. Rub the passage to be reduced with the charcoal,
regulating the length of time b}' the degree of delicacy you desire
to attain. At the beginning soak your charcoal in water, so as-
leave it more tooth ; then clean it. and continue with oil, which
reduces the wear on the copper. The eye is sufficient to judge of
the wear; the way in which the charcoal takes hold of the copper,
and the copper-colored spots which it shows, may serve as guides.
As the effectiveness of the different kinds of charcoal varies, these
divers qualities of softness and coarseness are utilized according
to the nature of the correction to be made. It is well to know,
also, that it takes hokl much more actively if used in the
direction of the grain, than transversely. You may, according to
circumstances, commence with a piece of coal having considerable
FINISHING THE PLATE. 35
tooth, continue with another that is less aggressive, and wind up
with a somewhat soft piece. The heavier the charcoal the coarser
its tooth, the lightest being the softest. The plate must be
washed, so as to keep the charcoal always clean ; as otherwise the
dust produced, which forms a paste, will wear down the bottom of
the furrows, and the result, in the proof, will be dull and reddish
lines.
Charcoal is also used to remove the traces of the needle in
those parts of the plate in which changes were made while the
drawing was still in progress.
53. The Scraper. — The scraper is more efficacious than the
burnisher in the case of small places that have been deeply
bitten. If the scraper is sufficiently sharp, it leaves no trace
whatever on the lowered surface of the copper.
To sum up : —
Charcoal and semper are used to remove part of the surface of
the copper. The furrows, having been reduced in depth, receive
less ink in printing ; the lines gain in delicacy in the impressions.
The burnisher simply displaces the copper ; chareoal and scraper
wear it away. It follows that they must be used with discern-
ment. •
54. Hammering Out (Repoussage). — These three means are
employed when a moderate lowering of the plate is required.
When it becomes necessary to go down to half the thickness of
the plate or more, the result will be a hollow, which will show as
a spot in printing. In that case recourse is had to the fourth
means ; that is to say, to hammer and anvil. Get a pair of com-
passes with curved legs {calipers) ; let one of the legs rest on
the spot to be hammered out ; the other leg will then indicate
the place on the back of the plate which must be struck with the
hammer on the anvil. In this way places which have been
reduced with charcoal or scraper may be brought up to the level
of the plate ; but if the lines should be found to have been flat-
tened, which would result in a dull tone in the proofs, it will be
best to have the part in question planed out entirely, and to do it
over.
55. Finishing the Surface of the Plate. — The charcoal
occasionally leaves traces on the plate, which show in the proof
36 A TREATISE ON ETCHING.
as rather too strong a tint. You can get rid of them, by rub-
bing with a piece of very soft linen, and the paste obtained by
grinding charcoal with oil on a fine stone.
By the same process the whole plate is tidied. It is likely to
need it, as it has undoubtedly lost some of its freshness, owing to
the abuse to which it was subjected in passing through all these
processes.
Our young pupil, having executed these several operations,
and bitten his retouched plate, submits a proof to my inspection,
which I compare with that of the first state (Pis. P and I.).
Now you see, I say to him, how one state leads to another. You
have come up to the harmony of the original; y owx second state
is satisfactory, and so there is no need of having recourse to var-
nishing the plate a third time.
ACCIDENTS. 37
CHAPTER V.
ACCIDENTS.
56. Stopping-out Varnish dropped on a Plate while Biting.
— You are just in time, I continued, to profit by an accident
wiiich has happened to me. I dropped some stopping-out var-
nish on a plate while it was biting ; it has spread over some parts
which are not yet sufificiently bitten, and of course it is impossible
to go on now. I took the ground off the plate, and had this proof
pulled. It is unequal in tone, and does not give the modelling
which I worked for.
" What are you going to do about it ? Is the plate lost .■' "
57. Revarnishing with the Roller for Rebiting. — Oh, no,
indeed, thanks to the roller for revaruis/wig! My first precaution
will be to clean the plate very carefully, first with spirits of tur-
pentine, until the linen does not show the least sign of soiling,
and then with bread. Or, having used the turpentine, I might
continue the cleaning process with a solution of potash, after
which the plate must be washed in pure water. I then put a little
ground, specially prepared for the purpose, on a second plate,
which must be scrupulously clean, and not heated ; or, better
still, I apply the ground directly to the roller itself by means of a
palette-knife. I divide this second plate into three parts. By
passing the roller over the first part, I spread the ground roughly
over it ; on the second part I equalize and distribute it more
regularly ; on the third, finally, I finish the operation. By these
repeated rollings a very thin layer of ground is evenly spread
over all parts of the surface of the roller, and we may now apply
it to the plate which is to be rebitten.
To effect this purpose, I pass the roller over the cold plate
carefully and with very slight pressure, repeating the process
a number of times and in various directions. This is an opera-
38 A TREATISE ON ETCHING.
tion requiring skill. The ground adheres only to the surface of
the plate, without penetrating into the furrows, although it is next
to impossible to prevent the filling up of the very finest lines.
Having thus spread the ground, and having assured myself that
the lines are all right by the brilliancy of their reflection as I
hold the plate against the light, I rapidly pass a burning paper
under the plate. The ground is slightly heated, and solidifies as
it cools.
The varnish used in this operation is the ordinary etching-
ground in balls, dissolved in oil of lavender in a bath of warm
water. It must have the consistency of liquid cream ; if it is too
thick, add a little oil of lavender. ^'^
Both the plate and the roller must be well protected against
dust.
It is not necessary to clean the roller after the operation ; only
take care to wipe its ends with the palm of your hand, turning it
the while, so as to remove the rings of varnish which may have
formed there.
If the lines are found closed, too much pressure has been used
on the roller ; if the ground is full of little holes, the plate has
not been cleaned well, and wherever the surface of the copper is
exposed the acid will act on it. There is nothing to be done, in
both cases, but to wash off the ground with spirits of turpentine,
and commence anew.
My plate is now in the same state in which it was when I with-
drew it from the bath. I stop out those parts which are suffi-
ciently bitten, and, guided by my proof, I can proceed to continue
the biting which was interrupted by the accident.
58. Revarnishing with the Roller in Cases of Partial Re-
biting. — You will find this method especially valuable whenever
you desire to strengthen passages that arc weak in tone. And
furthermore, having thus revarnished your plate, you may avail
yourself of the opportunity of giving additional finish. But if,
before revarnishing, you should have burnished down some over-
bitten lines in a passage which needs rebiting, you will find that
the shallow cavity produced by the burnisher does not take the
ground from the roller ; such places are easily detected by the
brilliant aspect of the copper, and good care must bfe taken to
ACCIDENTS. 39
cover them with ground. Again, if, before proceeding to rebite,
you should notice certain passages which are strong enough as
they are, either because the copper was cut by the point, or
■ because the lines in them are very close, you must cover them
up with the brush. The same thing is necessary in the case of
the excessively black spots which sometimes manifest themselves
in places covered by irregularly crossing lines, and the intensity
of which it would be useless to increase still further. This recom-
mendation is valuable for work requiring precision.
59. Revarnishing with the Dabber for Rebiting. — For par-
tial rebiting the same result may be reached by applying the
ground with the dabber. Heat your plate, and surround the part
to be rebitten with a thick coat of ordinary etching-ground. Now
heat your dabber, and pass it over the ground. Finally, when
the dabber is thoroughly impregnated with the ground, carry it
cautiously and little by little over the part in question, dabbing
continually. ^3
60. Revarnishing with the Brush for Rebiting. — Let me
also call your attention to an analogous case which may arise. If
you desire to increase the depth of the biting in a part of the plate
in which the lines are rather widely apart, you may cover the plate
with the brush and stopping-out varnish, and may pass the needle
through the lines so as to open them again. You can then rebite
m the tray, or by using pure acid, or by allowing acid at 20° to
stand on the part in question, just as you please.
61. Rebiting a Remedy only. — Etchers who are entitled to
be considered authorities will advise you to avoid as much as
possible all rebiting by means of revarnishing. as it results in
heavmess, and never has the freshness of a first biting obtained
with the same ground. A practised eye can easily detect the
difference. Never let the rebiting be more than a quarter of the
first biting. Use the process as a remedy, but never count on it
as a part of your regular work.
62. Holes in the Ground. — Having once taken up the con-
sideration of the little mishaps which may befall the etcher, I shall
now show you another plate in which the sky is dotted by a num-
ber of minute holes of no great depth {piques). This plate has,
no doubt, been retouched, and the ground having been badly laid,
40 A TREATISE ON ETCHING.
the acid played mischief with it. It is very lucky that the lines
in the sky are widely separated, as otherwise these holes would
be inextricably mixed up with them. We can rid ourselves of
them by a few strokes of the burnisher, and by rubbing with char-
coal-paste and a bit of fine linen. The burnisher alone would
give too much polish to the copper ; in printing the ink would
leave no tint on the plate in these spots, and the traces of the
burnisher would show as white marks in the proofs. To avoid
this, the copper must be restored to its natural state.^'*
" What would happen," asks another of my pupils, " if these
little holes occurred in a sky or in some other closely worked
passage .-* Here is a plate in which this accident has befallen
some clouds and part of the ground. What shall I do ? "
To begin with, let me tell you for your future guidance that
this accident would not have happened if you had waited for
the drying of the ground with which you covered this sky after
you had bitten it. The acid, which never loses an opportunity
given it by mismanagement or inattention, worked its way unbe-
known to you through the soft varnish in the clouds as well as
in the ground, and went on a spree at your expense. Remember
that nitric acid is very selfish ; it insists that it shall always be
uppermost in your mind, and all your calculations must take this
demand into account ; its powers, creative as well as destructive,
are to be continually dreaded ; it likes to see you occupy yourself
with it continually, watchfully, and with fear. If you turn your
back to it, it plays you a trick, and thus it has punished you for
neglecting it for a moment.
" Thank you. But you are acting the part of La Fontaine's
schoolmaster, who moralized with the pupil when he had fallen
into the water."
63. Planing out Faulty Passages. — And that did not help
him out. You are right. Well, you must go to some skilful
copper-planer.'''' who will work away at the spoiled part of your
plate with scraper and burnisher and charcoal, until he has restored
the copper to its virgin state ; then all you've got to do will be to
do your work over again.
" That is rather a blunt way of settling the question. Seeing
that we arc about to cut into the flesh after this fashion, might it
ACCIDENTS. 41
not be as well to have the whole of the sky taken out altogether ?
I am not satisfied with it, any way."
Certainly. By the same process the planer can remove every
thing, up to the outlines of the trees and the figures in your
plate ; he will cut out any thing you want, and yet respect all the
outlines, if you will only indicate your wishes on a proof. In this
passage, where you see deep holes, scraper and charcoal will be
insufficient ; the planer must, therefore, hammer them out before
he goes at the other parts. As regards the Httle holes in the
foreground, since they are not as deep as the lines among which
they appear, you can remove them, or at least reduce them, by
means of charcoal, without injury to the deeply bitten parts.
You may follow this plan whenever you are convinced that a
lowering of tone will do no harm to your first work. In the
opposite case, you must either have recourse to the planer, or put
up with the accident. If you are not too much of a purist, you
will occasionally find these piqués productive of a piquant effect,
and then you will take good care not to touch them.
"That's a 'point' which you did not mention among the
utensils ! You have ingenious ways of getting out of a scrape."
We cut out, or cut down, or dig away, whole passages, accord-
ing to necessity. I have seen the half of a plate planed off,
because the design was faulty.
64. Acid Spots on Clothing. — Here comes one of my
friends, who is also an etcher. I wonder what he brings us !
His clothing is covered all over with spots of the most beautiful
garnet ; he ought to have washed them with volatile alkali, which
neutralizes the effect of the acid. But he does not mind it.
65. Reducing Over-bitten Passages and Crevés. — "Oh,
gentlemen, that is not worth while speaking of! But you must
see my plate. I drew a horse from nature, which a whole swamp-
ful of leeches might have disputed with me. But I do believe
it escaped the biting of these animals only to succumb to mine.
Judge for yourselves ! "
The fact of the matter is, that you have killed it with acid.
There is nothing left of it, but an informal mass, ten times over-
bitten. Fortunately there is no lack of black ink at the printer's !
It is a veritable Chinese shadow, and looks as if the horse had
42 A TREATISE OX ETCHING.
gone into mourning for itself. However, although the carcass is
lost, I hope you may be able to save some of the members. The
wounds are deep and broad ; but we can try a remedy in extre^nis:
first of all, your horse will have to stand an attack of charcoal ;
if it survives this, we shall subject it to renewed and ferocious
bitings. All this puzzles you. Therefore, having treated your
beast to the charcoal, and having had a last proof taken, you place
the latter before you, and re-cover your plate with a solid coat of
varnish. With a somewhat coarse point you patch those places
which show white in the proof, taking care to harmonize your
patches with the surrounding parts.
In this way you replace the lines which have disappeared, and
then proceed to bite in, doing your best to come as near as pos-
sible to the strength of the first biting. The result may not be
very marvellous, but it will be an improvement, at all events. If
I were in your place, I should not hesitate to begin again. The
process which I have just described is best suited to isolated
passages.
In closely worked and lightly bitten passages, blotches (or
crevés) are more easily remedied, as they are less deep. Rub them
down with charcoal, very cautiously and delicately, and let the
dry point do the rest.
There, now ! There's our friend, again, using acid instead of
spirits of turpentine to clean his plate ! That'll be the end of the
animal. It is against the law, sir, to murder a poor, inoffensive
beast this wise ! Fortunately we can help him out with several
sheets of blotting-paper, in default of water, which we do not
happen to have at hand. We were in time ! The copper has
only lost its polish ; a little more charcoal, — and Rosinante still
lives.
Vi
FLAT BITING, AND BITING WITH STOPPING-OUT. 43
CHAPTER VI.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FLAT BITING, AND BITING WITH
STOPPING-OUT.
66. Two Kinds of Biting. — Now that you have become famil-
iar with the secrets of biting, I say to my pupil, and are therefore
prepared to be on your guard against the accidents to be avoided
when you go to work again, I can make clear to you, better than
if I had endeavored to do so at the outset, the difference between
the two kinds of biting on which rests the whole system of the
art of etching, and the distinctive characteristics of which are often
confounded. The work thus far done will help you to a more
intelligent understanding of this distinction. As it was impossi-
ble to explain to you, at one and the same time, all the resources
of the needle as well as those of biting, between which, as I told
you before, there exist very intimate relations, I had to choose
a general example by which to demonstrate the processes em-
ployed, and which would allow me to explain the reasons for these
processes.
There are two kinds of biting, — ^a^ biting and biting with
stopping-out. I See PL III.)
These two kinds of biting resemble one another in this, that
they invêlve only one grounding or varnishing, and consequently
only one bath ; they differ most markedly in this, that in flat
biting the work of the acid is accomplished all over the plate at
one and the same time, and with only one immersion in the bath,
while in biting with stopping-out there are several successive, or,
if you prefer the term, partial bitings, between each of which the
plate is withdrawn from the bath, and the parts to be reserved
are stopped out with varnish as often as it is thought necessary.
It follows from this, that, with flat biting, the modelling must
be done by the needle, using either only one needle, or else sev-
eral of different thicknesses.
44 A TREATISE ON ETCHING.
f)^. Flat Biting. — One Point. — With a single needle the values
are obtained by drawing the lines closely together in the fore-
ground and nearer distances, or for passages requiring strength,
and by keeping them apart in the off distances, and in the lighter
passages of the near distances ; furthermore, to obtain a play of
light in the same distance, the lines must be drawn farther apart
in the lights, and more closely together in the shadows. A single
point gives a hint of what we desire to do, but it does not express
it. It is undoubtedly sufficient for a sketch intended to represent
a drawing executed with pen and ink or with the pencil ; but it
cannot be successfully employed in a plate which, by the variety
of color and the vigor of the biting, is meant to convey the idea
of a painting.
68. Flat Biting. — Several Points. — When several points of
different thickness are used, the coarser serve for the foreground
and near distances, the finer in gradual succession for the reced-
ing distances. They are used alternately in the different dis-
tances, and the lines are drawn more closely together here, or
kept farther apart there, according to the necessities of the effect
to be obtained ; the depth of the biting is the same throughout,
but the difference in thickness of the lines makes it an easy
matter, by more elaborate modelling, to give to the etching the
appearance of a finished design.
With a single point, as well as with several, the pressure used
in drawing must remain the same throughout, so that the acid
may act simultaneously, and with equal intensity on all parts
of the plate. If there has been any inequality of attack, the
values will be unequal in their turn, and difterent from wjpat they
were intended to be.
69. Biting with Stopping-out. — One Point. — In biting with
stopping-out, it is the biting itself, and not the needle, which
gives modelling to the etching. In this case, also, one or several
points may be used. The simplest manner is that in which only
one point is used. The stopping-out, and consequently the biting,
is done in large masses. (See PI. V. Fig. i.)
70. Biting with Stopping-out. Several Points. — As a very
simple example let us take a case in which it is necessary to have
certnin v. rv closely lined passages in a foreground alongside of
n k
FLAT BITING, AND BITING WITH STOPPING-OUT. 45
very coarse ones. In that case the first, or close, Unes must be
etched very delicately, while the whole force of the biting must
be brought to bear on the latter (see PI. IV. Fig. 2). In the same
way the values of two different objects may be equilibrated ; by
employing close lines slightly bitten in the one case, and spaced
lines more deeply bitten in the other. Biting with stopping-out,
combined with the work of several points,' requires more attention
and discernment than any other.
If the first biting is not successful, the plate is revarnished,
and the work of repairing and correcting commences.
Summing up the advantages offered by these various means,
you will see what results the combination of the work of one or
of several points with partial biting may be made to yield, either
in giving to objects their various values, their natural color, and
their modelling, or in disposing them in space, and thus produc-
ing the harmonious gradation of the several distances.
71. Necessity of Experimenting. — If you will now call to
mind our preceding operations, and will hold them together with
the explanations just given, you will be able to appreciate them in
their totality. The necessity of arriving at truth of expression,
with nothing to guide you but these rules, which are influenced
by a variety of conditions, will compel you to experiment for your-
self, with special reference to the combination of the surrounding
temperature^ the sti^engtJi of the acid, the number of partial bitings,
the pressure of tJie point, the different thicknesses of the points, and
the various kinds of zvork that caji be done with them, on the one
hand ; and on the other, with regard to the length of the bitings.
If you are called upon to imitate a given object very closely, you
must proceed rationally, and your work must be accompanied by
continual reflection. To familiarize yourself with these delicate
operations, you must experiment for yourself; don't complain if
you spoil a few plates ; you will learn something by your failures,
as your experience in one case will teach you what to do in others.
Self-acquired experience is of all teachers the best.
72. Various other Methods of Biting. — The two preceding
methods, which, in a general way, comprehend the rules of biting,
do not exclude other particular methods of a similar nature.
Thus, it may be well sometimes to etch at first only the sim-
46 A TREATISE 0.\ EiCHLXG.
pie outline, biting it in more or less vigorously, according to
the nature of the case (see PI. IV. Fig. 3) ; and then, having
revarnished and resmoked the plate, to elaborate the drawing by
going over it either in some parts only or throughout the whole.
Rembrandt often pursued this course ; and we may follow the
several stages of his work by studying the various states of his
plates. \Vc see that he took great pains to work out some part
of his subject very carefully, without touching the other parts;
he then took a proof, and afterwards went over the same part
with finer lines, and passed on to the other parts, treating them
according to the eftcct which he desired to reach.
This method is often imitated ; it is employed when it is neces-
sary to lay a shadow over a passage full of detail, as, for instance,
in architectural subjects, in the execution of which it is easier,
and tends to avoid confusion, to fix the lines of the design first,
and then, having laid the ground a second time, to add the
shadows. (See PI. IV. Fig. 4 )
" Pardon me ! But might not this result be obtained by the
same biting, if the lines of the design were drawn with a coarse
point, and the shading were added with a finer one .-* "
Certainly; and in that case we should have an instance of
work executed with several needles, such as I pointed out to you
before.
From the explanations previously given, it will be clear, also,
that, the nature of the subject permitting, it may be advantageous
sometimes to execute a plate by drawing and biting each dis-
tance by itself. Thus you may commence with the foreground,
and may bite it in ; having had a proof taken, revarnish your
plate, and proceed in the same fashion to the execution of the
other distances, and of the sky, always having a proof taken after
each biting to serve you as a guide.
This mode of operation — essentially that of the engraver —
is of special advantage in putting in a sky or a background
behind complicated foliage. You can draw and bite your sky or
your background all by itself (see PI. IV. Fig. 5), and then, having
revarnished your plate, you can execute your trees on the back-
ground. As the trees are bitten by themselves, it is evident
that we have avoided a difficulty which is almost insurmountable,
FLAT BITING, AND BITIXG WITH STOPPING-OUT. 47
that, namely, of stopping out with the brush the lines of the
sky between intricate masses of foliage. But we can also proceed
differently. We can commence with the trees, drawing them and
biting them in, and can finish with the sky, having rcvarnished
the plate as usual: the sky will thus fall into its place behind the
trees. You need not trouble yourself because the lines of the sky
pass across the lines of the trees. The biting of the sky must
be so delicate that it will not aifect the value of the foliage, and
you may therefore carry your point in all directions, and use it as
freely as you please.
Some etchers find it more convenient to commence with the
sky and the background, on account of the points of resistance
encountered by the needle in the more deeply bitten lines of the
trees, which destroys their freedom of execution. They are cor-
rect, whenever the sky to be executed is very complicated ; but if
only a few lines are involved, it will be better to introduce them
afterwards. It is, besides, an easy matter to get accustomed to
the jumping of the point when it is working on a ground that has
previously been bitten.
What I have just told you applies also to the masts and the
rigging of vessels, &c., and, indeed, to all lines which cut clearly
and strongly across a delicately bitten distance.
An etcher of great merit has conceived the original idea of
executing an etching in the bath itself, commencing with the
passages which need a vigorous biting, then successively passing
on to the more delicate parts, and finally ending with the sky.*
The various distances thus receive their due proportion of biting;
but it is necessary to work very quickly, as the biting of a plate
etched in the bath in this manner proceeds five to six times more
rapidly than if done in the ordmary manner. Every etcher ought
to be curious to try this bold method of working, so that he may
see how it is possible to ally the inspiration of the moment with
the uncertain duration of the biting, which in this process has
* The bath, in this case, is composed as follows: —
880 gr. water.
100 " pure hydrochloric (muriatic) acid.
20 " potassium chlorate
48 A TREATISE ON ETCHING.
emancipated itself from all methodical rule, and follows no law
but that imposed upon it by the caprice of the artist.^^
All this goes to show you that there is ample liberty of choice
as to processes in etching. It is well to try them all, as it is
well to try every thing that may give new and unknown results,
may inspire ideas, or may lead to progress, neither of which is
likely to happen in the pursuit of mere routine work.
RECOMMENDATIONS AND AUXILIARY PROCESSES. 49
CHAPTER VII.
RECOMMENDATIONS AND AUXILIARY PROCESSES. — ZINK AND
STEEL PLATES. — VARIOUS THEORIES.
A. Recommendations and Auxiliary Processes.
73. The Roulette. — The latitude which I gave you does not
extend to the point of approving of all material resources without
any exception. There is one which I shall not permit you to
make use of, as the needle has enough resources of its own to be
able to do without it. I allude to the roulette, which finds its
natural application in other species of engraving.
74. The Flat Point. — Employ the flat point with judgment ;
it takes up a great deal of varnish, but gives lines of little depth,
and of less strength than those which can be obtained by pro-
longed biting, with an ordinary needle.
75. The Graver or Burin. — "And the graver : what do you
say to that .-* "
The graver is the customary and fundamental tool of what is
properly called " line-engraving." Although it is not absolutely
necessary in the species of etching which we are studying, there
are cases, nevertheless, in which it can be used to advantage, but
always as an auxiliary only.
If, for instance, you desire to give force to a deeply bitten but
grayish and dull passage, or to a flat tint which looks monotonous,
a few resolute and irregular touches with the graver will do won-
ders, and will add warmth and color. A few isolated lines with
the graver give freshness to a muddy, broken, or foxy tint, with-
out increasing its value.
The graver may also be employed in patching deeply bitten
passages.
The graver, of a rectangular form, with an angular cutting edge,
is applied almost horizontally on the bare copper ; its handle,.
4
50 A TREATISE ON ETCHING.
rounded above, flat below, is held in the palm of the hand ; the
index finger presses on the steel bar ; it is pushed forward, and
easily enters the metal : the degree of pressure applied, and the
angle which it makes with the plate, produces the difterence in
the engraved lines. The color obtained by the burin is deeper
than that obtained by biting, as it cuts more deeply into the
copper. If extensively used in an etching, the work executed by
the graver contrasts rather unpleasantly with the quality of the
etched work, as its lines are extremely clear cut. To get rid of
this inequality, it is sufficient to rebite the passages in question
very slightly, which gives to the burin-lines the appearance of
etched lines.
In short: use the graver with great circumspection, as its
application to works of the needle is a very delicate matter, and
gives to an etching a character different from that which we are
striving for. It seems to me that to employ it on a free etching,
done on the spur of the moment, would be like throwing a phrase
from Bossuet into the midst of a lively conversation.^'
^6. Sandpaper. — As regards other mechanical means, be dis-
trustful of tints obtained by rubbing the copper with sandpaper ;
these tints generally show in the proof as muddy spots, and are
wanting in freshness. Avoid the process, because of its difficulty
of application. Only a very skilful engraver can put it to good
uses.
JJ. Sulphur Tints. — I shall be less afraid to see you make use
o'i flowers of sulphur for the purpose of harmonizing or increasing
the weight of a tint. The sulphur is mixed with oil, so as to form
a homogeneous paste thick enough to be laid on with a brush.
By the action of these two substances the polish on the plate is
destroyed, and the result in printing is a fresh and soft tint, which
blends agreeably with the work of the needle.
Differences in value are easily obtained by allowing the sulphur
to remain on the plate for a greater or less period of time. This
species of biting acts more readily in hot weather ; a few minutes
are sufficient to produce a firm tint. In cokl weather relatively
more time is needed. The corrosions produced in this wn^' have
quite a dark appearance on the plate, but they produce muc!-.
lighter tints in printing. If you are not satisfied with the result
RECOMMENDATIONS AND AUXILIARY PROCESSES. 5 1
obtained, you can rub it out with charcoal, as the copper is cor-
roded only quite superficially.
Owing to this extreme slightness of biting, the burnisher may
"also be used to reduce any parts which are to stand out white.
This process, as you see, is very accommodating ; but it is too
much like mezzotint or aquatint, and, furthermore, it can only
be applied in flat tints, without modelling. I have, nevertheless,
explained it to you, so that you may be able to use it, if you
should have a notion to do so, as a matter of curiosity, but with
reserve. It is better to use the dry point, which has more affinity
to the processes natural to etching.
78. Mottled Tints. — You may also make use of the following
process (but with the same restrictions) in the representation of
parts of old walls, of rocks and earth, or of passages to which you
desire to impart the character of a sort of artistic disorder; — Dis-
tribute a quantity of ordinary etching-ground on a copper plate
sufficiently heated ; then take your dabber, and, having charged it
unequally with varnish, and having also heated your etched plate,
press the dabber on the passages which are to receive the tint ;
the varnish adheres to the plate in an irregular manner, leaving
the copper bare here and there. Now stop out with the brush
those parts which you desire to protect, and bite in with pure
acid ; the result will be a curiously mottled irregular tint (see
PI. V. Fig. 2). Properly used in the representation of subjects
on which you are at liberty to exercise your fancy, this process
will give you unexpected and often happy results.
79. Stopping-out before all Biting. — Before we proceed, I
must show you an easy method of representing a thunder-storm
(see PI. V. Fig. 2) : — Work the sky with the needle, very closely,
so as to get the sombre tints of the clouds ; and, before biting,
trace the streaks of lightning on the etched work with a brush
and stopping-out varnish ; being thus protected against the acid,
these streaks will show white in the printing, and the effect will
be neater and more natural than if you had attempted to obtain
it by the needle itself, as you will avoid the somewhat hard out-
lines on either side of the lightning, which would otherwise have
been necessary to indicate it.
You can employ the same process for effects of moonlight, for
52 A TREATISE ON ETCHING.
reflected lights on water, and, in fact, for all light lines which it is
difficult to pick out on a dark ground.
B. ZiNK Plates and Steel Plates.
80. Zink Plates. — So far I have spoken to you of copper
plates only ; but etchings are also executed on zink and on steel.
Zink bites rapidly, and needs only one quarter of the time neces-
sary for copper, with the same strength of acid ; or, with the same
length of time, an acid of ten degrees is sufficient. The biting
is coarse, and without either delicacy or depth. A zink plate
prints only a small edition.^^
81. Steel Plates. — Steel also bites with great rapidity. One
part of acid to seven of water is sufficient ; and the biting is
accomplished, on the average, in from one to five minutes, from
the faintest distance to the strongest foreground.
Free, artistic etchings are very rarely executed on steel, which
is more particularly used in other kinds of engraving.
C. Various other Processes.
82. Soft Ground Etching. — There is a kind of etching known
as soft-ground etching, and but little practised at present, which
was successfully cultivated about thirty years ago by Louis Marvy
and Masson. The engravers of the last century used to call it
gravîire en manière de crayon}^
Take a ball of common etching-ground, and melt it in the
water-bath in a small vessel, adding to it, in winter, an equal vol-
ume, and in summer only one-third of the same volume, of tallow.
Let the mixture cool, form it into a ball, and wrap it uj) in a piece
of very fine silk. Ground your plate in the usual way, and smoke
lightly. On this soft ground fix a piece of very thin paper having
a grain, and on the paper thus attached to the plate, execute your
design with a lead-pencil. Wherever the pencil passes, the var-
nish sticks to the paper in proportion to the pressure of the hand ;
and, on carefully removing the sheet, it takes up the varnish that
adheres to it. Bite the plate, and the result will be a facsimile of
the design executed on the paper. (See PI. VL)
If the proofs are too soft, or wanting in decision, the plate may
/Y-é.
:'^f>f-,^i?5i^'?5^^ ^"K^^
PL 7
jC£^
VARTOUS OTHER PROCESSES. 53
be worked over with the needle, by regrounding, and then rebit-
ino" it. The first state can thus be elaborated like an ordinary
etching, and the necessary precision can be given to it whenever
the idea to be expressed is vaguely or insufficiently rendered ; or
the same end may be reached by the dry point. In either case,
however, all the retouches must be executed by irregular stippling,
so that they may harmonize with the result of the first biting.
Otherwise there will be a lack of homogeneity in the appearance
of etchings of this sort, in which the grain of the paper plays an
important part. Smooth paper gives no result whatever. The
paper used may have a coarse grain or a fine grain, at the pleas-
ure of the etcher, or papers of different grain may be used in the
same design. This style of etching requires great care in han-
dUng the plate, on account of the tenderness of the ground. In
drawing, a hand-rest must be used, so that the hand may not
touch the plate.
%l. Dry Point Etching. — The dry point is also used for etch-
ing, without the intervention of the acid-bath. The design is
executed with the dry point on the bare copper ; the difference in
values is obtained by the greater or less amount of pressure used,
and by the difference in the distance between the lines. (See
Plate VII.) The brilliancy of effect which etchings of this kind
may or may not possess, depends on the use made of the scraper
(see paragraph 49, p. 33).
You will find it convenient to varnish and smoke your plate, to
begin with, and to trace the leading lines of your design on the
ground, taking care to cut lightly into the copper with the point.
Then remove the varnish, and continue your drawing, guided by
these general outlines.
It is best to commence with the sky, or other delicate passages,
and to remove the bur from them, if there are other stronger
lines to be drawn over them.
You can see perfectly well what you are doing, by rubbing a
little lamp-black mixed with tallow into the lines as you proceed,
and cleaning the plate with the flat of your hand ; in this way
you can control your work, and can carry it forward until it is
finished, either by removing more or less of the bur, or by allow-
ing all of it to stand, or by the elaboration of those passages which
54 A TREATISE ON ETCHING.
seem to need it. The lines show on the plate as they are intended
to show on the paper. You can therefore bring out your subject
by shading ; you can lay vigorous lines over lines from which the
bur has been removed ; you can take out, and you can put in.
The effect produced in the printing is velvety and strong, similar
to that produced by the stump on paper. Rembrandt employed
the dry point, without scraping, in some of his principal etchings.
84. The Pen Process. — I must now speak to you of a process
which offers certain advantages. Clean your plate thoroughly,
first with turpentine, and then with whiting, and take care not to
touch the polished surface with your fingers. Execute a design
on the bare copper with the pen and ordinary ink. You must
not, of course, expect to find in the pen the same delicacy as in
the needle.
The design having been finished and thoroughly dried, ground
and smoke your plate without, for the present, taking any further
notice of the design ; but be sure to see to it that the coat of
varnish is not too thick ; then lay the plate into water, and let it
stay there for a quarter of an hour. Having withdrawn the plate,
rub it lightly with a piece of flannel ; the ink, having been soft-
ened by the water, comes off, together with the varnish which
covers it, and leaves the design in well-defined lines on the cop-
per, which you may now bite.
You may work either with one pen and several bitings, or with
several pens of various degrees of fineness and one biting.
As in the case of soft ground etching, you may make additions
with the needle to give delicacy.
It is necessary to ground the plate and to soak it in water as
soon as may be after the finishing of the design. At the end of
two days, the ink refuses to rub off.
PROVING AND PRINTING. 55
CHAPTER VIII.
PROVING AND PRINTING.
85. Wax Proofs. — Our first desire, after the ground has been
removed from the plate, is to see a proof. If you have no press,
and yet desire to take proofs of your work after each biting, you
may employ the following process to good advantage : —
Take a sheet of very thin paper, a little larger than your plate,
and cover it with a thin layer of melted wax. The latter must
be real white wax. Then sprinkle a little lamp-black on your
engraved plate, and distribute it with your finger, so as to rub it
into the lines ; clean the surface of the plate by carefully passing
the palm of your hand over it. Now lay the sheet of paper on
the plate, with its waxed surface down, and be sure to turn the
edges of the paper over on the back of the plate, so as to prevent
its moving ; then rub with the burnisher in all directions. The
lamp-black sticks to the wax, and is sure to give an approximate
image, sufficient to guide you in the further prosecution of your
work, if that should be necessary ,2*^
86. The Printing-Press. — These proofs, however, as well as
those which were hurriedly printed for you so far, give only a
mere idea of your work, without conveying its full meaning. If
you desire to become acquainted with all the resources of the
printing-press, you will have to go to a plate printer. It is well
worth your while to acquire this knowledge, also, after you have
familiarized yourself with the various processes at the command of
the etcher.
Here, then, is the printer at his press : at his side there is a
box made of sheet-iron, enclosing a chafing-dish ; there are also
printing-ink, a ball for inking, rags, and paper.^' He is about to
explain the use made of these things to our young student, who
delivers his plate to him, and is anxious to be instructed in all
that relates to the taking of impressions.
$6 A TREATISE ON ETCHIXG.
Zy. Natural Printing. — The printer now begins his explana-
tions as follows : —
I place the plate on the sheet-iron box (the plate-warmer) ; it
there acquires the necessary degree of heat, and I then spread
the printing ink over it by means of this ball ; the ink penetrates
into the lines, and completely covers the whole surface of the
plate ; I remove the excess of ink with a coarse muslin rag,
precisely as this is done in all other kinds of plate printing ; I
now clean the plate with the palm of my hand, so that no ink is
left on it anywhere but in the lines ; I finally wipe the margins
of the plate evenly, so as to leave a delicate tint on the etched
part only, and then I put the plate into the press. The plate
is laid on the travelling board or bed of-the press, which runs
between two cylinders of iron or hard wood ; on the plate I lay
a piece of paper, slightly moistened, and I cover the whole with
several thicknesses of flannel ; I turn the wheel of the press, and
the cylinders, turning on themselves, carry along the travelling-
board, which, in passing between them, is subjected to great
pressure. The paper is thus pressed into the lines on the plate,
and this process is facilitated by the elasticity of the flannel. You
see now that your plate has come out on the other side of the
rollers (or cylinders) : we have given the press only one turn,
although, as a rule, the plate is passed through the press twice,
by making it travel back again under the rollers. This imparts
strength to the impression ; but occasionally the lines are not
rendered as delicately and with as much precision, as with only
one turn. I remove the flannel, and very carefully lift the paper ;
it has absorbed the ink : we have before us a natural proof, which
shows the exact state of the plate (see PI. I.). Line-engravings
are printed in the same manner ; with this difi'erence, however,
that the tint, more or less apparent, which is preserved on an
etching, is not allowed to remain on a plate engraved with the
burin.
88. Artificial Printing. — The printing of etchings very fre-
quently differs from the simple method just described. It must
be varied according to the style of execution adopted by the
etcher ; and, as much of the harmony of the plate may depend
upon it, it sometimes rises to the dignity of an art, in which the
PROVING AND PRINTING. 57
artist and the printer are merged into each other, — the printer
losing himself in the artist, as he is compelled to enter into the
latter's ideas ; and the artist giving way to the printer, to avail
himself of his practical experience. The proof from your plate,
for instance, has a dry look (see PI. I.) ; it needs more softness,
and this can be given to it by the printer.* {See PI. II.)
I will now explain to you some of the various arlifices which
are employed in printing.
89. Handwiping with Retroussage. — ¥{:iymg zui/cd the plate
zvitJi the palm of tJie hand, we might bring it up again {la retrous-
ser) by playing over it very lightly with a piece of soft muslin rag
rolled together. The muslin draws the ink out of the lines, and
spreads it along their edges, so that, in the proof, the space
between the lines is filled up by a vigorous tint. But this process
can only be used on plates in which the lines are evenly disposed
throughout, and, more especially, scattered. To produce the
proper effect the retroussage must be general ; because, if the rag
passes over one passage only, and not over the others, or, if it is
brought into play only on the dark parts, and not in the lights,
there will be discordance of tone, and consequently want of
harmony. In the present case, therefore, retroussage would be
unsatisfactory, because the work on your plate, while it is broadly
treated in some parts, is so close in others that there is no room
left between the furrows. It follows that there is no place for the
ink, drawn out of the lines, to spread on ; the result would be a
muddy tint, — one of those overcharged impressions which bring
criticism upon the printer, because he has applied retro7issage to a
plate which did not need it.
90. Tinting with a Stiff Rag. — Let us now try another
means. The proof will gain in freshness if we soften the lines by
going over the plate, after it has been tviped zvith the hand, some-
what more heavily with stijf muslin. Owing to the pressure used,
the rag, instead of carrying away the ink which it has taken up
* It would be a great advantage if every etcher could print his own proofs.
Rembrandt is the most striking example, as he was the author of many of the
devices in use even to-day. A press can easily be procured. The firm of Ve.
Cadart, Paris, has had a little portable press constructed, especially for the use
of artists and amateurs. All the necessary accessories for printing can also be
obtained of this firm. (See Note 22.)
i^AM^MMHtaaldHMÉiM^ia^AH^MèÉBi
58 A TREATISE ON ETCHING.
out of the lines, retains it ; a tint like that produced by the stump
is spread over the plate, and envelops the lines without obscur-
ing them ; the proof is supple and velvety. (See PI. II.)
91. Wiping with the Rag only. — Here is another variety.
I am just printing a number of original plates by different artists.
Being true painter's etchings, some of these plates are boldly
accentuated and heavily bitten ; the lines are widely apart, and
significant. If these plates were printed naturally, they would
yield bare and poor-looking proofs. Wiping with the hand would
be useless. I therefore go over the plate with stiff muslin. In
the same manner I continue and finish, so as to give the greatest
amount of cleaning to the luminous passages, while a tolerably
strong tint is left on the dark and deeply bitten ones.
Or I might have wiped the plate energetically with soft muslin,
and then might have brought up again certain passages with a
soft and somewhat cleaner rag.
This method of wiping, which leaves on the surface of the plate
a tint of more or less depth, must not be confounded with retivus-
sagc. Here is a proof of one of the plates of wliich I spoke to
you : it is well sustained at all points ; the lines are full and nour-
ished; the general aspect is harmonious and energetic; the lights
are softened ; the strongly marked passages are enveloped in a
warm tint. One might almost say that the effect of painting has
been carried into etching.
This method is employed for jilates which have been deeply
bitten, but upon which stopping-out has been used but sparingh-,
for works in which there is sobriety of expression, or for sketches
(see PI. VIII.). It is all the more necessary, sometimes, for the
printer to take the initiative, the simpler the plate has been
etched ; it is left to him, in short, to complete the intention
merely indicated by the artist.
92. Limits of Artificial Printing. — These examples have
shown to you that difference in tone depends on the amount of
pressure, and the variety of texture in the muslin. It is often-
times necessary — and this is an affair of tact — to make use of
these diverse qualities of the musHn on the same plate, — now
reducing an over-strong tint by more vigorous wiping ; now giv-
ing renewed force to it, in case it has become too soft.
PROVING AND PRINTLNG. 59
These various means constitute the art of printing etchings.
But, while fully recognizing their efficiency when they are used to
the purpose, we must also keep in mind the dangers which arise
from their being applied without discernment. Plates produced
by an intelligent combination of bitings, must be printed natu-
rally, if they are not to lose the absolute character given to them
by the needle and the acid. If they are at all wiped with the rag,
so as to impart more softness to them, it must, at least, be done
with the greatest of care.
The artist has every thing to gain, therefore, by watching over
the printing of his plates, and instructing the printer as to the
manner in which he desires to be interpreted. Some etchers
prefer the simplicity of the natural state ; but the great majority
favor the other method of printing, which, for the very reason
that it is difficult, and on account of the many variations in its
application, ought always to be an object of interest to the
printer, and the aim of his studies. It is, moreover, the method
which is generally understood and adopted by our first etchers.-^
93. Printing Inks. — The quality and the shade of the ink, as
well as the way in which it is ground, are of great importance in
the beauty of a proof. Inks are made of pure black, slightly tem-
pered with bistre or burnt sienna, and the shade can be varied
according to taste. A plate like yours needs a delicate black,
composed of Frankfort black and lamp-black ; the bistre-tint,
which, in the course of time, loses its freshness and strength,
would not answer. This tint is always best suited to strongly
bitten work, but in your case it would be insufficient. A very
strong black, on the other hand, would make your etching look
hard. This last shade — pure, or very slightly broken with bistre
— is preferable for strongly accented plates. ^^
94. Paper. — Laid paper \s> the most suitable paper for printing
etchings ; its sparkle produces a marvellous effect ; its strength
defies time itself
Some artists and amateurs ransack the shops for old paper
with brown and dingy edges, which, to certain plates, imparts the
appearance of old etchings.
India paper {Chinese paper) promotes purity of line ; but, as its
surface is dull, it furnishes somewhat dry and dim proofs.
6o A TREATISE ON ETCHING.
yapanese paper, oi d. warm yellowish tint, silky and transparent,
is excellent, especially for plates which need more of mystery than
of brilliancy, for heavy and deep tones, and for concentration of
effect. Japanese paper absorbs the ink, and it is necessary, there-
fore, to bring up {retrousser) the plate strongly, and to wipe it with
the rag. This paper is less favorable to sketches, the precise,
free, and widely spaced lines of which accommodate themselves
better to the tint of the laid paper.
Parchment may also be used for proofs ; nothing equals the
beauty of such proofs, printed either naturally, or wiped with the
rag ; they are the treasures of collectors.-'*
95. Épreuves Volantes. — On Chinese and Japanese paper,
as well as on parchment, so-called épreuves volantes (flying proofs)
are printed ; that is to say, loose proofs, which are not pasted
down on white paper. They are simply attached to Bristol board
by the two upper corners, which brings them out perfectly.
96. Proofs before Lettering. — All of these various kinds
of paper, each of which has its own claim for excellence, and
especially Japanese paper, are by preference used for artists'
proofs and proofs before lettering, which are printed before the
title is engraved on the plate. It is customary to print a greater
or less number of such proofs, which, being struck off when the
plate is still quite fresh, show it at its best. After that, the plate
is lettered, and an ordinary edition is printed from it.
It follows from this that the possessor of a proof without title
has the best the plate can afford to give. But, as the pictures by
the masters do not stand in need of a signature to be recognized,
so the proofs before lettering may well do without the guaranty
which is found in the absence of a title ; even without this guar-
anty an amateur knows how to recognize the virgin freshness of
an early impression, which is still further augmented by the ex-
treme care bestowed on the printing of these exceptional proofs,
but which cannot be kept up through a long edition.
97. Épreuves de Remarque. — Épreuves de remarque (marked
proofs), showing the different states of the plate, and the various
modifications which it underwent, are also sought after. Their
rarity increases their price.-''
98. Number of Impressions which a Plate is capable of
PROVING AND PRINTING. 6l
yielding. — The number of impressions which a plate can yield
is not fixed, as the power of resisting the wear and tear of printing
depends largely on the delicacy or the strength of the work. The
quality of the copper must also be considered, a soft plate giving
way much faster than a hard plate which has been well ham-
mered. The plates prepared to-day do not resist as well as those
formerly made ; and as the popularity of works of art multiplied
by the press has considerably increased, it became necessary to
look about for means by which the surface of a copper plate may
be hardened, and be made to yield a large edition. This has been
accomplished by
99. Steel-facing. — Steel-facing, which was invented by Messrs.
Salmon and Gamier, and which M. Jacquin undertook to render
practicable, consists in depositing a coating of veritable steel, by
galvanic action, on the face of the copper plate, or, in other words,
by the superposition of a hard metal on a soft metal.
This mode of protection, which perfectly preserves the most
delicate passages, even down to the almost invisible scratches of
the dry point, not only guarantees the copper against the contact
of the hand and the rag, which would tell on it more than the
pressure of the rollers, but at the same time makes it possible to
print a thousand proofs of equal purity. Certain plates, owing
to the manner of wiping used on them, do not reach this figure ;
others, more simply printed, may yield three to four thousand
proofs, and sometimes even a still larger number.
As soon as the plate shows the slightest change, or the copper
begins to reappear, the coating of steel is removed by chemical
agents, which, acting differently on the two metals, corrode the
one, while they leave the other untouched. The plate is thus
brought back to its original state, and is therefore in the same
condition as before to receive a second steel-facing. In this way
plates may be de-steeled and re-steeled a great many times, and the
proofs printed from them may be carried up to considerable quan-
tities.
As a rule, the plates are not steel-faced until after the proofs
before lettering have been printed.
Soft-ground etchings, the biting of which is quite shallow, must
be steel-faced after two to three hundred impressions.
62
A TREATISE ON ETCHING.
The delicacy of the bur thrown up by the dry point hardly per-
mits the printing of more than twenty or thirty proofs on an
average ; steel-facing carries this number up to a point which
cannot be fixed absolutely, but it is certain that the bur takes the
steel quite as well and as solidly as an etched line. Dry points
may, therefore, yield long editions ; the steel-facing must in that
case be renewed whenever necessary.-'^
ICK). Copper-facing Zink Plates. — Zink plates cannot be
steel-faced, but they can be copper-faced.^ Steel-facing has been
adopted by the Chalcographie Office of the Louvre, and by the
Gazette des Beaux Arts, that remarkable and unique publication
which is an honor to criticism and is found in all art libraries.
Steel-facing, in fact, is universally employed ; it preserves in good
condition the beautiful plates of our engravers, and makes it pos-
sible to put within reach of a great many people engravings of a
choice kind, which but lately were found only in the salons of the
rich and the collections of passionate amateurs.
An Etcher's Studio.
From the Third Edilion of Abraham Bosse's "Treatise," Paris, 1758.
^r^^-::*^**'^'—
Jt ^nve/r^ .
t'n oiiiM i ajiyt4 naiwa^e., ii^u-y- ■
■^Hmjtbg. A nû
~^^Ui:tr
NOTES
BY THE TRANSLATOR.
1. (p. 2.) To these associations may be added the German Etching
Clubs at Diisseldorf and at Weimar, which issue yearly portfolios of
plates executed by their members, and the American Etching Clubs at
New York and at Cincinnati. The New York Etching Club was organ-
ized in April, 1877, with Dr. L. M. Yale as its first president. At this
writing Mr. James D. Smillie is the presiding officer of the club, which
has about twenty-four members, including many of the leading artists of
New York. The Cincinnati Etching Club is composed almost entirely
of amateurs. Its president is Mr. George McLaughlin. Quite lately
an Etching Club has also been formed in Boston, with Mr. Edmund
H. Garrett as president.
2. (p. 3.) Benzine is preferable to turpentine for most of the opera-
tions of the etcher, but more especially for cleaning soiled hands. It
is advisable to use turpentine only when the benzine proves insufficient
to remove the last traces of ground or ink from the lines.
3. (p. g.) Something about tools and materials has already been said
in the Introductory Chapter, p. xiv. What is left to be said follows
here : —
Copper plates, from visiting-card size (at %\ per dozen), to any required
size can be bought of, or ordered through, the firms named on p. xiii, or
of Mr. Geo. B. Sharp, 45 Gold St., New York. Mr. Sharp will send
price-lists on application. The plates usually sold, at least of the
smaller sizes, are made of an alloy, not of pure copper. These alloy
plates are cheaper and bite more quickly than those of pure copper, but
it happens occasionally that they do not bite evenly, owing to want of
homogeneity in the metal. Still, they are extensively used, and ama-
teurs will find them preferable to the more expensive copper plates.
Etching-ground. A recipe for a cheap and yet a very good ordinary
ground has been given on p. xv. The transparent ground consists of
5 parts, by weight, of white wax.
3 " " gum-mastic.
Gum-mastic costs about thirty-five cents an ounce. Melt the wax
first, and add the gum-mastic in powder gradually, stirring all the while
with a clean glass or metal rod.
64 NOTES.
Stopping-out varnish. (See p. xvi.) There is a varnish sold at painters'
supply-stores under the name of " Asphaltum Varnish for Sign-Writers'
Use," which does very well. In Boston Asahel Wheeler sells it at tif-
teen cents a bottle.
Needle-holders are unnecessary if the points described on p. xvi are used.
Burnishers are sold at the hardware-stores, or by dealers in watch-
makers' materials. They ought not to cost above fifty cents apiece.
Scrapers. Same as burnishers. Price not above $i. Some dealers
ask $2, which is exorbitant.
A lens can be obtained of any optician. In Boston they can also be
had of A. J. Wilkinson & Co., hardware dealers, 184 Washington St.,
at prices varying from $1 to $1.50.
India-rubber Jitiger-glovcs are unnecessary if you use the " plate-
lifter " described on p. xvii.
Nitric acid. Messrs. Powers & Weightman's " Nitrid Acid, C. P."
(i. e. chemically pure), recommended on p. xvii, is 42 degrees, and
Messrs. P. & W. inform me that the strength is tolerably uniform. If
you are an enthusiastic etcher it will be best to buy a seven-pound bot-
tle, which is the next largest to the one-pound bottles.
Tracing-paper^ gelatine., chalk, and sanguine can be obtained at the
artists' material stores.
Emery-paper. Hardware-stores. Price four cents a sheet.
Roller for revarnishing. See Note 5.
To the tools and materials mentioned by M. Lalanne the following
must be added : Whiting, benzine, turpentine, alcohol, willoiv charcoal.
The last-named article can be supplied by Mr. Geo. B. Sharp, of 45
Gold St., New York, before mentioned.
4. (p. II.) I wrote to M. I.alanne to find out the ingredients of the
petit vernis liquide and vernis au pinceau, but he says that he does not
know, and that the recipes are a secret of the maker of these varnishes.
The asphaltum varnish mentioned on p. xvi and in Note 3 does excel-
lently well, however, both for stopping out and retouching. After it has
been fanned (see p. xxi) uritil it has thickened sufficiently not to stick
to the finger when touched, but before it is quite dry, it can be worked
upon with the point. If not dry enough, which will manifest itself
readily as soon as you have drawn the first line, fan again. If it were
allowed to dry absolutely, it would chip off under the needle. There is
a liquid ground, made by Mr. Louis Delnoce of the American Bank
Note Company, New York, which — so Mr. Jas. D. Smillie informs me
— is used for retouches by the engravers of the company, is applied
with the brush, is a very quick dryer, tough, and resists acid perfectly.
Mr. Delnoce sells it in ounce bottles at seventv-five cents each.
NOTES. 65
5. (p. 12.) The roller for revarnishing, spoken of by M. Lalanne,
and also reconunencled by Mr. Hamerton, cannot be bought in this
coinitry. Nor — with all due deference to the great experience of M.
Lalanne — is such a large and expensive roller necessary. The rollers
used by our most experienced etchers — Mr. J as. D. Smillie, for instance
— are little cylinders of India-rubber, about one inch in diameter and one
and one-half inches long. They cost from 50 cents to $2 each. But
these rollers cannot be used jvith etching-paste. The oil of lavender in the
paste attacks the rubber and destroys it. As to the manner of using
the India-rubber roller see Note 12.
6. (p. 20.) The use of bordering wax is not advisable. But as some
etchers still employ it, I add a recipe for making it, which was kindly
communicated to me by Mr. Peter Moran of Philadelphia: —
3 lbs. Burgundy pitch.
I lb. yellow beeswax.
I gill sweet oil.
Melt together and then form into strips.
7. (p. 21.) Etching is the most individual of the reproductive arts (or
rather of the multiplying arts, the German vervielfaltigende Kiinste), even
in its technical processes. Therefore nearly every etcher has his own
ways of doing, and few agree on all points. Many etchers do not
think it necessary to weaken the acid as described in the text. But be
sure to let xX. cool a-iiex it has been mixed with water, before you immerse
your plate !
8. (p. 22.) It would take altogether too long to wait for the perfect
drying of the asphaltum varnish, nor is it necessary. Fan it, as de-
scribed in Note 4, and as soon as it ceases to stick you can again
immerse your plate.
9. (p. 25.) I have never been able to notice this turning dark of the
lines, although I have had plates in the bath for several hours, and
some of my artist acquaintances whom I have consulted on the point,
have confirmed my experience. Possibly the phenomenon described by
M. Lalanne may be caused by impurities in the acid.
10. (p. 27.) If the reader will make use of the device for lifting the
plate into and out of the bath, which I have described on p. xvii, there
will be no necessity of burning his fingers. With a little precaution, and
a plentiful use of benzine for washing and cleaning, the daintiest lady's
hand need not suffer from etching.
11. (p. 29.) For directions for making this ground see Note 3.
12. (p. 38.) To make the varnish, or rather etching-paste, recom-
mended in the text, a warm-water bath is not absolutely necessary.
5
66 NOTES.
Take any small porcelain or earthenware vessel (a small gallipot is very
convenient, because the etching-paste can be kept in it for use), and set
it upon a metal frame, easily made of wire, so that you can introduce a
spirit lamp under it. Break up a ball, or part of a ball, of ordinary
etching-ground, and throw it into the pot. Heat the pot carefully, so as
just to allow the ground to melt. When it has melted, add oil of laven-
der (worth thirty-five cents an ounce at the druggist's), drop by drop,
and keep stirring the mixture with a clean glass rod. From time to time
allow a drop of the mixture to fall on a cold glass or metal plate. If, on
cooling, it assumes the consistency of pomatum, the paste is finished.
As I have said before, this paste cannot be used with the India-rub-
ber rollers recommended in Note 5. With these rollers the regrounding
must be done with the ordinary etching-ground with the aid of heat.
Warm your plate so that you can just bear to touch it with the hand,
and allow some of the ground to melt on a second, unused copper
plate. Also warm the roller slightly. Then proceed as M. Lalanne
directs in his fifty-seventh paragraph. The slight changes in the pro-
ceeding, which grow out of the differences between cold and warm
ground, are self-evident.
It is hardly necessary to say that the roller can also be used for lay-
ing the first ground. But it is of no use ou aux but perfectly smooth,
straight plates, as it cannot penetrate into holhnos. When it is not avail-
able the dabber must be employed in the old manner,
13. (p. 39.) Some engravers prefer the dabber to the roller even for
regrounding entire plates. In that case the ground is spread on the
margin of the plate, if that be wide enough, or on a separate plate, and
is taken up by the dabber. The plate to be regrounded must of course
be warmed as for laying a ground with the roller, and care must be
taken not to have the dabber overcharged with ground.
14. (p. 40.) In default of the charcoal paste, rubbing with the finest
emery-paper will do to remove the polish.
15. (p. 40.) I cannot direct the reader to a copper-planer, and there-
fore it will be best to give some directions for removing faulty passages.
The following paragraphs are copied bodily from Mr. Hamerton : —
•' The most rapid way is to use sandpapers of different degrees of coarse-
ness, the coarsest first, and then the scraper, and, finally, willow charcoal with
olive oil. The charcoal will leave the surface in a fit state to etch upon.
"This scraping and rubbing hollows out the surface of the copper, and if it
hollows it too much the printing will not be quite satisfactory in that part of
the plntc. In that case you have nothing to do hut mark tiie spot on the back
of the plate with a pair of calipers, then lay the plate on its face upon a block
of polished steel, and give it two or three blows with a hammer (mind that the
hammer is rounded so as not to indent the ropper)."
NOTES. 67
16. (p. 48.) The process here alluded to is the one used by Mr.
Haden. The mordant is the so-called Dutch mordant, and the manner
of making it is thus described by Mr. Hamerton : —
" First heat the water by putting the bottle containing it into a pan also
containing water, and keep it on the fire till that in the pan boils. Now add
the chlorate of potash, and see that every crystal of it is dissolved. Shake the
bottle to help the solution. When no more crystals are to be seen, you may
add the hydrochloric acid. Make a good quantity of this mordant at once, so
as always to have a plentiful supply by you."
For a full account of the Haden process see Mr. Hamerton's " Etch-
er's Handbook," or the second edition of his " Etching and Etchers."
This Dutch mordant is preferred to nitric acid by many etchers, —
even when working, not in the bath, but in the ordinary way, as taught
by M. Lalanne, — because it bites down into the copper, and hardly
widens the lines. " From my experience," writes Mr. Jas. D. Smillie,
in a letter now before me, " I unhesitatingly prefer the Dutch mordant
for copper ; it bites a very fine black line, it is not so severe a trial
to the ground, and it does not need constant watching."
Mr. Smillie, however, uses the mordant much stronger than Mr.
Haden. He has, in fact, invented a process of his own, which, in a let-
ter to me, he describes as follows : —
" I draw and bite as I progress ; that is, I draw in the darkest parts first,
give them a good nip with the mordant, wash the plate and dry it, and then
draw the next stage. I can thus, by drawing lines over a part that has
already been exposed to the mordant, interlace heavy and hght lines in a
way that I could not by any other process. I etch upon an unsmoked ground,
and as the Dutch mordant bites a black line, I see my etching clearly as it
advances. By holding the head well over the plate, the Unes can be very
distinctly seen as they are drawn. After a little experimenting, the etcher will
find the angle at which he can see his unbitten work upon an unsmoked
ground without trouble. Mr. Hamerton's formula seemed to me too weak, so
I am experimenting with
Muriatic acid, i ounce.
Chlorate of potash, 1-5 "
Water, 5 ounces.
'"This is the mordant I am now using, and I have found it to work well.
Still, as I am not a scientific chemist, and my knowledge is entirely empiric,
I am prepared to believe any chemist who may tell me that I might do as
well, or better, with more water.
" Generally I do not get all the color I wish by the first process, as I can
see without removing the ground ; so, when my etching is finished, I reverse
the engine and begin stopping out and biting upon the original ground, as it is
ordinarily done. I do not use the black asphaltum varnish for stopping out,
68 NOTES.
but a transparent varnish that is simply white resin dissolved in alcohol. If
applied very carefully, and allowed time to dry. it is perfectly clear and trans-
parent, and tlie relations of all parts of the plate can be seen, — the stopped
out as well as the bitten lines, — but to a careless worker it presents many
troubles. It is so transparent that it is hard to see what is stopped out and
what is not, and if washed with very warm water, or before it is thoroughly
dry, it turns cloudy and semi-opaque. I have no trouble with it, and could
not get along without it. I make it myself. — have no formula, — adding
alcohol until it is thin enough to flow readily from the brush. It has a great
advantage over asphaltum varnish, as it does not flow along a line. It is
viscid enough to remain just where it is put, and is as perfect a protection as
any asphaltum varnish."
Mr. Smillie heats his bath on the plate-warmer, but not to exceed 80°,
or at most 90°. Such a bath of hot mordant acts much more quickly
than a cold acid bath, less than two minutes being sufficient for the
lightest lines.
17. (p. 50.) Gravers are of different shapes, according to the nature
of the line which they are intended to produce. They are sometimes
kept ht the hardware-stores, as, for instance, by A. J. Wilkinson & Co.,
184 Washington St., Boston. This house also issues an illustrated cata-
logue of engravers' tools.
18. (p. 52.) M. Lalanne, it seems to me, does not do full justice to
zinc plates. Very delicate lines can be bitten on zinc if the acid is
sufficiently weakened. I have found that one part of nitric acid to
eight parts of water, used on zinc, is about equal to one-half acid and
one-half water, used on copper for about the same length of time. Zinc
plates can also be bought of Mr. Geo. B. Sharp, 45 Gold St., New
York. As to the length of edition that can be printed from a zinc
plate, see Note 27.
19. (p. 52.) This is not strictly correct. The "manière de crayon,"
as practised by Demarteau and others, differs materially from soft-
ground etching. A ground was laid and smoked as usual, and on it the
drawing was produced, by a variety of instruments, such as points,
some of them multiple, the roulette, the mattoir, etc.
20. (p. 55.) There is another method of getting what may be called
a proof, i. e. by taking a cast in plaster. Ink your plate and wipe it
clean, as described in Note 22, and then pour over it plaster-of-Paris
mi.xed with water. When the plaster has hardened it can easily be
separated from the plate, and the ink in the lines will adhere to it. To
make such a cast you must manage a rim around your plate, or vou
may lay it into a paper box, face upward. Mix about half a tumbler
full of water (or more, according to the size of the plate) with double
the quantity of plaster, adding the plaster, little by little, and stirring
NOTES. 69
continually. When the mixture begins to thicken pour it on the plate,
and if necessary spread it over the whole of the surface by means of a
piece of wood or anything else that will answer. Then allow it to harden.
21. (p. 55.) The chafing-dish and the ball (or dabber) are now re-
placed by the gas flame and the inking-roller in most printing estab-
lishments. But if you desire to do your own proving, you will have to
use a dabber, the manner of making which is described in the next note.
22. (p. 59.) If there is no plate-printer near you, but you have access
to a lithographic printing establishment, you can have your proofs
taken there. " Lithographic presses," says A. Potémont, " give perfectly
good and satisfactory proofs of etchings.'"
Not every printer can print an etching as it ought to be printed. A
man may be an excellent printer of line engravings and mezzotints, and
yet may be totally unfit to print an etching. I would recommend the
following printing establishments : —
New York : Kimmel & Voigt, 242 Canal Street.
Boston : J. H. Daniels, 223 Washington Street.
If you desire to establish an amateur printing-office of your own
you will need, in addition to the tools and materials already in your
possession : —
A press, A dabber or ball,
A plate-warmer, Rags for wiping,
An ink-slab. Printing-ink,
A muller, Paper.
The press. The presses used by professional plate-printers will be
thought too large and too costly by most etchers. There is a small
press sold by Madame Ve. A. Cadart, 56 Boulevard Haussmann, Paris,
of which a representation is given on the next page.
This press, accompanied by all the necessary accessories, — rags,
ink, paper, plate-warmer, dabber, etc., — sells in Paris at the price of 15a
francs (about $30). There is an extra charge for boxing ; and freight,
duties, etc., must also be paid for, extra, on presses imported to this
country. The publishers of this book are ready to take orders for these
presses, but I cannot inform the reader what the charges will amount
to, as no importations have yet been made by Messrs. Estes & Lauriat.
There is also a small press invented by Mr. Hamerton and made in
London by Mr. Charles Roberson, 99 Long Acre, which sells on the
other side, for the press onlv, at two guineas for the smallest, and four
guineas for a larger size. These presses are smaller than the Cadart
presses, and, according to Mr. Hamerton, are "very portable affairs,
which an etcher might put in his box when travelling, and use any-
where, in an inn, in a friend's house, or even out of doors when etching,
from nature."
70
NOTES.
A small press has also quite lately been introduced by Messrs.
Janentzky & Co., of Philadelphia, which costs only $16.50 (without
accessories), and is well recommended by those who have used it.
The press is not complete without the flannels spoken of in the text
(p. 56, § 87). There is a kind of very thick flannel specially made for
printers' use. But if this cannot be had (of some plate-printer) any
good flannel with a piece of thick soft cloth over it will do well
enough.
NOTES. 71
In adjusting the press care must be taken that the pressure is neither
too great nor too small. This is a matter of experience.
The plate-warmer is a box made of strong sheet-iron, into which
either a gas-jet or a small kerosene lamp can be introduced. If you
happen to have a gas-stove, and can get an iron plate of some kind to
lay across the top, you will have an excellent plate-warmer.
The ink-slab. Any smooth slab of marble, slate, or lithographic stone,
about a foot square, will do.
A muller. This is a pestle of stone, fîat at the bottom, used for
grinding colors or ink.
A dabber or ball. Take strips of thick cloth or flannel, about four
or five inches wide ; roll them together as tightly as possible, until
you have a cylinder of two or three inches in diameter ; bind firmly by
strong twine wound all around the cylinder; then cut one end with a
large sharp knife, so as to get a smooth surface. After the dabber
has been used for some time, and the ink has hardened in it, cut off
another slice so as to get a fresh surface.
Rags for wiping. Fine Swiss muslin and the fabric known as
cheese cloth make good rags for wiping. They can be bought at the
dry-goods stores. As they are charged with some material to make
them stiff and increase the weight, they must be washed before they are
used. When they have become too much charged with ink they may
be boiled out in a solution of potash or soda in water. The Swiss mus-
lin costs about twelve cents a yard, the cheese cloth about five.
I had a lot of rags specially sent to me from Paris, as I wished to see
the difference between the soft and the stiff muslin. The parcel con-
tained a collection of pieces of a sort of Swiss muslin, evidently old cur-
tains, and some pieces of old cotton shirting, some of which had done
duty at the Hôtel des Invalides, still bearing its stamp !
Printing-ink and paper. (See Notes 23 and 24.)
To i7ik the plate., place it on the plate-warmer and allow it to become
as hot as your hand can bear. Then take up the ink from the ink-slab
with the dabber and spread it all over the surface, moving the dab-
ber along with a rocking motion, but not striking the plate with it.
Take care that the lines are well filled. Sometimes, in the first inking
of the plate, it is necessary to use the finger to force the ink into the lines.
In wiping the plate the first operation is to remove all the superfluous
ink from the surface by means of a rag. What follows depends on the
kind of impression you desire to get. If you want a natural, clean, or
dry proof, as these impressions are variously calletl (i. e. an impression
which shows only black lines on a perfectly clear white ground), charge
the palm of your hand with a very little whiting or Spanish white, and
72 NOTES.
with it finish the wiping of the plate. This operation will leave the sur-
face of the plate perfectly clean and bright, while the ink remains in the
lines. If you desire to have an even tint left all over the plate, avoid
the use of the hand, and wipe with the rag only. Plate-printers use
their rags moist, but for printing etchings a dry rag is preferable, as it
leaves more of a tint on the plate. Note, also, that the rag must be
tolerably well charged with ink to enable you to wipe a good tint with it.
The margin of the plate, even if a tint is left over it, must always be
wiped clean. This is best accomplished by a bit of cotton cloth charged
with whiting.
For the rest, nothing is left but to experiment according to the hints
given in the text by M. Lalanne.
23. (p. 59.) If you can, buy your ink of a plate-printer or of a lithog-
rapher. That used by book-printers will not do ! The trouble is that
the ink used by ordinary plate-printers is of a disagreeably cold cast, as
it is mixed with blue. Etchings ought to be printed with a ^varm
black, and sometimes, especially in the case of somewhat overbitten
plates, with an ink of a decidedly brownish hue. Inks are made of lin-
seed-oil varnish (i. e. linseed oil that has been boiled down or burned),
and the blacks mentioned in the text. There are various qualities of
varnish according to its consistency, varying from thin through medium
to stifif. If you wish to mix your own ink, you must try to procure the
materials of some plate-printer or lithographer. For varnish use the
medium, for black the Francfort. The burnt Sienna (which you can
buy at any paint-shop) is used only to warm up the black. Lay some
of the dry color on your ink-slab, add a very little of the varnish, and
mix with the muller. Then add more varnish until the ink forms a
tolerably stifï paste. The grinding must be carefully done, so as to
avoid grittiness. Besides, if the color is not thoroughly well incorpo-
rated with the varnish, the ink will not stand. To preserve the ink for
future use, put it into some vessel with a cover, and pour water over it.
The water standing on top of the ink keeps it soft. Otherwise the var-
nish would harden.
24. (p. 60.) The heavy Dutch hand-made papers are still preferred
by most people for etchings ; but it is very difficult, if not impossible,
to procure them in this country. The paper known as Lalanne charcoal
paper, which is likewise a hand-made paper, can be bought at the artist's
material stores. Good drawing-paper will also answer. The worst, be-
cause most inartistic, of all, is the plain white plate paper. The paper
used for the etchings in the American Art Review, first made espe-
cially for this journal according to my suggestions, has excellent print-
ing qualities, although, being a machine-made, unglued paper, it lacks
NOTES. 73
some of the characteristics of the Dutch hand-made paper. But its
texture is very good, and it takes up the ink even better than the Dutch
papers.
Japanese paper can be procured of the firms named on page xiii.
Dry paper will not take a decent impression, and the sheets to be
used for printing must therefore be moistened. To prepare the ordi-
nary paper, take three or four sheets at a time, and pass them slowly
through clean water contained in a pail or other vessel. Wet as many
sheets as you may need, lay them on top of one another, place the pile
between two boards, and allow them to lie thus under tolerably heavy
pressure for at least twelve, or, better still, for twenty-four hours. The
paper will then be ready for use.
To prepare Japanese paper, lay each sheet between two wet sheets
of ordinary paper, and let it lie as before.
25. (p. 60.) Epreuves de remarque. The remarque usually consists in
leaving unfinished some little detail in an out-of-the-way corner of the
plate. After the épreuves de remarque have been printed, this detail is
finished. A person who cannot tell a good impression from a bad
one, or does not know whether a plate is spoiled or still in good condi-
tion, without some such extraneous sign, has slight claim to be consid-
ered a connoisseur.
26. (p. 62.) New York is, for the present, I believe, the only place
•where steel-facing is done in America. I can recommend Mr. F. A.
Ringler, 21 and 23 Barclay Street, New York.
27. (p. 62.) Zinc plates can be steel-faced, but the facing cannot be
renewed, as it cannot be removed. The zinc plate on which Mr. Lan-
sil's little etching, given in this volume, is executed, was steel-faced. It
is feasible also, the electrotypers tell me, to deposit a thin coating of
copper on the zinc first, and then to superimpose a coating of steel.
In that case the steel-facing can be renewed as long as the copper-
facing under it remains intact.
LIST OF WORKS
ON THE.
PRACTICE AND HISTORY OF ETCHING*
A. Technical Treatises.
De la gravtire en taille-dottce, à Veau-forte et au burin, ensemble la manière
d'en imprimer les planches et d'en construire la presse, par Abraham
Bosse. Paris, 1645.
Traité des nianilres de graver en taille-douce sur V airain par le moyen des
eaux-fortes et des vernis durs et mois, par le s. Abraham Bosse, aug-
menté de la nouvelle manière dont se sert M. Leclerc, graveur du roi.
Paris, 1701.
* De la manière de graver à Veau-forte et au burin, et de la gravure en
manière noir . . . par Abraham Bosse. Nouvelle édition. . . . Paris,
1758. Small 8vo. 111.
* Die Ku7ist in Kupfer zu stechen sowohl mittelst des Aetzwassers als mit
dem Grabstichel . . . durch Abraham Bosse. . . . Aus dem Franzôsi-
schen ins Deutsche iibersetzt. Dresden, 1765. Small Svo. 111.
The Art of Graveing and Etching, wherein is exprest the true Way of
Graveing in Copper ; allso the Manner and Method of that famous Callot,
and M. Bosse, in their several Ways of Etching. Published by William
Faithorne. London, 1662. Svo. 111.
Idée de la gravure, par M. de M * * *. Without place or date. i2mo.
(This essay appeared originally in the "Mercure" for April, 1756, and
was afterwards printed separately. See, also, in the " Mercure" for 1755,
a notice, announcing the publication of a print by de Marcenay de Ghuy
after the elder Parrocel. This notice was also printed separately.)
* This list is very far from being complete, especially in the last section, " Individual
Artists." I have made a few additions, which have been marked by an asterisk. Those who
desire to pursue the subject will find a very full bibliographical list in J. E. Wessely's Anlei-
tung zur Kenntniss und zum Sammeln dcr Werke des Kunstdruckes , Leipzig, Weigel, 1876,
p. 279 et seq. — Translator.
^6 LIST OF WORKS ON THE
Idée de la {gravure . . . par M. de Marcenay de Ghuy. Paris, 1764. In
-4 de 16 et 10 pag. (This is a second edition of the work last mentioned.)
* AnUiUing sur Aetzkiinst . . . nach eigenen praktischen Erfahrungen
herausgegeben von Johann Heinrich Meynier. Hof, 1S04. 8vo.
111.
Lectures on the Art of Engraving, delivered at the Royal Institute of Great
Britain, by John Landseer, Engraver to the King. London, 1807. 8vo.
Three Lectures on Engraving, delivered at the Surrey Institution in the Year
1809, by Robert Mitchell Meadows. London, 1811. 8vo.
Manuel du graveur, ou Traité complet de la gravure en tous genres, d'après
les renseignements fournis par plusieurs artistes. Par A. M. Perrot.
Paris, 1830. In -18.
Des mordants, des ver?iis et des planches dans Part du graveur, ou Traité
complet de la gravure. Par Pierre Deleschamps. Paris, 1836. In -8.
* Vollstàndiges Handbuch der Gravirkunst, enthaltend griindliche Beleh-
rungen iiber die Aetzwàsser, die Aetzgriinde, die Platten und die Gravir-
maschinen. . . . Von Pet. Deleschamps. Deutsch, mit Zusatzen, von
Dr. Chr. h. Schmidt. Quedlinburg und Leipzig, Basse, 1838. 111.
The Art of Engraving, with the various Modes of Operation. . . . By T. H.
Fielding. London, 1844. 8vo. 111.
Lettre de Martial sur les éléments de la gravure à l'eau-forte. Paris, 1864.
(Etched on 4 fol. plates, illustrated.)
Nouveau traité de la gravure à Peau-forte à l'usage des peintres et des des-
sinateurs, par A. P. Martial. Paris, A. Cadart. 1873. 111.
* The Etcher's Handbook : giving an Account of the Old Processes, and of
Processes recently discovered. By Philip Gilbert Hamerton. Lon-
don, Roberson, 1871. 111. (See also Mr. Hamerton's Etching and Etchers,
2d edition.)
* Mr. Seymour Haden on Etching. Lectures delivered at the Royal Institu-
tion, reports of which were published in "The Magazine of Art." 1879,
and in the London " Building News," 1879.
* The Etcher's Guide. By Thomas Bishop. Philadelphia, Janentzky. 1879.
111.
Grammaire des Arts du Dessin, par Charles Blanc. In this work (of
which there is also an English translation), there is a special chapter on
Etching.
Charles Jacque. Articles by him on Etching in the " Magasin pittoresque."
Gravure. — Article extrait de l'Encyclopédie des arts et métiers. In - fdl ,
de 9 pag.. fig.
PRACTICE AND HISTORY OF ETCHING. 7/
B. Historical and Theoretical.
* Anleitung zur Kupferstichkunde. Von Adam von Bartsch. Wien,
182 1. 2 vols. 8vo. Plates.
Des types et des manières des maîtres graveurs, pour servir à l'histoire de la
gravure en Italie, en Allemagne, dans les Pays-Bas et en France, par
Jules Renouvier. Montpellier, i 853-1 856. 4 parties in -4.
La gravure depuis son origine, par Henri Delaborde. i860. (These
articles appeared in the Revue des Deux Mondes for Dec. i and 15, 1830,
and Jan. i, 1851.)
Histoire de la gravure en France, par Georges Duplessis. Paris, 1861.
In -8. (This work was crowned by the French Institute [Académie des
beaux-arts].)
Etching and Etchers. By Philip Gilbert Hamerton. London, Macmillan,
1868. 4to. 111.
* Etching and Etchers. By Philip Gilbert Hamerton. (Second edi-
tion.) 1876. London, Macmillan. Boston, Roberts Bros.
* The Origin and Antiquity 0/ Engraving. ... By W. S. Baker. Boston,
Osgood, 1875. 4to. (Second edition. 111.)
La Gravure à V eau-forte, essai historique par Raoul de Saint-Arroman.
— Comment je devins graveur à r eau-forte, ^ax le comte Lepic Paris,
Cadart, 1876.
* Anleitung zur Kenntniss und zum Sammeln der Werke des Kunst-
druckes, von J. E. Wessely. Leipzig, Weigel, 1876. 8vo.
* About Etching. Part I. Notes by Mr. Seymour Haden on a Collection
of Etchings by the Great Masters. . . . Part II. An Annotated Cata-
logue of the Etchings exhibited. 148 New Bond Street (London), 1879.
(Second edition, which has some additions.)
* About Etching. By Seymour Haden. Illustrated with an original etch-
ing by Mr. Haden. and fourteen facsimiles from his collection. Imperial
4to. London, The Fine Art Society, 1879.
C. Catalogues of the Works of the Artists.
(a.) DICTIONARIES.
Le peintre-graveur, -ç-àx KxiKfA Bartsch. Vienne, 1803-1821. 21 vol. in -8
et un atlas in -4.
* Le peintre-graveur. Par J. D. Passavant. Leipzig, i860. 6 vols. Svo.
(Continuation of Bartsch's work.)
■jZ LIST OF WORKS ON THE
Le peintre-graveur français, . . . par Robert Dumesnil. Paris, 1835-
1874. II vol. in -8.
Le peintre-graveur français continué, par Prosper de Beaudicour.
Paris, 1859. 2 vol. in -8.
* Le peintre-graveur hollandais et flamand. Par J. P. van der Kellen.
Utrecht, 1866. 4to. (Continuation of Bartsch's work.)
* Le peintre-graveur hollandais et belge du XIX' siècle. Par T. Hippert
et Jos. LiNNiG. Bruxelle, 1874 (first vol.) et seq. 8vo.
* Der deutsche Peintre-graveur. Von A. Andresen. Leipzig, 1864, et seq.
5 vols. 8vo.
* Die Malerradirer des 19. Jahrhunderts. Von A. Andresen. Leipzig,
1866-1870. 4 vols. 8vo.
* Die Malerradirer des 19. Jahrhunderts. V^on J. E. Wessely. Leipzig,
1874. 8vo. (Continuation of Andresen's work.)
(&.) INDIVIDUAL ARTISTS.
Beredeneerde catalogus van aile de prenten van Nicolaas Berghem . . .
beschreven door Hendrick de Winter. Amsterdam, 1767.
Catalogue de Pœtivre d"" Abraham Bosse, par Georges Duplessis. Paris,
1859. In -8. (From the " Revue Universelle des Arts.")
Éloge historique de Callot, par le P. HussoN. Bruxelles, 1766. In -4.
A Catalogue and Description of the whole of the Works of the celebrated
Jacques Callot ... by J. H. Green (attributed to Claussin).
1804. i2mo.
Éloge historique de Callot, par M. Desmaretz. Nancy, 1828. In -8.
Recherches sur la vie et les ouvrages de J. Callot, par E. Meaume. Paris,
i860. 2 vol. in -8.
Œuvre de Claude Gelée, dit le Lorrain, par le comte Guillaume de L.
(Leppel). Dresde, 1806. In -8, fig. (For the engraved works of
Claude Lorrain, see also the " Peintre-graveur" of M. Robert Dumesnil,
vol. i., and the "Cabinet de l'Amateur et de l'Antiquaire," by Eugene
Piot, vol. ii. pp. 433-466.)
Éloge historique de Claude Gelée, dit le Lorrain, par J. P. Voiart. Nancy,
1839. In -8.
A Description of the Works of the ingenious Delineator and Engraver,
Wenceslaus Hollar, disposed into Classes of different Sorts ; with
some Account of his Life. By G. Vertue. London, 1745. 4to. Portr
De la gravure à Veau- for te et des eaux fortes de Charles facque. By
Charles Blanc. In tlic '-Gazette des Beaux Arts," vol. ix. p. 193
et seq.
PRACTICE AND HISTORY OF ETCHING. 79
Les Johannot, par M. Ch. Lenormant. Paris (1858). In -8. (From
Michaud's "Biographie universelle.")
* Essay on Méryon, and a Catalogue of his Works, by Frederic Wed-
more. London, Thibaudeau, 1879. (Announced as about to be pub-
lished.) See also Méryon and Méryon''s Paris, by F. Wedmore, in the
"Nineteenth Century," for May, 1878.
* P. Biirty's Catalogtie of the Etchings of Méryon, revised from the Cata-
logue in the " Gazette des Beaux Arts," and translated by Mr. M. B.
HuiSH, is announced to be published by the London Fine-Art Society.
M' 0''Connen, Meissonier, Millet, Méryon, Seymour Haden. Articles on
these etchers by Philippe Burty in the " Gazette des Beaux Arts."
Catalogue raisonné des estampes gravées à l'eau-forte par Guido Reni, par
Adam Bartsch. Vienne, 1795- In -8.
Catalogue raisonné de toutes les estampes qui forment l'œuvre de Retn-
brandt, . . . par Adam Bartsch. Vienne, 1797. 2 vol. in -8.
A Descriptive Catalogue of the Prints of Re/nbrandt, by an Amateur (Wil-
son). London, 1836. In -8.
Rembrandt and his Works, ... by John Burnet. London, 1859. 4to. 111.
Re/nbrandt. Discours sur sa vie et son génie, avec un grand nombre de
documents historiques, par le Dr. P. Scheltema, traduit par A. WiL-
LEMS. Revu et annoté par W. Burger. Bruxelles, 1859. In -8.
(From the " Revue universelle des Arts.")
L'Œuvre complet de Rembrandt, remarquablement décrit et commenté par
Charles Blanc. Paris, 1859. 3 ^o'- 'i^ -^•
* Rembrandt Harmens van Rijn. Ses précurseurs et ses années d'appren-
tissage. Par C. Vosmaer. La Haye, Nijhoff, 1863.
* Rembrandt Harmens van Rijn. Sa vie et ses oeuvres. Par C. Vosmaer.
La Haye, Nijhoff, 1868. (A second, revised edition appeared some years
ago.)
* The Etched Works of Rembrandt. A Monograph. By Francis Seymour
Haden. With three plates and appendix. London, Macmillan, 1879.
Medium 8vo.
* Descriptive Catalogue of the Etched Works of Rembrandt van Rhyn. With
Life and Introduction. By C. H. Middleton. Royal 8vo. London,
1879-
Pictorial Notices j consisting of a Memoir of Sir Anthony van Dyck, with a
Descriptive Catalogue of the Etchings executed by him. ... By William
Hookham Carpenter. London, 1844. 4to. Portrait.
* The Works of the American Etchers. In the "American Art Review."
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