International studio (59.1916)

Wood-blocks

graving upon metal. All the modes of engraving
upon metal are, however, alike in that one respect
in which all differ from engraving on wood; the
latter is a work in cameo, the former in intaglio.
On metal, the design is produced by cutting,
scratching, or corroding the material; on wood,
the operation is precisely the reverse, the design
being cut in relief, the rest of the surface being
lowered. The impression in the latter case is
taken by inking the projections which form the
design; in the former case it is taken by filling
the incisions with ink, wiping clean the rest of the
plate.
The wood generally used by engravers are pear,
sycamore, and box, the two former being em-
ployed for large or coarse cuts, where too close
an inspection is not, from the nature of the case,
to be anticipated. Box-wood, on the contrary,
from its superior hardness and grain, is admirably
adapted for finer work, and is now almost uni-
versally used where sharpness of outline is a
desideratum.
When the surface of the block is made perfectly
flat and smooth, it is prepared for drawing on by
a very thin coating of Chinese white and brick-
dust. A tracing of the drawing made in sharp
lines with a soft pencil is transferred to the wood
by means of tracing paper. (Block 2.—As early
as 1481 Caxton printed the first copy of this
block entitled, “The History of Reynard the
Fox.” It was discovered in the stock of the New
Castle, worthy old William Dodd, who leaves on
record in his guinea volume of impressions there-
from, that the ancient relic came from John
White’s printing-office, he being ye King’s
printer, who brought them from York in 1708.)
It is a matter of doubt whether the old and
greater masters of the art, like Durer, ever 'act-
ually cut their blocks at all. There are now pro-
fessional engravers who merely work after the
design, sending it back from time to time for
further details; and this probably was the course
usually adopted in early days, since in no other
way can the large number of works ascribed to
some of the old masters be accounted for.
Prints from engravings on wood frequently
afford undeniable evidence of lateness of impres-
sion, by interruptions appearing in the lines of
the work, occasioned by the relief work on the
block having been broken away in parts, or in-
dented by the operation of printing. Until these
imperfections occur, the difference between early

and late impressions of an engraved block is, by
no means, so striking as in copper-plate engrav-
ing. Some of the oldest blocks still exist and the
impressions taken at this day with the improved
method of printing, show as well, if not better, in
all parts where they are sound, than the old im-
pressions. Wooden blocks are capable of throw-
ing off a prodigious number of impressions. Some
head and tail pieces, used as printer’s ornaments
throughout their publications, were used to give
off as many as four hundred and fifty thousand
impressions.
It would seem that after the designer had
traced the drawing upon wood, that the engraver
had no liberty of interpretation, that he must
resign himself to passive obedience. But his task
is not purely mechanical. To obey the sentiment of
another, especially in works often of exquisite deli-
cacy one must have the faculty of feeling wherever
man puts his hand, we recognize the trace of his
mind. This is so true, that the drawing may be-
come unctuous or dry, coloured or pale, as the
tool of the engraver shall have hollowed it dis-
creetly or rigorously, as he shall more or less
have spared it; that is, in cutting the wood so as
to put each stroke of the designer in relief be-
tween two depressions, the engraver may have
taken something from the edges of the stroke
but were it only so much as a hair’s breadth, it
might suffice to give a sad and cold aspect to the
warmest. (Block 3.—Thomas Bewick was one of
the first wood-engravers to sound precisely the
depths of nature, in certain aspects to reveal the
glowing warmth of summer and the bitter cold of
winter. In his famous Birds as illustrated by
one done for his British land birds, but not used,
he contrives to convey a remarkably suggestive
picture with the plumage and especial markings
ably represented. It shows a love of natural
beauty absolutely unique.)
Glancing at the oldest prints we see that draw-
ing upon wood was coarse and rude, but in the
rudeness of its rapid work it was on the road to
the grandeur and true style demanded by wood-
engraving. In the first xylographic books which
were printed before 1454, the “Bible of the Poor”
and the “History of the Virgin,” we notice a
naivete that is not without attraction and a
lively sentiment of reality joined to a subtle and
mystical spirit.
(Block 4.—This is another of Bewick’s cuts of
an entirely different nature, which the artist exe-

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