International studio (59.1916)

Wood-blocks

cuted for Proverbs Exemplified by John Trusler
of Bath, England, and for proverbs by the same
author, Hanard, Bath, in 1790. It was also used
on a pack of cards and is exceedingly rare.)
In 1471, when Albert Diirer appears, wood en-
graving suddenly rises to perfection without going
beyond its primitive condition of simplicity.
Traced with breadth and decision, the drawings
of Diirer teach us the concise, vigorous manner
demanded by this kind of art. He did works
of extraordinary, often colossal, size, that could
be rarely used, being suitable only for the orna-
mentation of the partitions of a vestibule, or the
walls of a gallery or
palace. Wood-engrav¬
ing seems above all
suitable for the illus¬
tration of books, and
the next great man in
the history of wood-
engraving, Hans Hol¬
bein, born in 1497,
gave admirable models
to it, models that have
not been surpassed.
On frames smaller than
the palm of the hand,
often but an inch
square, were introduced
whole pictures. Within
the microscopic dimen¬
sions of a letter, Hol¬
bein has represented
the drama of Death,
twenty-four times repeated. The narrowing of
the field seemed to only spur on the artist, such
life and expression does he display.
Geoffroi Tory imported the Italian style of the
Renaissance into our wood-engraving, in which,
up to that time, had appeared only a Gothic
archaism or the Gallic spirit, with its familiar
turn, its ironical naivete, its malice. French and
Italian artists of the first rank have not disdained
to write upon wood the inventions that put in
relief their knowledge and that of others. As
Titian painted with great pen-strokes the mas-
ter-pieces Bokdrini was to cut, as Jean de Calcar
drew at Venice the magnificent plates for the
“Anatomy” of the celebrated Vesali, so Jean
Goujou illustrated the translation of Vitruvius
by Jean Martin.
From about 1530 the art of wood-engraving in

the usual manner began to make considerable
progress in Italy, and many of the cuts executed
in that country between 1540 and 1580 may vie
with the best wood-engravings of the same period
executed in Germany. The engravers began to
execute their subjects in a more delicate and
elaborate manner—the texture of different sub-
stances is indicated more correctly; the foliage of
trees is more natural; and the fur and feathers of
animals are discriminated with considerable
ability.
Wood-engraving in Germany at the close of the
sixteenth century appears to have greatly de-
clined; the old race of
artists who furnished
designs for the wood-
engraver had become
extinct and their places
were not supplied by
others. The more ex-
pensive works were
now illustrated with
copper plates.
(Block 5.—Great
beauty of execution is
depicted in this cut of
the Niagara Falls. The
artist is unknown, and
it would, of course, be
of specific interest to
acquire reliable infor-
mation on this point as
well as what publica-
tion it was done for.)
Although wood-engraving had fallen into almost
utter neglect by the end of the seventeenth cen-
tury and continued in a languishing state for
many years afterward, a regular succession of
wood-engravers can be traced from 1700 in both
England and France to the time of Thomas
Bewick. This distinguished wood-engraver, whose
works will be admired as long as truth and nature
shall continue to charm, was born in 1753 at
Cherry Burn in England. His productions re-
called public attention to the neglected art of
wood-engraving. He was at once a pioneer and
a masterly adapter leading all who followed him
to realise the possibilities of the art.
When in the latter half of the nineteenth cen-
tury, wood-engraving was chained to the task of
reproducing painting, sculpture, wash drawing or
line drawing, just as the half-tone does to-day,

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