DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.73059#0032
Bario/o^i and his Works.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Modern Reprints from Worn-out Plates,
and How to Distinguish.
/T) a CD <r7)Tfn'7* JZ 7%^ prints, whether old or modern im-
9 O pressions, are all printed direct from the
copperplates; and it is only by the brilliance and beauty, or the ghostly-
looking worn-out appearance, as the case may be, that one can be distinguished from the
other. But when the enormous difference is once fully recognised and appreciated, further
mistakes on the part of collectors are simply impossible.
An examination of a couple of impressions side by side—they need not necessarily be
the same subject,—the one printed during the great master's lifetime, and while the plate
contained the work he put into it ; and the other a modern reprint, from which all the more
delicate portions, as the lighter stippling on the flesh, have long since departed by over-
printing, will show at once the wide gulf that divides them.
The paper on which the old Bartolozzi engravings were generally printed, was a soft
" laid," or ribbed, Dutch hand-made ; which, on being examined against the light, showed
considerable indications of what is termed by paper-makers, foulness, or specks of dirt, and
dark unevennesses of substance, caused by the imperfect disintegration of the pulp. The
machine-made paper, used for modern impressions, is much more perfect in these respects ;
and the water-mark, or ribbing, appears, when held up to the light, perfectly uniform, as it
is in all papers of modern manufacture. A soft wove paper, which shows no ribbing, was
occasionally used, as it is now for modern impressions. Bartolozzi's, and all prints of his
school, otherwise than book illustrations, were published with ample white margins, which
ended on one or more sides, according to the original size of the sheet of paper, with a
peculiar rough or frayed edge, caused by the mould. This is one of the distinguishing
marks of hand-made paper. An example of this edge may be seen in a Bank of England
note.
About five and twenty years ago, a well-known now retired dealer in miscellaneous
16
works
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Modern Reprints from Worn-out Plates,
and How to Distinguish.
/T) a CD <r7)Tfn'7* JZ 7%^ prints, whether old or modern im-
9 O pressions, are all printed direct from the
copperplates; and it is only by the brilliance and beauty, or the ghostly-
looking worn-out appearance, as the case may be, that one can be distinguished from the
other. But when the enormous difference is once fully recognised and appreciated, further
mistakes on the part of collectors are simply impossible.
An examination of a couple of impressions side by side—they need not necessarily be
the same subject,—the one printed during the great master's lifetime, and while the plate
contained the work he put into it ; and the other a modern reprint, from which all the more
delicate portions, as the lighter stippling on the flesh, have long since departed by over-
printing, will show at once the wide gulf that divides them.
The paper on which the old Bartolozzi engravings were generally printed, was a soft
" laid," or ribbed, Dutch hand-made ; which, on being examined against the light, showed
considerable indications of what is termed by paper-makers, foulness, or specks of dirt, and
dark unevennesses of substance, caused by the imperfect disintegration of the pulp. The
machine-made paper, used for modern impressions, is much more perfect in these respects ;
and the water-mark, or ribbing, appears, when held up to the light, perfectly uniform, as it
is in all papers of modern manufacture. A soft wove paper, which shows no ribbing, was
occasionally used, as it is now for modern impressions. Bartolozzi's, and all prints of his
school, otherwise than book illustrations, were published with ample white margins, which
ended on one or more sides, according to the original size of the sheet of paper, with a
peculiar rough or frayed edge, caused by the mould. This is one of the distinguishing
marks of hand-made paper. An example of this edge may be seen in a Bank of England
note.
About five and twenty years ago, a well-known now retired dealer in miscellaneous
16
works