ENGRAVING (ante). The 19th c. has produced most highly accomplished work in line engraving, both in figure and in landscape. Its characteristics, in comparison with the work of other centuries, are chiefly a more thorough and delicate rendering of local colors, light and shade, and texture. The older engravers could draw as correctly a.; the modern ; but they either neglected these elements or admitted them sparingly, as opposed to the spirit of their art. If you look at a modern engraving from Landseer, you will see the blackness of a gentleman's boot (local color), the soft roughness of his coat (texture), and the exact value hi light and dark of his face costume against the cloudy sky. Nay, more, you will find every sparkle on hit, hoot, and stirrup. Modern painting pays more attention to texture and chiaroscuro than classical painting did, so engrav ing has followed in the same directions; but there is a certain sameness in pure line engraving which is more favorable to some forms and textures than to others. This -sameness of line engraving, and its costliness, have led to the adoption of mixed methods, which are extremely prevalent in modern commercial prints from popular artists. In the well-known prints from Rosa 13onlieur, for example, by T. Landseer, II. T. Ryall, and C. G. Lewis, the tone of the sky is produced by machine-ruling, and so is mild' und2r tone in the the fur of the animals is all etched, and so are the fore ground plants, the real burin work being used sparingly where most favorable to texture. Even in the exquisite engravings after Turner, by Cooke, Goodall, Wallis, Miller, Wilmore, and others, who reached a degree of delicacy in light and shade far surpassing the work of the old masters, the engravers have recourse to etching, finish ing with the burin and dry-point. Turner's name may be added to those of Raphael, Rubens, and Claude in the list of painters who have had a special influence upon engraving. The specialty of Turner's influence was in the direction of delicacy of tone. In this respect the Turner vignettes to Rogers' poems were a high-water mark of human attainment, not likely to be surpassed.
Pure line engraving is still practiced by a few artists in England and France. In France, the lovers of line engraving have endeavored to keep it alive by organizing themselves into a society for its encouragement. The most recent direction of the art, in the works of Ferdinand Gaillard, is a return to studied outline, but in combination with the most elaborate modeling. In his " St. Sebastian" the outline is studied and marked with careful firmness throughout, and the modeling is thoroughly worked out in minute touches and fine lines, giving powerful relief without any but the most delicate chiaroscuro.
To prepare a plate for etching, it is first covered with etching-ground, a composition which resists acid. A ground is to be of a quality so adhesive that it will not quit the copper when a small quantity is left isolated between the lines, yet not so adhesive that the etching point cannot easily and entirely remove it; at the same time a good ground will be hard enough to bear the hand upon it, or a sheet of paper, yet not so hard as to be brittle. The plate being grounded, its back and edges are protected from the acid by Japan varnish, which soon dries; then the drawing is traced upon it. The best way of tracing a drawing is to use sheet gelatine, which is employed as follows: The gela tine is laid upon the drawing, which its transparency allows you to see perfectly, and you trace the lines by scratching the smooth surface with a sharp point. You then fill these scratches with fine black-lead in powder, rubbing it in with the finger; turn the tracing with its face to the plate, and rub the back of it with a burnisher. The black lead from the scratches adheres to the etching-ground, and shows upon it as pale gray, much more visible than anything else which you can use for tracing. Then comes the work of the etching-needle, which is merely a piece of steel sharpened more or less. Turner used a prong of an old steel fork, which did as well as anything; but neater etching-needles are sold by artists' color-makers. The needle removes the acid and lays the copper bare. Some artists sharpen their needles so as to present a cutting edge, which, when used sideways, scrapes away a broad line; and many etchers use needles of various degrees of sharpness to get thicker or thinner lines. It may be well to observe, in connection with this part of the subject, that while thick lines agree per fectly well with the nature of wood-cut, they are very apt to give an unpleasant heavi ness to plate engraving of all kinds, whilst thin lines have generally a clear and agree able appearance in plate engraving. Nevertheless, lines of moderate thickness are
Used effectively in etching when covered with fine shading, and very thick lines indeed were employed with good results by Turner when he intended to cover them with mez zotint and to print in brown ink, because their thickness was essential to prevent them from being overwhelmed by the mezzotint, and the brown ink made them print less heavily than the black. Etchers differ in opinion as to whether the needle ought to scratch the copper or simply to glide upon its surface. A gliding needle is much more free, and therefore communicates a greater appearance of freedom to the etching; but it has the inconvenience that the etching-Found may not always be entirely removed, and then the lines may be defective from insufficient biting. A scratch needle, on the other hand, is free from this serious inconvenience; but it must not scratch irregularly so as to engrave lines of various depth. The biting in former times was generally done with a mixture of nitrous acid and water, in equal proportions; but in the present day a Dutch mordant is much used, which is composed as follows: Hydrochloric aid, 100 grammes; chlorate of potash, 20 grammes; water, 880 grammes. To make it, heat the water, add the chlorate of potash, wait until it is entirely dissolved, then add the acid. The nitrous mordant acts rapidly, and causes ebullition; the Dutch mordant acts slowly, and causes no ebullition. The nitrous mordant widens the lines; the Dutch mordant bites in depth, and does not widen the lines to any perceptible degree. The time required for both depends upon temperature. A mordant bites slowly when cold, and more and more rapidly when heated. To obviate irregularity caused by difference of temperature, a good plan is to heat the Dutch mordant artificially to 95° F. by lamps under the bath, for which a photographer's porcelain tray is most convenient, and to keep it steadily to that temperature; the result may be counted upon; but whatever the temperature fixed upon, the result will be regular if the temperature be regular. To get different degrees of biting on the same plate, the lines which are to be pale are stopped out" by being painted over with Japan varnish, or with etching-ground dis solved in oil of lavender, the darkest lines being reserved to the last, as they have to bite longest. When the acid has done its work properly, the lines are bitten in such various degrees of depth that they will print with the degree of blackness required; but if some parts of the subject require to be made paler, they can be lowered by rubbing them with charcoal and olive oil, and if they haVe to bc made deeper, they' can be re-bitten or cov ered with added shading. Re-biting is done with the roller above mentioned, which is now charged very lightly with paste, and rolled over the copper with no pressure but its own weight, so as to cover the smooth surface, but not to fill up any of the lines, The oil of lavender is then expelled as before by gently heating the plate, but it is not smoked. The lines which require re-biting may now be re-bitten, and the others pre served against the action of the acid by stopping out. These are a few of the most essential technical points in etching, but there are many matters of detail for which the reader is referred to the special works on the subject. During the last twenty years there has been a great revival of etching as an independent art. The comparative rapidity of the process, and the ease with which it imitates the manner of painters, have caused it to be now very generally preferred to line engraving by publishers for the transcription of all pictures except those belonging to a severe and classical style of art.
Aquatint may be effectively used in combination with line-etching, and still more harmoniously with soft-ground etching in Which the line imitates that of the lead pencil. Of all kinds of engraving, mezzotint comes nearest to nature, though it is far from being the best as a means of artistic expression. Copper, steel, and zinc are the metals chiefly used in engraving. The use of copper is largely increased of late, as the copper is now coated with steel by electrotype process, which enables it to resist printing almost indefinitely, and the steel can be removed at pleasure. Zinc is similarly coated with copper, and is sometimes used for small editions. [Condensed from Encyclopadio Bri tannica, 9th ed.] See WOOD ENGRAVING.