Wonderful skill did the wood-engraver acquire in reproducing the original and in interpreting the artist's idea; but his work took time, which had to be paid for, and sometimes the artist found that in passing through the intermediary wood-engraver, his intention had been wrongly construed, and even a departure made from the accuracy of his drawing. Then came Photography, and it was found possible to photograph the original on to the surface of the block instead of drawing it. It was next found possible, under given conditions, to substitute for the engraver a purely mechanical means, whereby the surface of the block was suitably carved to print with ink the requisite design.
Thus a photographic and chemical process supplants the hand-work of the engraver, and a perfect replica of the original, in no way dependent upon the personal ability of the engraver, is obtained. The same process, working blindly, produces a facsimile equivalent to the artist's own drawing; and does so with such speed, and at such small expense, that for one penny we may purchase to-day a newspaper filled with exact copies of drawings of events which happened only yesterday. Thousands of books and papers, the world over, are now replete with illustrations: the expense of producing which by the older methods would have made impossible such welcome additions to the printed page.
Nor does it appear that the gigantic dimensions, and high state of perfection, which Process illustration has reached, in any way represents the limit of its possibilities in either respect. It has been reasonably conjectured that in the near future every newspaper and periodical publication will be illustrated, and almost each day sees some advancement, some improvement, in the daily practice of the various processes of reproduction, so that in writing a book of the present kind it is difficult to keep the information therein contained fully abreast of the times. While it is in the hands of the printer some new thing may be found out, some new application of a method successfully attempted, which shall make the novelty of yesterday give place to the invention of to-day.
The pride of the littérateur may make him feel that the use of pictures, as an assistance to writing, indicates incapacity or feebleness on the part of the author. Yet, able as is the description of such familiar characters as Mr. Pecksniff, Pickwick, Jingle, and others, how various would have been the idea conjured up by different readers, were it not for the inimitable drawings of Cruickshank or "Phiz." Were not Shakespeare's characters intended to be illustrated—not by drawings perhaps, but by "living pictures"?
And, finally, out of the simple instruments for illustration there has been evolved a greater thing. The same means as are employed to reproduce the draughtsman's drawing, may also reproduce, and place in the hands of the multitude, reproductions of the works of great master artists; so that something of the treasures of the Pitti, and the Louvre, may be seen in English homes to-day. The same simple methods, used for mere illustration, have been wrestled with by those who possess art as a birthright from the gods, and through their efforts our books may now contain pictures (process reproductions) which are full of fine artistic feeling; not merely illustrating the text, but awakening a sense of pleasure and exaltation at the representation of nature's beauties. Decorative pages, ornate with noble designs, brighten a book like gleaming crystals in a rich but dark mine, and relieve the monotony of too perfect a symmetry. A chapter heading, a tail piece, a decorated initial, and here and there a picture page, exert an influence like sparkling spring and smiling flowers, for joy and sweet refreshment by the way.
