9. Wood engravings, well executed, are scarcely inferior to those of copper and steel, and, for many purposes, they are preferred. They are remarkably convenient, since they can be inserted into a page of types, where illustrations or embellishments may be required, and be printed without separate expense. They will also bear a great number of impressions—generally 100,000. In this respect, they are decidedly superior to metallic plates. They can likewise be multiplied indefinitely by the process of stereotyping.
THE COPPERPLATE ENGRAVER.
1. The engravers on metallic surfaces are termed copperplate engravers, not because copper is the only metal on which they exert their skill, but because it is the one on which they usually operate. The plates are prepared for the artist by the coppersmith, by rubbing them with brickdust and charcoal, after having cut them of a proper size from sheets of copper.
2. The instruments employed by this artist are few and simple, the principal of which are, the graver, the dry-point, the scraper, and the burnisher. The graver is a small bar of steel, of a square or lozenge form, and, with the short handle into which it is inserted, about five inches in length. One of the angles of the bar is always on the under side of the instrument, and the point is formed by bevelling the end from the upper side, or angle. The square form is used for broad strokes, and the lozenge for fine ones.
3. The dry-point, or needle, is a steel wire with a long cylindrical handle; or it is simply a wire of sufficient length and size to be used without a handle. The scraper has nearly the form of a triangular pyramid; and the cutting part, which has three edges, is two or three inches long. The burnisher has a form nearly conical, and, without the handle, is about three inches long. The last two instruments are frequently made of the same piece of steel, properly forged at each end. In such case, the middle part of the steel is the handle by which they are held.
4. Of engraving on copper, the following are the principal varieties or styles: 1. Line engraving; 2. Stippling; 3. Etching; 4. Mezzotinto; 5. Aquatinta. For the purpose of conveying some idea of these different branches, we will describe them under distinct heads.
5. Line engraving. The first thing done, in this species of engraving, is to transfer to the plate an exact copy of the outlines of the design to be executed. In accomplishing this, the plate is moderately heated, and covered with a thin coating of white wax. A piece of transparent paper is then laid over the design to be copied, and traced in outline with a black-lead pencil. The outline thus sketched is turned down upon the coating of white wax, and the whole is subjected to the action of a rolling-press; or it is kept for a while under heavy weights. By the application of this pressure, the lines are transferred from the paper to the wax on the plate in a reversed position, which is necessary to make the impression of the finished plate resemble the original.
6. The pencil-marks on the wax having been lightly traced on the copper with the dry-point, and the wax having been melted off, a perfect outline is found on the plate. Small subordinate parts of the design are transferred to the plate in the same manner, except that the transparent paper is brought in forcible contact with the waxed surface by means of the burnisher.
7. At this stage of the process, the artist commences the use of the graver. While operating with this instrument, he holds the handle in the palm of his hand, and pushes the point forward with a firm and steady motion, until a line is produced by a removal of a portion of the metal. By a succession of such strokes, judiciously applied, the work is completed. The burrs, or little elevations of the copper, left by the graver on each side of the lines, are removed by means of the scraper and burnisher. Mistakes or blemishes are erased from the plate, either with the burnisher, or by friction with charcoal.
8. Stippling. The second mode of engraving is called stippling. This resembles the last method in its process, except that the effect is produced by means of minute punctures or excavations, instead of lines. These are made either with the dry-point or graver. When produced by the former instrument, they are of a circular form; when by the latter, they are rhomboidal or triangular. This style of work is always more slow, and consequently more expensive, than engraving in lines. It has, however, some advantages in the softness and delicacy of its lights and shades, and the prints struck from it approach more nearly to paintings.