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 CHAPTER IV

WOOD ENGRAVING—THE VICTORIAN FACSIMILE SCHOOL

Wood engraving in the fifties—Pre-Raphaelite designers—Rise of illustrated journalism—Shops of engravers—The first use of photography—Pen drawings and wash drawings—What to collect.

In less than a quarter of a century after Bewick's day wood engraving fell into lean years. Various causes contributed to this, not the least being the rise of steel engraving. Bewick was a masterly designer; he engraved on metal and he engraved on wood. He could with ease translate a wash-*drawing painted on the wood-block into line. The generations of wood engravers succeeding him did not always realise the necessity of mastering this art of translation. In consequence they fell into the hands of designers. A glance at illustrated books of the fifties and immediately preceding that date will show how it came to pass that the etched copper-plate was used by Cruickshank and by "Phiz" (Hablot K. Browne). The copper-plate had presented the same technical difficulties to the