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 CHAPTER XII

MEZZOTINT ENGRAVING

The technique—Its introduction into England—Its early exponents—The great eighteenth-century mezzotinters after Sir Joshua Reynolds—Turner as a mezzotint engraver—The Liber Studiorum the greatest series of mezzotints of the nineteenth century—Mixed mezzotint and modern methods—The collection of mezzotints restricted to wealthy collectors.

The Technique.—In mezzotint engraving the copper plate is first "grounded" by rocking a tool known as the "cradle" over its surface until it presents the appearance of a file. This mezzotint grounding tool is frequently attached to a rocking pole to facilitate its use. The teeth on this cradle vary from twenty-eight to the inch to a hundred and five to the inch. The early mezzotinters laid their grounds with a channelled roller; later the cradle came into use, and in the latest form the rocking pole was added, and a more scientific method of ploughing the "ways" into the copper was invented. In the later