Page:Chats on old prints (IA chatsonoldprints00haydiala).pdf/42

 tions in this chapter it will be shown how each class of engraving may be identified by the beginner.

Each illustration is an enlargement of a small portion of an old print. References are given to the print from which each is taken. The reproductions here given practically illustrate the characteristics of each type of engraving when put under a magnifying glass.

It is not the intention of the writer in this introductory chapter to enter into the technique of each class of engraving. The illustrations are now dealt with solely with a view of showing the appearance they present. The methods by which the engraver produced these results is described, together with illustrations of his work at various stages as it progressed under his hand, at the beginning of Chapter II., Etching; Chapter III., Wood Engraving; Chapter VI., Line Engraving; Chapter IX., Stipple Engraving; Chapter XII., Mezzotint Engraving; Chapter XIII., Aquatint; and Chapter XIV., Lithography.

It should be here stated that all the illustrations of this volume are reproduced by means of photographic process, and it will not be helpful to the student to examine these under a glass as they are not old prints, but obviously only reproductions of old prints. By the interposition of a screen between the original print and the camera in order to produce what is known as a half-tone block, certain lines and dots have been added which did not exist in the original print. The illustrations in the volume, by reason of their reduced size, unfortunately only