Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/664

 652 ENGRAVING cesses also are in use, for which certain advan- tages are claimed. That invented by P. G. Hamerton in 1871, and named by him the "positive process," is much practised. The plate is brightened first with cyanide of silver, on which is laid a ground of white wax dis- solved in ether, the effect of the ether being to purify the wax. After drying for three days, a second coat of wax is applied, and the back and edges of the plate are paint- ed with Japan varnish. When ready for use, the plate is placed in a shallow bath, into which it is fastened by balls of wax pressed into the corners. The mordant, composed of chlorate of potash 20 grammes, hydrochloric acid 100, and water 880, is then poured over the plate so as to cover it completely, when it is ready for the artist, who sketches with the usual needles or with strong sewing needles fastened in a handle. If the bath is in proper condition, the line will blacken as soon as it is drawn. If a second or a third biting in be- comes necessary, the plate must be cleaned, resilvered, and coated with fresh wax. The advantages of the positive process are that the artist sees his work in black on a white ground, as in drawing with a pencil on paper, and the lines never glisten as in the* old method. The invention of etching is generally attributed to Albert Dilrer, but it is probable that it was practised before his time. Rembrandt is the representative etcher, and some of his works command very high prices. One known as the hundred-guilder print has been sold for 1,180. Rembrandt founded the Dutch school. Among his followers, Ostade produced some fine works, and the etchings of Bega, though wanting in delicacy, are prized for the spirit and life of the figures. The landscapes and cattle pieces of Nicholas Berghem and the ani- mals of Paul Potter are celebrated. Vandyke's etchings are as noted as his paintings. Of the French school, Jacques Callot, Charles Meryon, Lalanne, Jules Jacquemart, Charles Francois Daubigny, Appian, and Jongkind have pro- duced remarkable works. Among English etchers of note are Turner, David Roberts, Wilkie, Geddes, Ruskin, Landseer, Cruikshank, Doyle, Whistler, Samuel Palmer, and Hamer- ton. Germany is not particularly noted for etchers, and in Italy Canaletti alone is promi- nent. A number of American artists have practised etching within the past few years, but they have confined themselves generally to humorous subjects. The best treatises on the subject are that by Lalanne (Paris, 1865), and P. G. Haraerton's "Etchers and Etching" (London, 1868). Etching is employed largely for producing ornamental designs on glass. The method is the same as in etching on cop- per, but the acid used is hydrofluoric, generated in a leaden vessel over which the prepared i:I:iss is placed. Engravers' etching is engra- ving executed with the tracing point instead of the burin, and bitten in with acid. A portion of every composite steel engraving is etched. An engraver's etching differs from a painter's in that it is unfinished, the work being only initiatory to that of the burin. Engravers of historical and other subjects, including figures, etch little more than the outlines and the broad masses of the draperies ; but landscapes, skies, architectural work, and animals are generally produced in this way. In map en- graving, the sinuous lines indicating coasts and the banks of rivers, the marks denoting swamps, and the outlines of mountains are etched. Roads, canals, the waters of lakes and rivers, groups of houses, &c., are put in with the burin. Lines which can be ruled are made with the dry point, and cities, towns, and villages, represented by various kinds of circles, are engraved with an instrument pecu- liar to map makers. Line engraving is the art of rendering or translating forms, mate- rials, and colors or effects of a picture into black and white through the medium of lines engraved or sunken in the surface of metal plates or other materials, from which impres- sions may be printed. Forms are rendered by the directions and courses of the lines, effects and color by the depth and width of the lines and their distances from each other, and mate- rials or surfaces by the quality of the lines. The highest grade of line engraving is executed with the burin or graver directly on the metal, and is limited to reproductions of the human figure. Delicate lines are put in with the dry point. This does not cut clean, like the burin, but leaves a burr which is removed with the scraper. Parallel lines required in series, such as those in flat tints in skies or in buildings, are cut with the ruling machine, which pro- duces more even tints than hand work, but at the expense of freedom. The lines too, unless very skilfully ruled, wear quicker and become clogged with ink sooner than those made with the graver. Stipple engraving is executed in dots instead of lines, and is practised common- ly in connection with etching. The plate is covered with the etching ground, and the sub- ject is transferred to it in the usual way. The outline is then laid in with small dots with the graver, and the darker parts are etched in larger dots laid closely together. The ground is next removed and the work finished with the graver. For producing great delicacy in shading, a fine dry point is used. Stipple en- graving was much practised by the English in the latter part of the last century. It is com- bined frequently with line engraving on the same plate. It is well adapted to give a soft pleasing effect in shading the human figure, and is employed therefore in portraiture and in engravings of sculpture. It is sometimes called chalk engraving, because used to imitate drawings in chalk. In this case the dots are made with less regularity and uniformity in size. Sometimes the dots are struck in with a hammer, when the work is called opus mallei, but this is little practised. Stipple engraving dates from the end of the 17th century, and