ANTIQUE ENGRAVINGS, PRINTS, MAPS
& NEWSPAPERS
Thank you for stopping by my about me eBay page to find out more about
the services I provide and my interests with some detail. I pride myself
on customer satisfaction. First and foremost, I want my customers to be
happy. ANTIQUE ENGRAVINGS, PRINTS, MAPS AND NEWSPAPERS/eBay-nls specializes in
historic newspapers, antique engravings, maps, atlas', rare and out of
print books as well as the occasional unique and unusual antiques. I am a certified ebay selling assistant and I can sell your valuables for you!! My eBay
site can be a tremendous resource for local historians, genealogists,
sports buffs, advertising collectors, interior designers or those who
enjoy reading history as it happened.
I HAVE PROVIDED ANTIQUE ENGRAVINGS, PRINTS, MAPS AND NEWSPAPERS GLOBALLY TO THE FOLLOWING
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MUSEUMS, INSTITUTIONS
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ART DEALERS
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RESEARCHERS
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INTERIOR DESIGNERS
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MOVIE SETS
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GENEALOGISTS
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HISTORY TEACHERS
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I have provided ANTIQUE ENGRAVINGS, PRINTS, MAPS and NEWSPAPERS globally to museums,
Institutions, art dealers and Galleries, History teachers, researchers, geneologists,
movie sets, interior designers, authors, knowledgeable collectors and
beginners too. History teachers use this material in the
class-room as part of their curriculum. The comments buyers have made in
my "feedback" file are an indication of the quality product and
exceptional service I deliver.
All newspapers listed feature unique ads, stories and opinions
that bring past values, beliefs and attitudes back to life like no other
medium can duplicate. Every item I sell is genuine/original, NOT
reproductions and guaranteed to be as described.
Be sure to book-mark my auction page as I will be listing
new items each week. Thanks again
for taking the time to stop in and look at these well preserved relics of
America's past.
At your fingertips here at this website you
have a gallery of many thousands of antique
engraving/prints.
Find the subject matter you are looking for
using my
Store Search engine provided.
s.
THE ART OF WOOD ENGRAVINGS FROM TREE TO PRINTED PAGE
By R. J. Brown Editor-in-Chief of Historybuff.com
The art of wood engraving was in its height in quality
from the early 1800's until about the 1880's. During this time period,
this method was the only way to illustrate a book or newspaper. Printing
technology hadn't been developed to reproduce actual photographs on an
inexpensive, mass produced basis. Most illustrations in books, magazines,
or newspapers during this time was the result of a wood engraving. (Steel
engravings came into being at the end of this time period.) This article
will deal with just how wood engravings were made -- from tree to printing
press. The wood used to make an engraving had to be carefully selected.
The best wood for this purpose came from a Box tree (not to be confused
with a Box Elder tree). English Box wood is the best as well as African.
Many also used American Box which grew in Ohio, Indiana, and Northern
Kentucky. This wood was especially suited for fine line carving in that it
was soft enough that small splinters wouldn't break off in the process.
In addition to being limited to using Box wood, the
individual logs had to be carefully selected. As many are aware, a tree
trunk has rings that correspond to the age of the tree. These rings may be
unevenly spaced due to climate changes from season to season. To work best
for engravings, it was important that these rings be as evenly spaced as
possible -- uneven spaces meant unequal ink penetration from ring to ring
when the engraving was printed. This would leave the appearance of too
much ink in one spot and not enough in another.
A uniform color of yellow from the outside rim to the
interior was also critical. Uneven coloring meant unequal hardness or
softness of the wood itself. This made it difficult, if not impossible, to
make a uniformly engraved line.
As you can see, selecting the exact piece to make the best
engraving was an art in itself.
There is another important factor in the use of Box wood
for engravings. Box trees only grow to a mature height of about 15 feet
with the trunk reaching a maximum of 6 inches or so. The trunk, being the
largest portion, was used for making engravings. The trunk was cut into
individual blocks for carving. Even using trunk portion, one slice wasn't
large enough to do an engraving larger than 5 inches square. To make a
larger engraving, several pieces were banded together -- much like a
checkerboard. This iron band was looped around the outside edge and
tightened to hold them together. (Close examination of some engravings
will reveal some checker boarding and one can see the individual blocks.)
After the blocks were bound together the surface was sanded to make it
smooth and uniform in height.
There were many additional elements to consider before the
block was ready to draw and engrave on. Keep in mind that in those days
electricity was nonexistent. Thus, large lamps such as kerosene were used
for light. This in itself created two problems. (1) Since an engraving
would take dozens upon dozens of hours to complete, and the lamp needed to
be very close to the wood, the heat from a single lamp could shrink or
warp the block. (2) The light given off from one of the lamps would be
extremely bright and glaring at close range. To solve these two problems,
a globe filled with water was placed between the lamp and the engraving
block. The water not only provided somewhere else for the heat to go, but
it also helped diffuse the light cast by the lamp. To help protect the
eyes from the light at such a close range, a visor was worn by the
engraver.
Since the moisture from an engravers' breath could also
affect the block of wood, a face mask was used to cover their mouth when
working at close range. With these preparations completed, the engraver
now had one more step to perform before the wood was ready to draw on.
Before drawing on the wood, it had to be coated with India
ink. This was so that as the engraver made the grooves into the wood, the
original yellowish color showed where the thin slice of wood had been
removed. This, of course, provided a means to see how the print would
actually look when printed. At this stage the wood was ready to drawn
upon.
When the engraver drew on the wood they would only make a
basic outline of each figure or item in the drawing. Fine line details
like eyes, mouth, fingers, or textures were left out at this stage. These
drawings had to be done backwards to how the artist wanted it to appear in
print. For example, if the tradesman wanted a certain figure on the right
side on the finished engraving, the artist had to draw and engrave it on
the left side of the original. (Any printing plate or engravers block
appears backwards to the eye.)
After finishing the basic drawing, the artist would hand
rub a special mixture into the wood. This mixture was brick-bath. This was
made from bricks that had been ground down into a fine powder. The purpose
for this rubbing was that by doing so the pencil marks would shine in the
light and become more visible. Also, the mixture helped to provide a
shield which protected the wood from any perspiration on the engravers
hands.
The last stage was to remove the iron hoop that held the
blocks together. This was so that more than one engraver could work on the
engraving at the same time. Some engravers specialized in people, some in
water texture, others in sky, and so forth. At this point the wood was
ready to begin engraving or carving upon.
As complicated as engravings were to make, there were only
four basic types of engraving tools needed. The names of these tools were
gravers, tint-tools, gouges, and flat chisels. Each came in various sizes.
The graver was used to make outlines or to separate
figures from one another. They were used for all delicate carving except
where a series of parallel lines were going to be used. Parallel lines
were called "tints".
Tint-tools were chiefly used to cut parallel lines which
enabled the engraver to show a tint or shade of gray. The difference
between the cut that a graver made and one that a tint-tool made was in
the shape of the grove. A graver cut a V shaped line while the tint-tool
carved a grove that was equal in width at the top and bottom. It was this
difference that made the lines appear as shades of gray rather than a
series of lines. The closer together the lines were, the darker the tint
appeared.
Some examples of the use of the tint-tool are as follows:
Equally spaced cuts were made to represent clear skies or calm water. To
show shadowing of an object, the lines follow the curve of the figure or
object.
A gouger was used to remove larger areas that the engraver
wanted to be white (or unprinted). One example of this technique was an
engraving that was not "framed" on the page -- that is no border.
The last stage was to reunite the individual blocks of
wood in the iron hoop and tighten. If any text was to be used (such as the
tile of the work). In many cases, the engravings were not signed since so
many people worked on it. Exceptions were those done entirely be one
engraver -- such as Thomas Nast, Winslow Homer, and Frederic Remington.
TERMS SHIPPING AND HANDLING
Authenticity of all items, as described in each listing, and the accuracy
of that description, is guaranteed unconditionally.
All items will be shipped in a acid free archival poly bag and securely
packaged in a sturdy flat or mailing tube to assure
safe delivery. I will combine multiple purchases for just one shipping
charge.
Winning bidders please include item # and title with your correspondence
to help speed up processing and delivery. Feedback will be left on all
transactions and I would appreciate you doing the same.
Payment must be received no later than 10 days after the close of the
auction, or the transaction may be cancelled. Payment can
be made by Paypal.
THANKS AGAIN FOR TAKING THE TIME TO STOP IN AND
LOOK AT THESE WELL PRESERVED ENGRAVINGS AND NEWSPAPERS!
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