f 
 
in the Forest of Ardenne, yrde jo^iiworOi 
 
the 
 
 Art anti practice 
 
 ETCHING; 
 
 WITH 
 
 DIRECTIONS FOR OTHER METHODS 
 
 OF 
 
 LIGHT AND ENTERTAINING 
 
 ENGRAVING. 
 
 BY 
 
 HENRY ALKEN. 
 
 Honturn : 
 
 a & .Jo nmi'am.,. 
 
 34 & 35, RATHBONE PLACE, 
 OXFORD STREET. 
 
 ! S49. 
 
A MANUAL 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Slrt anU practice of CFtcljtng. 
 
 Among the various forms of imitative art, which, 
 during the past three centuries, have been practically 
 cultivated or freely patronised by the high-born, the 
 accomplished, and the intellectual, that of Etching 
 has occupied a prominent position, and been che- 
 rished with especial regard. Easy of attainment, 
 and of unpretentious nature, it might have been sup- 
 posed that professional Artists would have held it 
 lightly, — esteeming it more as an amusement for the 
 Amateur than a valuable method of fixing and per- 
 petuating their own conceptions. But such are the 
 intrinsic merits, such the attractions, of this charming 
 
4 
 
 A TREATISE ON THE 
 
 Art, that, ever since its discovery, the greatest paint- 
 ers, as well as the most distinguished engravers, have 
 had recourse to it. The majestic genius of Rubens, of 
 Van Dyck, and of Rembrandt, far from disdaining 
 this art, seized eagerly upon it, as a means of express- 
 ing with rapidity and effect, the fleeting creations of 
 their teeming fancy. How many an emotion of plea- 
 sure does the connoisseur owe to this Art, seeing that 
 it has preserved to him the thoughts of the Great 
 Masters, which they have not, from want of time or 
 means, been enabled to embody in colour ! Contem- 
 poraneous with the luminaries already named, there 
 were, and since continuously have been, a host of 
 distinguished artists, Dutch, French, and Italian, 
 who practised Etching, and attained to excellence 
 therein. What it is, and by whom cultivated in our 
 own country, and at the present time, scarcely need 
 be told. The exquisite works of Brandard, Burnett, 
 Willmore, Archer, Colonel Baillie, and Cuitt, and the 
 admirable productions of the Etching Club (a Society 
 which comprises several of the most eminent names in 
 British Art,) are well and deservedly known, and par- 
 
ART OF ETCHING. 
 
 5 
 
 ticularly significant of the estimation in which this 
 most pleasing pursuit is held by the master-spirits 
 of Art amongst us. Enough, however, has been said 
 to prove that, although it may be made simply a means 
 of personal entertainment, and no more, this art is ca- 
 pable of extension to a high degree of perfection ; and, 
 as the liking for it grows, the hand acquires experi- 
 ence. and the taste matures, — which are the agreeable 
 results that compensate perseverance, — it is impossible 
 to say that the party who commenced this study merely 
 for the sake of amusement will not continue it from 
 ambition, or, at least, from the love of that praise 
 which is the tribute justly paid to an accomplishment 
 wherein excellence has been achieved. 
 
 It may well be supposed, that the example of the 
 great artists of their respective times, was not lost 
 upon the high-born and educated of the countries 
 where Art was most esteemed. Whoever takes the 
 trouble to examine the magnificent collection of Etch- 
 ings in the Print Room of the British Museum, and 
 the portfolios of those who are curious and learned in 
 this particular, will find a profusion of highly merito- 
 
G 
 
 A TREATISE ON THE 
 
 rious Etchings of great age, which neither bear the 
 initial, cipher, anagram, or name, of any known painter 
 or engraver — and there are few of talent unknown — but 
 on the contrary, exhibit that of someone respecting whom 
 history is altogether silent; or, in occasional instances, 
 that of a person eminent by birth or position, whose 
 known accomplishment identifies the work. By whom 
 then were these numerous specimens of superior Art 
 produced? Not by the lower classes, because they 
 were almost universally ignorant even of the rudest 
 elements of education; they must, therefore, of neces- 
 sity, have been the productions of the high born and 
 the intellectual, since to these only was access afforded 
 to the study. 
 
 Etchings being more enduring than either pencil or 
 water-colour drawings, consequently preserve far better 
 than either, and the work of the plumed Italian gentle- 
 man or haughty signora, who fluttered round Lorenzo 
 the Magnificent or Sixtus the Fifth, the gay cavalier and 
 courtly dame of the time of Louis the Fourteenth, still 
 survives to affect us with wonder or pleasure, sometimes 
 with both, proving the truth of the poet’s exclamation, 
 “ A thing of beauty is a joy for ever ! ” 
 
ART OF ETCHING. 
 
 7 
 
 The agreeable Art of Etching, it is well known, has 
 of late been pretty freely cultivated in the highest 
 circles of English society — especially amongst Ladies ; 
 and the study is rapidly extending. The recent pro- 
 ceedings for an injunction in the Court of Chancery 
 (though the occasion for them, inasmuch as it was dis- 
 pleasing to Royalty, ought to be, and, indeed, very 
 generally is, sincerely deprecated), have disclosed to 
 the world the example of an illustrious Sovereign and 
 her Royal Consort amusing the small leisure which 
 affairs of State leave at their disposal, with this most 
 entertaining and refined Art. Such an example will 
 not, and should not, be without its effect. To facili- 
 tate, and place at every one’s command, the means for 
 pursuing this delightful Art, is the object of the pre- 
 sent work ; and its writer is not without a confident 
 hope that those who, under his guidance, enter upon 
 this study, will, in the end, thank him for assisting 
 them to an accomplishment, which, from the first, 
 will generously repay its exercise, whether it be pur- 
 sued from a pure love of Art, or for no better purpose 
 than to while away the tedium of a wet day, or of se- 
 
8 
 
 A TREATISE ON THE 
 
 elusion in the country. And this, above all other 
 imitative Arts attainable without professional study 
 and continued application, has one especial and great 
 recommendation, that the party who practices it has 
 the consciousness that when the subject in hand is 
 completed, there is scarcely a limit to the number of 
 copies to be obtained from it. Unlike a pencil or water- 
 colour drawing, unlike a painting in oils, or a work in 
 marble, which can only gratify those who at one time 
 examine it, the impressions from an etching may be 
 multiplied by thousands, to grace the portfolios, the 
 albums, and the scrap-books of near and distant rela- 
 tives and friends, and to awaken reminiscences of the 
 etcher and giver when otherwise they would not arise. 
 
 Without further remark in this direction, I proceed 
 to a description of the materials used in etching, and 
 the methods of employing them. 
 
 Satisfied that the Art may be carried on without 
 greater inconveniences than painting in oil, or even 
 water-colour drawing, and decidedly less unpleasantly 
 in this respect than the manufacturing of those large 
 Black Lead Heads, that so lately were in fashion with 
 
ART OF ETCHING. 
 
 9 
 
 young ladies, I venture to lay down a few rules, which 
 I feel satisfied will facilitate the amateur’s progress, 
 and soften those parts of the process which other- 
 wise might he thought disagreeable. Forty years 
 practice in the various methods of engraving, with 
 some natural mechanical genius, may he considered 
 as some qualification for this task. Nor will my en- 
 deavours prove less successful from the fact, that dur- 
 ing a great portion of that time I have been in the 
 habit of giving lessons in the library, parlour, and 
 drawing-room, by which I must, naturally, have ac- 
 quired a method of mitigating, and, where practicable, 
 of altogether avoiding, the unpleasant processes of the 
 Art. 
 
 In imparting information and in laying down rules 
 I shall make use of as few words as possible. As a 
 premonitory caution, I strongly urge upon the Etcher 
 the necessity that exists for care and method in the 
 use and disposal of the materials. 
 
10 
 
 A TREATISE ON THE 
 
 APPARATUS. 
 
 The whole of the apparatus and materials (includ- 
 ing the acids in bottles) required may be procured from 
 Messrs. Fullers’, Gallery op Fine Arts, Rathbone- 
 Place, at a reasonable price. The entire is contained 
 in a box not larger than a music-book, which may be 
 removed, without inconvenience, at a moment’s notice. 
 They consist of Copper Plates, etc., Etching Needles, 
 Hand - rest. Etching - ground, Dabber, Oil - rubber. 
 Rotten - stone, Smoking - taper. Engraver’s Shade, 
 Bordering Wax, Stopping-out Varnish, Tracing-paper, 
 Aqua-fortis, etc. 
 
 ETCHING NEEDLES. 
 
 Concerning these, no particular instructions are ne- 
 cessary, as they must be obtained ready made. 
 
 COPPER PLATES. 
 
 These also must be procured prepared ready for 
 
 use. 
 
ART OF ETCHING. 
 
 U 
 
 GROUND, 
 
 The ground is composed of Asphaltum, Burgundy- 
 Pitch, and Bees -wax, but it is best to purchase a ball 
 ready prepared. Should, however, distant residence 
 make that inconvenient, the following instructions 
 will enable any one to make it. 
 
 Take equal portions of the above named materials, 
 place them in an earthen pipkin in an oven, (or the 
 hob by the fire will answer the purpose, provided great 
 attention is paid) and melt them. The mass must be kept 
 stirred until well incorporated; any small piece of wood 
 will answer this purpose. When well mixed, it must 
 be poured into a basin of cold water, and when nearly 
 cold should be pressed and rolled with the hand, that 
 all the water maybe discharged, then made into a ball. 
 
 Procure a piece of worn silk, but be careful it is 
 without holes, double it, place the ball therein, and 
 tie up the ends with pack thread, taking care that 
 the double silk reaches well over the ball. When tied 
 tight, cut off the overplus silk, and let the knot re- 
 main for a hand-hold. Be sure that the silk is tight 
 over the ball. 
 
12 
 
 A TREATISE ON THE 
 
 DABBER. 
 
 Take another piece of silk, twice the size of the last, 
 double it, place in it a ball of coarse wool well picked 
 out, about the size of a small apple, tie it up in the 
 same way as the ball for tbe ground, and it is ready 
 for use. 
 
 OIL RUBBER. 
 
 The next thing necessary is an oil rubber, which is 
 simply a strip of woollen cloth, about two inches wide, 
 rolled up tight, and bound over with pack thread or 
 thin tape. With a sharp knife cut off one end, avoiding 
 the string, so that the surface may be quite fiat. This 
 is used for taking out stains or polishing the plate. 
 
 ROTTEN STONE. 
 
 Procure a piece of fine flannel, rather less than the 
 silk that covers the etching ground ball, double it, 
 place on it a small quantity of rotten stone in powder, 
 which can be procured at any oil shop, which tie up in 
 a bag. A small portion of fine whitening in the lump 
 
ART OF ETCHING. 
 
 13 
 
 should be kept at hand for the sake of cleanliness ; 
 any small box will answer this purpose. 
 
 SMOKING TAPER. 
 
 Procure a sixpenny wax taper, uncoil it by degrees 
 before the fire until it is all equally pliant: double it up 
 in about six lengths, give it one twist while warm, 
 and turn it a few times before the fire, that the pieces of 
 taper may adhere to each other; melt the wax at one 
 end, so that the wick is exposed; see that all the 
 cotton ends will light freely : care should be taken to 
 extinguish the cotton, or it will revive with the least 
 draught, and may become dangerous. 
 
 BORDERING WAX. 
 
 This may be obtained ready made, but engravers 
 make it to their own liking. The component parts 
 are three ounces of resin, two ounces of bees-wax, 
 and such a quantity of sweet oil as will soften the 
 . mixture to your fancy. Procure an earthen pipkin, 
 place in the bottom a small quantity of sweet oil ( half 
 
14 
 
 A TREATISE ON THE 
 
 an ounce or more,) add your resin and bees-wax, broken 
 in small pieces; when melted, work the ingredients 
 well together with a stick until thoroughly incor- 
 porated, then pour into a basin of cold water ; as it 
 gets cold, work it well with the hands by pulling out 
 into lengths and doubling it together again: the more 
 it is worked the better it will be for use. Should it 
 turn out brittle, return it broken to the pipkin, and add 
 more oil; work it well together as before; pour it 
 into water, and work it again with your hands. As 
 it will last many years, take pains to make it to your 
 liking in the first instance. 
 
 ENGRAVER'S SHADE. 
 
 The next thing required is a shade, which can be 
 made of wire (see plate 1.) Bend it to a half circle, 
 bind it together with waxed string, lay it on tissue pa- 
 per, cut away all but half an inch round the wire, 
 cover that half inch with paste, and turn it over the 
 wire ; when dry, the shade is complete. Fasten 
 a light string to the centre of the half circle, and 
 
ART OF ETCHING. 
 
 15 
 
 suspend it from the window latch when in use. This 
 shade must be placed in a forward position, sloping 
 before your plate (see plate 1,) and the white light it 
 produces will enable you to see the lines made by 
 your etching needle. It is now the real amusement 
 begins. You can work any time you please at the 
 plate, and lay aside without injury to it. 
 
 HAND-REST. 
 
 Any flat and thin piece of wood will answer this pur- 
 pose, which is merely to keep the hand clear of the 
 plate whilst at work. 
 
 STOPPING OUT VARNISH . 
 
 Turpentine varnish I consider superior, for several 
 reasons, to Brunswick black ; it will work with more 
 freedom, requires much less trouble to remove, and 
 can be mixed in any quantity required. 
 
16 
 
 A TREATISE ON THE 
 
 TURPENTINE VARNISH. 
 
 Break small bits of resin into a phial, cover it over 
 with spirits of turpentine to about twice the height of 
 the resin. Place the bottle, in a small saucepan of 
 water, on the hob near enough to the fire to make and 
 keep the water hot; a cork may be lightly placed in 
 the mouth of the bottle, as the mixture will require to 
 be shaken occasionally. 
 
 A small portion of this mixture should be poured 
 into a small pot, with a little lamp black added, to 
 give it colour, and well incorporated. This last is 
 necessary to prevent lumps ; it may be done by work- 
 ing the mixture well together with the camel-hair 
 pencil. You have now a good stopping out varnish. 
 With this varnish go over the border or margin of your 
 plate — do this when about to put it away, and the var- 
 nish will become hard by being left a night to set. 
 
 When inclined to put your plate through the process 
 of biting-in, again go over the margin, using the 
 same brush and mixture. You can always work it up 
 by adding a little turpentine. When it is set so hard 
 that you can place the finger on it without adherence, 
 
ART OF ETCHING. 
 
 17 
 
 it is time to make up your wall or border of wax, to 
 hold the aqua-fortis. 
 
 AQUA-FORTIS. 
 
 Provide yourself with three half pint bottles having 
 glass stoppers, and two pint earthen jugs with spouts. 
 Then obtain at the chemist’s half a pound of nitric acid 
 in a bottle No. I. Pour into bottle No. 2 rather less than 
 the fourth of the nitre ; pour the bottle three parts 
 full of water ; with a slow action pass it into one of 
 your pint jugs, and back again to the bottle, to unite it 
 well. In bottle No. ^ put one half of the remaining 
 nitre ; water it as before ; see that the nitric acid in 
 bottle No. 1. is well stoppered, and cover it with a 
 piece of old glove. 
 
 TRACING* AND TRACING PAPER. 
 
 Tracing paper of various qualities may be purchased 
 at any depot of Arts. But, in case of necessity, 
 very good tracing paper may be made, by saturating 
 
 n 
 
18 
 
 A TREATISE ON THE 
 
 with a camel hair pencil the finest tissue paper with 
 the following mixture .: — Half an ounce of the Balsam 
 of Canada to one ounce of the Spirits of Turpentine, 
 shaken well together in a two ounce bottle : it requires 
 no heat. When covered with the mixture, hang the 
 paper on a line to dry : then wash in like manner the 
 other side. 
 
 Place your drawing on the tracing board (a piece 
 of soft planed deal,) over it lay the tracing paper, 
 fasten down with the brass headed points, not through 
 the drawing, but close to it, so that the pressure of the 
 brass head secures both the drawing and tracing 
 paper from moving. Go carefully over all the lines of 
 your drawing with an H pencil, occasionally placing a 
 piece of white paper between the drawing and the 
 tracing paper, to ascertain that you have not neglected 
 any part of the lines on the drawing. 
 
 TRANSFERRING PAPER, 
 
 This is very easily made as follows. Take half a 
 sheet of very fine bank post paper, lay it on a clean 
 
ART OF ETCHING. 
 
 19 
 
 place and rub it well with the scrapings of red chalk ; 
 a small bit of sponge is good for this purpose. Ap- 
 ply the chalk until the paper is all of one colour, 
 then, with a piece of clean old muslin, rub the greater 
 part of the colour from the surface. The colour may 
 be renewed occasionally as the marking becomes faint. 
 
 TESTING THE GROUND. 
 
 Heat one corner of your plate, and rub over it the 
 ground, in a thin and even surface. Next apply your 
 dabber, to make a yet more equal distribution of the 
 ground. When cold, mark over it with rather a blunt 
 needle (No. 3). Should the ground be brittle, and 
 crack with the passage of the needle, add to it more 
 bees- wax; should it drag with the needle, more as- 
 phaltum : the ground will easily melt again. When 
 a ball is made to your satisfaction, it will last a long 
 time. The weather has considerable effect on the mix- 
 ture, but the quality of the ingredients more, so that it 
 is advisable to get the ground as perfect as you can, 
 while you have the melting pot in use. 
 
20 
 
 A TREATISE ON THE 
 
 HEATING THE PLATE FOR GROUND. 
 
 Yon must have a small hand vice with a haft of 
 wood to resist the passage of heat to the hand. If 
 your plate is stained or discoloured, the mark must 
 be removed with the oil rubber, with a little rotten 
 stone and oil, polished off with a bit of old muslin 
 powdered with whitening. Be careful that no dust re- 
 mains on the plate. Screw the vice on the long side 
 of your copper-plate with a slight hold, covering the 
 part grasped by the jaws of the vice with a small piece 
 of paper, to prevent injury to the surface. 
 
 Heating may be performed by burning paper under 
 the back of the plate; but a stove or clear fire is much 
 the preferable mode. Be careful not to overheat your 
 plate. If the surface becomes discoloured, the plate 
 is over hot: as a test, turn it over and spit on the 
 hack; if the moisture jumps off, the plate is sufficiently 
 hot: should it hiss and remain on the plate, more 
 heat must be obtained. 
 
 A piece of sail cloth, rather larger than the plate, 
 should he warmed by laying it before the fire during 
 the heating process; place it on the table, and lay 
 
ART OF ETCHING. 
 
 21 
 
 upon it the plate, retaining the vice. Now pass your 
 ball of ground over it backwards and forwards until the 
 plate is covered, spreading the ground as evenly and 
 thinly as possible. Then use your dabber, with a quick 
 action, pressing it down and plucking it up. If the 
 ground does not distribute itself easily, burn paper 
 under it, as before, until it shines all over, being 
 cautious that the ashes of the paper do not settle on 
 the surface; dab on again, decreasing the pressure, but 
 not the speed of action, until the surface is all over 
 alike. (See plate 1.) 
 
 SMOKING THE PLATE. 
 
 Have your taper ready, and a single taper or can- 
 dle to take the light from ; the surface of your plate 
 being perfectly covered, it may be as well to renew 
 the heat in your plate by a paper burnt under the back 
 until the surface shines, taking the same precautions as 
 before. 
 
 Hold the plate up in your left hand, with the face 
 downward ; light your smoking taper, at the same 
 
22 
 
 A TREATISE ON THE 
 
 time, having all the wicks burning, pass it rather quickly 
 round the margin, and by degrees towards the centre, 
 using a fluttering action with the hand (see plate 1) ; 
 smoke on until the whole surface is of a dark colour, 
 keeping the taper at such a distance from the plate, that 
 the burning cotton may have no chance of touching 
 it, although the flame spreads over it; when the 
 surface is all black alike, and no sootty marks are to 
 be seen on the working part of the plate, the ground 
 is fit for use. Take the plate, face downward, to some 
 convenient place, and pour cold water over the back, 
 holding the plate in a sloping position, the vice up 
 (see plate). This last process produces a stronger and 
 harder surface than could be obtained if the plate were 
 left gradually to cool. Now place the plate face down- 
 wards, supported on one side by the screw of the 
 vice (see plate). Clean the smoke from the back, 
 and let it remain until quite cold. (See plate 1 ) . 
 
 As the first plate consists of examples of the 
 etching, biting-in with the acid, &c., I shall take ad- 
 vantage of it to exemplify the manual craft of laying 
 the ground, smoking, &c. Some difficulty may be 
 
ART OF ETCHING. 
 
 23 
 
 found in laying the first ground with success; but 
 having managed one well, you may be sure for the fu- 
 ture. 
 
 TRANSFERRING^ 
 
 If you have not an etching board, place your copper- 
 plate on a thick piece of brown paper, larger than the 
 plate; make two ribs of the same paper, doubled four or 
 more times, and about an inch wide; place them at 
 each end of your plate on the brown paper, and fasten 
 them with sealing wax : these ribs serve as shoulders 
 for the rest to lay on, which will prevent your hand 
 from touching the work. 
 
 You may now cut your tracing paper to the size of 
 your plate, having ruled your margin line, if one is 
 required. Place your tracing reversed, that is, the 
 pencil side to the plate. Fix it with bits of soft 
 wax round the border, leaving open the bottom to 
 admit the transferring paper, which introduces the 
 chalk side next to the plate: the upper side of the 
 paper must be kept clean, that you may see the pen- 
 
24 
 
 A TREATISE ON THE 
 
 cil lines on your tracing paper. Next with an H H 
 pencil, sharp and short in the cut, go over all the 
 lines of your tracing with rather an upright hand, 
 that you may be able to make strong pressure: the 
 upper side of your tracing paper, not being marked 
 with pencil, will shew whether you have gone over 
 the whole of the lines with the pencil on the upper 
 side; look sideways at your work, and the black 
 lead mark will be perceptible. Before you advance 
 far in your transfer, lift up the bottom of your tracing 
 to ascertain if the lines are of sufficient strength; if 
 not, apply more red chalk to your transfer paper. 
 When you think the transfer is completed, do not take 
 off the whole of your paper, but allow the part affixed 
 by the top spots of wax to remain. You can then lift 
 up the whole of the work, and if any part of it has 
 been neglected, the tracing can again be laid down, 
 and the omission rectified. 
 
 ETCHING. 
 
 You must begin with needle No. 1, (the fine point,) 
 and go carefullv over the outline, not making much 
 impression on the copper, but sufficient to remove the 
 
ART OF ETCHING. 
 
 25 
 
 ground; with the same point go over all the lighter 
 parts, increasing the pressure, so that a slight inden- 
 tation may be made on the plate. 
 
 No. 2 point may now be used to go over the lighter 
 shade with increased weight of hand. No. 2 point 
 will answer for the darker shades, by making the lines 
 nearer together, and increasing the pressure. Inter- 
 line parts that require extra colour with No. 1 point: 
 the etching may be worked at for a considerable time 
 by interlining and dotting. 
 
 Should you by accident or mistake make any marks 
 you wish to expunge, dip a pointed camel hair pencil 
 into the turpentine bottle, and with its point work 
 up some of the ground on the margin of the plate, 
 and therewith stop out the objectionable marks. 
 When set it will resist the aqua-fortis. 
 
 BORDERING THE PLATE. 
 
 In cold weather the wax will be too hard to be 
 rolled out with the hand, it must then be placed in 
 moderately warm water until it becomes pliable ; then 
 
26 
 
 A TREATISE ON THE 
 
 pull and roll it out to about the thickness of a small 
 walking stick ; slightly grease the point of the thumb 
 and two fore fingers with deer or mutton fat, press the 
 roll of wax flat, as you place it on the border of your 
 plate, with the edge to the varnish, taking great care 
 that the bordering wax does not go off the varnish. At 
 what you intend to be the darkest corner of your 
 plate, pinch out the wax broader, that the height of 
 the wall may increase to that corner where the spout is 
 to be formed with the wax, to prevent spilling the 
 aqua-fortis in pouring it off. See plate 1 . 
 
 BITING-IN. 
 
 Lay your plate flat on a piece of sail cloth, larger than 
 the plate, as a protection from any splashings that may 
 be made. Place the spout of your plate in front for 
 the convenience of pouring off. One of your jugs 
 being filled with water, pour it over the plate to prove 
 if there is any leakage in your border; should you find 
 any, pour off the water ; let the plate dry, particularly 
 in the defective part ; then press down the outer edge 
 of the wax with a piece of stick. See plate 1 . 
 
ART OF ETCHING. 
 
 27 
 
 Lay by the side of your plate two or three wedges; 
 (small pieces of fire wood,) to be used for tilting the 
 plate, should the acid not lay even. 
 
 It would be worse than useless to prescribe rules for 
 the proportions of water to be used to the nitric acid, 
 as that will entirely depend on the strength of the 
 acid purchased. 
 
 Having proved that your border is sound, pour off 
 the water; then cover the surface of the plate with the 
 aqua-fortis from No. 2 bottle. If, in the course of half 
 a minute, the etching on your plate should assume a 
 light grey coating, the mixture will do; but if it 
 should throw up bubbles, it is over strong, and more 
 water must be added; but not on the plate. The 
 mixture must be placed in the jug, then in the bottle, 
 and afterwards returned to the plate. Should the lines 
 on the plate remain as bright copper after the acid 
 has been on half a minute, it is not strong enough, 
 and some aqua-fortis out of bottle No. 3 must be 
 added. 
 
 Having mixed your aqua-fortis so that the lines do 
 not produce foam, but continue a grey frosty appear- 
 
28 
 
 A TREATISE ON THE 
 
 ance, the process is going on well. The power of 
 biting-in correctly, must depend on the experience you 
 have of your acid. 
 
 With a soft camel hair pencil lightly remove the 
 frosty appearance, taking care that the quill does not 
 touch the ground. 
 
 Should any part of the ground be breaking up, that 
 is, the lines becoming united, pour off your acid care- 
 fully into the jug. Lay the plate again on the flat, 
 and cover it, with water from the other jug, moving it 
 gently with the camel hair pencil, which should he 
 placed in the water jug when taken from the acid, or 
 it will soon become useless. 
 
 The wash water from the plate must be thrown 
 away. The first biting now is supposed to be com- 
 pleted, therefore set the plate up end ways to dry. 
 
 SECOND BITING. 
 
 When the plate is perfectly dry, take off with your 
 scraper a spot of ground in the lighter part, to ascer- 
 tain if the acid has made sufficient indentation. If it 
 
ART OF ETCHING. 
 
 29 
 
 has, work up your stopping out varnish with a camel 
 hair pencil, and with it cover all the parts you intend 
 to remain light; you must elevate your rest, so that 
 you do not press the border wax. 
 
 When the stopping out varnish is dry, which may 
 be ascertained by placing your linger on it, and finding 
 that it does not stick, put on the same aqua-fortis 
 (bottle No. 2,) and let it remain until you observe the 
 ground giving way ; then pour off the acid, and wash 
 well as before. Put the plate to drain; wash your ca- 
 mel hair pencil ; and throw away all the wash water. 
 
 Should it be required, more biting may be performed, 
 and the processes the same. 
 
 CLEANING OFF. 
 
 Now comes the least agreeable part of the process. 
 Great care must be taken that the plate is perfectly dry; 
 if it be not, it may be placed before the fire, but not 
 close enough to melt the wax. Having carefully 
 wiped the sail cloth, lay the plate a little more than 
 half way upon it, but so that the balance remains to 
 
30 
 
 A TREATISE ON THE 
 
 the table. Apply a lighted taper, or a folded paper 
 match, progressively under the wax; pull up the 
 wax as the warmth proceeds; you will find that the 
 slightest warmth answers the purpose. By removing 
 the wax with a knife, you are liable to injure the 
 margin, an evil which gives much trouble to remedy. 
 This being the most unpleasant process of engraving, it 
 may be as well to use old gloves : if any of the wax 
 should adhere to the plate, to remove it use a bit of 
 deal fire wood cut in the shape of a chisel. Now fix 
 your vice on the same end, and place as you did when 
 laying on the ground. Rub the plate over with a bit 
 of rush candle, using the side ( taking care to cover every 
 part) ; have some old soft rags ready ; hold the plate up 
 by the vice; heat the back with burning paper as before, 
 until the ground varnish and tallow are melted. Rub 
 off with a soft rag. Should any smut remain, apply a 
 little turpentine ; withdraw the vice and wash the 
 spot with turpentine. Rub the plate front, back, and 
 sides, with the rag. 
 
 Dab the plate with your bag of rotten stone; pour 
 on it a little sweet oil ; and with your oil rubber polish 
 
ART OF ETCHING. 
 
 31 
 
 the plate with up and down strokes, using considerable 
 pressure: wipe the plate quite clean, and polish off 
 with fine whiting. 
 
 Should you have succeeded in biting-in well, the 
 plate is fit for the printer. 
 
 DRY POINT. 
 
 Should your work have so far succeeded as to re- 
 quire but little improvement, the dry point may next 
 be used. For this purpose the needle No. 3, well 
 pointed (as indenture must be made by pressure of 
 the hand), may be employed. For interlining the 
 parts which are too weak, and uniting lines neglected 
 in the etching, the dry point will be sufficient ; but as 
 the pressure will leave a projection or bur on the plate, 
 it must be carefully removed by the sharp scraper : 
 should your plate require more than the dry point can 
 accomplish, recourse must be had to re-biting. 
 
32 
 
 A TREATISE ON THE 
 
 RE-BITING. 
 
 Heat your plate as before, but make one corner ( the 
 one with the least work in it) hotter than the other 
 parte 
 
 Rub your ground on the hot corner, and with the 
 dabber take the ground therefrom, and dab quickly 
 over the other part, until the whole surface is covered. 
 Prior to laying the ground the plate should be polished 
 with whiting, using a piece of old muslin folded in the 
 shape of a dabber, which will fill the etched lines, and 
 prevent the new laid ground from entering. 
 
 All the parts but those wanting more colour must 
 be stopped out as before ; again the border wax must 
 be used. Next follow with acid the same process. 
 
 RE-ETCHING. 
 
 This is the most certain method of finishing the plate. 
 The ground must be laid as in the first instance, but 
 using a greater body, and with the dabber rubbing it 
 well into the lines, taking care that no whiting remains 
 in the etching marks); for this process, the plate 
 
AItT OF ETCHING. 
 
 33 
 
 should he merely washed with turpentine; a slight 
 extra warmth and good dabbing will render the ground 
 acid proof. The smoking is here dispensed with. 
 
 Set up your shade, and work at the plate, as in 
 the first instance. Now use No. 3 point (sharp,) and 
 interline the parts you wish darker and where you 
 want greater strength, crossing the lines, not in direct 
 angles, but lozenge ways. See plate 2. 
 
 The plate, cleaned off as before directed, receiving a 
 light oil rubbing with a little rotten stone, and washed 
 off with turpentine, may now be sent to the printer’s 
 and a proof obtained. 
 
 By repeating the re-etching, your plate may be 
 worked up to the colour of a line engraving. 
 
 In some of the darker parts, a graver or lozenge 
 tool may be used ; but as it is rather dangerous in the 
 hands of the uninitiated, perhaps it may be best to do 
 without it, as it is apt to slip and make deep lines, 
 where none are wanted. Re-biting will produce any 
 extra colour that may be wanted with little more 
 trouble, and certainly with less danger. 
 
 c 
 
34 
 
 A TREATISE ON THE 
 
 GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS. 
 
 The following directions may be rather prolix, but 
 will relieve beginners from much trouble, and enable 
 them to avoid many accidents to which engravers are 
 
 liable. 
 
 1st. When using the acid, slightly grease that 
 part of the hand likely to come in contact with it, as a 
 preventive to its making stains, which are not easily 
 eradicated. 
 
 2nd. When your border wax has done its duty, 
 have it well washed in cold water; then warmed before 
 the fire ; pulled out and pressed together again, as the 
 more frequently that is done, the more flexible the wax 
 will be for future use. 
 
 3rd. As your aqua-fortis will become reduced in 
 strength by exposure to the air, it becomes necessary 
 to add a portion of No. 3 bottle to that of No. 2; and 
 a small quantity of No. 1 bottle to No. 3. No. 1 bottle 
 being the undilute acid. 
 
 4th. When making a point to your etching needle, 
 work the point round, as, should there be any flat 
 
ART OF ETCHING. 
 
 35 
 
 side to the point, it will bite the copper, and prevent 
 the freedom of hand required to give spirit to the 
 etching, 
 
 5th. With your burnisher you may soften down 
 any part of your etching that appears harsh or crude, 
 by gently passing it over the parts to be reduced in 
 colour. 
 
 6th. Having your shade before you, which must be 
 between you and the light, you will be enabled to see 
 the marks of the burnisher: fine charcoal and oil will 
 remove them, and the oil rubber will clear away the 
 charcoal marks. 
 
 The charcoal can be obtained at any copper-smiths 
 or plate-printers. 
 
 7th. If your burnisher is good at first, it never 
 requires alteration. The scraper must be occasionally 
 sharpened. 
 
36 
 
 A TREATISE ON THE 
 
 PART II. 
 
 ENGRAVING IN SOFT GROUND. 
 
 This is beyond doubt the simplest in process, and 
 therefore the easiest to learn and practise, of all the 
 popular forms of light Engraving. 
 
 Until within a few years the Art was largely culti- 
 vated ; — indeed, when, in this country, public atten- 
 tion was happily awakened to the value of Drawing 
 as an element of a liberal education, and it began to 
 be considered an indispensable accomplishment, this 
 was the form of Engraving to which those Masters had 
 recourse, who gave Society the benefit of their talent 
 by the publication of Drawing Books, and detached 
 studies for the pencil. The sound and admirable 
 works of David Cox and Prout, (not to mention 
 others) brought out in this manner, and for this pur- 
 pose, attest the applicability of this method of En- 
 graving to the object they had in view. But the inven- 
 tion of lithography, (which it cannot be denied was an 
 improvement over Engraving in Soft Ground,) was 
 
A II T OF ETCHING. 
 
 37 
 
 JfrgW ' \ \ . 
 
 gradually preferred, and now has well nigh superseded 
 the older system. 
 
 Nevertheless, the art of lithography is more difficult, 
 and infinitely more disagreeable in practice, than that 
 of Engraving in Soft Ground. In the former the 
 use of greasy chalks, and the working upon an icy, 
 cold, and clammy stone, contrasts unfavourably in 
 point of comfort and convenience, with the neat cedar 
 pencil of black lead, and smooth drawing paper, — 
 which are the materials employed in the latter. 
 
 Any one who would see the perfection to which 
 the art of Engraving in Soft Ground has been car- 
 ried, and may desire a practical insight into the pro- 
 cess, can be gratified at the publishers, who have 
 at command a profusion of specimens by the ablest 
 masters, (affording the benefit of the first draught 
 and the finish), in a variety of interesting studies, 
 comprising landscape, groups of horses and cattle, 
 figure groups, and marine views. 
 
 In this art almost everything requisite for success 
 depends upon the handling of the pencil. Considerable 
 facility in its use is a first essential ; assured of this, 
 
38 
 
 A TREATISE ON THE 
 
 the student will soon become a master. The chief 
 directions necessary, as respects the making of the 
 drawing, are to use a fine point and delicate touch 
 for distances, bearing in mind that the relative faintness 
 of distances is produced here chiefly by the fineness 
 of the lines ; the foregrounds will require even more 
 sharpness and strength of touch than you give to 
 an ordinary pencil drawing. 
 
 Some little difficulty will perhaps be experienced 
 at first in mixing the ground, (the best course would 
 be to obtain it ready made at “ the publishers ;”) 
 but this once overcome, the remainder of the pro- 
 cess is easy, certain, and pleasing. 
 
 SOFT GROUND. 
 
 Take half a ball of hard ground (mixed as described 
 under the head etching ground ) ; to that add a piece 
 of deer fat of like size — or mutton suet will answer 
 the purpose. Melt them well together, observing that 
 the mixture must be thoroughly incorporated) ; then 
 pour into cold water, and use it as before directed. 
 
ART OF ETCHING. 
 
 39 
 
 " i" \ 
 
 LAYING THE GROUND. 
 
 The process is exactly the same as in laying the 
 etching ground, with this difference, that the plate 
 does not require so great a heat. 
 
 Smoke the plate the same as in laying etching ground. 
 The ground must be spread as thinly as it possibly can, 
 to cover the plate and bear smoking. The surface of 
 the plate must be alike all over, and quite bright or 
 shining. If any part but the edges appear sooty, it 
 must be cleared off, and the plate polished, as described 
 for etching, and laid again. You may by chance make 
 a good ground at the first melting, but that can 
 scarcely be expected. 
 
 It may be as well to test the quality of your mix- 
 ture before you lay a whole ground. To this end, heat a 
 small portion of your plate ; lay some of the ground; 
 smoke it; and let it get quite cold. Obtain some of the 
 finest tissue paper, — not fine from thinness, but from its 
 even texture. Place a piece of the paper on the patch 
 of ground laid, and with a fine pointed H pencil 
 make a slight sketch; — a bit of foliage for instance ; 
 the paper should slightly stick to the plate: when 
 
40 
 
 A TREATISE ON THE 
 
 carefully raised by the two bottom corners, the back 
 of it should clearly shew every line made on its 
 surface, only darker. 
 
 Should the sketch on the copper have a grainy ap- 
 pearance, — that is, look as if it was dotted all over, 
 the mixture of ground will do. Should the ground 
 adhere to the paper, like marks with pen and ink, the 
 ground must be melted with an addition of hard ground; 
 and if even the most tender marks of the pencil do 
 not pull the ground from the plate, the ground must 
 be re-melted with more deer fat; and so with one or 
 the other, as the ground may require, until it is fit for 
 work. 
 
 As the season has great effect on this ground, the 
 one that will answer for summer will not do for win- 
 ter, so it may be as well to make or procure two or 
 three sorts of mixtures, and number them according to 
 their several degrees of hardness. 
 
 Having succeeded in mixing your ground, take a 
 piece of tissue paper twice the size of your plate. 
 Place the plate in the centre, and with black lead pen- 
 cil draw a r line all round it. Make the same mark on 
 
ART OF ETCHING. 
 
 41 
 
 the other side. Then lay the ground as before de- 
 scribed. When cold, wipe the back and edges before 
 you take off the hand- vice. This ground being very 
 tender, care must be taken not to touch the face of 
 the plate. 
 
 Upon the square marked on the paper your drawing 
 is to be made. If you intend to copy the subject, 
 you must go through the same process as in transfer- 
 ring for the hard ground etching; only, instead of 
 transferring the red lines on the plate, they must be 
 made within the square marked on the paper. Take 
 care that your tracing is reversed. 
 
 If you intend making your drawing on the plate 
 without copy, you must lightly make your design on 
 the square marked with fine pointed red chalk. Should 
 the subject be figures, everything must be drawn, as 
 it were, left handed, or reversed. 
 
 Fold a clean silk handkerchief in four, lay it flat and 
 smooth on the table, place on it the paper with the 
 chalk sketch downwards. Now, with great tenderness, 
 lay the plate face down, exactly on the square mark of 
 the paper : fold over the back the overplus paper, and 
 
42 
 
 A TREATISE ON THE 
 
 fix the sides with four thin spots of sealing wax near 
 the corners : be sure you do not move the plate on the 
 silk. Take your plate carefully up, and place it for 
 work. Use a rest as in etching; and a hard pencil, 
 HH, on the places you wish to be dark. 
 
 There is one drawback to the pleasure of soft ground 
 engraving; you must finish what you begin the same 
 day: the mechanical part of the work may he delayed. 
 Your drawing finished, pull up your paper by the two 
 bottom corners. 
 
 Varnish the border down the same as in etching. 
 The acid used must be much stronger ; the border wax 
 higher and broader in the spout, as you may perhaps 
 have to pour off suddenly. 
 
 BITXNG-XN. 
 
 In biting- in, the signal to pour off your acid is, 
 when you perceive the ground breaking up, — that is, 
 coming up in patches. 
 
 During the biting-in, the soft camel hair pencil may 
 
ART OF ETCHING. 
 
 43 
 
 be used, but very tenderly. Wash well off with cold 
 water, and place it to dry. For cleaning, see Etching 
 (supra) . 
 
 Should the plate require more finishing, have re- 
 course to the hard ground without smoking. See Re- 
 etching (supra.) 
 
 PART hi. 
 
 AQUA-TINTA ENGRAVING. 
 
 In this we have another variety of entertaining en- 
 graving; one, moreover, which, unlike the last, is still 
 much practised by professional engravers. It forms 
 the groundwork of many of the best modern prints, 
 and is generally resorted to where the object is to pro- 
 duce a plate the impressions from which are to be co- 
 loured. It will at once be recognized by its similarity 
 to an Indian Ink or Sepia Drawing; for in working the 
 plate at press, black and brown inks are used indif- 
 ferently, as the artist or publisher may direct. Resin 
 forms the ground in this method of engraving. 
 
44 
 
 A TREATISE ON THE 
 
 Without further remark, I proceed to a description 
 of the materials, and the mode of employing them. 
 
 aqua-tint ground. 
 
 Break some of the best white resin into pieces, 
 sufficiently small to go into the mouth of the bottle used. 
 Fill the bottle up, or nearly so, with spirits of wine. 
 This must be occasionally shaken, until the resin is 
 dissolved. The bottles must have corks, not glass 
 stoppers. Have two other bottles ready: mark the 
 bottles 1, 2* 3. No. 1 is the bottle in which the resin is 
 placed. Pour from the mixture No. 1 into No. 2 
 one-third ; fill this bottle nearly with spirits of wine. 
 Pour into No. 3 bottle, rather less of the mixture 
 from No. 1, and nearly fill it with spirits of wine. 
 These bottles must be occasionally shaken, and their 
 contents allowed to settle well, before use. The 
 contents of the three bottles must be so mixed, 
 that they are one under the other in strength, as 
 the size of the grain to be laid on the plate depends 
 on the quantity of resin each mixture contains. The 
 more of resin the larger the grain. 
 
 The spirit must be entirely free from water. 
 
ART OF ETCHING. 
 
 45 
 
 TO TEST THE SPIRIT. 
 
 Place a small quantity of gunpowder in a silver 
 spoon; pour over it some of the spirit; light the spirit, 
 and let it burn down to the powder. If the powder 
 takes fire and explodes the spirit is good, and fit for 
 use. If it should remain in the bottom of the spoon 
 black and wet, the spirit has been adulterated with 
 water, and is not fit for the purpose. 
 
 TRIAL OP AQUATINTA GROUND. 
 
 Have a tin trough about two inches wide and rather 
 longer than your plate, with a convenient spout at 
 one end; the trough is to act as a receiver of the spirit 
 when poured over the plate ; the spout to return it 
 to the bottle. 
 
 LAYING THE GROUND. 
 
 Polish the plate well, as before directed. Place it 
 on a slight slope, the tin trough under the lower 
 edge to receive the spare mixture. As a trial of your 
 
46 
 
 A TREATISE ON THE 
 
 ground, pour the liquid from each bottle, and make a 
 small patch in different places at the bottom of your 
 plate. When the liquid has run off to your tin trough, 
 lay the plate flat; and with a piece of rag wipe the 
 lower edge. Take a magnifying glass and look at 
 the grains deposited on the copper. 
 
 Having poured the spirit from the trough to bottle 
 No. 1, make choice of the grain most likely to suit your 
 work, if indeed either of the three should ; if not, you 
 must mix the large grain and the small together until 
 it does, letting the mixture settle well before it is 
 used. When you have made one bottle of ground to 
 suit your purpose, make a memorandum of the circum- 
 stance upon the bottle. 
 
 Having removed your trial spots, polish the plate 
 well, and place it as directed for trial, with the side 
 you intend for the fore ground next to the tin trough : 
 pour the mixture along the top of the plate, from one 
 end to the other, until the w T hole of the surface is co- 
 vered. As soon as the spirit has run into the tin, lay 
 the plate flat : the sooner it is laid flat the rounder will 
 be the setting of the grain : the longer the plate re- 
 
ART OF ETCHING. 
 
 47 
 
 mains on the slope, the more elongated the deposit of 
 resin will become, which, for some sort of work, will 
 answer better than round — such as broken rock, water- 
 falls, &c. 
 
 In most cases it is advisable to make a very fine 
 etching of the subject intended to be placed on the 
 plate, prior to laying the aqua-tinta ground : in the 
 end it will save time. The etching must be very light, 
 otheiwise the aqua-tinta ground will hang round the 
 lines, and form a ray of light. Should the etching be 
 strong, it will require being filled up with wax, and 
 polished off before laying the ground. Engravers send 
 the plate to the printer’s, and have it filled up with 
 ink, which is much the best method, where it can 
 be resorted to. If obliged to use wax, the plate must 
 be heated rather above what is required for the etching 
 ground, the surface wiped off, and polished with the 
 soft part of the hand slightly rubbed with whiting. 
 
 Having laid the ground to your satisfaction, the 
 next proceeding is stopping out the lights. 
 
48 
 
 A TREATISE ON THE 
 
 STOPPING OUT THE LIGHTS. 
 
 Place on the left side a small looking glass in a 
 stooping forward position ; lay before it the drawing 
 intended to be worked from, with the base or fore- 
 ground towards the bottom of the glass; you will then 
 see the subject reversed in the glass, which will enable 
 you to copy with greater freedom. 
 
 Go over the margin as directed under the head 
 etching ; for this a camel hair pencil, and the same 
 pot of varnish, with a little more lamp black added, 
 and well worked together, should be used. Stop 
 out all the white lights you observe in the drawing. 
 By the time you have done this, the varnish on the 
 margin will be dry or set : if not, the plate must 
 
 remain until it is. 
 
 Then go over the margin again with the same var- 
 nish, and let that set hard. 
 
 Now place up your border wax, as before directed, 
 making the spout rather larger, that you may be en- 
 abled to pour off the acid quickly, if necessary. 
 
 Use the same aqua-fortis as for etching, but the 
 strength somewhat increased, as it will have to remain 
 on the plate a much shorter time. 
 
ART OF ETCHING. 
 
 49 
 
 Lay your plate an inch or so over the front of the 
 table, with the piece of sail cloth underneath, having 
 small wedges of wood ready to be used should the 
 acid not float evenly. 
 
 Put on the acid rather quickly; running it from the 
 bottle to the jug, then on the plate ; the other jug 
 having been filled with cold water, should be kept 
 ready for washing off. When the acid has entirely 
 covered the plate, the surface should immediately as- 
 sume a frosty appearance, but not come up in blad- 
 ders. Little more than a minute may be enough for 
 the acid to remain on the plate : pour it into the jug 
 as quickly as you can without spilling it: immedi- 
 ately wash off with cold water ; have a receiver for 
 the wash water, as it must be thrown away. 
 
 Wait until the surface of the plate is dry: — if in a 
 hurry blow it dry with bellows. When you adjust 
 your plate for work, should any spots of moisture re- 
 main on the surface, carefully take them up with blot- 
 ting paper. 
 
 Now, with the same varnish, stop out all the second 
 
 D 
 
50 
 
 A TREATISE ON THE 
 
 lights. To prevent injury to your border, place two 
 blocks or old books under the ends of your rest. 
 
 When the second stopping out is set, put the plate 
 through the same process with the same acid. 
 
 Again dry the plate, and stop out the third light 
 parts ; when set, apply the acid, but let it remain on 
 rather longer ; wash, &c. as before directed. 
 
 You will now have all the flat tints, and only require 
 the very dark ones. With your magnifying glass 
 ascertain if the spots of resin remain on the plate ; if 
 so, it will bear biting again. 
 
 Should the ground remain sound enough to stand 
 another application of the nitre, you must prepare a 
 mixture called touching stuff. 
 
 TOUCHING STUFF, 
 
 Burn a good sized cork to ashes ; and take a piece 
 of whiting about the size of a filbert ; mix them to- 
 gether with treacle ; then add as much ivory black as 
 will make the mixture a dark colour, by the addition of 
 a small quantity of sheeps or ox- gall; it works almost 
 
ART OF ETCHING! 
 
 51 
 
 \ * ■ 
 
 as free as the varnish. Make the composition to a 
 lump. A small quantity to be used with water when 
 required. 
 
 Again lay the plate for work. Paint over all the 
 parts that are required to be very dark, such as pro- 
 jecting foliage, and all sharp shadows, with the 
 touching stuff; — I say paint, for you must load all the 
 touches with as much of the mixture as can be placed 
 on them. 
 
 When the touching stuff is dry, mix some thin tur- 
 pentine varnish, slightly coloured with lamp black, and 
 with a larger brush go over the whole of the plate. 
 
 When this last varnish is set, pour on some very 
 weak acid and water; — the former washings of the 
 plate will do : with the soft camel hair pencil used for 
 the acid, work up the touching stuff until the whole 
 comes off ; then wash the plate clean with cold water, 
 and again apply the acid. 
 
 For this last biting the acid may remain on the plate 
 as long as the ground will stand. This may be ascer- 
 tained by clearing your plate with the camel hair 
 pencil, and using the magnifying glass. 
 
52 
 
 A TREATISE ON THE 
 
 The plate must now be cleaned. Release your bor- 
 der wax, as before described. 
 
 On this tint the oil rubber should be very carefully 
 used. 
 
 The plate being quite clean, place it under the 
 shade. You will find your tints or bitings rather 
 sharper against each other than you wish. 
 
 The burnisher is to do away with this by rubbing 
 with pressure the parts to be reduced in colour : the 
 parts to be burnished, should be slightly touched with 
 the oil rubber. Aqua- tint engraving requires some 
 skill in the use of the burnisher, which can only be 
 acquired by practice. 
 
 The scraper will be found very useful for bringing 
 out sharp lights and modulating the darker parts. 
 
 Should you have failed in making the first ground 
 tell to your satisfaction, the plate must be polished, 
 and another ground laid. The second ground must 
 he larger than the first, that is, contain more resin. 
 
 The bordering, biting, and stopping out are as 
 before. The plate should be sent for proof before 
 the second ground is laid. 
 
ART OF ETCHING. 
 
 53 
 
 When you have the proof you will be able to ascer- 
 tain where you require increase and where reduction 
 of colour : the burnisher must reduce, the increase 
 can only be had by laying another ground. 
 
 GROUND TO ETCH ON, 
 
 M ; x a small quantity of turpentine varnish with tur- 
 pentine very slightly coloured with black, but only 
 sufficiently so to render the lines made by the needle 
 perceptible. With this thin varnish and a good sized 
 camel hair brush, go over the plate longways ; when 
 that is set, repeat the coating crossways; let it set, 
 and lay it by for a night, if convenient. 
 
 The etching finished ; border and bite as before di- 
 rected, but with stronger acid. 
 
54 
 
 A TREATISE ON THE 
 
 INCIDENTAL INSTRUCTIONS. 
 
 A few hints or cautions, apparently on trifles, may 
 be found useful, and enable the beginner to avoid many 
 troublesome obstacles which, neglected, prevent en- 
 graving becoming an entertaining amusement. 
 
 Great Care must be taken, while laying the ground, 
 that there is not much dust floating in the air; for should 
 the slightest particle of Ruck lodge on the plate whilst 
 wet, it will cause, what the engravers call, “ an acci- 
 dent.” Wherever the speck falls, the resin will cor- 
 rode round it, and consequently form a white spot on 
 the ground where the acid has been applied. These 
 “ accidents ” are of little consequence, unless they 
 should happen on the sky. To do away with such 
 light places, the chalk tool or dotter must be used, 
 which is simply a bent graver. 
 
 From pouring your ground- mixture backwards and 
 
ART OF ETCHING. 
 
 55 
 
 forwards, it is likely to become foul : it should then 
 be passed through a double piece of clean muslin, and 
 put away in a bottle to settle. 
 
 The burnisher acts as principal in forming a good 
 sky and back ground. As the action of the acid will 
 leave all the tints with a sharp edge, they must be 
 softened down with the burnisher. Every fresh aqua- 
 tinta ground laid, should be increased in the size of the 
 grain, or the ground will become murky. 
 
 To enrich and darken the foreground or foliage, 
 etching over the parts with the etching- ground above 
 described, is much the easiest method. 
 
 PART IV. 
 
 RESIN-GROUND ENGRAVING. 
 
 This style of engraving is well adapted to orna- 
 mental work, as great depth of colour can be obtained. 
 The process is extremely simple. 
 
 The best white resin should be reduced to powder 
 by pestle and mortar, then placed in a fine doubled 
 
56 
 
 A TREATISE ON THE 
 
 flannel, and tied up in a bag: the plate must be 
 heated as in laying etching ground, and the bag of 
 resin then powdered on the surface. The best plan 
 is to lay the plate on a table, so that you may use 
 both hands: with the bag of resin pendant in the 
 right hand, strike it against the left (the bag must 
 be held some distance from the plate,) which will force 
 the powdered resin to escape from the flannel bag, and 
 falling on the hot plate, will there fix itself in small 
 spots, something similar to the aqua-tint deposit, but 
 much more enduring. 
 
 The stopping out process is exactly the same as in 
 the aqua- tint. 
 
 By repeating the process with the flannel bag, a 
 positive black ground may be procured, as dark and 
 more enduring than a mezzotinto ground, which may 
 be scraped on much in the same way. 
 
 / 
 
ART OF ETCHING. 
 
 57 
 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 I have now given, as succinctly and explicitly as I 
 could, such instructions as to me seemed necessary for 
 prosecuting with effect and pleasure the fashionable 
 and agreeable Art of Etching, together with those of 
 Engraving in Soft Ground, Aqua-Tinta, and Resin- 
 Ground Engraving. In cultivating these Arts, as 
 indeed in the pursuit of all others, excellence must not 
 be hoped for without experience. Yet the student must 
 not be discouraged by occasional failures, but perse- 
 vere, and each attempt will be an improvement, in 
 some particulars, upon the foregoing, until the pleas- 
 ing prize — “ success” — is achieved; and I am not 
 without a confident hope that I shall more than 
 once have the silent thanks of those who, under the 
 directions here given, cultivate these Arts of En- 
 graving, for assisting them to accomplishments, which 
 
58 
 
 A TREATISE ON THE 
 
 at once command admiration, and furnish the most 
 agreeable of methods whereby to occupy time. 
 
 As, however, in Arts, unavoidably of some compli- 
 cation, like these, short comings are almost inevitable : 
 wheresoever they are found in the above instructions, 
 or my meaning should be deemed obscure, I shall have 
 pleasure in giving the required elucidation, if questions 
 be addressed to, or personal application made at, the 
 publishers, Messrs. Fullers’, Gallery of Fine Arts, 
 Rathbone Place. Commending the student at once to 
 enter upon the practice of one, or other, or all, of the 
 pleasing and useful Arts I have here treated, and wish- 
 ing success, I take my leave. 
 
REFERENCE TO PLATES. 
 
 Plate I. 
 
 Represents the Apparatus, and the Hand-craft, to 
 bring it into action; — such as Heating the Plate, 
 Laying the Ground, Smoking the Ground, Bordering 
 the Margin, Biting-in, the Etching, Taking off the 
 Border, and Polishing the Plate. 
 
 Plate I. is bitten in with strong nitre, 
 
 consequently it is rough and dark. The little scraps 
 of foliage round the subjects are merely to shew the 
 handling of the etching point. 
 
 Plate II. on which weak nitre is used, 
 
 is much finer in the lines, and can be re-worked on, 
 so as to increase the colour, either by re-biting or re- 
 etching on a fresh ground, without smoke. 
 
 This part of the art is the most entertaining, and 
 can be carried on to the extent of high finishing. The 
 subjects chosen are slight scraps, which may serve the 
 amateur to begin with. 
 
 It is advisable to etch small subjects at first, so that 
 the method of biting-in, and a knowledge of the 
 action required from your nitre may be attained; for 
 any rules laid down can give but little assistance. 
 
 The whole craft may be obtained by working on two 
 or three small card plates. 
 
& JJo 1FTO1LSM 9 
 
 FINE ART SUBSCRIPTION GALLERY, 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 LOAN OF WORKS OF ART, 
 
 34 and 35, RATHBONE PLACE, 
 
 OXFORD STREET, LONDON. 
 
 It is a circumstance indicative of the advanced intelligence 
 of our times, that the cultivation of the exalting and delightful 
 studies of Drawing and Painting is at present more general than 
 at any antecedent period of our history. Nor has this taste by 
 any means culminated : on the contrary, it is of daily increasing 
 growth ; and there are few, holding pretensions to a superior 
 education, who have not given a greater or lesser amount of at- 
 tention to these humanising and intellectual pursuits. In future, 
 it may confidently be presumed, there will be fewer still who 
 neglect studies which have become indispensable to an elegant 
 and finished education. The improved judgment of the public 
 in Art-Instruction will he at once recognised by those who look 
 back a dozen years to the spurious and false methods then in 
 fashion, and which will be remembered under the names of 
 “ Oriental Tinting,’’ “ Persian Painting,” and the like absurdi- 
 ties. But, though a large advance has been made in this parti- 
 
cular, there remain wants to be supplied and obstacles to be 
 surmounted, which it is almost wonderful had not earlier been 
 considered and provided for. Chief among the evils of the pre- 
 sent system of Art-Education is the cramped and slavish manner 
 invariably effectuated by the sole study of one particular Master. 
 Another grievous defect has been the difficulty (amounting 
 usually to impossibility) which has beset the Student in obtain- 
 ing the works of the best Masters for study and imitation. To 
 obviate this evil and remedy this defect, the Messrs. Fuller 
 have conceived the plan of a Circulating Gallery for the loan of 
 Works of Art, which shall afford examples for every variety of 
 study, and of the highest class of Excellence. The value of 
 such a scheme, it is conceived, will at once be recognised ; and, 
 as the Capital required for the establishment and working of the 
 Gallery is necessarily immense, it is hoped that the boldness of 
 this endeavour to facilitate the study and promote the interest 
 of the Arts, will be approved of by the public, and its services 
 rewarded by a free recourse to the advantages it offers. A 
 sufficient guarantee of the high character of the subjects col- 
 lected for circulation among the Subscribers will be found in the 
 names of the following Contributors, — among whom will be re- 
 cognised the most distinguished Masters of the day : — C. Bent- 
 ley, George Cattermole, David Cox, Copley Fielding, W. Hunt, 
 John F. Lewis, Samuel Prout, F. Taylor, W. Callow, T. M. 
 Richardson, T. W. Topham, J. Absolon, Louis Haghe, Henry 
 Bright, J. D. Harding, T. S. Cooper, A.R.A., H. Jutsum, G. 
 Barrett, Pyne, Allen, &c., &c. 
 
 The Collection has been made with much consideration as re- 
 gards the wants of the public, and extreme care has been taken 
 to provide good studies for circulation, and none other. It con- 
 tains progressive lessons in pencil, sepia, Indian-ink, neutral- 
 
tint, and water-colours ; with approved works on Light and 
 Shade, — technically termed “ Effect,” and on the science of 
 Perspective, which is now simplified so as to offer no real impe- 
 diment to the cultivation of the Arts. Every department of Art 
 has contributed examples to the Collection. Landscape, the 
 Human Figure (in parts, entire, and in groups), Animals, 
 Flowers, Fruit, and Still-Life, Architecture, and Scroll-Work 
 for decoration, &c., &c., severally afford a large variety of stu- 
 dies for the Subscriber. 
 
 The terms (which may be had on application,) have been so 
 arranged as to suit the convenience of all classes. Fresh talent 
 will from time to time be introduced to the Gallery ; and should 
 the undertaking succeed, as it is confidently hoped it will, large 
 purchases shall be made of Oil-Paintings, to perfect the scheme 
 which the Proprietors have in view. 
 
 LANDSCAPE. 
 
 Pencil Landscapes, in interesting Fragments for beginners, 
 and finished Drawings. 
 
 Sepia Studies of Landscape, for Light and Shade, progres- 
 sive and finished. 
 
 The Collection of Water-Colour Drawings in Landscape, Ma- 
 rine, and Coast Scenery, is most extensive, and includes the 
 principal talent of the two Societies of Painters in Water-Co- 
 lours, in simple and progressive Lessons : the advanced and fi- 
 nished Drawings exemplifying all the effects in nature. 
 
 FIGURE. 
 
 The numerous folios offer for selection Studies of Rudimental, 
 Finished, Draped, and Nude Figures from the Antique and 
 Modern Schools. 
 
Historical Figures, Poetical Subjects, single and in composi- 
 tion. 
 
 Rustic Life, in single and grouped Figures, in Pencil, Sepia, 
 and Colour. 
 
 FLOWERS. 
 
 The graceful Art of Flower-Painting is deservedly much cul- 
 tivated at the present time. The Works of the Old Masters 
 afford instances of higher merit in this branch of Art than those 
 of the moderns, who, nevertheless, are daily improving. The 
 Gallery affords Studies of Flowers, single and in group, in end- 
 less variety; also the Published Works of the English and 
 French Schools. 
 
 ANIMALS. 
 
 The examples consist of easy Progressive Studies of Oxen, 
 Cows, Horses, Sheep, Asses, Deer, Goats, Swine, with Rustic 
 Figures, adapted for the young Artist and Amateur; in the 
 whole a great variety of subjects for the illustration of Land- 
 scape Scenery, and the Composition of Pictures. 
 
 SPORTING SUBJECTS. 
 
 Of this Class of Studies, now become very popular in the 
 provinces, a profusion of interesting examples by Alken, Her- 
 ring, Henderson, &c., of Scenes on the Moors, — Deer Stalk- 
 ing, Grouse- Shooting ; — in the Field, such as Fox-Hunting, 
 Racing, Steeple-Chasing, and Shooting, have been provided. 
 
 ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 The selection in this department of art are studies of indivi- 
 
dual and picturesque Buildings, also interior and exterior Views 
 of Churches and Mansions, and general Views of Towns and 
 Cities. 
 
 SCROLL ORNAMENTS. 
 
 (applicable to design.) 
 
 This department will he formed of numerous Publications for 
 Decorative and Ornamental Art, adapted to Architects, Mo- 
 dellers, Chasers, Carvers, and Manufacturers, and those who 
 study Art as a means of emolument, or as being available to 
 practical purposes. 
 
 PERSPECTIVE. 
 
 Perspective is the art of representing objects as they appear 
 to the eye agreeably to their real forms, dimensions, and dis- 
 tances, by drawing or painting on a flat surface. This art, 
 under the directions of a good hook, is best studied by taking 
 any object a room presents, as a chair or table ; or making a 
 group of still-life : the best works published on the subject will 
 be found in the collection. 
 
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