A Treatise on Etching Part 9

95. =epreuves Volantes.=--On Chinese and j.a.panese paper, as well as on parchment, so-called _epreuves volantes_ (flying proofs) are printed; that is to say, loose proofs, which are not pasted down on white paper.

They are simply attached to Bristol board by the two upper corners, which brings them out perfectly.

96. =Proofs before Lettering.=--All of these various kinds of paper, each of which has its own claim for excellence, and especially j.a.panese paper, are by preference used for artists' proofs and proofs before lettering, which are printed before the t.i.tle is engraved on the plate.

It is customary to print a greater or less number of such proofs, which, being struck off when the plate is still quite fresh, show it at its best. After that, the plate is lettered, and an ordinary edition is printed from it.

It follows from this that the possessor of a proof without t.i.tle has the best the plate can afford to give. But, as the pictures by the masters do not stand in need of a signature to be recognized, so the proofs before lettering may well do without the guaranty which is found in the absence of a t.i.tle; even without this guaranty an amateur knows how to recognize the virgin freshness of an early impression, which is still further augmented by the extreme care bestowed on the printing of these exceptional proofs, but which cannot be kept up through a long edition.

97. =epreuves de Remarque.=--_epreuves de remarque_ (marked proofs), showing the different states of the plate, and the various modifications which it underwent, are also sought after. Their rarity increases their price.[25]

98. =Number of Impressions which a Plate is capable of yielding.=--The number of impressions which a plate can yield is not fixed, as the power of resisting the wear and tear of printing depends largely on the delicacy or the strength of the work. The quality of the copper must also be considered, a soft plate giving way much faster than a hard plate which has been well hammered. The plates prepared to-day do not resist as well as those formerly made; and as the popularity of works of art multiplied by the press has considerably increased, it became necessary to look about for means by which the surface of a copper plate may be hardened, and be made to yield a large edition. This has been accomplished by

99. =Steel-facing.=--_Steel-facing_, which was invented by Messrs.

Salmon and Garnier, and which M. Jacquin undertook to render practicable, consists in depositing a coating of veritable steel, by galvanic action, on the face of the copper plate, or, in other words, by the superposition of a hard metal on a soft metal.

This mode of protection, which perfectly preserves the most delicate pa.s.sages, even down to the almost invisible scratches of the dry point, not only guarantees the copper against the contact of the hand and the rag, which would tell on it more than the pressure of the rollers, but at the same time makes it possible to print a thousand proofs of equal purity. Certain plates, owing to the manner of wiping used on them, do not reach this figure; others, more simply printed, may yield three to four thousand proofs, and sometimes even a still larger number.

As soon as the plate shows the slightest change, or the copper begins to reappear, the coating of steel is removed by chemical agents, which, acting differently on the two metals, corrode the one, while they leave the other untouched. The plate is thus brought back to its original state, and is therefore in the same condition as before to receive a second steel-facing. In this way plates may be _de-steeled_ and _re-steeled_ a great many times, and the proofs printed from them may be carried up to considerable quant.i.ties.

As a rule, the plates are not steel-faced until after the proofs before lettering have been printed.

Soft-ground etchings, the biting of which is quite shallow, must be steel-faced after two to three hundred impressions.

The delicacy of the bur thrown up by the dry point hardly permits the printing of more than twenty or thirty proofs on an average; steel-facing carries this number up to a point which cannot be fixed absolutely, but it is certain that the bur takes the steel quite as well and as solidly as an etched line. Dry points may, therefore, yield long editions; the steel-facing must in that case be renewed whenever necessary.[26]

100. =Copper-facing Zink Plates.=--Zink plates cannot be steel-faced, but they can be copper-faced.[27] Steel-facing has been adopted by the Chalcographic Office of the Louvre, and by the _Gazette des Beaux Arts_, that remarkable and unique publication which is an honor to criticism and is found in all art libraries. Steel-facing, in fact, is universally employed; it preserves in good condition the beautiful plates of our engravers, and makes it possible to put within reach of a great many people engravings of a choice kind, which but lately were found only in the _salons_ of the rich and the collections of pa.s.sionate amateurs.

[Ill.u.s.tration: AN ETCHER'S STUDIO.

From the Third Edition of Abraham Bosse's "Treatise," Paris, 1758.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Croquis d'apres nature, pour servir de modeles, 1877.

Le Waag, Amsterdam.]

NOTES

BY THE TRANSLATOR.

[1] (p. 2.) To these a.s.sociations may be added the German Etching Clubs at Dusseldorf and at Weimar, which issue yearly portfolios of plates executed by their members, and the American Etching Clubs at New York and at Cincinnati. The New York Etching Club was organized in April, 1877, with Dr. L. M. Yale as its first president. At this writing Mr.

James D. Smillie is the presiding officer of the club, which has about twenty-four members, including many of the leading artists of New York.

The Cincinnati Etching Club is composed almost entirely of amateurs. Its president is Mr. George McLaughlin. Quite lately an Etching Club has also been formed in Boston, with Mr. Edmund H. Garrett as president.

[2] (p. 3.) Benzine is preferable to turpentine for most of the operations of the etcher, but more especially for cleaning soiled hands.

It is advisable to use turpentine only when the benzine proves insufficient to remove the last traces of ground or ink from the lines.

[3] (p. 9.) Something about tools and materials has already been said in the Introductory Chapter, p. xiv. What is left to be said follows here:--

_Copper plates_, from visiting-card size (at $1 per dozen), to any required size can be bought of, or ordered through, the firms named on p. xiii, or of Mr. Geo. B. Sharp, 45 Gold St., New York. Mr. Sharp will send price-lists on application. The plates usually sold, at least of the smaller sizes, are made of an alloy, not of pure copper. These alloy plates are cheaper and bite more quickly than those of pure copper, but it happens occasionally that they do not bite evenly, owing to want of h.o.m.ogeneity in the metal. Still, they are extensively used, and amateurs will find them preferable to the more expensive copper plates.

_Etching-ground._ A recipe for a cheap and yet a very good ordinary ground has been given on p. xv. The transparent ground consists of

5 parts, by weight, of white wax.

3 " " gum-mastic.

Gum-mastic costs about thirty-five cents an ounce. Melt the wax first, and add the gum-mastic in powder gradually, stirring all the while with a clean gla.s.s or metal rod.

_Stopping-out varnish._ (See p. xvi.) There is a varnish sold at painters' supply-stores under the name of "Asphaltum Varnish for Sign-Writers' Use," which does very well. In Boston Asahel Wheeler sells it at fifteen cents a bottle.

_Needle-holders_ are unnecessary if the points described on p. xvi are used.

_Burnishers_ are sold at the hardware-stores, or by dealers in watchmakers' materials. They ought not to cost above fifty cents apiece.

_Sc.r.a.pers._ Same as burnishers. Price not above $1. Some dealers ask $2, which is exorbitant.

_A lens_ can be obtained of any optician. In Boston they can also be had of A.J. Wilkinson & Co., hardware dealers, 184 Was.h.i.+ngton St., at prices varying from $1 to $1.50.

_India-rubber finger-gloves_ are unnecessary if you use the "plate-lifter" described on p. xvii.

_Nitric acid._ Messrs. Powers & Weightman's "Nitric Acid, C. P." (i. e.

chemically pure), recommended on p. xvii, is 42 degrees, and Messrs. P.

& W. inform me that the strength is tolerably uniform. If you are an enthusiastic etcher it will be best to buy a seven-pound bottle, which is the next largest to the one-pound bottles.

_Tracing-paper_, _gelatine_, _chalk_, and _sanguine_ can be obtained at the artists' material stores.

_Emery-paper._ Hardware-stores. Price four cents a sheet.

_Roller for revarnis.h.i.+ng._ See Note 5.

To the tools and materials mentioned by M. Lalanne the following must be added: _Whiting_, _benzine_, _turpentine_, _alcohol_, _willow charcoal_.

The last-named article can be supplied by Mr. Geo. B. Sharp, of 45 Gold St., New York, before mentioned.

[4] (p. 11.) I wrote to M. Lalanne to find out the ingredients of the _pet.i.t vernis liquide_ and _vernis au pinceau_, but he says that he does not know, and that the recipes are a secret of the maker of these varnishes. The asphaltum varnish mentioned on p. xvi and in Note 3 does excellently well, however, both for stopping out and retouching. After it has been fanned (see p. xxi) until it has thickened sufficiently not to stick to the finger when touched, but before it is quite dry, it can be worked upon with the point. If not dry enough, which will manifest itself readily as soon as you have drawn the first line, fan again. If it were allowed to dry absolutely, it would chip off under the needle.

There is a liquid ground, made by Mr. Louis Delnoce of the American Bank Note Company, New York, which--so Mr. Jas. D. Smillie informs me--is used for retouches by the engravers of the company, is applied with the brush, is a very quick dryer, tough, and resists acid perfectly. Mr.

Delnoce sells it in ounce bottles at seventy-five cents each.

[5] (p. 12.) The roller for revarnis.h.i.+ng, spoken of by M. Lalanne, and also recommended by Mr. Hamerton, cannot be bought in this country.

Nor--with all due deference to the great experience of M. Lalanne--is such a large and expensive roller necessary. The rollers used by our most experienced etchers--Mr. Jas. D. Smillie, for instance--are little cylinders of India-rubber, about one inch in diameter and one and one-half inches long. They cost from 50 cents to $2 each. _But these rollers cannot be used with etching-paste._ The oil of lavender in the paste attacks the rubber and destroys it. As to the manner of using the India-rubber roller see Note 12.

[6] (p. 20.) The use of bordering wax is not advisable. But as some etchers still employ it, I add a recipe for making it, which was kindly communicated to me by Mr. Peter Moran of Philadelphia:--

3 lbs. Burgundy pitch.

1 lb. yellow beeswax.

1 gill sweet oil.