Re: Hermathena and Cicero

Gunnar is right about this. I've not actually handled one, but I've  
seen photos of large engraved illustration blocks done this way. The  
block would be whitened and an artist's drawing transferred to its  
face (there were even photographic ways of doing this) before the  
block was unbolted and distributed to the engraving team. It would be  
one of the most skilled engravers who got the job of joining the bits  
of picture together around the edges of the block.

It meant all the engravers had to follow the same style of working! I  
have this little fantasy sketch of such a team made up of artists  
each with his own style. And what it looks like when you assemble the  
component blocks engraved by Picasso, Klee, Goya, Bacon...

:-)

Conrad


On 28 May 2010, at 14:06, Gunnar Swanson wrote:

> On May 28, 2010, at 4:55 AM, Conrad Taylor wrote:
>> The wood-engraved image is finer in detail than woodcut is, and the
>> endgrain can be used to make a very large number of impressions: a
>> million copies or more is not impossible. This was the favoured
>> imaging technique for the Victorian illustrated newspapers and
>> magazines, until the photo-etched zinc plate "process engraving"
>
> Larger, more complex drawings were transferred to clamped-together end
> grain blocks. The blocks were then distributed to different craftsmen
> to carve. The various blocks were then glued together and printed as
> one.
>
> Gunnar
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