England's Battles - Steel Engraving -1857- ALEXANDER HOOD, VISCOUNT

 ANTIQUE STEEL ENGRAVING OF 

"ENGLAND'S BATTLE" PERSONS

This 154 year old steel engraving print is from the book "ENGLAND'S BATTLES BY SEA AND LAND" by Lt. Col. Williams. It was published by London Printing & Publishing Co. in London in 1857.

Steel engraving, is a commercial engraving technique for printing illustrations , based on steel instead of copper. It has been rarely used in artistic printmaking, although was much used for reproductions in the 19th century. Steel engraving was introduced in 1792 by Jacob Perkings (1766-1849), an American Inventor, for the use of banknote printing. When Perkins moved to London in 1818, the technique in 1820 became adapted by Charles Warren and especially by Charles Heath (1785-1848) forThomas Campbell's Pleasures of Hope with the first published plates engraved on steel. The new technique only partially replaced the other commercial techniques of that time as woodcut, wood engraving, copper engraving and later lithography.

The Process of Steel Engraving is done by laying out the broad, general outline onto the plate first. This is commonly referred to simply as etching. After this step is complete the artist can move to strictly engraving the work. The tool most commonly used for engraving is the burin, which is a small bar of hardened steel with a sharp point. This is pushed along the plate to produce thin strips of waste metal and thin furrows. This is followed by a scraper which removes any burs as they will be an impediment to the ink. It is important to note that engraving must be done in the reverse or mirror image, so that the image faces the correct way when the die prints. One trick of the trade was for engravers to look at the object that they were engraving through a mirror so that the image was naturally reversed and they would be less likely to engrave the image incorrectly. Steel plates can be case hardened to ensure that they can print thousands of times with little wear. Copper plates can not be case hardened but can be steel-faced or nickel-plated to increase their life expectancy.

This profusely illustrated steel engraving antique portrait print is in good condition with some minor age toning. It also has a repaired tear in the border on the right side.  The image is 8" x 6" on a page that is 10 3/4' x 7".  It is suitable for framing and would be an excellent gift.

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antique print methods and types,

CLICK BELOW:

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The antique portrait print that is being offered for sale features:

"ALEXANDER HOOD, VISCOUNT BRIDPORT" 

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Hill fait paraître General Natural History (deux volumes, 1748 - 1752 ), Useful Family Herbal ( 1754 ), British Herbal ( 1756 - 1757 ), Eden, or Compleat Body of Gardening ( 1757 ), Exotic Botany ( 1759 , deuxième édition 1772 ), Hortus Keweensis ( 1768 ), Flora Britanica ( 1760 ), Herbarium Britannicum ( 1769 - 1770 ), Virtues of British Herbs ( 1770 ), Decade of Curious and Elegand Trees and Plants ( 1773 ), Twenty-five New Plants, rais'd in the Royal Garden of Kew ( 1773 ). Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin (1727-1817) lui dédie en 1760 le genre Hillia de la famille des Rubiaceae . Hill issued General Natural History (two volumes, 1748 - 1752 ), Useful Family Herbal ( 1754 ), Herbal British ( 1756 - 1757 ), Eden, Gold Compleat Body of Gardening ( 1757 ) Exotic Botany ( 1759 , second edition 1772 ) , Hortus Keweensis ( 1768 ), Flora Britannica ( 1760 ), Britannicum Herbarium ( 1769 - 1770 ), Virtues of British Herbs ( 1770 ), Decade of Curious and Elegand Trees and Plants ( 1773 ), Twenty-Five New Plants, rais'd in the Royal Garden of Kew ( 1773 ). Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin (1727-1817) dedicated to him in 1760 the kind Hillier of the family of Rubiaceae .