Wood engraving, as an adjunct to printed books, was the earliest form in which good art became popularised: book illustration by engraved copper-plates was a later development, though the art was not unknown: at a later period, copper-plate illustrations almost entirely superseded wood for the purpose.
One who has carefully studied the illustrations in early-printed books—from printer’s mark on title-page to colophon—cannot fail to be struck with the manly and vigorous style of drawing in the cuts, shewing a real grasp of the subject and mastery of detail, and while we may be amused at the quaint conceits, and somewhat crude lines, we cannot but be charmed with the natural simplicity of the drawing, though lacking almost entirely in local colour. In the infancy of the art of engraving on wood, it necessarily followed that there should be some want of refinement in the execution. The engraver on wood was born very young, and had to grope his way by tedious practice to acquire skill and knowledge for his work. The artist, on the contrary, like Minerva, came into being fully equipped, or, to be literal, he already existed; with mature experience he adapted his skill to the requirements of the new art, the first and most important being that, as the tools of the engraver and the wood he used were unfitted for small details, the lines to be drawn by the artist on the wood must necessarily be _few_ and _well chosen_.
[Illustration: The Brandenburg, or Buxheim plate, _circa_ 1480.
[The oldest Ex Libris actually connected with a printed book. See _Ex Libris Journal_, Vol. II., p. 71.]]
[Illustration: Fig. 4.—DEVICE COMMONLY ATTRIBUTED TO CAXTON.
Beyond giving some idea of what wood engraving is and how it is produced, it is not intended to do more than refer to the early history of the art—a subject on which bulky volumes have been written—or to enter minutely into the details and modes of execution of modern work. To those who desire further information, special works on the subject may be consulted.[1]
[Footnote 1: Jackson’s “History and Practice of Wood Engraving”; Firmin Didot’s “Essai sur l’Histoire de la Gravure sur Bois”; “The Book, its Printers, Illustrators, and Binders,” by Henri Bouchot; “Wood Engraving: a Manual of Instruction,” by W. J. Linton.]