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THE PHOTOGRAPHIC NEWS. EDITED BF T- C- HEPWORTH, F.C.S. Vol. XXXV. No. 1722.—September 4, 1891. CONTENTS. PAGE Will Photography Kill Wood-Engraving ? 617 Prices of Rare Metals 618 Perspective in Vision, and in Photography. By W.H. Wheeler 618 Illustration of Poems by Photography. By Miss Catharine Weed Barnes 621 Glasgow International Photographic Exhibition 623 Notes 624 The Decomposition of Silver Chloride by Light. By A. Richardson 626 PAGE Photography at the Theatre 625 Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Exhibition 627 Photographic Chemistry. By Prof. R. 628 Art in Photography. By G. Hanmer Croughton 629 The Russian Platinum Mines 630 Transferring Prints to Glass 630 Patent Intelligence 631 Proceedings of Societies 632 Answers to Correspondents 632 WILL PHOTOGRAPHY KILL WOOD ENGRAVING ? This question must have often occurred to thoughtful persons as they turn over the pages of our numerous— perhaps too numerous—illustrated publications; for the trail of the serpent, in the shape of impressions from “ process ” blocks, is over them all. A large pro portion of these publications, indeed, would never have come into existence at all had not photography pointed the way to produce cuts without the necessity of cutting, and imitated the wood-engravers’ work so well that none but the initiated were able to detect the innovation. So far as convenience of production and economy are concerned, there is no question that a process block has many advantages over a wood-cut. In the old days, the artist drew direct upon the wood-block, and in the process of engraving the original was of necessity destroyed. In this way thousands upon thousands of drawings of the highest class, which have illustrated books without number, have perished in the process which made them available for public use. It is not so now. An artist of to-day is commissioned (say) by a firm of publishers to illustrate a book, and the pictures are duly sent in to them drawn with pencil or brush upon Bristol board—pictures in black-and-white. Many of our readers must be familiar with the appearance of these beautiful drawings, for they have often had an exhibition all to themselves. Some are most elabo rately finished in pencil, others are roughly painted-in with india-ink and Chinese white, the wood-engraver being depended upon to translate these shades into proper “tints” with his graver. The drawing, having been approved, is photographed on to the wood-block— being generally reduced to the size required by the camera—and the drawing, having now served its purpose, is put away. But is it done with ? By no means; for if the artist have a name, it is a thing of value which can be sold, very often for a larger price than that paid originally to the artist for its production. In a recent exhibition of such works we noticed that the price asked for them varied from half a sovereign to twenty pounds or more, and some of them were remarkably cheap at the price. This exhibition is an annual affair, and is promoted by one of our largest publishing houses to get rid of their constantly-accumulating collection of works in black-and-white. It will thus be seen that one of the first advantages in making use of photography is in saving the valuable original drawing from destruction. But in this case we are considering the use of photography only so far as it is required in transferring the reversed image of that drawing to the wood-block. The engraver has still his work to do in translating the photograph into a combination of lines and dots, which will afford a resting place to the printing ink so soon as the engraving has in its turn been translated into an electrotype. But the real economy comes in when the drawing is translated direct into a metal printing block by what is known as “process work.” In this work the wood- engraver is left entirely out in the cold; his skilled hand and unerring eye are not required, both being replaced by the work of the camera. In simple line work, there is no question that the simple zinco process gives results equal to the best wood-engraving; every line is most faithfully reproduced in the finished block, so that the artist is able to rely upon an absolute fac simile of his design. But when we come to consider the process which reproduces drawings in half-tone, the case is somewhat different. We do not mean that the copy is not as faithful a one as in the other case, but there are certain difficulties in the after-process of printing which must often make both printers and readers wish that the wood-engraver had had the work to do instead of his optical rival. To the American publications we must look for the most perfect development of this art of printing from process blocks. Their paper, with its finished glaze, is well adapted for the work, and there is no doubt that they excel in their methods of printing. In such careful hands, and provided that the printing operation