the art of Duerer at the end of this
century. The reason for the movement will be better understood when it
is explained that by the process just referred to, of "steeling" the
surface of plates, the "burr," as it is called, and the most delicate
lines of the engraver are preserved intact for a much larger number of
impressions than formerly. The taste for etchings and the higher forms
of the reproductive arts is still spreading rapidly, but the fact
remains that etchings and _editions de luxe_ do not reach one person in
a thousand in any civilised community. It is only by means of wood
engravings, and the cheaper and simpler forms of process illustration,
that the public is appealed to pictorially through the press.

[Illustration: LINE PROCESS BLOCK.]

FOOTNOTES:

[1] All the illustrations in this book are produced by mechanical
processes excepting those marked in the List of Illustrations; and
all are printed simultaneously with the letterpress. For description
of processes, see _Appendix_.

[2] One of the last and best examples of pure line-engraving was by
M. Joubert, from a painting by E. J. Poynter, R.A., called
"Atalanta's Race," exhibited in the Royal Academy, 1876. The
engraving of this picture was nearly three years in M. Joubert's
hands--a tardy process in these days.

[Illustration: "GREETING." (BY THE HON. MRS. BOYLE.)]

CHAPTER II.

ELEMENTARY ILLUSTRATION.

The first object of an illustration, the practical part, is obviously,
_to illustrate and elucidate the text_--a matter often lost sight of.
The second is to be artistic, and includes works of the imagination,
decoration, ornament, style. In this chapter we shall consider the
first, the practical part.

Nearly twenty years ago, at a meeting of the Society of Arts in London,
the general question was discussed, whether in the matter of
illustrating books and newspapers we are really keeping pace with the
times; whether those whose business it is to provide the illustrations
which are tossed from steam presses at the rate of several thousand
copies an hour, are doing the best work they can.

In illustrated newspapers, it was argued, "there should be a clearer
distinction between fact and fiction, between news and pictures." The
exact words may be thought worth repeating now.[3]

"In the production of illustrations we have arrived at great
proficiency, and from London are issued the best illu