well-known wood engravings of soldiers with standards, executed by
Urs Graf in the early 1500's, are probably the only white-line prints in
this medium by an accomplished artist until the 18th century. But these
are mainly in outline, with little attempt to achieve tones. No
advantage was gained by having the lines white rather than black other
than an engaging roughness in spots: the prints were simply whimsical
excursions by an inventive artist.

[10] Sylvester R. Koehler, "White-line engraving for relief-printing in
the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries," in _Annual report of the ...
Smithsonian Institution ... for the year ending June 30, 1890, report of
the U. S. National Museum_, Washington, 1892, pp. 385-389.

[Illustration: Figure 4.--White-Line Engraving on Metal for Relief
Printing, "The Franciscan, Pelbart of Temesvar, Studying in a Garden,"
from "_Pomerium quadragesimale, fratris Pelbarti ordinis sancti
Francisci_," Augsburg, 1502.]

Relief engraving on type metal and end-grain wood really got under way
as a consistent process in England at the beginning of the 18th century.
Chatto[11] gives this date as conjecture, without actual evidence, but a
first-hand account can be found in the rare and little-known book,
published in 1752, in which the combination of anonymous authorship and
a misleading title obscured the fact that it is a digest of John Baptist
Jackson's manuscript journal. This eminent woodcutter, who was born
about 1700 and worked in England during the early years of the century,
must be considered an important and reliable witness. The unknown editor
paraphrases Jackson on the subject of engraving for relief purposes:[12]

... I shall give a brief Account of the State of Cutting on Wood in
_England_ for the Type Press before he [Jackson] went to _France_
in 1725. In the beginning of this Century a remarkable Blow was
given to all Cutters on Wood, by an Invention of engraving on the
same sort of Metal which Types are cast with. The celebrated Mr.
_Kirkhal_, an able Engraver on Copper, is said to be the first who
performed a Relievo Work to answer the use of Cutting on Wood. This
could be dispatched much sooner, and consequently answered the
purpose of Booksellers and Printers, who purchased those sort of
Works at a much chaper [sic] Rate than could be expected from an
Engraver on Wood; it required much more Time to execute with
accur