he state of woodcutting in France is
described in the _Enquiry_ (p. 27):

From this Account it is evident that there was little Encouragement
to be hoped for in England to a Person whose Genius led him to
prosecute his Studies in the ancient Manner; which obliged Mr.
_Jackson_ to go over to the Continent, and see what was used in the
_Parisian_ Printing-houses. At his arrival there he found the
_French_ Engravers on Wood working in the old Manner; no Metal
Engravers, or any of the same Performance on the end of the Wood,
was ever used or countenanced by the Printers or Booksellers in that
City. He tells us that he thought himself a tolerable good Hand when
he came to _Paris_, but far inferior to the Performances of
Monsieurs _Vincent le Seur_ and _Jean M. Pappillon_....

Jackson admits benefiting from the friendship and advice of these
woodcutters, then goes on to describe their work with a ruthless
frankness. Le Sueur, he says, was a brilliant copyist of the line
engravings of Sebastien Le Clerc but, because he was a line-for-line
copyist, lacked skill in drawing. Papillon's father, also a woodcutter
who copied Le Clerc, avoided cross-hatching, which Jackson considered an
essential ingredient of the true style of black-and-white woodcutting;
Papillon himself, while described as a draughtsman of the utmost
accuracy, was criticized for making his work so minute that it was
impossible to print clearly. Jackson says in the _Enquiry_ (pp. 29-30):

If his Father neglected Cross Hatching, the Son affected to outstrip
the _le Seurs_ in this difficult Performance, and even the ancient
_Venetians_, believing to have fixed a _Non plus ultra_ in our Times
to any future Attempts with Engraving on Wood.

... I saw the Almanack[17] in a horrid Condition before I left
_Paris_, the Signs of the Zodiack wore like a Blotch,
notwithstanding the utmost Care and Diligence the Printer used to
take up very little Ink to keep them clean. I have chosen to make
mention of these two _Frenchmen_ as the only Persons in my time
keeping up to the Stile of the ancient Engraving on Wood; and as
they favoured me with their Friendship and Advice during my abode in
_Paris_, I thought in Justice to their good Nature it was proper to
give some Account of their Merit!

[Footnote 17: The _Petit almanach de Paris_, founded by J. M.
Papillon in 1727 and illustrated with his woodcuts.]

Acknowledgmen