inting
Copper-plates done with _Fumo_ or _Mezzotinto_, are the most subject
to wear out the soonest of any sort of Engraving on that Metal. Had
this one Article been properly considered, _le Blond_, must have
seen the impossibility of printing any Quantity from his repeated
Impressions of Blue, Red, and Yellow Plates, so as to produce only
Twenty of these printed Pictures to be alike. This is obvious to
every one who has any Knowledge, or has seen the cleaning of
Copper-plates after the Colour was laid on; the delicate finishing
of the Flesh must infallibly wear out every time the Plate is
cleaned, and all the tender light Shadowing of any Colour must soon
become white in proportion as the Plate wears. The Nature of
Impression being overlooked at first, was the principal Cause that
Undertaking came to nothing, notwithstanding the immense Expence the
Proprietors were at to have a few imperfect Proofs at best, since it
is evident they could be no other. The new invented Method of
printing in Colours by Mr. _Jackson_ is under no Apprehension of
being wore out so soon.... Whatever has been done by our _English_
Artist, was all printed with Wood Blocks with a strong Relievo, and
in Substance sufficient to draw off almost any number that may be
required.

What Jackson neglected to mention was the difficulty of repeating
transparent color effects with large planks of wood. Few existing
impressions match each other and some prints are off register. What
saved him was his fine color sense, his brilliance as a woodcutter, and
his disinclination to make literal color reproductions.

The work that Jackson left behind became a part of the cultural heritage
of Venice, valued on its own account as well as for its connection with
the city. Zanetti[33] describes the Venetian set and Zanotto,[34] in his
_Guida_ of 1856, urges a visit to the Chiesa Abaziale della
Misericordia, which evidently had on permanent exhibition a "perfectly
unique collection of woodcuts in various colors by Jackson, quite
unmatched."

[Footnote 33: Zanetti, 1792, pp. 689, 716.]

[Footnote 34: Zanotto, 1856, p. 320, note 3.]

Gallo[35] says that some of Jackson's blocks found their way to the
printing house of the Remondini and were used to strike off new
impressions, after which they became the property of the Typografia
Pozzato in Bassano. This might explain some of the inferior examples of
the Venetian set