full color, 3 feet 6 inches long by 2 feet high,
and was to serve as a specimen for a series of four of the same size,
the others being "History, Pictures and Landscapes." They were to be
done by subscription:

No Money will be required of the Subscribers till the Prints are
finished, and only at the Delivery. It is to be hoped the Curious
and the Public will encourage this Undertaking, by a Man who has
spent the greatest Part of his Life in searching after and improving
an Art, believed by all to be lost, and has restored it to the
Condition we now see it in his Works.

The only known copy of this battle picture, made from about seven
blocks, is in the Print Room of the British Museum. It is a magnificent
piece. Probably nothing with this breadth of handling had ever been done
in woodcut before. The color is grave and beautifully harmonized,
although the paper has deteriorated and the colors have darkened
somewhat. The blocks were cut with ardor, almost fury; everything is
brought to life with masterly assurance. Martin Hardie, who made the
only previous comment on this print, which he could only surmise was
Jackson's, says:[38] "Jackson's supreme achievement is a large battle
scene, with wonderful masses of rich colour superbly blended,
reminiscent of Velasquez in breadth, in dignity, and in glory of tone."

[Footnote 38: Hardie, 1906, p. 23.]

There were competitors in London, among them Matthias Darley, who
produced papers in the Chinese style; Thomas Bromwich, who was
patronized by Walpole; and Robert Dunbar, Jr., of Aldermanbury, who in
addition sold Jackson's papers. They lacked both Jackson's gifts and his
unreasonable standards but they produced more generally acceptable
wallpaper with greater facility. These competitors did not work in oil
colors, like Jackson. Transparent tints were too difficult to control,
especially when applied with inking balls (composition rollers did not
come into use until well after 1800), and effects were too heavy. They
used distemper-- powdered color mixed with glue and water, with chalk
added to give body. This was sometimes applied with woodblock or stencil
but most often it was simply painted in by hand over a blockprinted
outline. Often the painting was done directly on the wall after the
paper was hung. These wallpapers were weak when examined critically, but
nobody worried as long as a light bright pastel effect was obtained.
Jackson's vigorous drawing a