Carpo (_c._ 1480-1530) working in Venice, introduced this new
type of tone woodcut into Italy; indeed, he claimed to be the inventor
of the method. "This was called _chiaroscuro_, a name still given to
it, and was, in fact, a simple form of our modern chromo printing." His
woodcuts are in a simple, vigorous style; one of them after Raphael's
"Death of Ananias," printed in brown, has a depth and brilliancy which
may remind us of the mezzo-tints of Turner's _Liber Studiorum_. This is
proudly signed, "Per Ugo da Carpo," and some copies are said to be dated
1518.

Andrea Andreani (_c._ 1560-1623), a better known but not a better
artist, produced a great number of these tone woodcuts. Several prints
after Mantegna's "Triumphs of Caesar" have a special charm from the
beauty of the originals; they are printed in three tints of grey besides
the "drawing"; the palest of these tints covers the surface, except for
high lights cut out of it. A fine print of a Holy Family, about 15x18
inches, has a middle tone of fair blue and a shadow tint of full rich
green. Copies of two immense woodcuts at the Victoria and Albert Museum,
of Biblical subjects, seem to have been seems to cramp the hand and
injure the eyes of all but the most gifted draughtsmen. It is desirable
to cultivate the ability to seize and record the "map-form" of any
object rapidly and correctly. Some practice in elementary
colour-printing would certainly be of general usefulness, and simpler
exercises may be contrived by cutting out with scissors and laying down
shapes in black or coloured papers unaided by any pattern.

Finally, the hope may be expressed that the beautiful art of
wood-cutting as developed in Western Europe and brought to such
perfection only a generation ago is only temporarily in abeyance, and
that it too may have another day.

W. R. LETHABY.
_September 1916._

AUTHOR'S NOTE

This little book gives an account of one of the primitive crafts, in the
practice of which only the simplest tools and materials are used. Their
method of use may serve as a means of expression for artist-craftsmen,
or may be studied in preparation for, or as a guide towards, more
elaborate work in printing, of which the main principles may be seen
most clearly in their application in the primitive craft.

In these days the need for reference to primitive handicrafts has not
ceased with the advent of the machine. The