of carrying
away the ink which it has taken up out of the lines, retains it; a tint
like that produced by the stump is spread over the plate, and envelops
the lines without obscuring them; the proof is supple and velvety. (See
Pl. II.)

91. =Wiping with the Rag only.=--Here is another variety. I am just
printing a number of original plates by different artists. Being true
painter's etchings, some of these plates are boldly accentuated and
heavily bitten; the lines are widely apart, and significant. If these
plates were printed _naturally_, they would yield bare and poor-looking
proofs. Wiping with the hand would be useless. I therefore go over the
plate with _stiff_ muslin. In the same manner I continue and finish, so
as to give the greatest amount of cleaning to the luminous passages,
while a tolerably strong tint is left on the dark and deeply bitten
ones.

Or I might have wiped the plate energetically with soft muslin, and then
might have brought up again certain passages with a soft and somewhat
cleaner rag.

This method of wiping, which leaves on the surface of the plate a tint
of more or less depth, must not be confounded with _retroussage_. Here
is a proof of one of the plates of which I spoke to you: it is well
sustained at all points; the lines are full and nourished; the general
aspect is harmonious and energetic; the lights are softened; the
strongly marked passages are enveloped in a warm tint. One might almost
say that the effect of painting has been carried into etching.

This method is employed for plates which have been deeply bitten, but
upon which stopping-out has been used but sparingly, for works in which
there is sobriety of expression, or for sketches (see Pl. VIII.). It is
all the more necessary, sometimes, for the printer to take the
initiative, the simpler the plate has been etched; it is left to him, in
short, to complete the intention merely indicated by the artist.

[Illustration: Plate VIII.]

92. =Limits of Artificial Printing.=--These examples have shown to you
that difference in tone depends on the amount of pressure, and the
variety of texture in the muslin. It is oftentimes necessary--and this
is an affair of tact--to make use of these diverse qualities of the
muslin on the same plate,--now reducing an over-strong tint by more
vigorous wiping; now giving renewed force to it, in case it has become
too soft.

These various means constitute the art of printing etchings. But, while