the severity of the burin. This school, to which Mr.
Gaucherel gave a great impulse, has been called in to fill a regrettable
void in the collections of amateurs. Every one knows those remarkable
publications, _Les Artistes Contemporains_, and _Les Peintres Vivants_,
which, for the last twenty years, have reproduced in lithography the
_chefs-d'oeuvre_ of our exhibitions of paintings. To-day etching takes
the place of lithography; it excels in the reproduction of modern
landscapes, and of the _genre_ subjects which we owe to our most
esteemed painters. It is not less happy in the interpretation of certain
of the old masters, whose works make it impossible to approach them with
the burin. The catalogues of celebrated galleries which have lately been
sold also testify to the important services rendered to art by the
reproductive etcher. His methods are free and rapid; they are not
subjected to a severe convention of form. He may rest his own work on
the genius of others, so as to attain a success like that of the
painter-etcher; but the latter, as he bathes his inspiration in the acid
and triumphantly withdraws it, finds his power and his resources within
himself alone. He is at once the translator and the poet.

CHAPTER II.

TOOLS AND MATERIALS.--PREPARING THE PLATE.--DRAWING ON THE PLATE WITH
THE NEEDLE.

14. =Method of Using this Manual.=--As the general theory given in the
preceding chapter may seem too brief, and may convey but an incomplete
idea of the different operations involved in etching, I shall now
endeavor to formulate, in as concise a manner as possible, such
practical directions as I have had occasion to give to a young designer,
and to different other persons, in my own studio. I shall provide
successively for all the accidents which usually, or which may possibly,
occur. But the beginner need not trouble himself too much about the
apparent complication of detail which the following pages present. They
are intended, rather, to be consulted, like a dictionary, as occasion
arises. In all cases, however, it will be well, on reading the book, to
make immediate application of the various directions given, so as to
avoid all confusion of detail in the memory, and to escape the tedium of
what would otherwise be rather dry reading.

A. TOOLS AND MATERIALS.

15. =List of Tools and Materials needed.=--To begin with, we must
provide ourselves with the following requisites:[3]--

Copper plates.
A