Printing from copper plates is the technique of transferring to a sheet of paper, a piece of satin or any similar material the imprint of lines etched with acid or engraved, with a burin or by some other means, on a plate of copper or of wood  [1].

The operation is carried out by means of two rollers between which the inked plate is made to pass. These rollers form part of a machine called a press  [2].

The action of the rollers transfers the ink from the engraved lines on the plate to the paper, vellum or satin which is placed over it.

The paper carrying these lines is called an estampe [image]  [3].

The art of casting letters and printing itself have collaborated to multiply infinitely the fruits of the imagination  [4], or, rather, the copies of these fruits. Engraving and printing from plates has rendered more or less the same service to painting. I say ‘more or less’ because the printed image does not preserve all the advantages of a picture.

Thanks to these two arts, and using a little good taste, one can, without possessing great riches, include in any portfolio more engraved images than the galleries of the richest potentate contain pictures. The glory of the great masters is not entirely lost.

Description of the press The engravers’ press is composed of two massive wooden assemblies, A, B, C, D Planche d’imprimerie en taille douce, fig. 6 .  [5] These assemblies are linked by two cross-pieces and each comprises a beam A, B at the ends of which are the feet l, m that support the press.

The upper surface of the beam ( A, B ) has five mortises the centre one of which receives the tenon of the cheek  [6] C, D and holds it vertical. The two others hold the bottoms of the pillars G, H which carry the arms O, F of the press.

Envisage a second identical assembly held parallel to the first by the two cross-pieces we have mentioned.

In each assembly, each cheek is pierced by two large quadrangular openings r s x, y z x rounded exactly in the centre of each facing side. It is through these openings that the shafts of the rollers pass, as we shall explain below.

Each cheek also carries two mortises on each side; the upper is double and receives the double tenon of the arm whose other end is carried by the pillar. The lower mortise receives the upper tenon of the diagonal brace.

The two assemblies or frames, one of which we have just described, are held together by two cross-pieces two feet long. The lower cross-piece seen in fig. 5 ( P, O ) and fig. 1 ( P ) is fixed by a tenon and a screw L into each cheek . This piece [screw] is visible in figs. 1 and 6, L. The upper cross-piece figs. 5 and 6 , also called the sommier , is held by dovetails and is often decorated by several mouldings. The whole thing is made of good oak or walnut.

The rollers, figs. 7 and 8 , about seven inches in diameter, end in shafts of about four and a half inches diameter, must be made of good walnut free of sap-wood, and not of inferior timber. Elm is also suitable.

One of the shafts of the upper roller fig. 7 , ends in a square which fits into a cross-shaped lever by means of which the roller is turned, as described below.

The shafts of the rollers figs. 7 and 8 rest in the rounded parts of the openings r s x, y z x in the cheeks, fig. 6 ; the rest of the space is filled by bearings, wedges and packing-pieces.

The four bearings O P, fig. 9, are pieces of wood of the same width and thickness as the opening in the cheek. They are three and a half inches high and have cylindrical ends to rest against the shaft. The are lined with a sheet of tin with tabs a, b fig. 9, each pierced by a hole, fitting into recesses cut in the sides of the bearing to which they are fixed with nails.

The wedges K K are also four in number. They are small pieces [of wood] about an inch thick and the same size as the base of the bearings against which they rest.

The packing-pieces are pieces of cardboard of indeterminate number whose dimensions correspond with the wedges against which they are placed.

To build the press, once the two frames have been assembled, the shafts of the rollers are put into the openings in the cheeks . The shaft with the square end fig. 7, goes in the upper openings r s x fig 6 and the other roller, fig. 8, goes into the lower openings y z x fig. 6 . The tenons of the cross-pieces are put into the mortises of the cheeks designed to fit them, P O figs. 5 and 1 , where they are fixed by the screws L, figs.1 and 6 , and on top of the whole construction the sommier is fixed. The function of the sommier is to prevent the cheeks springing apart.

This completed, one introduces into the lower opening of each cheek on the side x y fig. 6, a bearing with its tin lining, fig. 9, already coated with a layer of pig’s fat. The shaft of the roller is greased with the same material. A wedge is put under the bearing so that the shaft of the roller rests against the concave surface x of the opening y z x . On the shafts of the upper roller one puts similar bearings topped with wedges covered by packing-pieces until the openings r s x are sufficiently filled up.

Two small pieces of wood are put in the grooves in the arms of the press, under which one puts a transverse piece ending in dovetails that fit into recesses in the ends of the arms of the press. These cross-members prevent the sides springing apart.

An essential detail is that the line of contact of the two rollers must be about an inch higher than the surface of the small pieces just described.

The cross [lever] is put on to the upper roller by entering the square tenon into the similarly-shaped hole in the cross fig. 10 and the press is almost ready for use. All that is needed now is to add the table.

The table of the press is a plank of walnut about an inch and a half narrower than the space between the cheeks . It is about three and a half feet long and its surfaces must be planed [perfectly flat], above all the upper surface. One puts it [the table] between the rollers, if necessary removing some of the packing in the upper openings of the cheeks , while turning the upper roller using the cross. One end of the table is thinner and it is taken up by the rollers and entrained between them during the movement. The rollers must compress the table strongly. The table must not touch any other part of the press, this is why the upper surface of the lower roller has been set about an inch higher than the resting table by means of the little pieces of wood placed between the arms of the press.

In addition to the press – its principal machine – the workshop of the printer from engraved plates must be furnished with :

1. blankets or cloths [ langes ].
2. pieces of linen or towels.
3. a pad or ball. [for inking]
4. smoke-black or German black
5. an iron pot to heat up the walnut oil.
6. a marble slab and pestle to grind the black [for the ink].
7. a chafing-dish and a grill to heat the plate.
8. various lengths of wood, and tubs for soaking the paper.

The blankets or cloths [ langes ] are of white wool, well fulled and without any lumps. Sometimes fine serge is used, laid first on the plate and covered by thicker layers of cloth. The cloths must have neither hems nor fringes. Two or three sizes must be provided to be changed as needed for different sizes of plate and of paper. Since they necessarily become hard and full of moisture from their passage through the rollers it is wise to spread them out to dry in the evening, and, in the morning when they are dry, to work them, crush them and stretch them in all directions to make them supple. There must also be spares so that they can be changed without interrupting the work, and those that have become too hard can be washed and freed of the glue that they have picked up from the damp paper on which they have been placed so many times during the course of the printing.

The linens or towels are pieces torn from old linen which will be used to wipe the plate after it has been inked.

The pad or ball is made from a good piece of hemp, soft, fine and partly worn; it is cut into strips five or six inches wide which are then rolled up very tightly as one rolls ribbon but as tightly as possible and formed into a shape like a painter’s swab. This is then sewn with good thread doubled several times, passed through [the cylinder of cloth] in all directions. An awl is used to assist this sewing. When the pad or ball has been thoroughly sewn and reduced to about three inches in diameter, it is roughened with a very sharp knife and the other end is shaped into a half-sphere so that it fits well into the hollow of the hand and is convenient to apply to the plate when it is to be inked.

Of smoke black or German black. The best black at the disposal of printers of engraved plates is made by burning resinous materials; it is, in fact, soot. See the article Smoke black. [7] A good black must have a smooth appearance; rubbed between the fingers it crumbles like starch. Ordinary black does not have such a good appearance; between the fingers it feels rough and gravelly rather than smooth. It wears the plates badly; this kind of black is made from the residue of distilled wine  [8].

Of the cauldron for heating the oil. It is of iron and quite large and it is essential that the lid fits very well. In it is put the required amount of the best and purest walnut oil ensuring, however, that there remains a space of four or five fingers [breadths] above the oil. It is covered and brought to the boil taking care that it does not boil over and catch fire. It must be stirred frequently with either tongs or iron spoons until it just catches alight spontaneously. Or one can light it with a piece of burning paper thrown on to it when it is sufficiently hot. Then the cauldron is pulled off the fire and put in the corner of the fireplace, remembering to stir the oil. The burning [of the oil] lasts at least half an hour and this completes the making of the first oil, which is called huile foible . [light oil]

The fire is now extinguished by closing the cauldron with the lid or putting a wet cloth on the surface to shut out the air.

Then the oil is poured into a clean vessel in which it is to be kept.

Heavy oil [ l’huile fort ] is made in the same way as light oil but is left to burn for much longer. It is allowed to burn until it has become thick and sticky as can be detected by allowing a few drops to fall on a plate; when the cooled drops spread like thick syrup the oil is ready.

Some people either throw a crust of bread or umber  [9] pigment into the boiling oil, or boil this up with the oil.

If the oil is over-burnt a suitable amount of fresh oil can be added to the cauldron.

It is wise to carry out this operation in a garden, courtyard or some open space.

Of the manner of grinding the black . The marble slab and its pestle, see fig. 4 , are cleaned and the amount of black to be ground is [first] crushed. One has to hand some light oil and sprinkles this little by little on the black, taking care not to put too much oil on at a time; the black must be ground as dry as possible.

This mixture complete, the black is scraped with a knife or palette-knife to one corner of the slab and, taking the roughly ground powder a little at a time, it is spread right across the slab and the pestle pressed on it from all directions until the required fineness and consistency is achieved.

When the grinding and preparation are complete it [the black] is again taken up with the knife or palette-knife and the same treatment is applied to the portion dampened [with oil]. All is then moved to the middle of the slab and some heavy oil is added with two or three strokes of the pestle.

Less heavy oil is needed when the ink is being prepared for worn plates or for those in which the engraving is less deep; a little practice and experience dictates [the amount needed].

Of the chafing dish and the grill. There is a chafing dish of iron, or cast iron, over which a grill is placed; on this grill the plates will be placed to heat moderately. There must be a little space between the grill and the dish to allow free circulation of air between the plate and the fire which must be covered by hot ash.

Of the soaking of the paper. To soak large [sheets of] paper one must have a tub filled with clean water and two strong paper-boards  [10] strengthened with bars across the back, of the same size as the paper. The bars strengthen the boards and prevent them from warping and are a help when the boards need to be lifted loaded with paper.

When all is ready, five or six sheets of paper are taken with both hands. They are held by the corners and passed all together through the clean water in the tub two or three times, according to the thickness of the paper and how much it is sized [ collé ], then they are spread out on one of the paper-boards, and the next five or six [sheets] that have been soaked are put on top, and so on until the amount of paper to be soaked has been used up.

The wet paper on the paper-board is covered with the other board, with its smooth surface against the paper, and the whole put under a heavy weight, or the boards are put in a press; this operation produces two contrary effects, it forces the necessary water into the paper and squeezes out of it that which is superfluous.

The paper is left like this until one wants to print. Paper soaked overnight can be used the next day and, if one happens to have soaked more than can be used, the sheets left over are put among those soaked [the next] evening and, next morning, used first.

Heavy and heavily-sized paper is soaked longer and thin lightly-sized paper for a shorter time.

Sometimes paper or material to be printed on is treated with alum since the ink then adheres more easily. To do this one dissolves alum in boiling water and soaks the paper in this.

Of the technique of inking and printing. The first pressman  [11] prints, the second inks.

The edges of the engraved plate are filed [smooth], and it is placed on the grill over the chafing dish. It is allowed to become moderately hot, then it is taken by one of the corners with a clean white cloth and carried to a good steady table. Then one takes the ink pad and applies the pad and the ink to the plate, running it over, pressing and beating the whole surface in all directions until the lines are well filled with black.

When using a new pad, three or four times more ink  [12] is needed than when the pad is old, much used and well-soaked.

A precaution not to be neglected is to keep the pad and the ink in a clean place where they are not exposed to dust or dirt which would scratch the plate during inking.

When the pad has been used a great deal and has become hard because of the ink that has been absorbed and dried, a few slices must be cut off it and it must then be treated as a new pad.

When the engraved lines have thus been well filled with ink, the excess is lightly wiped off and the surplus removed with a cloth that is also used to wipe the edges of the plate. On another white cloth one wipes the palm of the hand, this clean hand is then passed over the plate, firmly and in all directions; the wiping of the plate is repeated, wiping the hand each time on the white cloth until one arrives at the point where there is no superfluous ink on the plate and only the engraved lines contain ink; the plate is now ready to print.

The table of the press is brought to one side or the other using the cross, and a sheet of the same paper to be used for printing is spread on it; on this paper a thin cloth [ lange ] is spread, and over this a thicker one, taking care that the edges of the cloths do not lie over each other; thus, for example, if the first cloth is seven or eight inches from the roller the second that covers it is one or two inches shorter, and similarly the third and fourth etc. This is done to build a sort of ramp from the graduated thickness of the cloths that facilitates their passage under the roller.

The cross is turned in the correct direction to make the well-spread cloths pass [through the rollers] to the other side of the press but in such a way that they do not come out completely from under the roller. The cloths are then turned back over the roller to uncover the sheet of paper that has passed through with them and the plate, inked and wiped as has been described and gently re-heated, is placed, back down, on the sheet of paper on the table being careful to keep the edges parallel and the opposite margins equal. A sheet of soaked paper is placed over the plate arranged thus.

For the printer’s convenience, the soaked paper is on a board on the top of the press. On top of the soaked sheet is put a waste sheet of paper  [13] and, over this, the cloths are folded back. Then, turning the cross gently and steadily - this is essential - the whole [sandwich of paper, plate and cloths] is entrained between the rollers. The heavy pressure transfers the ink filling the lines on the plate to the damp sheet of paper and the impression is printed. Since the workman was guided [in placing the damp paper over the plate] by the sheet of paper placed under the plate, the image has good [equal] margins. The waste paper used is also the same size as the damp paper.

The printer then folds back the cloths on to the roller to uncover the print which he removes from the surface of the plate and places on the table, fig. 3 . He begins again, inking the plate and replacing it and printing a second proof [i.e. continuing the print run – see note  [14]] and so on until all the soaked paper has been used.

Sometimes the plate is passed back and forward several times through the rollers, particularly when the ink has been mixed with heavy oil. But in other cases there is only one passage through the press.

In printing with two tables, the pulled images are placed on one and on the other those that come from the other side  [15].

Another technique is to put the cloths on the table first, to put a waste sheet on them, then the paper, then the engraved plate and on top of the plate two or three large cloths and, when all is arranged thus, the image is pulled [printed].

Images can also be printed in several colours; See the article above, Gravure  [16].

If the plate is not uniform, that is to say is thicker or thinner in one place or another, one puts under it, between it and the table, pieces of cardboard or torn-off thick paper corresponding to the irregularities; thus one achieves equal pressure across the whole plate.

If the lines on the plate have become filled with dried ink it must be boiled in a cleaning solution  [17] or it can be placed on two little trivets and covered to a depth of about a finger’s- breadth with raked and riddled ash  [18] soaked with water; then a fire is made on it with scrap paper or straw so that the wet cinders become as it were boiling; in boiling they dissolve and absorb all the ink from the engraved lines.

Then the plate is rinsed by pouring clear water on it until no vestige of the cinders remains. If the plate were to be wiped without this precaution it would certainly be scratched.

The cleaned plate is then put away in a dry place.

It is to this art of printing, as we said at the beginning of this article, that we owe the multiplication of the works of the great Painters.

If the ancients who understood the art of engraving had known how to make images from their plates it would seem likely that they would have carried this invention forward to the printing of books; all that would have been necessary would have been to get scribes to write a cursive script in reverse on plates coated with varnish. But perhaps the arts of forging, making copper plates and smoothing them were unknown to them. In any case it seems that most of the works in copper that have come down to us from them [the ancients] were cast. If this is so, those who understand these sorts of work will appreciate the difficulty there would have been in preparing, without the help of modern machines, the number of plates needed for an edition of a book of any considerable size. Even with these aides, engraving is rarely used for the printing of letterpress unless only a few lines are required or, at the very most, a few pages.

1. The claim that wooden plates could be used is surprising. Wood blocks for printing are, and were, cut in relief and not in intaglio as are engraved plates. While it is true that techniques of engraving on wood have been used, it seems unlikely that images could be printed from these using the methods described here.

2. In English printing a clear distinction is made between two types of press. The ‘press’, or ‘common press’ means a press for printing letterpress (on which images from woodblocks can also be printed); in the age of the hand press this was a screw press descended from the wine press. The ‘rolling press’ is a completely different device used for printing from copper plates. It is, of course, the rolling press that is described here.

3. In fact, the usual name for an image printed from a copper plate was planche , plate, as, indeed the Encyclopédie itself calls its own illustrations. Perhaps single printed sheets were referred to in the printing shop as estampes . In English they would usually be called ‘pulls’.

4. les productions de l'esprit, the author clearly means literary works and the like – books in the general sense.

5. The references to fig n refer to the numbered figures in the two plates on Printing from copper plates (Imprimerie en Taille Douce || Planche 1ière et Planche II) Page 24:4:1. The link at ⁵ in the text leads to the second of these plates.

6. jumelle Moxon, (1677, see ref. 8 below) uses the word cheeks to describe the uprights between which are fixed the various parts of the mechanism of the ‘common press’ (used for printing letterpress). It seems best to use the same English word to translate jumelles which are the corresponding parts of the ‘rolling press’ used for printing from engraved plates.

7. See also the article Printing Ink (Encre noire à l'usage de l'Imprimerie ).

8. des lies du vin brûlées Presumably the residue in the still after the wine has been distilled to produce alcohol.

9. de la terre d'ombre One of the ‘earths’ used by painters as brown pigments.

10. ais Moxon in his account of letterpress printing (1677), calls this implement the paper-board .

11. l’ouvrier premier de la vignette

12. For most of the article noir is used, as it is here, to describe the ink as well as the black pigment from which it is made, though encre does appear in the later sections. I have translated noir as ink when it refers to the mixture of carbon and oil that is applied to the plate and as ‘black’ when only the carbon pigment is intended.

13. une feuille de maclature This is a term of art meaning, roughly, spoiled or marked paper. Printer’s shops had a good deal of imperfect paper delivered from the mill, it was used to wrap the quired sheets of good paper during transport; and, of course, there would be scrap from imperfect pulls.

14. une seconde épreuve At first sight it appears that the author does, indeed, mean a second proof sheet following the first sheet off the press. But the rest of the sentence implies that he is speaking of the ordinary print run and not of proofs since he continues ‘... until all the paper is used’.

15. The meaning is not entirely clear. I have translated the text as it stands, but I wonder if he is speaking of working with two presses for which it would be convenient to have a table to receive output from each.

16. Gravure There are several articles on gravure . Probably the most relevant is that by Montdorge, Gravure en couleurs, à l’imitation de la Peinture vol. 7 p. 899ff.

17. la faire bouillir dans de la lessive Dictionaries of the period describe lessive as a cleaning solution, commonly for laundry, containing ash ‘or other cleaning materials’.

18. cendres but ‘ash’ is probably the correct translation; its detergent properties were known and used from ancient times.