History of Ireland - Eng. -1867- IRELAND'S GOLDEN AGE

History of Ireland - Eng. -1867- IRELAND'S GOLDEN AGE STEEL ENGRAVING of IRISH HISTORY This 144 year old steel engraving print was rescued from the book "THE HISTORY OF IRELAND, FROM THE EARLIEST PERIOD TO THE PRESENT TIME" by Martin Haverty. I t was published by Thomas Farrell in New York in 1867. Steel engraving , is a commercial engraving technique for printing illustrations, based on steel instead of copper. Steel engraving was introduced in 1792 by Jacob Perkins (1766-1849), an American Inventor, for the use of banknote printing. When Perkins moved to London in 1818, the technique in 1820 became adapted by Charles Warren The new technique only partially replaced the other commercial techniques of that time as woodcut, wood engraving, copper engraving and later lithography. Most engraving is done by laying out the broad, general outline onto the plate first. This is commonly referred to simply as etching. After this step is complete the artist can move to strictly engraving the work. The tool most commonly used for engraving is the burin, which is a small bar of hardened steel with a sharp point. This is pushed along the plate to produce thin strips of waste metal and thin furrows. This is followed by a scraper which removes any burs as they will be an impediment to the ink. It is important to note that engraving must be done in the reverse or mirror image, so that the image faces the correct way when the die prints. Steel plates can be case hardened to ensure that they can print thousands of times with little wear. Copper plates can not be case hardened but can be steel-faced or nickel-plated to increase their life expectancy. This steel engraving print is in good condition with some minor age toning and minor foxing. The size of the image is about 6" x 8"on a page that is 8" x 11", blank on the back. It is suitable for framing and would be an excellent gift. The print that is being offered is entitled "IRELAND'S GOLDEN AGE". read more