PRACTICAL HINTS ON DECORATIVE PRINTING, WITH ILLUSTRATIONS ENGRAVED ON WOOD, AND PRINTED IN COLOURS

(COLOR PRINTING - EARLY). SAVAGE, WILLIAM

Published by Published for the Proprietor by Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown 1822 [1823], London, 1822

About this Item

288 x 220 mm. (11 3/8 x 8 5/8"). 3 p.l., vi, [2], 100, [8], [103]-118 pp., [2] leaves. Pleasing 20th century rich green crushed morocco, gilt-framed covers and smooth spine, gilt lettering to spine, edges untrimmed. In a burgundy calf-backed clamshell box (meant for this book, but for some reason substantially larger), green morocco title label on spine. WITH 60 ENGRAVED ILLUSTRATIONS, as called for in Abbey, 48 PRINTED IN COLORS, including decorative title page, dedication with Earl Spencer's coat of arms, six plates with a total of 18 color ink specimens, two type specimen plates, four engravings of printing presses (Columbian Press in two states, one before letters), nine defaced plates printed recto-verso, and six headpieces, three color printed, 28 engraved plates printed in colors: five in a single block, six in two to four blocks, 14 in five to nine blocks, and three full-color in 13, 14, and 29 blocks, respectively, as called for in the contents and in Abbey. Front pastedown with the bookplate of the Robin Collection. Abbey Life 233; Ray, "England" 99. Occasional mild thumbing, otherwise nothing but the most trivial imperfections--quite a fine copy, internally clean and fresh, with pleasing colors, in a very appealing unworn binding. This virtuoso production was, in Ray's opinion, Savage's magnum opus, a work that was "both a highly idiosyncratic volume and a notable landmark in the history of color printing from wood." Printer and engraver William Savage (1770-1843) was, in Ruari McLean's words, "the first true colour printer of the nineteenth century in England." One of his great innovations, which made possible color printing as seen here, was a new formulation of ink. DNB reports, "Printing ink in England at that time was of a very poor quality and Savage, by various experiments, made a printing ink without any oil in its composition. This made it more serviceable for artistic work and easier to manufacture." Savage's inks transferred so cleanly from the engraved wooden block to the paper that the blocks did not have to be wiped between impressions--speeding up the process considerably, especially when (as here) one image could require up to 29 colored blocks. The oil-free inks were also less inclined to smear or to bleed through the paper. While Savage's elaborate methods were not economically viable for mass printing of color-illustrated works, his improvements to printing ink and his use of multiple blocks paved the way for the use of chromolithography. The engravings in this work are rare, because the work was strictly limited and because Savage, despite some protests, fulfilled his promise to subscribers that all the blocks would be destroyed. While the plate count in the work can vary from copy to copy, the present item collates as indicated by the table of contents and includes Clymer's Columbian Press plate in two states, as called for by Abbey. This work appears on the market from time to time, but seldom in the kind of agreeable condition seen here.

Seller Inventory # ST17561

Bibliographic Details

• Title: PRACTICAL HINTS ON DECORATIVE PRINTING, WITH ILLUSTRATIONS ENGRAVED ON WOOD, AND PRINTED IN COLOURS
• Publisher: Published for the Proprietor by Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown 1822 [1823], London
• Publication Date: 1822
• Edition: FIRST EDITION, ONE OF 227 COPIES.
• Seller catalogs:
  • Illustrated Books - Color Plates
  • Illustrated Books - Engravings
  • Art & Design