Why Bewick Succeeded

Why Bewick Succeeded, subtitled A Note in the History of Wood Engraving, is by Jacob Kainen. The opening note says Thomas Bewick has been acclaimed as the pioneer of modern wood engraving, and that the study shows certain technological developments prepared a path for Bewick and helped give his work its unique character. The contents list names sections called The Contemporary View of Bewick, Low Status of the Woodcut, Woodcut and Wood Engraving, and Wood Engraving and the Stereotype, among others.

The text says that during the initial wave of Bewick appreciation, the usually sober Wordsworth wrote in the 1805 edition of Lyrical ballads a verse beginning, O now that the genius of Bewick were mine. French artists from about 1720, notably Jean M. Papillon, are said to have produced cuts so delicate that their printing became a problem. The text says the electrotyping process, which came into prominence in 1839 through the experiments of Professor Jacobi in St. Petersburg and Jordan and Spencer in England, had made it possible to produce substitute plates of the highest fidelity.