Gravures et estampes anciennes: recognise, choose, preserve

Three families of processes

Relief engraving

In woodcut, the areas around the design are cut away and only the remaining parts receive ink: this is known as the white-line technique. Plank wood, cut along the grain, is the oldest; end-grain wood, cut across the grain and harder, popularised by the Englishman Thomas Bewick around 1800, allows for the fine detail of Romantic vignettes and illustrations by Gustave Doré, translated by engravers such as Héliodore Pisan. The Épinal imagery, founded by Jean-Charles Pellerin in 1796, hand-coloured its woodcut images using stencils.

Intaglio engraving

In intaglio engraving, ink settles in the incised lines and the plate passes under strong pressure. The burin directly incises the copper; etching uses acid to bite into a design drawn in varnish; drypoint scratches the metal, creating a velvety line that quickly wears; aquatint and mezzotint produce tonal effects. In the 19th century, steel, harder than copper, enabled long print runs for views and illustrated books.

Lithography

Invented by Aloys Senefelder in Munich from 1796, it relies on the repellence of water and grease: the artist draws with a greasy crayon on a limestone slab. Introduced to Paris in 1802, it became the art of caricaturists and costume collections; chromolithography, in colour, replaced woodcut in popular imagery from the late 1840s.

Reading a print

Below the image, engraved inscriptions name the contributors: pinxit for the painter, delineavit for the draftsman, sculpsit for the engraver, excudit for the publisher. An engraving that reproduces a painting or drawing by another artist is an interpretive engraving; an original print is conceived and engraved by the artist, or under their supervision. Both are collected, at different prices.

The pencil signature and numbering (12/50, or E.A. for artist’s proof) only became common in the late 19th century: an 18th-century engraving signed in pencil should arouse suspicion. Collectors also prized before-the-letter impressions, pulled before the title engraving, and remarques, adorned with a small sketch in the margin.

Engraving or reproduction?

• The plate mark: an intaglio print bears the impression of the plate, a slight depression around the image. A woodcut or lithograph has none.
• The magnifying glass: an engraving shows continuous lines; a lithograph reveals the grain of the crayon; a regular grid of dots betrays a photomechanical or offset impression.
• Raking light: the ink of an intaglio print forms a slight relief on the paper.
• Catalogue terminology: heliogravure and photogravure refer to photographic processes. These plates may be handsome, but they are not original engravings.

Then there are restrikes: the Chalcographie du Louvre, founded in 1797, still prints etchings from old copper plates. These are modern impressions and must not be confused with period proofs. By contrast, the plates of Diderot and d’Alembert’s Encyclopédie, assembled in eleven volumes completed in 1772, are genuinely period pieces, even when removed from their original context.

Margins, condition and framing

An impression retains its value only with its margins: trimmed to the edge of the image, it loses much of its worth. Next, check for foxing, damp stains, tide lines from a sheet left on the wall, and yellowing caused by an old acidic mat.

For framing, insist on conservation mounting: Japanese paper hinges, neutral board, UV-filtering glass, never lining. Unframed, store sheets flat in acid-free folders. A 19th-century etching often sells for a few dozen to a few hundred euros; fine early proofs by the old masters command far higher prices.

Our stock blends original prints, such as Charles Meryon’s views of Paris, author of the Eaux-fortes sur Paris etched between 1850 and 1854, 19th-century reproductive etchings, lithographed suites of military uniforms and images d’Épinal.

Frequently asked questions

How can I tell if my print is old?

Look for the plate mark, examine the lines under a magnifier and inspect the paper: laid paper from the hand-press era shows its chain lines by transparency. A regular grid of dots indicates a reproduction. A clear photograph of the image, margins and verso is enough for a bookseller to give a preliminary opinion.

Is an unsigned print valuable?

Yes. Before the late 19th century, prints were not signed in pencil; the artist’s and engraver’s names appear on the plate itself. Only modern prints are normally hand-signed and numbered.

Should I clean a stained print?

Not you: no eraser on foxing, no adhesive tape on a tear. A paper conservator can reduce foxing and damp stains; for a common print, good framing is often sufficient.

Is a plate torn from a book a true engraving?

Yes, if it was engraved: a plate from the Encyclopédie or a steel engraving from a 19th-century book is a period impression. It is generally worth less than a separately issued print, and a complete book should never be disbound.

To go further

• Antique books on Paris: topography, history and engravings
• Curmer, Hetzel, Magnin: the golden age of Romantic illustrated books
• Albert Robida: illustrated books and lithographs
• Fine printing papers: Japan, China, Holland
• Foxing on antique paper: causes and treatment
• The section Fine books, art and bindings and our page Sell and appraise your antique books
• Antique maps and atlases: how to choose, date and collect
• Antique botanical and garden books: floras, herbals, treatises