Chromoxylography
Encyclopedia
Chromoxylography was a colour woodblock printing
process popular from the mid 19th to the early 20th century, commonly used to produce illustrations in children's books, serial pulp magazine
such as mysteries and romances, and cover art
for yellow-backs
and penny dreadful
s.
In the 19th century the art of relief engraving
and chromoxylography was widely used and perfected for the children's book market, most notably in England by Victorian
engraver and printer Edmund Evans
. Chromoxylography allowed a variety of hue
s and tones
to be produced by color mixing
. The process was complicated and required intricate engraving and printing
to achieve good results. Less expensive products, such as pulp magazines, were coloured with as few colours as possible, often only two or three. Paintings were also successfully reproduced with the process, although an engraver and printer might need to use as many as 12 colours for a more complicated work.
explains that full-colour printing in the 19th century relied on the relief process and colour wood engraving, writing that the "vast majority of colour wood engravings are reproductive work of the second half of the nineteenth century, at which time they were often referred to as chromoxylographs—meaning colour from wood, just as chromolithograph means colour from stone." In England in the 1830s, George Baxter repopularized colour relief printing, known as chromoxylography, by using a "background detail plate printed in aquatint
intaglio, followed by colours printed in oil inks from relief plates—usually wood blocks", as explained by David Pankow. The process involved engraving wood blocks and using a combination of primary colours to create a range of colours. In the mid-19th century, colour printing processes for dime novels, penny dreadfuls, and children's book illustrations were rendered simply and often ineffectively, without the use of colour combinations. Chromoxylography became popular to colour illustrations for inexpensive serialized books and children's books from the mid-19th century to the early-20th century. London printer Edmund Evans
perfected the process, often using up to 10 blocks to achieve a variety of colours and hues.
Variations in tone were achieved with skillful carving to create the appearance of stipple. Areas that were intended to be printed in a solid colour were marked; hatching lines in the wood allowed colours to be overprinted, creating a variety of hue
s and tones
. To create a blend of colours, blocks were hatched horizontally and diagonally to allow applications of multiple colours that resulted in browns, greens and greys. Gascoigne explains that a "blockmaker would know whether to engrave thin white lines (for an almost solid tone), medium white lines (a mid-tone) or crosshatchings (leaving larger or smaller lozenges of colour to achieve sometimes little more than a faint tint when seen at a normal viewing distance)." Overlapping diagonal lines were carved to create dot-like shapes on the surface that took less ink and resulted in paler tones.
Thicker hatchings were less expensive and easier to produce, but the result was not as attractive. Books that were to be produced as inexpensively as possible showed less engraving work and colour separation. The chief problem was to maintain correct register, achieved by placing small holes in precise positions on each block to which the paper was pinned. If done correctly, the register of colours would match, although sometimes ink squash is visible along the edges of an illustration. An electroplate was produced for each engraved wood block, inked according the block, thereby tinting the paper in specified areas. The colour was applied as a solid, or in stripes of various of thickness, allowing for changes in hue.
According to Gascoigne, 19th century chromoxylographs are identified by embossing on the back of the paper, distinctly delineated outlines, created by pressing the paper against the engraved blocks, and the presence of crosshatchings. He writes that "an impossibly and perfect and delicate area of crosshatching will suggest at first that the graver could not possibly have scooped out such small and regular interstices, but on closer inspection the lines in the two directions will be found to be of slightly different colours."
Because the process was inexpensive, and commonly used to illustrate covers of inexpensive books ("yellow backs" or "dime store novels") or magazines, and in rare instances, newspaper covers, complicated colour combinations generally were not necessary. Most often the printer only used primary colors and black. The inexpensive technique of chromoxylography allowed publishers and printers to design covers as an attraction to purchase the book.
The process was also used to produce higher quality children's books and toy book
s. Evans considered full colour printing a technique well-suited to the simple illustrations in children's books. Evans reacted against crudely coloured children's book illustrations, which he believed could be beautiful and inexpensive if the print run was large enough to maintain the costs. In doing so, Evans collaborated with Walter Crane, Kate Greenaway and Randolph Caldecott. Books illustrated by Kate Greenaway
, Walter Crane
and Randolph Caldecott
, engraved and printed by Evans, became popular and remain as classic examples of illustrations for children's literature.
Chromoxylography was additionally used to illustrate natural history books and to reproduce paintings. To achieve realistic reproductions an engraver often used 12 or more colour blocks.
Woodblock printing
Woodblock printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later paper....
process popular from the mid 19th to the early 20th century, commonly used to produce illustrations in children's books, serial pulp magazine
Pulp magazine
Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...
such as mysteries and romances, and cover art
Cover art
Cover art is the illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book , magazine, comic book, video game , DVD, CD, videotape, or music album. The art has a primarily commercial function, i.e...
for yellow-backs
Yellow-backs
A yellow-back is a cheap fiction novel which was published in Britain in the second half of the 19th century. They were occasionally called 'mustard-plaster' novels....
and penny dreadful
Penny Dreadful
A penny dreadful was a type of British fiction publication in the 19th century that usually featured lurid serial stories appearing in parts over a number of weeks, each part costing an penny...
s.
In the 19th century the art of relief engraving
Wood engraving
Wood engraving is a technique in printmaking where the "matrix" worked by the artist is a block of wood. It is a variety of woodcut and so a relief printing technique, where ink is applied to the face of the block and printed by using relatively low pressure. A normal engraving, like an etching,...
and chromoxylography was widely used and perfected for the children's book market, most notably in England by Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
engraver and printer Edmund Evans
Edmund Evans
Edmund Evans was a prominent English wood engraver and colour printer during the Victorian era. Evans specialized in full-colour printing, which became popular in the mid-19th century...
. Chromoxylography allowed a variety of hue
Hue
Hue is one of the main properties of a color, defined technically , as "the degree to which a stimulus can be describedas similar to or different from stimuli that are described as red, green, blue, and yellow,"...
s and tones
Lightness (color)
Lightness is a property of a color, or a dimension of a color space, that is defined in a way to reflect the subjective brightness perception of a color for humans along a lightness–darkness axis. A color's lightness also corresponds to its amplitude.Various color models have an explicit term for...
to be produced by color mixing
Color mixing
There are two types of color mixing: Additive and Subtractive. In both cases there are three primary colors, three secondary colors , and one tertiary color made from all three primary colors.-Additive Mixing:Additive mixing of colors generally involves mixing colors of light...
. The process was complicated and required intricate engraving and printing
Relief print
A relief print is an image created by a printmaking process where protruding surface faces of the matrix are inked; recessed areas are ink free. Printing the image is therefore a relatively simple matter of inking the face of the matrix and bringing it in firm contact with the paper...
to achieve good results. Less expensive products, such as pulp magazines, were coloured with as few colours as possible, often only two or three. Paintings were also successfully reproduced with the process, although an engraver and printer might need to use as many as 12 colours for a more complicated work.
Background
In How to Identify Prints Bamber GascoigneBamber Gascoigne
Bamber Gascoigne, FRSL is a British television presenter and author, most known for being the original quizmaster on University Challenge.-Biography:...
explains that full-colour printing in the 19th century relied on the relief process and colour wood engraving, writing that the "vast majority of colour wood engravings are reproductive work of the second half of the nineteenth century, at which time they were often referred to as chromoxylographs—meaning colour from wood, just as chromolithograph means colour from stone." In England in the 1830s, George Baxter repopularized colour relief printing, known as chromoxylography, by using a "background detail plate printed in aquatint
Aquatint
Aquatint is an intaglio printmaking technique, a variant of etching.Intaglio printmaking makes marks on the matrix that are capable of holding ink. The inked plate is passed through a printing press together with a sheet of paper, resulting in a transfer of the ink to the paper...
intaglio, followed by colours printed in oil inks from relief plates—usually wood blocks", as explained by David Pankow. The process involved engraving wood blocks and using a combination of primary colours to create a range of colours. In the mid-19th century, colour printing processes for dime novels, penny dreadfuls, and children's book illustrations were rendered simply and often ineffectively, without the use of colour combinations. Chromoxylography became popular to colour illustrations for inexpensive serialized books and children's books from the mid-19th century to the early-20th century. London printer Edmund Evans
Edmund Evans
Edmund Evans was a prominent English wood engraver and colour printer during the Victorian era. Evans specialized in full-colour printing, which became popular in the mid-19th century...
perfected the process, often using up to 10 blocks to achieve a variety of colours and hues.
Methods and uses
In the chromoxylography process, the printer engraved the image on the woodblock, carving away areas that were not to be printed (or inked). A separate wood block was used for each of the three primary colours, with the ink coating the uncut areas. Gascoigne writes that a "master craftsman who sat with an original painting in front of him and worked out which areas of the image should be printed in which of the available colours to achieve the desired effect." The printer engraved the image to the finer end grain of the woodblock. For more complicated work the carver worked on the end grain of the wood, and with the use of fine hatchings to the wood that were inked separately achieved the look of blended colours. For the children's book market, which had lower profit margins, the printer would use fewer ink colours, which could be optimised by mixing colours such as blue and yellow to create green.Variations in tone were achieved with skillful carving to create the appearance of stipple. Areas that were intended to be printed in a solid colour were marked; hatching lines in the wood allowed colours to be overprinted, creating a variety of hue
Hue
Hue is one of the main properties of a color, defined technically , as "the degree to which a stimulus can be describedas similar to or different from stimuli that are described as red, green, blue, and yellow,"...
s and tones
Lightness (color)
Lightness is a property of a color, or a dimension of a color space, that is defined in a way to reflect the subjective brightness perception of a color for humans along a lightness–darkness axis. A color's lightness also corresponds to its amplitude.Various color models have an explicit term for...
. To create a blend of colours, blocks were hatched horizontally and diagonally to allow applications of multiple colours that resulted in browns, greens and greys. Gascoigne explains that a "blockmaker would know whether to engrave thin white lines (for an almost solid tone), medium white lines (a mid-tone) or crosshatchings (leaving larger or smaller lozenges of colour to achieve sometimes little more than a faint tint when seen at a normal viewing distance)." Overlapping diagonal lines were carved to create dot-like shapes on the surface that took less ink and resulted in paler tones.
Thicker hatchings were less expensive and easier to produce, but the result was not as attractive. Books that were to be produced as inexpensively as possible showed less engraving work and colour separation. The chief problem was to maintain correct register, achieved by placing small holes in precise positions on each block to which the paper was pinned. If done correctly, the register of colours would match, although sometimes ink squash is visible along the edges of an illustration. An electroplate was produced for each engraved wood block, inked according the block, thereby tinting the paper in specified areas. The colour was applied as a solid, or in stripes of various of thickness, allowing for changes in hue.
According to Gascoigne, 19th century chromoxylographs are identified by embossing on the back of the paper, distinctly delineated outlines, created by pressing the paper against the engraved blocks, and the presence of crosshatchings. He writes that "an impossibly and perfect and delicate area of crosshatching will suggest at first that the graver could not possibly have scooped out such small and regular interstices, but on closer inspection the lines in the two directions will be found to be of slightly different colours."
Because the process was inexpensive, and commonly used to illustrate covers of inexpensive books ("yellow backs" or "dime store novels") or magazines, and in rare instances, newspaper covers, complicated colour combinations generally were not necessary. Most often the printer only used primary colors and black. The inexpensive technique of chromoxylography allowed publishers and printers to design covers as an attraction to purchase the book.
The process was also used to produce higher quality children's books and toy book
Toy book
Toy book is a form of 19th century children's book which became popular in the second half of the century during the Victorian era in England. Toy books typically were paperbound books with six illustrated pages. Early toy books sold for sixpence, and later, more elaborate editions, for a shilling...
s. Evans considered full colour printing a technique well-suited to the simple illustrations in children's books. Evans reacted against crudely coloured children's book illustrations, which he believed could be beautiful and inexpensive if the print run was large enough to maintain the costs. In doing so, Evans collaborated with Walter Crane, Kate Greenaway and Randolph Caldecott. Books illustrated by Kate Greenaway
Kate Greenaway
Catherine Greenaway , known as Kate Greenaway, was an English children's book illustrator and writer, who spent much of her childhood at Rolleston, Nottinghamshire. She studied at what is now the Royal College of Art in London, which at that time had a separate section for women, and was headed by...
, Walter Crane
Walter Crane
Walter Crane was an English artist and book illustrator. He is considered to be the most prolific and influential children’s book creator of his generation and, along with Randolph Caldecott and Kate Greenaway, one of the strongest contributors to the child's nursery motif that the genre of...
and Randolph Caldecott
Randolph Caldecott
Randolph Caldecott was a British artist and illustrator, born in Chester. The Caldecott Medal was named in his honor. He exercised his art chiefly in book illustrations. His abilities as an artist were promptly and generously recognized by the Royal Academy. Caldecott greatly influenced...
, engraved and printed by Evans, became popular and remain as classic examples of illustrations for children's literature.
Chromoxylography was additionally used to illustrate natural history books and to reproduce paintings. To achieve realistic reproductions an engraver often used 12 or more colour blocks.
Sources
- Fraser, Tom and Adam Banks. Designer's Color Manual: The Complete Guide to Color Theory and Application. (2004). Chronicle Books. ISBN 9780811842105
- Hardie, Martin. English Coloured Books. (1906). New York: Putnam
- Gascoigne, Bamber. How to Identify Prints. (1986) New York: Thames and Hudson. ISBN 0-500-23454-X
- Pankow, David. Tempting the palette: a survey of colour printing processes (2005). Rochester NY:Rochester Institute of Technology. ISBN 1-933360-00-3
- Ray, Gordon Norton. The Illustrator and the book in England from 1790 to 1914. (1991) New York: Dover. ISBN 0-486-26955-8