Abstract

A Treatise on Etching

This article presents information on the book "A Treatise on Etching," by Maxime Lalanne. It is opined that this particular book is most likely to quicken the interest in the art of etching, which is already widespread in America. But whether the kind of impulse which this book gives is likely to be, on the whole, salutary, may be questionable. Etching is essentially a method of delineation. It lends itself readily and perfectly to anything that can be expressed in terms of frank line, but it does not readily render effects of light and shade. It is possible, of course, to render these effects with more or less fullness by etching, but it cannot be done so perfectly, nor so easily or economically, as by other methods of engraving-as, for instance, by the processes of mezzotint or aquatint.