HIST OF WOOD ENGRAVING PA

Housed in theBritish Museum is a 1300-year-old Chinese manuscript with the image of Buddhadrawn in flowing black lines. This, according to A History of Wood Engraving, is the oldest known woodcut and thestarting point for this lively history of the art form. For hundreds of years,wood engraving was the primary means of illustrating books in France, Italy, andthe Netherlands. In the sixteenthcentury, the German master Durer brought engraving to new artistic heights.Since then, scores of true originals have put their own stamp on this uniquewonderfully expressive form. A standard inthe field, A History of Wood Engravingoffers any art lover a trove of captivating information-from engravingtechniques, to artist biographies, to personal commentary-all expertly explained byDouglas Percy Bliss, a renowned painter and engraver in his own right. Theauthor moves the story all the way to modern times, with a final chapter onrecent masters and the future of engraving.