[The original has not been located. This is from the version published in the Athenæum, no. 1331, 30 April 1853, pp. 532-533].

photographic engraving.

I now proceed to give you an account of my newly-invented method of making photographic engravings upon steel. Of course, I have no need to observe that the art is at present in its infancy, -but I have great hopes that it will very soon be considerably improved in all its details. The first thing to be done is, to select a good steel plate, and to immerse it for a minute or two in a vessel containing vinegar mixed with a little sulphuric acid. The object of this is, to diminish the too great polish of the surface,-for otherwise the photographic preparation would not adhere well to the surface of the steel, but would peel off. The plate is then to be well washed and dried. Then, take some isinglass and dissolve it in hot water. The solution should be strong enough to coagulate when cold into a firm jelly. This solution of isinglass or gelatine should be strained while hot through a linen cloth to purify it. To this must be added about half as much of a saturated solution of bichromate of potash in water, and they should be well stirred together. When cold, this mixture coagulates into a jelly, which has very much the appearance of orange jelly. The method of using it, is to liquefy it by gentle heat, and to pour a quantity upon the centre of the steel plate. Then take a glass rod, hold it horizontally, and spread the liquid uniformly over the plate. Then incline the plate, and pour off the superfluous gelatine. Let the steel plate be placed upon a stand, and kept quite horizontal, that the liquid may not run to one side of the plate. Then place a spirit lamp beneath the plate, and warm it gently till the gelatine is quite dried up. When dry, the film of gelatine ought to be bright yellow and very uniform. If clouded bands appear upon the surface it is a sign that there is too little gelatine in proportion to the bichromate, which must therefore be corrected. The steel plate, now coated with gelatine, is ready to receive a photograph image of any object. First, let us suppose the object is one capable of being applied closely to the surface of the plate;-for instance, let it be a piece of black lace or the leaf of a plant. Place the object upon the plate in a photographic copying-frame, and screw them into close contact. Place this frame in the direct light of the sun for a short time, varying from half a minute to five minutes. Let it then be removed and the plate taken out, and it will be found impressed with a yellow image of the object upon a ground of a brown colour, as might be expected from the well-known photographic property of the bichromate. The plate is then to be placed in a vessel of cold water for a minute or two, which dissolves out & the bichromate and most of the gelatine also from the photographic image- i.e. from those parts of the plate which have not been exposed to the sun, being protected by the object while, on the contrary, it dissolves little or none of the gelatine film which has been fully exposed to the sun's rays. The consequence of which is, that instead of a yellow image we have now a white one, but still upon a ground of brown. The plate is then removed from the water into a vessel of alcohol for a minute, and it is then taken out and placed upright on its edge in a warm place, where in the course of a few minutes it becomes entirely dried. This terminates the photographic part of the operation. If the plate is carefully examined,, while in this state, it appears coated with gelatine of a yellowish brown colour, and impressed with a white photographic image, which is often eminently beautiful owing to the circumstance of its being raised above the level of the plate by the action of the water. Thus, for instance, the image of a piece of black lace looks like a real piece of very delicate white lace of similar pattern, closely adhering to, but plainly raised above, the brown and polished surface of the plate, which serves to display it very beautifully. At other times the white image of an object offers a varying display of light when examined by the light of a single candle, which indicates a peculiar molecular arrangement in the particles of gelatine. These photographic images are often so beautiful that the operator feels almost reluctant to destroy them by continuing the process for engraving the plate.

In order to explain how such an engraving is possible, it is, in the first place, to be observed that the photographic image differs from the rest of the plate not only in colour but, what is of much more importance, in the thickness of the film of gelatine which covers it. The coating of gelatine on the rest of the plate is, comparatively speaking, a thick one, but that which originally covered the image has been mostly removed by the action of the water, a small portion, however, almost always remaining. It therefore naturally happens that when an etching liquid is poured on to the plate, it first penetrates through the thin gelatine covering the image, and etches the steel plate beneath. But the next moment it penetrates likewise through the thicker coating of gelatine, and thus spoils the result by etching the whole of the plate. Nitric acid, for instance, does this, and therefore cannot be employed for the purpose. Since the other chemical liquids which are capable of etching steel have a certain analogy to nitric acid in their corrosive properties, they also for the most part are found to fail in the same manner.

This was a difficulty. But after some researches I found a liquid which etches steel perfectly well, and at the same time is free from the inconvenient property of penetrating the gelatine film. This liquid is the bichloride of platina. In order, however, to use it successfully, it must be mixed with a certain quantity of water, neither more nor less, (I mean, to any material extent) otherwise its action becomes irregular. The best way is, to make a perfectly saturated solution, and then to add to it one-fourth of its bulk of water. Then correcting this by a few trials, a solution of proper strength is finally obtained. Supposing, then, that we have prepared such a solution, the operation of etching the plate is performed as follows:- The plate is laid on a table, and a small quantity of the bichloride being poured upon it, it is to be rapidly diffused and spread over the whole plate with a camel-hair-brush. Not much liquid is poured on, because its opacity would prevent the operator from distinguishing the effect produced by it on the metal. For this reason, it is hardly necessary to make a wall of wax round the plate; that is , if the portions to be etched are confined to the central part of the plate, and do not approach very near to the edge. The effect of the liquid upon the plate is not at first visible, since it disengages no gas; but after the lapse of a minute or two, the white photographic image begins to darken, and soon becomes black in every part. When this change is complete, the image often looks very beautiful, though quite altered from what it was before. The operator should carefully watch the image until he thinks that it is finished or not likely to be further improved or developed by continuing the process any longer. he then inclines the plate gently, and pours off the liquid by one corner of the plate. The plate is then dried with blotting paper, and then a stream of salt water, which is better than fresh water for this purpose, is poured over the plate, which removes all traces of the etching liquid. The plate is then rubbed with a wet sponge or linen cloth, which in a short time detaches and removes the film of gelatine, and discloses the etching that has been effected. When the object is not of a nature to be applied directly to the surface of the plate, the most obvious method of proceeding is, of course, to plate the prepared plate in the focus of a camera, and to direct the camera to the object. But in consequence of the low degree of sensitiveness of bichromate of potash, this would take, generally speaking, too long a time to accomplish. The better way in practice, therefore, is to take a negative photograph of the object on paper with a camera, and from this to obtain a positive copy either on glass or paper, which should be very uniform in texture, and moderately transparent. Then this positive copy is placed on the plate in a photographic copying-frame being placed for a few minutes in the sun, impresses the plate with a photographic image; which image, etched as above described, and printed off upon paper, will finally give a positive representation of the object. If the object depicted upon the plate by the sun's rays is broad and uniform,-for instance, the opaque leaf of a plant, then, of course, the etching is uniform also. When this is printed off, it produces an effect which is not always satisfactory. I will therefore now explain a modification of the original process which destroys this uniformity, and which in many cases produces a great improvement in the general effect.

For this purpose I must remark, in the first place, that if a piece of black gauze or crape is the object selected for representation, it produces an engraving of itself which is marvellously accurate. But when two folds of the gauze are laid across each other obliquely, then the resulting engraving requires a lens in order to separate from each other and distinguish clearly the lines belonging to the two portions of the gauze. Now, if this engraving be printed off, the result offers to an eye at a moderate distance the appearance of an uniform shading. Now, I avail myself of this circumstance, to modify my original process as follows:-suppose the object to be the opaque leaf of a plant, of irregular outline, first, I cover the prepared plate with two oblique folds of black crape or gauze, and place it in the sunshine for two or three minutes. The effect of this is, to cover the plate with a complicated image of lines passing in all directions. Then the leaf is substituted for the crape, and the plate is replaced in the sunshine for two or three minutes more. The leaf being then removed from the plate, it will be seen that the sun has obliterated all the lines that were visible on the parts of the plate exterior to the leaf, converting all those parts to a uniform brown. But the image of the leaf itself is still covered with a network of innumerable lines. Now, let this be etched in the way already described, and let the resulting etching be printed off. The result is an engraving of the leaf which when beheld by the eye at a certain distance appears uniformly shaded, but when examined closely is found to be covered with lines very much resembling those produced by an engraver's tool, so much so that even a practical engraver would probably be deceived by the appearance. This crape arrangement I call a photographic veil:- and as I think it likely that the idea will prove useful, I will make a few more remarks upon it. It is clear that an arrangement composed of two thicknesses of ordinary crape or gauze is but a rude attempt at a photographic veil. To realize the practical utility that may result from the idea, supposing it to be borne out by further experience, it would be proper to fabricate a much finer material, and to employ five or six thicknesses of it, or else to cover a sheet of glass in any convenient manner with an innumerable quantity of fine lines, or else with dots and specks, which must be opaque and distinct from each other. The result of practically employing such a method, supposing always that it answers in practice, as I think it probably will, would be an etching apparently uniform, but really consisting of separate small portions in consequence of which it would hold the ink much better, and other obvious advantages would also be obtained. Another mode of accomplishing the same object is to cover the plate originally with an aquatint ground. But then a fresh one would be required for every plate, whereas a single veil would serve for any number of plates in succession. Experience alone can decide between these different methods. When the etching is finished, the plate should be very soon coated with wax to protect it. A few hours' exposure to the atmospheric air rusts and destroys the etchings when newly made, although it does not do so afterwards. The oxidation only attacks the lines of the etching, the rest of the plate sustaining no injury, if the air is tolerably dry.

Having thus described the method of producing the photographic etchings,-it would, I think, extend this letter to too great a length were I to add any remarks upon the theory of the process, which will better be deferred to another opportunity.

H.F. Talbot

Lacock Abbey, April 25.