Engraving and etching: a handbook for the use of students and print collectors

Step into the print room and hear the press turn. Ink, metal, and bright paper. Fr. Lippmann writes with the calm authority of a curator and the practical eye of a maker, opening the craft to anyone who has lingered over a line-engraving and wondered how it was done. Part illustrated art instruction manual and part printmaking technique reference, this engraving and etching handbook sets out the essentials with clarity: intaglio engraving techniques, the etching process and tools, the look of different grounds and bites, and the visual clues that separate a confident plate from a tired impression. Alongside the practical knowledge runs a vivid history of fine prints, tracing the European engraving tradition and the changing tastes that shaped 19th century printmaking. The result is equally suited to an art students printmaking course and to the reader who simply wants to understand why certain marks feel alive. Its lasting value lies in how it bridges studio practice and connoisseurship: a guide for print collectors, tuned to museum print room studies, and attentive to the pleasures and pitfalls of building an Old Master prints collection with discernment. Out of print for decades and now republished by Alpha Editions. Restored for today's and future generations. More than a reprint - a collector's item and a cultural treasure.