But now the coast is clear, and the student can get his negatives done without visible retouching by asking for it. From an examination of these results it was soon evident that one firm, the Typographic Etching Company, produced plates immeasurably superior to those of any other firm, and in addition, they would guarantee their production without retouching.

For reproducing negatives taken from nature, then, this process is perfect, and we cannot see how any photoengraving process will ever surpass it. Mr. Dawson and Mr. Colls are trained artists, and perhaps therein lies the secret of their success. It is perhaps invidious to select one firm for special mention, but as the results of Mr. Colls and the Typographic Etching Company are in every way so superior when artistically considered, we feel it our duty to record the fact here for the benefit of the student. Quite recently there has been much discussion on the vital question of "Photogravures v. Engravings," and some of the English firms have publicly announced that it is necessary to finish their work by hand, while others privately maintained the same fact. Mr. Colls, late of the Typographic Etching Company, on the other hand, maintains that a plate, perfect in quality, can be produced without the aid of a touch by hand. Further on will be found a communication on the process by the etcher, Mr. Colls, who therein states that he can and does produce his work without any retouching.

Messrs. Dawson, And Colls

The Dawson process renders the light in the shadows better than any of the other processes, this being effected by the method of working, and, as a whole, the "quality ' of the work is unapproachable, it beats mezzotint out of the field in its subtlety and delicacy.

English V. French Photogravure

And here we would caution the gentlemen of the press who have lately written so freely and so mistakenly on the subject of photogravure, that the best photogravures are not produced in France, but in England. Englishmen dp not seem to know when they possess a "good thing."

We venture to say, without any diffidence, that for the reproduction of negatives from nature, Dawson's process is facile princeps, and to assert that for the reproduction of pictures, some of the English processes are equal to, if not superior to, the continental processes. This is also the opinion of several artists who have seen specimens of the work done in both countries. The process, as worked in America, does not give results equal to those obtained in England. For diagrammatic purposes, we consider nearly all of the English processes possess qualities of equal value.

Another new departure for which we had some battling was a minor point, but an important one. It was on the question of lettering. It bad been the practice of many of the firms to engrave in plain lettering beneath the picture, the name of the firm, and the words "negative by------" and often in addition the word "copyright," This engraving, as it was usually done, gave a "cheap" look to the picture. We felt that the picture was injured by this procedure, so we insisted that our name should be cut in the picture, in a quiet manner, as an etcher would sign his name, and that no ordinary engraving should appear on the plate. In case, then, our student should at any time have any of his works reproduced, we will give him a few hints, for though the publisher does the business part, the artist always has the passing of the plates.