impression taken from a copperplate. See the last article, and Engraving.

From the facility of being multiplied, prints have derived an advantage over paintings by no means considerable. They are found to be more durable; which may, however, in some degree be attributed to the different methods in which they are preserved. Many of the best paintings of the early masters have generally had the misfortune to be either painted on walls, or deposited in large and unfrequented, and consequently damp and destructive buildings; whilst a print, passing, at distant intervals, from the porte feuille of one collector to that of another, is preserved without any great exertion of its owner: And hence it happens, that whilst the pictures of Raphael have mouldered from their walls or deserted their canvas, the prints of his friend and contemporary Mark Antonio Raimondi continue in full perfection to this day, and give us a lively idea of the beauties of these paintings, which, without their affluence, had been lost to us for ever; or at least, could have been only known to us, like those of Zeuxis and Apelles, by the descriptions which former writers on these subjects have left us.

Independent of the advantages which prints afford us, when considered as accurate representations of paintings, and imitations of superior productions, they are no less valuable for their positive merit, as immediate representations of nature. For it must be recollected, that the art of engraving has not always been confined to the copying of other productions, but has frequently ly itself aspired to originality, and has, in this light, produced more instances of its excellence than in the other. Albert Durer, Goltzius, and Rembrandt, amongst the Dutch and Germans; Parmigiano and Della Bella amongst the Italians, and Callot amongst the French, have published many prints, the subjects of which, there is great reason to suppose, were never painted. These prints may therefore be considered as original pictures of those masters, deficient only in those particulars in which a print must necessarily be inferior to a painting.

The preceding distinction may perhaps throw some light on the proper method of arranging and classing a collection of prints, which has been a matter of no small difficulty. As an art imitating another, the principal should take the lead, and the design, composition, and drawing, in a print, being previous requisites, to the manner of execution and finishing; prints engraved after paintings should be arranged under the name of the painter; and every person who looks upon engraving only as auxiliary to painting, will consequently adopt this mode of arrangement. But when engraving is considered as an original art, as imitating nature without the intervention of other methods, then it will certainly be proper to regulate the arrangement according to the names of the engravers.

method of cleaning. The following method of cleaning prints, is recommended as safe and efficacious.

"Provide a certain quantity of the common muriatic acid, for example three ounces, in a glass bottle, with a ground stopper, of such a capacity that it may be only half full. Half an ounce of minium must then be added; immediately after which the stopper is to be put in, and the bottle set in a cold and dark place. The heat, which soon becomes perceptible, shows the beginning of the new combination. The minium abandons the greatest part of its oxygen with which the fluid remains impregnated, at the same time that it acquires a fine golden yellow, and emits the detectable smell of oxygenated muriatic acid. It contains a small portion of muriate of lead; but this is not at all noxious in the subsequent process. It is also necessary to be observed, that the bottle must be strong, and the stopper not too firmly fixed, otherwise the active elastic vapour might burst it. The method of using this prepared acid is as follows:

"Provide a sufficiently large plate of glass, upon which one or more prints may be separately spread out. Near the edges let there be raised a border of soft white wax half an inch high, adhering well to the glass and flat at top. In this kind of trough the print is to be placed in a bath of fresh urine, or water containing a small quantity of ox-gall, and kept in this situation for three or four hours. The fluid is then to be decanted off, and pure warm water poured on, which must be changed every three or four hours until it passes limpid and clear. The impurities are sometimes of a resinous nature, and resist the action of pure water. When this is the case, the washed print must be left to dry, and alcohol is then to be poured on and left for a time. After the print is thus cleaned, and all the moisture drained off, the muriatic acid prepared with minium is to be poured on in sufficient quantity to cover the print; immediately after which another plate of glass is to be laid in contact with the rim of wax, in order to prevent the inconvenient exhalation of the oxygenated acid. In this situation the yellowest print will be seen to recover its original whiteness in a very short time. One or two hours are sufficient to produce the desired effect; but the print will receive no injury if it be left in the acid for a whole night. Nothing more is necessary to complete the work, than to decant off the remaining acid, and wash away every trace of acidity, by repeated affusions of pure water. The print being then left to dry (in the sun if possible) will be found white, clear, firm, and in no respect damaged, either in the texture of the paper, or the tone and appearance of the impression."

It is farther recommended to those who shall adopt the whole process for clearing prints, to make the first trial with a print of little value, and in this way he will discover what portion of water should be employed in diluting the acid to prevent the corrosive action of the latter on the paper. Nichol. Journ. ii. 265. 4to.