During this transition period when process work was steadily gaining ground, Punch adhered to the old methods of wood engraving; but even that time-honoured publication had finally to confine the attention of the wood engravers of Messrs. Swain to the cartoon.
Black and White, the first number of which appeared in 1890, strove to reproduce fine wood engraving, and its proprietors realised the importance of good printing, and procured machinery from abroad of the highest perfection to print their illustrations. Among a crowd of fine engravings there is one of especial note—the Portrait of Tennyson, by G. F. Watts, engraved by Mr. W. Biscombe Gardner. His work in the Graphic since its commencement is of a high order. He succeeded in reproducing chalk, oil, and water-colour subjects by Leighton, Watts, Burne-Jones, and Alma-Tadema, and in suggesting the style of each artist. Mr. Watts was particularly pleased with Mr. Gardner's interpretation of his work, and he was engaged to execute in wood engraving translations of the series of portraits of famous men which hung on the walls of Little Holland House.
With the advent of the Sketch, under the direction of Mr. Clement K. Shorter, who foresaw the future of modern illustrated journalism, and whose Sphere and Tatler ably testify to his keen insight and knowledge of the possibilities of process work, wood engraving was a thing of the past in journalism, and photography became firmly established.
By the time that wood engraving was on its last legs in the field of illustrated magazines and books,
