Pure stipple consists of dots and nothing but dots, but its use has been largely employed by the line engraver to represent flesh. In many line engravings of portraits this use of stipple has been frequently employed, and as a kind of compromise the engraver often used lines in conjunction with dots.
In imitation of chalk drawings a class of stipple engravings known as chalk or crayon engravings were in vogue for a short period till lithography afforded an easier means of producing the same result. In this chalk engraving which is a coarse form of stipple, the dots imitate the technique of a chalk drawing. This class of stipple engraving was done by means of soft ground etching in combination with the use of roulettes of varying sizes.
A reference to the enlargements of two portions of stipple engravings (opposite p. 46), will show the marvellous ingenuity of stipple work. An enlargement of a half-tone process print exhibits a series of dots produced by the interposition of a glass screen with fine lines between the camera and the object photographed, as will readily be seen by placing the illustrations of this volume under a powerful magnifying glass, and it would almost appear that the stipple engraver by the artistic arrangements of his dots had forestalled the process engraver and the later inventions of science as applied to illustration.
In the accompanying engraving reproduced in exact size of the original, it will be seen how chalk engraving in stipple differs in its coarse qualities as representing the grain of the original from stipple engraving employed in all its delicacy and refinement.
