The age of steel had a corresponding effect on the mezzotint engraver, and after the introduction by Thomas Lupton of soft steel instead of copper as the medium for mezzotint work, for which he received, in 1822, the Isis gold medal from the Society of Arts, the age of decadence set in. It was the thin end of the wedge of commercialism, which never has and never will become wedded with art. Art for Art's sake may seem to the practical man a visionary dogma of the impractical world of artists, but there is behind it something irrefutable. The record of facts lies with the artist.
At first the great advantage of steel seemed as if it were about to give a new lease of life to line engraving. A steel plate would often yield five hundred good impressions without showing signs of wear, and more often than not as many as a thousand prints would be taken from it. A copper plate would only yield two hundred impressions or considerably less before it gave out.
A new impetus was given to illustrations appearing in books. The eighteenth century had seen line engraving and stipple engraving applied to illustrate sumptuous volumes, and in its later days employed extensively for portraits as frontispieces to thousands of small volumes and also for the embellishment of magazines. But with the advent of steel engraving a new class of publications arose,—the annuals,—of which "The Keepsake" and the "Book of Beauty" are typical examples. "Fine Art Galleries" were also published with portraits after the originals from Vandyck to Sir Thomas Lawrence, and with trans-
