Printing in the book Elizabethan & Stuart Art in England 1908
"Elizabethan & Stuart Art in England 1908"
Chromolithograph print in the art book
Book number one to talk about today is one I found in a charity shop, Art in England, during the Elizabethan & Stuart Periods. I think that, despite the condition of the copy being quite bad, as I found it for 50p in a charity shop, but I like how its beautifully printed. It’s not just the artwork itself i've always been pretty interested in earlier sorts of print making processes as they are quite fascinating!
So the book itself shows what art looked like in England during a time of huge cultural change. It explores how artists worked under monarchs and influenced by European styles. The book shows portraits, architecture and decorative arts. Rather than just listing the artworks, it explains why they were made, who they were for, and what they reveal about life in England in the Elizabethan and Stuart times.
(“Art in England during the Elizabethan and Stuart Periods 1908”)
(www.bibliopolis.com)
The thing that draws me to this specifically is genuinely is just that there are pretty cool printmaking processes and techniques! The main text has a slightly pressed texture from letterpress printing. The black and white images appear smooth when created through the photogravure or halftone printing process.(Britannica) They don’t look as there’s richness to how the ink sits on the page.
And then there are the chromolithographs, which are my favourite. Those full colour plates that have that painted look. Each one was made by layering inks from separate stones as well as one colour at a time. There were probably around 8 to 12 stones per image used to create these images.(Lambert) It really blows my mind to think about like the lining everything up perfectly by hand. Sometimes we take digital printing for granted! (“Chromolithograph - National Portrait Gallery”)
"It was a major development in printing that allowed for the mass production of colourful images for advertisements"
Example of chromolithography and how the use of stones create colour
(Paşaoğlu)
(“Art in England during the Elizabethan and Stuart Periods 1908”)
Some of these plates are tipped in and printed separately on smoother paper, carefully pasted into place. Which gives it that delicate feel especially with the protective paper over the top. Between the handcrafted and the mechanical parts, there’s so much care in every part of it! Stunning book id definitely recommend looking at some books from this era to also appreciate the fascinating printing techniques.
So overall this book just shows that sometimes it's nice to just pay attention to how images and texts are printed and not just what they show and read. Its nice to just to notice subtle details such as, like I talked about the dots, tones, and the way colour sits on the pages: slightly engraved in. I like how the printing methods leave traces. Which is something that's really easy to just skim past and not notice, I think it just made me slow down and just to take moment to appreciate how older books like this are crafted. It shows that these techniques matter because they shape how we see the artwork which just adds so much visually. I've always been drawn to older books like this for the same reason I absolutely love looking at archives.
I think another thing id be interested to write about at some point is how books like this one are bound; as this book is slightly falling apart due to age and condition its interesting to see how the book has been sewn and bound together.
Below I've just added some photos of the book showcasing some pages I quite like
Here is a link to an online pdf of the book if you like architecture!
https://archive.org/details/artinenglandduri00valluoft/page/n42/mode/1up
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Printmaking terms glossary:
Chromolithography: Colour printing using multiple lithographic stones or plates. One for each colour to create coloured images
Halftone: Creating tonal images using dots of various sizes and spacing
Intaglio (Engraving, Etching, Drypoint): Opposite of relief printing, a method from marked lines cut into a surface where ink sits below the surface
Letterpress: A relief printing process where inked, raised type is pressed into paper
Lithography: Printing based on the repulsion of oil and water, allows images drawn with the greasy materials on stone/ metal plate to be transferred onto paper
Photogravure: An intaglio process using a photographic image etched onto a metal plate
Relief printing: (Woodcut, Linocuts, Letterpress): Opposite of Intaglio printing, a printing method where the raised surface carries ink
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Art Day by Day"
Book number two I wanted to quickly talk about today is one I picked up "Art Day by Day,". I found in Waterstones while browsing, that I thought sounded interesting. I did buy it a few months ago and haven't had a nose through yet, but I am definitely going to read each part literally day by day, like a daily does of art kinda thing as well as to see how all these moments correspond with the date. It seems quite a cool interesting way to read a book as there is so many pieces of information I don't know.
So yeh in summary, it’s essentially a daily walk through art history, with each day of the year having its own story, event, or moment from the art world, tied to that specific date. It isn’t a heavy read in terms of words. Mainly a few paragraphs each date so it's more like a calendar filled with interesting moments about artists, exhibitions, and other cool and important art events as well as being all about reflection!
The entry that stood out for me today reads "Art detective" which I think perfect relates to what I talked about earlier about slowing down and to just take moment to appreciate craftsmanships.
The act of noticing; Charles Koczka. (Johnson) The idea of an “art detective” feels like a reminder that value in art is found by paying attention to small and overlooked things. Looking is just as important as making. It just pushes the idea of who gets recorded in art history and what counts as important. (Span) Definitely an interesting thing to think about!
I will expand on it later once I've had a chance to read it more as I'm not too many days in, but I haven't seen an art book like this and I think it's a really cool concept!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My favourite random weekly sketch I've done:
Random quick drawing I did in a museum!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
References :
“Amazon.co.uk.” Amzn.eu, 2025, amzn.eu/d/43FSUg1. Accessed 27 Dec. 2025.
“Art in England during the Elizabethan and Stuart Periods : Vallance, Aymer, 1862-1943 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive.” Internet Archive, 2025, archive.org/details/artinenglandduri00valluoft/page/n42/mode/1up. Accessed 27 Dec. 2025.
“Art in England during the Elizabethan and Stuart Periods 1908.” EBay UK, 2025, ebay.us/m/NcDZhR. Accessed 27 Dec. 2025.
Britannica. “Letterpress Printing.” Encyclopædia Britannica, 2019, www.britannica.com/technology/letterpress-printing.
“Chromolithograph - National Portrait Gallery.” Www.npg.org.uk, www.npg.org.uk/collections/explore/glossary-of-art-terms/chromolithograph.
Johnson , Alex. Art Day by Day. S.L., Thames & Hudson, 2021.
Lambert, Julieanne. “The Magic of Chromolithography.” John Johnson Collection: Now and Then, 21 May 2020, blogs.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/jjcoll/2020/05/21/the-magic-of-chromolithography/.
Legion of Andy. “BEN DAY DOTS PART 6: LETTERPRESS PRINTING, 1890s: THE SUNDAY COMICS.” LEGION of ANDY, 4 Mar. 2016, legionofandy.com/2016/03/04/the-history-of-ben-day-dots-part-6-letterpress-printing-1890s-early-sunday-comics/.
Paşaoğlu, Ali. “Xerox Lithography.” Pinterest, 31 May 2016, ar.pinterest.com/pin/507429082997099980/. Accessed 27 Dec. 2025.
printededitions_admin. “The Complete History of Art Printmaking - Printed Editions.” Printed Editions, July 2025, www.printed-editions.com/the-history-of-prints/the-complete-history-of-art-printmaking-from-ancient-origins-to-modern-techniques/.
Span, Paula. “Arresting Trend in Art.” The Washington Post, 7 Jan. 1986, www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1986/01/07/arresting-trend-in-art/99ea8f33-72dc-4e7d-bcd5-627612cc120e/. Accessed 27 Dec. 2025.
“THE VALERIE CARSON ESTATE TEXTILE COLLECTION.” Cordys, 2022, www.cordys.co.nz/auctions/CARSON%20EST/catalogue/0064. Accessed 27 Dec. 2025.
www.bibliopolis.com. “Art in England during the Elizabethan and Stuart Periods by Aymer Vallance, Malcolm C. Salaman, Harry P. Clifford on the Kelmscott Bookshop.” The Kelmscott Bookshop, 2021,
www.kelmscottbookshop.com/pages/books/35900/aymer-vallance-malcolm-c-salaman-harry-p-clifford-wilfrid-ball-e-arthur-rowe-william-twopeny/art-in-england-during-the-elizabethan-and-stuart-periods. Accessed 27 Dec. 2025.
Comments
Post a Comment