Illustrations accompanying books have been known since the Egyptian “Book of the dead”. The medieval manuscripts were illustrated, and had borders in colour. The initials are a chapter in themselves. In early printed books the outlines were stamped in and then coloured by hand. Illustrations fall into the same three groups as ordinary printing: Relief, Intaglio, and Planographic (and were invented in this order). They may be either by the artist's own hand: autographic, or by one of the photo-mechanical processes.

A. AUTOGRAPHIC.

I. Relief.

• 1. Woodcut. The oldest method used for reproducing illustrations. Used in China. In Europe used for printing patterns on textiles and playing cards before the invention of printing with movable types. The first wood-cuts printed white lines and the craftsman got the impressions by rubbing the back of the paper. But as the first printing presses could not print the large, black areas, the cutters began to make two cuts for each line and to cut away the areas between the lines. Pfister did this for book-illustration for the first time, in 1461, but in 1471 Zainer got into difficulties with the cutters’ guilds and was not allowed to cut his own blocks. 1486 Cross-hatching begins.

• 2. Wood-engraving. Began about the end of 17th century in an effort to imitate copper-engravings. Reached perfection in the hands of Bewick, but sank quickly to a spiritless reproduction by craftsmen of artists’ drawings. Modern revival began about 1920 with the foundation of the Society of Wood-engravers.

• 3. Lino-cut. 1934(?) Potato. Rubber.