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Abraham Bosse

On the Manner of Etching with Acid and with a Burin, and of Dark-Manner Engraving

Maker

Abraham Bosse (French, 1604 - ca. 1676)

Title

On the Manner of Etching with Acid and with a Burin, and of Dark-Manner Engraving
(De la Manière de graver à l’eau-forte et au burin, et de la gravure en manière noire) Paris

Year

1645

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

etching

Supports

Geography

Place Made: Paris; Place Made: France

Signature / Inscription / Marks

On pastedown:price and accession numbers.Also, in pen upperleft corner:Ds.

Identification

Edition

First Edition

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Mrs. Herbert N. Straus

Object Number

51.004

Type

Exhibition History

Altered States
Etching in Late 19th-Century Paris
Jun 30, 2017 – Dec 03, 2017

Label copy

This book, the first technical manual on etching, remained the primary resource available to artists from 1645 through the 1800s. Here, Bosse explains how to place a plate on a printing press. A printmaker himself, he strongly favored engraving-a technique that involves carving into, rather than drawing upon, a copper plate. He advocated the extreme regularity and linearity characteristic of that technique, even when working in etching. By the late 1800s, many etchers no longer were interested in this style, and found Bosse’s language overly technical and formal.

Jacques Callot and the Baroque Print
Jun 17, 2011 – Nov 06, 2011

Label copy

The renown of Callot’s technical accomplishments in etching spread throughout Europe partially because of the 1645 publication of this treatise explaining his technique by Abraham Bosse, his friend and pupil. Here, Bosse describes and illustrates how to apply the acid used to bite the plate. The printmaker pours acid onto a plate on a downward ramp that allows it to drain through a hole into a basin on the floor. This procedure is repeated eight or ten times until the plate is adequately bitten (etched). On the following pages, Bosse explains how one must turn the plate sideways while repeating the process so as to give every line equal weight. He then explains how to mask out certain areas with a hard ground made of linseed oil and resin in order to keep them shielded from the chemical if additional etching is required for selected areas.

The Illustrated Book
Oct 21, 1980 – Nov 23, 1980

Image use

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Public Domain This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Abraham Bosse (French, 1604 - ca. 1676)
On the Manner of Etching with Acid and with a Burin, and of Dark-Manner Engraving; (De la Manière de graver à l’eau-forte et au burin, et de la gravure en manière noire) Paris, 1645
Etching, drypoint, and roulette on cream-colored, moderately textured laid paper
Gift of Mrs. Herbert N. Straus 51.004

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