Publishers relied on wood engraving firms to supply engraved blocks at a more rapid pace than engravers of the past, which inevitably affected working conditions. Outsourcing blocks to freelancers was common practice by the middle of the century. The Graphic periodical established its own school specifically to train wood engravers. Finally, on-the-job training was provided at firms needing illustrators and wood engravers to keep up with the work. Tall silk hats, writes historian Leo John De Freitas, were 'symbols of petit-bourgeois status' in the 19th century.ĭue to the new markets driven by the growing illustrated newspaper and periodical businesses in the mid-19th century, there was such a great demand for wood engravers that apprenticeships decreased from seven years to five, then down to three or two years. According to illustrator Randolph Caldecott: "Master engravers occupied a place in society above humbler compositors, machine minders, and journeymen of the printing trade… The successful Victorian master engravers wore 'tall silk hats'." After completing an apprenticeship, engravers served for many years as journeymen, with the expectation of eventually achieving master engraver status. Apprenticeships typically lasted seven years, teaching young men the methods of Thomas Bewick and his former pupils. The price of illustrations was high and a good living could be made. In the early decades of the 19th century, wood engraving was considered a good and stable profession. However, the wood engravers of the generation following them worked increasingly for illustrated newspapers and magazines with uncompromising publication dates. Much has been written about pioneer wood engraver Thomas Bewick (1753-1828) and his well-known former pupils such as William Harvey (1796-1866), John Jackson (1801-1848), and John Anderson (1775-1808), who travelled from Newcastle to London, Paris, Berlin and North America, establishing wood engraving as a highly skilled profession. From the professionalisation of wood engraving during the first half of the 19th century, the trade had virtually disappeared by the beginning of the 20th century.
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