The Works of Shakespeare.

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Title

The Works of Shakespeare.

Coverage

New York:

Publisher

Leavitt & Allen Brothers,

Date

n.d. [ca. 1870].

Subject

Steel-faced printing plates corresponding with the Leavitt & Allen edition. N.d.

Description

This steel-faced printing plate illustrates a scene from A Midsummer Night’s Dream as it appeared in a 19th-century edition of Shakespeare. Steel engraving began to be used in book illustration during the first quarter of the 19th century with the increased demand for affordable books from a growing literate public. By 1858, copper plates could be engraved and then electroplated with a thin coating of iron—a process referred to as “steel-facing,” which saved time and cost by readily allowing the surfaces of plates to be renewed when the coating wore down.

Source

From the collection of Rare Book School