2702. ENGRAVING, New method.—
One new invention in the arts is worth mentioning.
It is a mixture of the arts of engraving
and printing, rendering both cheaper.
Write or draw anything on a plate of brass
with the ink of the inventor, and in half an
hour he gives you engraved copies of it, so
perfectly like the original that they could not
be suspected to be copies. His types for printing
a whole page are all in one solid piece. An
author, therefore, only prints a few copies of his
work, from time to time, as they are called for.
This saves the loss of printing more copies
than may possibly be sold, and prevents an
edition from being ever exhausted.—
To James Madison. Washington ed. i, 534.
Ford ed., iv, 197.
(P.
1786)
