University of Virginia Library

Engraving.

Man in his primeval state discovered a propensity to
represent, by figures, on various substances, the animated
works of his Creator. From sketching, painting, or engraving
these images, or representations, on the surface of
those substances, he proceeded to the business of the
sculptor or statuary, and produced all the features and
proportions of men, and the other various descriptions of
the animal creation, in wood and stone.

The invention of hieroglyphics has been generally attributed
to the priests of ancient Egypt, who made use of
them to convey the knowledge they possessed of the
mysteries of nature, and the secrets of their morality and
history, to their successors in the priesthood, without discovering
them to the vulgar; but Dr. Warburton, who
appears to have been well acquainted with the subject
of hieroglyphic engravings, although his knowledge of
coins and medals was questioned by Pinkerton, has, with
great ingenuity, shown, that hieroglyphics were not the
invention of Egyptian priests.[26] He remarks, that "the
general concurrence of different nations in this method of
recording their thoughts, can never be supposed to be the
effect of imitation, sinister views, or chance; but must be
considered as the uniform voice of nature, speaking to the
rude conceptions of mankind; for, not only the Chinese of
the east, the Americans of the west, the Egyptians of the
south, but the Seythians, likewise, of the north, and the
intermediate inhabitants of the earth, viz: the Phœnicians,

the Ethiopians, the natives of India, etc., used the same
methods of hieroglyphic and picture."

The American continent is not destitute of vestiges of
ancient engraving. Long before the discovery of America
by Columbus, we are told, the Mexicans made money
of tin and copper, which was stamped by the authority
of their sovereigns and feudal lords.[27] They were acquainted
with the arts of sculpture and engraving; and,
François Coreal says, that the ornaments of the doors
of the temple of the sun, in Peru, were formed of jasper
and granite, and were sculptured in birds, quadrupeds,
and animals of imaginary being, such as the sphinx, etc.,
and in the most exquisite manner. Don Ulloa gives an
account of vases dug up in South America, which have
figures designed upon them, completely in the Etruscan
taste, formed of earth, or composition, which, like the old
Etruscan, is now nowhere to be found. They were red,
black, and extremely light, and sometimes had the figures
in relief. What is very remarkable is, that, like the
Etruscan vases, they have been discovered in no other
places than sepulchres.

The Mexicans had learned to express in their statues
"all the attitudes and postures of which the human body is
capable; they observed the proportions exactly, and could,
when necessary, execute the most delicate and minute
strokes" with their chisels of flint, or of hardened copper.[27]
They excelled in the art of founding and casting, with the
precious metals, the most perfect images of natural bodies.
They were expert lapidaries, and knew how to form gems
into such shapes and figures as fancy dictated; and to
finish them with an exquisite polish. Among their precious
stones were the emerald, amethyst, cornelian, turquoise,
and some which were unknown in Europe. They

set these stones in gold, and in silver, wrought in a very
skilful manner, and rendered of great value. Condamine
and Clavigero were both astonished at the industry and
patience with which they must have worked in marble.
They were workmen in linen and cloth of various descriptions,
as well as painters and engravers. The specimens of
their art, which were carried to Europe by Cortes, and
others who visited the country, were found to be nearly
inimitable by the most expert artists of the old world.
Their copper instruments and weapons they hardened to a
temper which was equal to that of steel; an art which
the Greeks and Romans possessed to the time of the taking
of Constantinople, by Mahomet II.[28]

The United States also contain several vestiges of engraving,
by the rude hands of the aborigines. Thus we
find that there is hardly any inhabited part of the world,
which did not, before it became civilized, produce some
specimens of engraving.

The modern European art of engraving was not greatly
encouraged in America before the revolution, and the
artists did not appear to possess first rate abilities.