Owing to the invention of various mechanical processes, and the perfection to which photography has attained, the art of wood-engraving would seem to be in danger of becoming extinct. This is by no means the real case, for the brilliant band of wood-engravers which has arisen in America, of whom we have just spoken, still continue to give us excellent examples of their skill; and especially we may mention the inimitable copies of paintings by the Old Masters by Timothy Cole, whose rendering of Paul Potter's 'Young Bull' excites our warmest admiration. In England, under the influence of Mr. William Morris and his followers, a revival of this interesting craft, as practised in the fifteenth century, has been set on foot in some of the Schools of Art--notably at Birmingham, where in 1893 the students issued a Book of Carols illustrated with original designs, some of which were cut by the students themselves. This revival of the earlier and purer methods of engraving, coupled with a careful study of the possibilities of the art, may be taken as a sign that by no means the last chapter on the history of engraving on wood has yet been written. At present, much of the new process work which we find in such over-abundance in newspapers and magazines is slovenly to the last degree. On the other hand, now and then we see beautiful results--the best in the American magazines; let us hope that the facile cheapness of this new craft--art it cannot be called--will in good hands soon achieve something more worthy of our regard. * * * * * {129} INDEX _The Engravings in this book are referred to in italic type_ Abbreviations of Latin words, 18 Æsop's Fables (1481), 47 Æsop's Fables (Bewick's), 115 Aldegrever, 88 Aldus Manutius, 45-47 _Alphabet_, _Figure_, XV Cent., 25 Altdorfer, Albrecht, 87, 100 Amman, Jost, 88 Anderson, John, 122 Andre, Jerome, 82 Andreani, Andrea, 99 _Annunciation, The_, 8 Apocalypse, Dürer's, 70 _Apocalypsis Sancti Johannis_, 17 Ars Memorandi, 11, 26 Ars Moriendi, 11, 20, 26