A TREATISE ON WOOD ENGRAVING, HISTORICAL AND PRACTICAL. WITH UPWARDS OF THREE HUNDRED ILLUSTRATIONS, ENGRAVED ON WOOD, BY JOHN JACKSON.

London : Charles Knight & Co., 1839. First edition. A monumental and attractive treatise on the whole history and practice of wood-engraving, with much on the antiquity of the process, the age of Durer, the revival under Thomas Bewick, the precise techniques and tools employed, etc. Jackson had served part of his apprenticeship under Bewick himself and was one of the finest practitioners of his time. His collaborator, William Andrew Chatto (father of the publisher), also wrote on the history of playing-cards, etc. Elephant 8vo (161 x 174mm). xvi,(750),[ii]pp. Seven plates, some coloured, including a Baxter print of Ovingham and a double-page "patent illuminated map" of Jerusalem by William Hughes. Numerous wood engravings in text, some coloured. Bound in a smart later (late twentieth-century) half calf; marbled sides and endpapers; text a little shaken, but firm in binding; a few slight marks, but overall a very good copy. Occasional interesting pencilled annotation from a widely-read and knowledgeable former owner, sadly unidentifiable.