Pictures to Print

TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Booh Reviews 629 or providing for new collecting and public requirements. Twentiethcentury officials have had to make sense ofthe overall building, provid­ ing links between wings and greater ease of movement between levels and spaces of the various components added incrementally a century ago. New techniques oflighting and climate control have been incorpo­ rated and decorative and structural elements restored and upgraded. So, in the 1980s the evolution of the building begun in the 1850s continues. Physick’s extensive documentation makes this an informative refer­ ence work for the historian as well as an illuminating narrative of an important building. The rich graphic archives revealed in the thirty-six color plates and 359 black-and-whiteillustrations augment the text and in many instances inform the reader of elements of the construction and decoration long since superseded. If anything, there is so much detail in this book that the reader occasionally wants a crib—a simple color-coded plan of the building showing which elements were added at which times, or an organization chart spelling out the relationships among various government agencies and the committees havingjuris­ diction over the building program. But this is quibbling. The art historian will be interested in reading of the artists and firms involved in decorating the building, while the architectural historian will find it an unusually detailed exposition of the administrative, political, and economic complexities facing planners and builders of highly visible public buildings. The emphasis is on Britain on the eve of the 20th century, but the nature of the problems is not unique to Britain or to that time period. Museum managers and educators will learn from Physick’s comments on the objectives and approaches of museum installations and the museum’s role as an educational institution. As an account of the construction and development of a renowned cultural institution, the book offers much to the historian of technology as well as the student of cultural history. And the human drama woven into Physick’s story ofthis evolving building makes the book a good read for the layman as well. Douglas E. Evelyn* Pictures to Print: The Nineteenth-Century Engraving Trade. By Anthony Dyson. London: Farrand Press, 1984. Pp. xxx + 234; illustrations, glossary, bibliography, appendixes, index. $28.50; $115.00 (deluxe limited edition with original print). Available from Book Press Limited, P.O. Box K. P., Williamsburg, Virginia 23187. *Mr. Evelyn is deputy director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and is researching the architectural and social history of the Patent Office Building in Washington. 630 Book Reviews TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Printmaking & Picture Printing: A Bibliographical Guide to Artistic Industrial Techniques in Britain 1750—1900. By Gavin Bridson and Geoffrey Wakeman. Oxford: Plough Press, 1984. Pp. 250; appen­ dix, indexes. $55.00. Available from Book Press Limited, P.O. Box K. P., Williamsburg, Virginia 23187. A Century of American Printmaking, 1880—1980. By James Watrous. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1984. Pp. x + 334; illustra­ tions, notes, bibliography, index. $40.00. We tend to think of art as an arcane process whereby an individual sets out to convey a creative idea in a manner known only to him- or herself. In printmaking there is often an intermediary in the process who puts the artist’s concept into a format that can be produced—or reproduced—for many to enjoy. A drawing or painting can be printed in multiple impressions, from wood, metal, or stone. The means by which this process occurs is both historic and complex, and three new books investigate the technical procedures and cultural ramifications of the history of printmaking. Anthony Dyson’s study of the British 19th-century engraving trade is divided into two fairly equal sections: “Prints for the Million” de­ scribes the business setting of the reproductive engraving trade cen­ tered in London between about 1830 and 1880; “A Process of Difficult Management” details the technical steps in engraving and printing pictures, with background information on the manufacture and sup­ ply of paper, ink, and presses. Appendixes contain information on the business records used in preparation of the study and a glossary of technical terms. Appendix 1 is a complete catalog of

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