Printing

Damp the new leaf in water with a brush on both sides thoroughly.

Wipe dry both sides. Lay it on a flat surface and stretch wider with the fingers on the inside, keeping the leaf flat with the palm of the hand.

Rub the inside of the leaf with something hard and smooth across the width on both sides.

1. Cut AG, BG with leaf folded.

2. Place the round pad in position on the flat leaf.

3. Stretch the leaf to lap at sides EF.

4. Turn in EA and BF fold by fold, first one side and then the other.

"Tools and Materials illustrating the Japanese Method of Colour Printing." A descriptive catalogue of a collection exhibited in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Price Twopence. Victoria and Albert Museum Catalogues. 1913.

"The Colour Prints of Japan." By Edward F. Strange. The Langham Series of Art Monographs. London.

"Japanese Colour Prints." By Edward F. Strange. (3rd Edition.) Victoria and Albert Museum Handbooks. London.

"Japanese Wood Engravings." By William Anderson, F. R. C. S. London, Seeley & Co., Ltd. New York, Macmillan & Co. 1895.

The wood most commonly used by the Japanese for their printing-blocks is a cherry wood very similar to that grown in England. The Canadian cherry wood, which is more easily obtained than English cherry, is of too open a grain to be of use. The more slowly grown English wood has a closer grain and is the best for all the purposes of block cutting and printing. Well-seasoned planks should be obtained and kept ready for cutting up as may be required.

In the diagram (fig.

6. Cut away CH, DH, holding down firmly the end done.

7. Twist up the ends tightly, pull over to the centre, and tie tightly together; cut off ends.

8. Polish on board and oil slightly.

Twist the inside part of the baren occasionally to save wear by changing its position within the sheath.

Several substitutes have been tried in place of the Japanese baren, with coverings of leather, shark's skin, celluloid, and various other materials, but these necessitate the use of a backing sheet to protect the paper from their harsh surfaces.

Both surfaces of the plank should be planed smooth and then finished with a steel scraper, but not touched with sand-paper.

It is understood that the face of the plank is used for the printing surface, and not the end of the grain as in blocks for modern wood engraving.

The tools needed for cutting the blocks are the following: