BOOK REVIEWS — How to Identify Prints: A Complete Guide to Manual and Mechanical Processes from Woodcut to Ink Jet

Bamber Gascoigne. Thames & Hudson, 1986; 2014 reprint.

Archival professionals juggle many roles in the course of their work. One of the most exciting but sometimes puzzling is that of the detective. If we are lucky, we have collected accurate “evidence” from either inspecting archival materials, conducting research, and/or discussing the objects with the donor or experts to classify the asset swiftly and accurately. If we follow the wrong clues and misidentify an archival material’s format, though, we run the risk of not only spreading inaccurate information about the archival material but also hinder efforts to properly house and preserve it.

Author, historian, and television presenter Bamber Gascoigne (1935-2022) draws on his own experience as a “detective” in his book, How to Identify Prints: A Complete Guide to Manual and Mechanical Processes from Woodcut to Ink Jet. Stymied in the past in finding reliable resources that could help him identify the prints he collected, Gascoigne drew on his own experiences and research to write his guide so that others could correctly understand and describe the technical aspects of prints. Gascoigne was not an archivist, but his background as a historian grounded his approach. He valued the importance of having the right resources to gain a true understanding of an asset and capably share that knowledge with others – some of the same goals archival processing aims to achieve.

“This book is not for reading. It is for dipping into, as part of a specific detective process – that of analysing how the printer’s ink has been transferred to a particular piece of paper which carries an image.” Gascoigne’s first words encapsulate the purpose of How to Identify Prints. The book is structured in such a way that its strength lies as a reference guide. Rather than having traditional page numbers, information about the different printmaking processes is separated into individual numbered sections. The reader can pinpoint the sections they need to identify the print either by following the table of contents or an optional search guide. 

After a brief introduction explaining the structure of the book, how to use the work, and the equipment needed, the guide unfolds into three parts.

The first part presents the three main families of prints – relief (prints made by pressing paper onto a printing surface with raised surfaces coated in ink), intaglio (ink lies in grooves cut into the printing surface), and planography (the printing surface is completely flat) – as well as common exceptions such as screenprints and xerox. It is important to note that Gascoigne defines “prints” as images “formed in ink which has been transferred (by pressure, the ‘impression’) from a printing surface (the block, plate or stone),” excluding photographic prints from How to Identify Prints. The second part goes on to provide direct guidance on how to distinguish between the processes, including visual and textual clues, and direct differences between different types of prints.

The information provided in these two parts is particularly useful for everyday archival processing. For descriptive purposes, having not only the historical context but also the differences between the various styles of manual and process prints, how each type was made, and developments over time, helps streamline what would have been a lengthy research process. It is also useful for housing and preservation planning. Understanding what kinds of materials were used to make certain kinds of print helps archivists better predict how the prints might decompose over time and if certain components will speed up the chemical degradation of other archival materials through outgassing, acid migration, or similar processes if stored together.

The final part offers a springboard for the reader to further refine their new knowledge. Of the tools expounded on, Gascoigne’s “Sherlock Holmes Approach,” a series of questions for the would-be detective to ask and answer with direction to relevant sections, stands out. This approach is a unique way to tackle the daunting task of print identification. By organizing the process of identification into step-by-step questions, Gascoigne brings order to what can be an ad hoc process.

How to Identify Prints accomplishes the aims and goals Gascoigne sets out to address. Drawing on his experience as a print collector, Gascoigne probes into unique and everyday print styles and offers visual examples both magnified and in actual size. For example, he begins his section on wood engravings by describing how the printing style was made and renewed interest in relief printing for book illustration. Gascoigne thereafter traces its developments over the succeeding century, including analyses of facsimile wood engravings (reproductions of original artwork as engravings) and the rise of photoxylographs (engravings that look like photographs). He also addresses both traditional and esoteric points of interest in the world of prints, whether it is the differences between dust- and spirit-ground aquatint prints, or the processes used to print wallpaper and textiles. Considering the wide range of formats in the archives, this book is handy in identifying both common and unfamiliar print media.

Gascoigne, however, can get caught up in the details, sometimes losing sight of his larger mission of guiding readers in identifying prints. The reader does not always have a direct path to the information needed to assess prints. Although an enjoyable route, it is a circuitous one that requires time and patience. In addition, Gascoigne is not always consistent in identifying what prints he uses as his visual examples. Although he acknowledges the sources of the prints used to illustrate his book in the Acknowledgements, he notes the title, creator, and dating of only some of the prints depicted. This lack of information undermines the purpose of the examples given and disconnects them from the printing processes they are meant to represent. In archives, such inconsistency can weaken the usefulness of a collection. Provenance plays a vital role in arranging and describing the collections in our care. Without it, we are unable to properly place an asset in the context of its creation, its relationship to other materials in its collection, and its authenticity, making it harder to help understand and utilize archival materials.

Ultimately, How to Identify Prints is a comprehensive tool for anyone working with prints. Although Gascoigne primarily addresses print collectors, the level of detail, particularly in explaining how to survey and differentiate between prints, makes it just as valuable for archivists. The 2014 edition still holds up as a reliable reference for accurately identifying and describing prints, and can contribute to decision-making in archival storage and preservation planning for a collection.

Sabrina Gorse, MLIS, CA. Archivist, Heritage Werks, Inc.