A Bit of Advice and information. Then follow the link at the bottom of the page to see our range of prints.

This may be the first occasion that that you are buying an antique print so let me give some advice to guide you.

Prior to the introduction of lithograph printing on a larger scale in the 1850s ( what you might consider normal printing) the techniques used to print pictures were etching and engraving. Without going into the intricacies of these, as a rule of thumb up until c 1820 copper plate engraving would have been the medium. Copper is a relatively soft metal and so the engraving plate would get worn; this meant that only restricted numbers of prints could be issued using the same plate.

In the 1820s steel engraving was introduced and because of the strength of the steel comparatively greater production runs were possible

Most of the antique prints you are likely to see will have been published as part of a book and these books were relatively expensive. As result although more prints were produced from the 1820s onwards it would be misleading to assume that there was a mass market – there was still a restricted supply. It was only with the introduction of chromolithography that prices began to come down in late Victorian times.

Genuine prints therefore are relatively rare and since each engraving has to be individually produced they are correctly referred to as original prints.

The prints were normally published in black and white in books. They could also sometimes be purchased loose and as with antique maps you could pay a professional to watercolour them.
 

To learn more about Antique Prints you can apply for a free copy of our Antique Print Guide-simply click on the "Contact Us" button and send your first name, surname and e mail address and stating "send Antique Print Guide".

Condition.

As with all things antique condition is of prime importance.

In my experience the majority of the books available and the prints from them have been affected by foxing or other damage. This will not necessarily be obvious from a scan of the image. As an example below I show the front of an image of Dalswinton on the Nith, by W H Bartlett, and then the back.