The numismatic chronicle and journal of the Royal Numismatic Society

238 G. F. HILL.
spoons or forks. The skilled engraver produces at
incredible speed, and, it is to be feared, for a not exces-
sive wage, monogram after monogram of almost micro-
scopic similarity. 4 If the engraving-theory is right
and personally I feel quite convinced that it is Simon
van de Passe's art was only the craft of the ordinary
metal engraver carried to its highest power. It may
seem almost incredible that any one should have been
at the pains to produce by hand copies so minutely
resembling each other. "What was the point of it?
Would not freer reproductions have served the pur-
pose equally well? Well, the craftsman's mind is
difficult to fathom. I am inclined to think that when
a certain degree of technical dexterity is attained,
it is less trouble to the copyist to copy exactly than to
let his mind, even half-consciously, exert itself in
making variations on the pattern laid down for him.
Everything then depends on the exactitude in detail
of the transfer from original to copy. I have already
mentioned the irregularities in the bottoms of the
engraved lines. The shaft of the letter I, for instance,
may contain one or two ridges, placed irregularly, the
letter having been produced by two or three cuts of
the graver ; and in two specimens of a medal you will
find even these minute details corresponding exactly
4 In the Department of Coins and Medals in the British
Museum are two engravings on silver of the same subject, one
copied from the other, by Mr. Littlejohn, who at the time of
making them had given up the practice of the art for something
like twelve years. The engravings were done to prove how
extraordinarily close copies can be made by engraving over a
transfer; and though differences are there, it seems clear that
a craftsman in good form could make copies in which variations
could only be discovered with difficulty.