Curvature of the earth & eclipse - To face Earth (1770)

Title: To face Earth

Place of Publication: London, United kingdom

Year: 1770

Technique: Original copper engraving on paper

Size (inc. mat): 45.1 x 31.7 cm Size image: 31.7 x 18.1 cm

Professionally matted in acid-free museum quality mat-board.

Depiction:

Original copper engraving, published by Thomas Cooke around 1770 in London as part of a large encyclopaedia on general knowledge, arts, natural history, and science. The technique used for this print is copper engraving. After an artist made a drawing, an engraver would transfer that image (in reverse) onto a copper plate and engrave all the details into it. After the plate was inked and cleaned, only the grooves of the plate would contain ink. The plate was then put under a press with a piece of hand-laid paper on top. After pressing, the ink from the grooves would be transferred to the paper. These prints would then be bound into books to serve as illustrations for the text.

Especially in the United Kingdom and France during the 18th century, reference works on all topics covering humanity (natural history, architecture, geography, arts and crafts, among others) became popular amongst the wealthy. The Enlightenment saw the rise of the first true 28-volume encyclopaedia by Diderot and d’Alembert. However, Diderot and d’Alembert copied their work mainly from already-published encyclopaedias from the United Kingdom.