Wood Engraving
the art of engraving designs on wood. It differs from copper and steel plate engraving by having the parts to be printed on the paper in "relief." While plates are printed from the engraved lines by a laborious and necessarily slow process wood engravings, having the object to be represented on the surface, in the manner of a type, may be printed along with the matter they are intended to illustrate on the ordinary printing machine. This, of course, is an important point in the illustration of books, on the ground of cheapness and expedition. Another ground of cheapness and expedition. other advantage wood engravings possess is that they can be multiplied to any extent by means of the electrotype process.
Previous to the invention of movable types whole books of text were also engraved in wood, and the impressions had evidently been taken by rubbing on the back of the paper, instead of steady pressure, as in the printing press, the ink used being some kind of distemper color.