John Baptist Jackson | Page 4

was the only one of note until Thomas Bewick arose
to prominence about 1780. He was, then, England's first outstanding
woodcutter. We will find other instances of his significance from the
English standpoint, but his being English, of course, would have a
small part in explaining the importance of his prints.
[Footnote 2: The only earlier name is that of George Edwards. Oxford
University has most of the blocks for a decorated alphabet he engraved

on end-grain wood for Dr. Fell in 1674. Further data on Edwards can be
found in Harry Carter's Wolvercote Mill, Oxford, 1957, pp. 14, 15, 20,
and in Moxon's Mechanick Exercises, or the Doctrine of Handy Works
Applied to the Art of Printing. (Reprint of 1st ed., 1683, edited and
annotated by Herbert Davis and Harry Carter, Oxford, 1958, p. 26n.)]
Jackson made, in fact, the biggest break in the traditions of the woodcut
since the 16th century. He broadened the scope of the chiaroscuro print
and launched the color woodcut as a distinct art form that rivaled the
polychrome effects of painting while retaining a character of its own.
These were not modest little pieces of purely technical interest. The set
of 24 sheets reproducing 17 paintings by Venetian masters made up the
most heroic single project in chiaroscuro, and the 6 large landscapes,
completed in 1744, after gouache paintings by Marco Ricci, were the
most impressive color woodcuts in the Western world between the 16th
century and the last decade of the 19th.
But Jackson's grand ambition to advance the woodcut beyond all other
graphic media had little public or private support and finally led him to
ruin. His efforts were made with insufficient means and with few
patrons. As a consequence, he rarely printed editions after the blocks
were cut and proofed. The Venetian set is well known because it was
printed in a substantial edition. A few additional subjects were also
sponsored by patrons, but most of Jackson's other chiaroscuros were
never published-- they were limited to a few proofs. Editions were
postponed, no doubt, in the hope that a patron would come along to pay
expenses in return for a formal dedication in Latin, but this did not
often happen. Most subjects exist in a few copies only; of some, single
impressions alone remain. Others have entirely disappeared.
With a large part of Jackson's work unknown, his reputation settled into
an uneasy obscurity which, it must be granted, has not prevented his
work from being collected. The chiaroscuros, especially the Venetian
prints, can be found in many leading collections in Europe and the
United States, but the full-color sheets after Ricci are excessively rare,
particularly in complete sets.
Jackson has long been considered an interesting figure. His Essay on

the Invention of Engraving and Printing in Chiaro Oscuro...,[3] with its
bold claims to innovation and merit, his adventurous career as an
English woodcutter in Europe, his adaptation of the color woodcut to
wallpaper printing and his pioneering efforts in this field, and Papillon's
immoderate attack on him in the important Traite historique et pratique
de la gravure en bois[4] will be discussed later. For the moment we can
say that the Essay was the first book by an Englishman with color
plates since the Book of St. Albans of 1486, with its heraldic shields in
three or four colors, and the first book with block-print plates in
naturalistic colors.[5]
[Footnote 3: Jackson, London, 1754. Hereafter cited as Essay. Other
references bearing directly on Jackson will receive only partial citation
in the text. They are given in full in the bibliography, page 171.]
[Footnote 4: Papillon, Paris, 1766. Hereafter cited as the Traite.]
[Footnote 5: Occasional book illustrations in two or three colors,
confined chiefly to initial letters and ornamental borders, appeared as
early as the 15th century. Ratdolt in 1485 printed astronomical
diagrams in red, orange, and black, and used similar colors in a
Crucifixion in the Passau missal of 1494. The Liber selectarum
cantionum of Senfel, 1520, however, has a frontispiece printed in a
broad range of colors from more than four woodblocks. The design is
attributed to Hans Weiditz.]
Although critics have been interested in Jackson as an historical figure,
they have been uncertain about the merit of his work. Opinions vary
surprisingly. Most judgments were based on the Venetian chiaroscuros
and depended upon the quality of impressions, many of which are poor.
Criticisms when they have been adverse have been surprisingly harsh.
It is unusual, to say the least, for writers to take time explaining how
bad an artist is. To do this implies, in any case, that he warrants serious
attention; space in histories is not usually wasted on nonentities. We
can see now that Jackson was misunderstood because the uses of the
woodcut were rigidly circumscribed by