"BATTEN, John D[ickson]"
Autograph Letter Signed (“Dear Sir”). 4pp, 8vo. 24 Nov. 1892.
An interesting letter to a putative client discussing reproduction methods. He describes the conventional process print (“processed block”) as awkward: “I have felt myself rather hampered by certain limitates of the process. It is advisable to do the drawing a great deal larger than the illustration required; the lines have all to be quite black and drawn with a certain hardness and precision.” For a higher quality print for the large paper copies of his English Fairy Tales he used Alfred (although he calls him William) Dawson’s Typographic Etching Co (where Emery Walker first learnt his trade), and he encloses one of those prints (not now present).
He suggests doing two designs, one for reproduction by Dawson, and one to be engraved on wood or steel. This is likely to be for a bookplate also, since he asks some further heraldic questions.
