Job

3725683 — <p>London. June 24 1888. 2pp. A.L.S. 8vo. Transmittal fold; near fine.</p> <p>Friendly letter over two full pages from Francis Job Short about etchings thanking the recipient a “Mr. White†for the gift of a book and promising to send a technical book with his own etchings that is “now in the press.â€</p> <p>Sir Francis Job “Frank†Short 1857–1945 was an English watercolorist engraver and printmaker. The book he promises to send is On the Making of Etchings published that same year. Short is most noted for his mezzotints after paintings by artists J.M.W. Turner and by George Frederick Watts. Short was in charge of the Engraving School at the Royal College of Art in London and in 1885 was elected to the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers. In 1889 he received gold medal for engraving at the Paris International Exhibition.</p> <p>Per ODNB: “Convinced that the wider public as well as art students would benefit from a deeper understanding of printmaking Short published books on the subject: On the Making of Etchings 1888 see above Etchings and Engravings: What they Are and Are Not 1911 and British Mezzotints 1925. In addition he served on the committee which arranged the Loan Exhibition of British Engraving and Etching held at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1903. Having helped select prints from the museum’s collections for the exhibition Short successfully argued for the inclusion of relevant tools and materials which would illustrate the various processes of printmaking. With the help of Constance Mary Pott one of his assistant teachers he arranged an exhibit that incorporated etching and engraving tools explanatory plates in various states of completion a ruling machine a steel-facing tank and a copperplate printing press; he also prepared several pages of technical notes which were published in the exhibition catalogue. When the exhibition closed the collection of tools and materials was retained as a permanent feature of the museum perhaps the first of its kind in the world.â€</p> <p>Ref. ODNB.</p> unknown