Mezzotint workshop at the Bodleian Bibliographical Press
Hosted by the Oxford University Society of Bibliophiles, this workshop was led by Antonia Weberling, and used the rolling press at the Bodleian’s printing workshop in the Old Bodleian Library.
The mezzotint printing process creates images in finely-graded tones from velvet blacks to the lightest grey. A mezzotint begins with an evenly and finely pitted surface all over the copper plate, made with a toothed metal rocker. The picture is created by burnishing parts of the surface to smooth out areas which will print in lighter tones: to create white highlights the plate must be burnished smooth. The process was especially favoured for portraits in the seventeeth century as can be seen in this collection of prints from the Ashmolean Museum. The Bodleian Libraries preserve several original mezzotint plates.
Ink is spread all over the surface of the worked plate and then wiped gently away. The aim is to ensure that ink remains held within the pitted areas to print grey and black tones, but is removed from the smoothly burnished areas that are the white parts of the image.
The final step is putting the plate through the rolling press. The Bodleian’s rolling press comes from former music printer Victor Hope.
