Woodburytype

In technical terms, the process is a photomechanical rather than a photographic one, because sensitivity to light plays no role in the actual printing.

The process produces very high quality continuous tone images in monochrome, with surfaces that show a slight relief effect.

Essentially, a Woodburytype is a mold produced copy of an original photographic negative with a tonal range similar to a carbon print.

After the gelatin has set sufficiently, the print is stripped from the mold, trimmed, and usually mounted onto a larger sheet or card.

It was often considered the most perfect, most beautiful photomechanical process and inspired a number of books, magazines, and special edition printings between 1864 and 1910.

The photochemical formation of the gelatin relief dates back to the first carbon printing patent of Alphonse Poitevin (1855).

Woodbury’s patents in England, France, Belgium, and the United States, as well as production of several Woodburytype process printing establishments in England, France, and the US, were responsible for the printing of hundreds of thousands of Woodburytype photographs that provided book and magazine illustrations, short-run advertisement material, and promotional material.