Drawing for Printers.

Knaufft, Ernest, 1864-Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.6

Word count: 254K words
Chapters: 26

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Drawing for Printers. by Ernest KnaufftAuthor: Knaufft, Ernest, 1864-,Language: English, Class: NC: Fine Arts: Drawing, Design, Illustration, Release Date: Nov 20, 2016

Editor's review

This book is a drawing guide written by Ernest Knaufft for printing professionals, a practical document at the intersection of early printing and art education. Its core value lies in linking drawing fundamentals to the needs of printing and plate-making, helping readers understand how training in line, light and shade, and proportion serves the graphic expression of actual printed matter. What the book discusses is not pure artistic creation but drafting methods oriented toward reproduction and printing, so it is useful for understanding how printed illustration work was done in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. As a public-domain e-book from Project Gutenberg, it is easy to obtain and search free of charge and suitable as supplementary reading in the history of technology, printing, and illustration. It should not be treated as a modern design textbook but as a historical text, with attention to its trade-training logic and period limitations. For those studying early visual communication, craft education, or engraved illustration, this small book offers a concrete and plain point of entry.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Researchers in printing and publishing history who need primary material on early drafting training
Illustration-history enthusiasts who want to understand how printing needs shaped drawing methods
Design students using it as historical documentation to supplement modern drafting courses
Public-domain e-book readers who prefer free old English technical books

Not a good fit for

Readers who want to learn modern digital drawing or graphic-design software operations
Beginners who need systematic drawing tutorials with step-by-step demonstrations
Casual readers unaccustomed to old-fashioned English technical wording

Reading tips

Read the table of contents and preface first to confirm how the book is organized around printing drafting, then select chapters relevant to your own research.
Read alongside printed illustrations or engravings of the same period to understand how the book's methods appear in actual finished work.
Take notes comparing the book's terminology with contemporary design concepts, distinguishing historical context from content that can be directly borrowed.
If consulting it only as historical material, prioritize the passages on line, light and shade, and proportion training rather than reading every page.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book suitable for someone with no drawing foundation at all?

Not really. It is aimed at printing professionals or readers with some drafting-training needs and presupposes basic knowledge of drawing and plate-making. Zero-foundation readers who want to learn drawing systematically should choose modern tutorials with step-by-step demonstrations; this book is better used as historical background or a reference on trade methods.

Is this an English book, and how demanding is it?

It is a public-domain English e-book discussing early printing drafting methods. The language is old-fashioned technical English, with terminology and sentence patterns that differ from modern textbooks. Readers with some English reading ability and an interest in printing or art history will find it easier to enter; ordinary casual reading may feel dry.

How does it differ from modern graphic-design textbooks?

The book arose in the context of the early printing industry, focusing on how drawing training met the needs of plate-making and reproduction rather than modern visual communication, software operations, or branding design. Its value leans toward historical documentation and records of technical methods; it cannot replace contemporary design textbooks but can serve as supplementary material for understanding the tradition of illustration production.

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About the author

Knaufft, Ernest, 1864- Author

Ernest Knaufft (1864– ) is an author about whom little biographical information survives; publicly available sources are limited, and his nationality, education, and professional career cannot be reliably established. Only one work by him is held in the collection, Drawing for Printers. As the title suggests, the book addresses printers, discussing drawing knowledge and techniques related to printing. It is a practical work that combines drawing training with printing processes, reflecting the author's attention to the needs of graphic expression in printing and platemaking. His writing is clearly instructional in character, focusing on turning drawing methods into operational knowledge that can be applied directly in printing. Because records concerning him are scarce, Knaufft's other activities and influence remain to be further investigated, and this book is therefore the main basis for understanding his authorship.