Engraver’s Marks on 4d Couriers

[Andy]

Engraver's mark - just left of eye (Position 2)

Engraver's mark.jpg (41.66 KiB) Viewed 1556 times

I have enlarged a scan of a black and white photographed image of the Plate 2 proof sheet of 4d Couriers, auctioned in 1917, in the following pdf file:

Courier Plate2 Proof Sheet.pdf

(1.34 MiB) Downloaded 170 times

Pat Malone’s article (1928), posted on the BB by Malcolm*, mentions the presence of engraver’s “guide marks” which can be useful for plating the Id Courier. No mention is made of marks for the 4d plates, but some are evident here too, just left of the eye, for positions 2, 4, 6 and 18 on this plate. There are other marks in similar positions, but these are some of the most obvious. It is possible that marks have also been incorporated into the left hand margin of some of the eyes.

With a pair of dividers spanning both marks for positions 6 and 4, if you swing the dividers left you end up on mark for position 2. Likewise, swinging down from position 6 you end up on mark for position 18 (if working left to right, the engraver starts with position 6). Although this is considered to be a proof sheet from the plate, it would seem unlikely that any marks were removed prior to printing since the mark for position 2 can be clearly seen on the defaced plate. I was wondering if a comparison of possible marks for both plates would provide supporting evidence for the suggestion that Plate 2 was the first to be produced. Presumably, there would be less need for such marks on plate 1 if a transfer process were involved.

Are there any images providing examples of marks for Plate one?

Andy

(*See Laurent’s topic ‘Finding position on 4d. courier’, for which this pdf will also be relevant – NB presumably the extra stroke on the top E, position 14 is simply excess ink)