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| | Images of the Victorian book: 1860s wood engraving |
 | | They saw themselves essentially as painters, who turned to illustration as a means of expressing the narrative element which was so essential to their work; with the exception of Millais, they preferred to illustrate poetry, using scenes from the remote or imaginary past. |
 | | They were swiftly followed by a second group of artists, known as the 'Idyllic' School, including George John Pinwell, Arthur Boyd Houghton and John William North, who tended to take a more pragmatic view of their work. |
 | | Economic and social conditions at the time, together with technical advances such as the use of photography to transfer drawings to the wood block, meant that both new and reprinted literature, periodicals, children's books, poetry and many other categories of writing could be cheaply illustrated by talented artists. |
| www.bl.uk /collections/early/victorian/pr_engra.html (299 words) |
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