Vermont in Copper

By Chloe Burrington, University of Vermont Class of 2027 and Fellow through the Semester for Impact program with the College for Social Innovation Spring 2026. 

Before the modern era of digital printing and high-resolution photography, print artists searched for new ways to reproduce images with accuracy, depth, and permanence. Early photographic methods could make detailed images, but they could not be reproduced. While there were traditional engraving techniques that allowed for mass printing, they lacked the tonal nuance of photographs. The challenge was clear: how could printers combine the reproducibility of engraving with the realism of photography? 

As demand increased during the second American Industrial Revolution, companies began seeking out new types of image transfer technologies and ways to reproduce those images en masse.  In 1879, Czech artist Karl Klí? developed a process bridging the worlds between traditional engraving and modern photography: the photogravure. Copper was an ideal choice for photogravure because it is relatively soft yet durable, and therefore easy to etch precisely while withstanding repeated printing. What set copper photogravure apart most from earlier methods was its ability to replicate continuous tones rather than just reproducing lines via engraving. Traditional engraving relied on cross-hatching and line work to suggest shading, but photogravure could capture even the slightest transitions of light and shadow. This made it especially valuable for reproducing artworks, portraits, and landscapes with remarkable fidelity. The Vermont Historical Society holds over two dozen photogravure plates that show this medium’s versatility reproducing both images and text, demonstrating the technology’s popularity in 20th-century Vermont. 

Note the obvious lines for shading in the engraving Bridge Over Mad River by Asa Cheffetz (top) and the gauzier texture of the clouds in the etching Vermont Gothic by John Taylor Arms. (bottom) Courtesy Vermont Historical Society

The traditional process involved coating a copper plate with a light-sensitive gelatin tissue. A photographic image was exposed onto its surface, hardening the gelatin in proportion to the light it received. The photographer would then etch the plate with acid, which bit deeper into the less exposed areas to create the shadows and high-contrast areas of the image. Unlike earlier engraving and etching techniques, photogravure technology enabled artists to create a finely detailed matrix capable of holding ink in varying depths, maintaining photographic subtlety that earlier printing methods could not.  

By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, copper photogravure had become the preferred method for high-quality image reproduction in both the worlds of digital technology and fine arts. Copper photogravure was widely used in fine art printing, book illustration, and luxury publications. Notably, photographers such as Alfred Stieglitz, American photographer and modern art enthusiast, embraced photogravure for its aesthetic qualities. In his magazine Camera Work (1903-1917), photogravures were used by Stieglitz to elevate photography to the status of fine art because he treated the photogravure as an intimate artistic process rather than as a medium of commercial production. 

While most photogravures in the VHS collection do not have copies of the images on paper, we are lucky enough to have both the plate (top) and the image of the frontispiece from Mary Grace Canfield’s Lafayette in Vermont (bottom). Courtesy Vermont Historical Society and Leahy Library. 

Eventually, newer photographic printing methods such as offset lithography and digital printing began to replace photogravure in many commercial contexts due to their speed and lower cost. Despite this shift, copper photogravure never disappeared. The depth of ink, the tactile richness of the paper, and the subtle tonal range are difficult to replicate with modern digital methods. Copper photogravure remains both a historical technique and a living art form. 

Note the soft transition between light and dark areas of these plates, much like a photographic negative one would see in film photography. Photogravures from the Barre History Collection, Courtesy Vermont Historical Society.

One set of photogravures in VHS’s collection is from Barre’s Troop One, the first Boy Scouts of America unit in the country. This collection is an excellent opportunity to look into the early years of Boy Scouts, as well as explore this amazing technology. From images of troop members riding a train to a letter exchanged between Sir Francis Vare, Grand Scoutmaster of the British Division of World Scouts, to William Foster Milne in 1912, we can glean much about Vermonters’ roles in using and sharing technological advances on a global scale. Encompassing formal group portraits to candid shots, these items show how photogravures were used as a reliable and popular way to share stories.