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graving had nearly supplanted wood engraving. By
this process the artist's drawing with the brush is
reproduced in fine tints which, when well engraved
and carefully printed, produce effective results. Pen
and ink drawings are also reproduced in exact fac-
simile. By this process the hand work of the en-
graver is nearly eliminated. The blocks are some-
times retouched to produce effects not attained by
the process work. The skill of the artist in making
the drawing thus becomes all important.
  The introduction of color work in the schoolbooks
intended for young children resulted from the in-
vention of the three-color plates. From nature, or
from a colored painting, three photographs are taken
- one excluding all but the yellow rays of light, one
for the red rays, and one for the blue. From these
photographs three tint blocks are made which to the
eye in many cases look exactly alike. From one of
these an impression is made with yellow ink, exact-
ly over this the red plate prints with red ink and
this is followed by an impression from the blue
plate. If the effects of the color screens of the
camera are exactly reproduced by the printer's inks
and with exactly the right amount of ink, the re-
sult is wonderfully satisfactory.
  What are the qualities in these McGuffey Eclectic
Readers that won for them through three-quarters
of a century such wide and constant use
  The best answer to this question may be drawn
from the many newspaper articles which appeared in
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