ABSTRACT
All the products of ideological creation - works of art, scientific works, religious symbols and rites, etc. - are material things, part of the practical reality that surrounds man. A glance at the surprisingly slim scholarship on early English woodcut illustration reveals a preoccupation with the lack of native-born artisans. The 'father' of English woodcut style is agreed by most to be a German, Hans Holbein, the younger, and the next greatest influence is Dutch. The roots of the debased reputation of woodcut illustration run deep, as support for the pejorative assessment has been generated both by critical historians and from contemporary accounts. The leading historians of Renaissance printmaking, David Landau and Peter Parshall, point out that 'throughout the annals of early printmaking, woodcuts have tended to be accorded second-class status'. From the outset, then, the most significant aspect of the new technologies for the reproduction of images was that graphic reproduction was considered primarily a derivative form.
