s worn out; and, flattering as is the supposition
that they were sold for a small sum in comparison to their real worth,
I am obliged to reject even this palatable assertion, as I received
for the plates the price that I asked, knowing full well their exact
condition.

Instead of the "steel-plate printer," Delatre, then at his prime, had
himself printed these etchings--a fact which, amusingly enough, Mr.
Haden admits further on, in direct contradiction to his first broad
statement. Moreover, I had myself pulled proofs of them all; indeed,
one in the set of sixteen plates, a drypoint, called "The Forge" (for
by the way they were not all of the Thames), I alone printed. When the
plates left my hands they were _not_ "taken to Goulding," who at that
moment had, I fancy, barely begun his career as "the best printer of
etchings in England" (and a capital printer he certainly is); and it
was _not_ "found that they produced impressions never before approached
even by Delatre"--here we have the contradiction alluded to--no!
this theatrical denouement I must also put aside with sorrow.

The plates were brought out by Messrs. Ellis, who had them printed by
some one in London, whose work was certainly not to be compared to
that of Delatre, whom I should undoubtedly have recommended; so that
_it was only long after the sale had been completed and the plates had
ceased to be in my possession_, that inferior impressions were
produced.

The understanding on my part with those publishers was that the plates
were to be destroyed after one hundred impressions had been taken, but
very recently they reappeared, and were sold to their present
possessors, who _did_ take them to Mr. Goulding. And here I am obliged
to explain away the last element of astonishment, for Mr. Goulding
naturally found the etchings in their original perfect condition
simply because I had had them steeled in their full bloom when I had
satisfied myself by my own proofs.

Goulding's impressions of these plates are very excellent, but to say
they were quite unapproached by Delatre is not only needless
exaggeration, but an unkindness to Mr. Goulding.

Surely there must be some misunderstanding between Mr. Haden and his
biographer--a misdeal of data--an accident with the anecdotes--because
no one was more keenly alive to all relating to these plates and
their various states than Mr. Haden himself, whose strong sense of the
importance of printing was acquired while w