The text provides a practical, illustrated guide to the production and reproduction of book-plates, tracing technical developments from early woodcuts and metal engraving through lithography, chromolithography and photo-lithography to modern process blocks. It explains methods of line and half-tone work, drawing and preparing art for mechanical reproduction, and the manipulations used to multiply and print designs. Practical hints help collectors assess, date, and appraise plates, while many examples and reproductions show how original artwork is translated by different reproductive processes.