The "front" beach at Sorrento during the summer season. The front beach faced Port Phillip Bay and was the popular spot for families. The view looks west towards the present day Continental Hotel with families on the sand. The large building in the background is probably the artist's impression of the house the theatrical impresario George Coppin built in 1875.
 
Published in The Australasian Sketcher. 1875.
 
Wood engraving.
 
165 mm x 227 mm.
 
Wood engravings were first produced in Europe in the fifteenth century. During the late eighteenth century the process was reintroduced and used for inexpensive illustrated books. The nineteenth century publishing phenomena of the illustrated newspaper was made possible by use of the technique. The process allowed for the illustration and the text to be printed by a single pass through the printing press using the letterpress method.  It also made it possible for several engravers or even a team to produce and work on a single illustration at the same time.
 
All the major artists of the period contributed to the illustrations. Some papers acknowledged the artists on the plates but The Australasian Sketcher appears to have had a policy of anonymity. Where known, we have included the artist’s name.