The RANGITOTO struck a reef off Cape Jackson while racing the S.S. WELLINGTON.  Her skipper, Captain Mackie beached the ship and with the help of the WELLINGTON, the mail, all the passengers and some cargo was saved. The scene depicted shows the doomed ship with two rescue vessels in attendence.
 
Published in The Australasian Sketcher. 1873.
 
Wood engraving.
 
171 x 229 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.