1 iguic 9. — Iailphxe bv Thomas 

 Bf.vvick (actual size), from A general 

 history of quadrupeds, 1790, in the 

 collections of the I.ibiary of Congress. 



from pupils Robert and Juhn Johnson and Charlton 

 Nesbit, as well as from an artist associate Richard 

 Westall."* Bulmcr was quite conscious that a new 

 era in printing and illustration had begun. Updike ^' 

 notes Bulmer's recognition of the achievements of both 

 Baskerville and Bewick in giving the art of printing a 

 new basis: 



To understand the causes of the revival of English 

 printing which marked the last years of the century, we 

 must remember that by 1775 Baskerville was dead. . . . 

 There seems to have been a temporary lull in English fine 

 printing and the kind of type-founding that contributed to 

 it. I'he wood-engraving of Thomas Bewick, produced 

 about 1780, called, nevertheless, for more brilliant and 

 delicate letter-press than either Caslon's or Wilson's 

 types could supply. If Baskerville's fonts had been avail- 

 able, no doubt they would have served. ... So the 

 next experiments in typography were made by a little 

 coterie composed of the Boydells, the Nicols, the Bewicks 

 (Thomas and John), and Bulmer. 



When the cuts in this book are compared with 

 earlier impressions from wood blocks, the difference 

 is quickly seen. The blocks are more highly wrought, 

 yet every line is crisp and clear and the impressions 

 are black and brilliant. When we realize that the 

 only new technological factor of any consequence was 

 the use of good smooth wove paper, we can appreciate 

 its significance. 



There were no other developments of note in the 

 practice of printing during the 18th century. The old 

 wooden hand press, unimproved except for minor de- 

 vices, was still in universal use. Ink was little im- 



-* D. C. Thomson, The life and works 0/ Thomas Bewick, Lon- 

 don, 1882, p. 152. 



•' D. B. Updike, Printing types, their history, forms and use, Cam- 

 bridge and London, 1922, vol. 2, pp. 122, 123. 



proved; paper was handmade; type was made from 

 hand moulds. The ink was still applied by dabbing 

 with inking balls of wool-stuffed leather nailed to 

 wooden forms. The leather was still kept soft by re- 

 moving it and soaking it in urine, after which it was 

 trampled for some time to complete the unsavory 

 operation. Paper still had to be dampened overnight 

 before printing, and freshly inked sheets were still 

 hung to dry over cords stretched across the room. 



But with a more sympathetic surface for receiving 

 ink from relief blocks, a new avenue for wood engrav- 

 ing was now open. In the following year, 1797, the 

 first \()lunie of Bewick's finest and best-known work 

 was published. This was the History of British birds, 

 for which he and his pupils did the cuts while Ralph 

 Bcilhy. his ]3artner and former master, provided the 

 descriptions (.see figs. 12, 13, and 14.) It achieved 

 an immense and instantaneous popularity that carried 







"'■■"5?:. >V'V--^ 





^^^^^m}^p&K^_^, 



Figure 10. — Taili'iece by Thomas 

 Bewick (actual size), from A general 

 history of quadrupeds, 1790, in the 

 collections of the Library of Congress. 



the artist's name over the British Isles. The attrac- 

 tiveness of the subject, the freshness of the medium — 

 which could render the softness of feathers and could 

 be interspersed with text — the powerful and decorative 

 little tail pieces, and the comparative inexpensiveness 

 of the volumes, brought the Birds into homes every- 

 where. 



.Actually, wood engraving was not immediately 

 adopted on a wide scale. Having done without it 

 for so long, printers and publishers made no con- 

 certed rush to a\ail themselves of the new type of 

 cuts. Bewick's pupils found little of this kind of 

 work to do before about 1 830. Luke Clennell dropped 

 engraving for painting; William Harvey restricted 

 himself to drawing and designing; Clharlton Nesbit 



196 



BULLETIN 218: CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THK MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 



