80 THE BOX. 



printed books, inasmuch as there is a harmony produced 

 in the page by the engraving and letter-press being of the 

 same colour, which is very seldom the case when copper- 

 plate vignettes are introduced with letter-press. 



In spite however of all these advantages, the art of en- 

 graving on wood declined, and was all but lost, when it was 

 revived in England by the celebrated John Bewick, an 

 artist who not only restored the taste for the art, but exe- 

 cuted, in the course of a long and industriously-spent life, 

 numerous works, which his most zealous followers can 

 scarcely do more than hope to equal. His excellence did 

 not consist in the mere mechanical skill which he dis- 

 played : that, great as it was, resulted from his intense de- 

 sire to embody his exquisitely acute perceptions of Nature. 

 His woodcuts, therefore, are not simply representations of 

 birds and beasts, just so far like the originals as to enable 

 another person to discover what is meant : but indices 

 of his mind, like the solemn sounds of Handel's music, the 

 majestic flow of Milton's poetry, the comprehensive exact- 

 ness of Linnaeus' s descriptions. No one can have failed 

 to notice this, who has turned over the pages of " The 

 General Natural History of Quadrupeds," or of " British 

 Birds." Nature seems to be alive in all of them ; the very 

 tail-pieces, trifling though the subjects of many of them 

 may be, are replete with interest, owing to the remarkable 

 power which the author possessed of catching and por- 

 traying the peculiar characteristics of Nature, whether 

 animate or inanimate. Much of this taste and skill Bewick 

 imparted to his pupils, and to the same qualities the 

 modern school of wood-engraving is indebted for its 

 principal excellence. 



Several mechanical improvements have of late years 

 been made in wood-engraving and printing ; but, however 

 the father of the modern art may be surpassed in skill, it 

 is next to impossible for any one to excel him in excellence 

 of design. 



Owing to the numerous illustrated works now almost 



