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BEWICK. 



ciety of Arts for the best specimen of wood-en- 

 graving in the year 1775- An impression of thi* 

 may be seen in the memoir which is prefixed to 

 s ( It-ct Fables," printed for Charnlev of Newcastle 

 in l>'Ji', and sold in London by Baldwin and Cra- 

 dock. The Fables of Gay were published in 1779, 

 and in 1784, the appearance of a new edition of the 

 " Select Fables," with an entire new set of cuts by 

 i'x-wic-ks, spread far and wide their reputation, 

 uiul placed them above competition in the art. The 

 animal kingdom very early presented to Mr Be- 

 wick great attractions, and a love of observing 

 them in all their various phases, continued through 

 life. Their forms, habits, and attitudes, became 

 thus so familiar to him, that to delineate them 

 faithfully, and in every conceivable position, was 

 only what was to be expected from so excellent a 

 draughtsman. He neglected no opportunity of 

 making himself acquainted with those collections 

 of foreign animals which occasionally visited New- 

 castle in itinerant caravans, and this led to the 

 publication of the " History of Quadrupeds," 

 which, after being carefully prepared, made its ap- 

 pearance in 1790. The prospectus of this great 

 work was the means of introducing him to a gen- 

 tleman who possessed a museum, remarkable for 

 the number and variety of its specimens of winged 

 and quadruped animals, living and dead, and of 

 these Mr Bewick was invited to take drawings, 

 which tended greatly to enrich all his subsequent 

 publications. Amongst the remarkable wood-cuts 

 which adorned the " History of Quadrupeds," was 

 a representation of one of those wild cattle of the 

 ancient Caledonian breed, which were kept in Chil- 

 lingham Park, Northumberland, the seat of Lord 

 Tankerville. This engraving is considered the 

 chef-d'oeuvre of the artist ; but from its great size 

 (being the largest he ever executed), it broke after 

 a few impressions were taken off. The pieces were 

 afterwards firmly clamped together, so as to bear 

 the force of printing, and copies of the portrait of 

 the bull may still be obtained. The work on 

 Quadrupeds was very well received by the public 

 at its first appearance, and it has ever since been 

 held in the highest estimation. The pictorial em- 

 bellishments exhibit every excellence which en- 

 gravings of animals ought to possess boldness of 

 design, variety and exactness of attitude, correct- 

 ness of drawing, and discrimination of general char- 

 acter. A spirit of life and animation pervaded 

 every figure, and thus a lively idea of each diffe- 

 rent animal is conveyed. Short descriptions ac- 

 companied the engravings, chiefly drawn up by Mr 

 Bewick's coadjutors, Messrs Hodgson and Beilby, 

 but subject, it is highly probable, to his corrections 

 and additions. He who had studied living nature 

 so closely in all her varied aspects, must have ac- 

 cumulated a rich store of original observations and 

 anecdotes wherewith to adorn his works. But a 

 great and unexpected charm belonged to the His- 

 tory of Quadrupeds this was the profusion of 

 vignettes and tail-pieces with which the whole 

 volume was adorned. These exhibited remarkable 

 inventive genius, and a skill in catching the very 

 lineaments, in which the specific expression of the 

 species resides, never before equalled. Many of 

 these embellishments are connected with the man- 

 ners and habits of the animals near which they are 

 placed; others, again, merely exhibit the fancies 

 wid sportive or dry humour of the artist, his parti- 

 cular notions of men and things, partaking both of 

 the droll and the pathetic, as, for instance, a ragged 



sheep picking at a besom a troop of Savoyards, 

 weary and foot-sore, tugging poor bruin to the 

 next fair a broken-down soldier, trudging, with 

 stern patience, through the slant rain-storm a poor 

 travelling woman looking wistfully at a mutilated 

 milestone a blind old beggar, whose faithful dog 

 stops sliort, with warning whine, on the broken 

 plunk that should have crusted the swollen brook 

 and so on. This great work established the fame 

 of Bewick on a foundation which could not be 

 shaken. It has passed through numerous editions, 

 with continually growing improvements. 



Amongst the other works embellished by Be- 

 wick, were the "Deserted Village" of Goldsmith, 

 and Parnell's " Hermit." These were executed in 

 conjunction with his younger brother, who had re- 

 moved to London, where he soon became very 

 eminent in his profession. Amongst others whose 

 attention he attracted, was Mr William Bulmei, 

 the spirited proprietor of the Shakspeare press, li 

 was under his auspices that the above poems were 

 published, and the success which they met with 

 induced him to speculate still further. He pro- 

 jected a new edition of Sommerville's " Chase," 

 embellished with wood-engravings; and the younger 

 Bewick had, with the exception of a single cut, 

 drawn the whole of the designs on the blocks, 

 when he was cut off by a pulmonary complaint, 

 probably contracted by too great application. 

 They were all, however, beautifully engraved by 

 Thomas Bewick, and the appearance of the work 

 materially increased his reputation. The subjects 

 which ornament the work being entirely composed 

 of landscape scenery and animals, were well adapted 

 'to display the beauties of wood-engraving. In 1797 

 appeared the first, volume of the " History of 

 British Birds, comprising the Land Birds," the 

 letter-press being furnished by Mr Beilby. Before 

 the publication of the second volume on " British 

 Water Birds," a separation of interests took place, 

 so that its compilation and completion devolved on 

 Mr Bewick alone, with the assistance of a literary 

 friend. The usual excellences of the artist were 

 displayed in this beautiful and valuable work. The 

 drawings are minutely accurate, and express the 

 natural delicacy of feather, down, and foliage, in a 

 peculiarly happy manner. The value of the work 

 was greatly enhanced by the vignettes and tail- 

 pieces, in which the genius, humour, and fancy of 

 the artist, are even more conspicuous than in the 

 volume on Quadrupeds. His next works were four 

 very large cuts, representing the zebra, the ele- 

 phant, the lion, and the tiger, which were en- 

 graved for the proprietor of a menagerie. In 1818, 

 he published " The Fables of .ZEsop and others, 

 with designs by Thomas Bewick;" and two or three 

 years afterwards, appeared a volume of Select 

 Fables, the wood-cuts being a selection from the 

 earlier works of the Bewicks. The public were 

 thus enabled to study the gradual advancement to- 

 wards excellence which had been made by the re- 

 vivers of this elegant and useful art. 



Several of the latter years of Mr Bewick's life 

 were, in part at least, devoted to a work on British 

 Fishes. A number of drawings were made arid 

 engraved, and a very large proportion of vignettes 

 prepared, when the death of the projector put a 

 stop to the undertaking. The last production of 

 Mr Bewick was a cut of an old horse, intended to 

 head an address on cruelty to that noble animal ; 

 the proof of which was brought to him from the 

 pres only three days previous to his dissolution. 



