HISTORY OF BRITISH BIRDS 69 



was a matter which was much commented on after- 

 wards, and helped the sale of the work enormously. 

 It was brought out in royal octavo, the full title 

 being, " A History of British Birds, by the Rev. F. 

 O. Morris, B.A., Member of the Ashmolean Society." 

 In the case of the land-birds there was added on 

 the title-page the words, " Gloria in excelsis Deo ;" " De 

 profundis ad Dominum " being given as an appropriate 

 text for the water-birds. The first part made its 

 appearance on June i, 1850, the publishers being 

 Messrs Groombridge & Son, who, with proper 

 caution, advised that at first only a thousand copies 

 should be printed, though it was soon found that 

 that number was not equal to the rapidly increas- 

 ing demand. 



At this period, and for a short time after the 

 publication of Part I., Mr. Fawcett occupied very 

 small premises in Driffield ; these proved inadequate 

 to his growing business, and he removed shortly 

 to a more suitable locality in another part of the 

 town, where he was able to employ a considerable 

 number of hands, and thus could produce the 

 monthly parts of "The Birds" and other works 

 with punctual regularity. He then decided to give 

 up retail business, and devoted his attention to the 

 production of books. It was here that he brought 

 to perfection a new process, invented by himself, 

 for fine printing in colours, for which his establish- 

 ment soon became famous in the trade. Mr. 

 Fawcett employed from thirty to forty hands, a 

 considerable proportion being females. Every plate 



