APPENDIX. 383 



* THOMAS BEWICK TO MRS. MACKENZIE. 



NEWCASTLE May 1805 

 MADAM, 



Your very kind & flattering letter of 

 the 4 ulto. reached me in due time & by it I 

 am happy to find that the 26. Volume of the 

 Birds meets with your approbation and that 

 some of the little whimsies, put into vignettes 

 has afforded you any entertainment Cou'd I have 

 foreseen that the sketches which your partiality 

 makes you value, woud ever have been thought 

 worthy of your notice, I certainly woud have 

 saved them for you but now if my time & atten- 

 tion were not so fully taken up with conductin the 

 other parts of my birds I cou'd easily furnish many 

 such but when the fancies hop into my head, I 

 have not time even to commit the roughest sketch 

 of them upon paper I am obliged to ^phrase 

 unfinished^ A second Edition of both Volumes 

 of the Birds is now at Press, and as I believe 

 you wish me success, I cannot help informing 

 you that in my opinion Mr. Walker (the printer) 

 is doing the work to look better than either of 

 the Volumes now before the public he has seen 

 some defects in his former mode of printing which 

 he is remedying in this I have just seen Aikins 

 "Annual Review 5 ' in which he dwells at large 

 in his criticism upon the History of the Quad- 

 rupeds & the Birds there are many misstatements 

 & some mistakes of the printer, but otherwise he 

 has gone the utmosts lengths in praise of the 

 whole and if his praises be just it is highly 

 flattering to me I never hoped to have any 



