5 8 THOMAS BEWICK. 



employer has received the credit of their production. It is also said that 

 Bewick executed a cut for a circus advertisement while in London. It repre- 

 sents a man leaping on to the back of a galloping horse, and the work has 

 considerable spirit. 



The " Curious Hieroglyphick Bible" deserves some notice, as the cuts are 

 characteristic and authenticated productions. The first date of the publica- 

 tion was 1776. On a proof of the cover in the British Museum the following 

 note is written and signed by John Bewick : — " T. Hodgson has sold three 

 thousand Hieroglyphick Bibles since Sept. last, and is going to print another 



edition. 1787 3080 printed since Sep. 178 1." The volume, it may 



be said, is now becoming rare. The cuts, of which there are a large number, 

 are small, and they illustrate " Select passages in the Old and New Testa- 

 ments," which are " represented with emblematical figures .... designed 

 chiefly to familiarize tender age in a pleasing and diverting manner with early 

 ideas of the Holy Scriptures." Of these cuts the more notable are: Eve 

 introduced to Adam, the figure of Eve being graceful, and the animals fairly 

 good ; Abraham's Sacrifice, which, though poorly drawn, is well composed ; the 

 vine on p. 39 is delicate in its decorative slender style ; the full-rigged ship 

 on page 43 is also good ; and the prophet Elijah in the chariot is " curious." 

 The stories of Joseph, Moses, Samson, David and Goliath, are treated 

 particularly well. The Evangelists are depicted writing their Gospels. 

 St. Matthew listens to an angel, St. Mark meditates beside a lion, St. Luke 

 has a bull, and St. John a large bird. The hieroglyphics are of a still 

 familiar style, being interspersed with words; as, for instance, we have "Six 

 days shall" (then "work" is represented by a man delving, some others 

 reaping, and in the distance a man ploughing) " be done, but the seventh day 

 is the Sabbath of Rest, an holy" (then "assembly" is a large cut, which, 

 however, does not appear in all the editions, showing the interior of a well- 

 filled two-galleried church : on the ground-floor the people stand mostly with 

 backs to the spectator), "ye shall do no work therein," &c. The designs of 



