74 



THOMAS BEWICK. 



was the famous " Select Fables" of 1784. The full title is, "Select Fables, 

 in Three Parts. Part I., Fables extracted from Dodsley's. Part II., Fables 

 with Reflections in Prose and Verse. Part III., Fables in Verse. To which 



are prefixed the Life of ^Esop ; 

 and an Essay upon Fable. A 

 new edition, improved. Newcastle, 

 printed by and for T. Saint. 

 mdcclxxxiv." The Life occupies 

 fully six pages, with another three 

 of the Essay defining fables to be 

 " the method of conveying truth 

 under the form of an allegory." 



Lion, Tyger, and Fox. "Select Fables," 1784. Qf the Fables extracted from 



From Bewick's original block. Lent by the Rev. Mr. Pearson. 



Dodsley's there are forty-eight, 

 followed by sixty-seven Fables with Reflections, some in prose and some 

 in verse, and twenty-six altogether in verse. 



The cuts, like the 1776 edition, commence with the Miller, his Son, and 

 their Ass; and the Fox and Bramble, the Maid and Milk Pail follow, each fable 

 being illustrated with a cut ; the number of blocks being one hundred and 

 forty-one, with thirty-one tail-pieces of ornaments and figures. The cuts, 

 which are most interesting on account of their ingenuity as well as their 

 artistic value, are printed in the present publication from the original wood 

 engraved by Thomas Bewick.* These are inserted at various pages through- 

 out this volume. Of the engraver's early style we have the Bears and the 

 Bees, and the Sow and Peacock, which first appeared in the 1776 Fables. 



* The twelve cuts of these Fables are introduced into this work through the kindness of the owner, the Rev. E. 

 Pearson, of Cheltenham, who possesses the entire series of Thomas Bewick's " Select Fables " blocks. From these 

 a limited but superb edition de luxe has recently been produced at the Ballantyne Press for private distribution to 

 subscribers, with an illustrated preface by Edwin Pearson, revised, and numerous supplementary illustrations of 

 Bewick's genius. This beautiful edition and faithful reprint of T. Saint's famous Newcastle publication of 1784 will 

 never be reproduced, but copies are still (1882) to be obtained at the subscription price, on application to the Rev. E. 

 Pearson, Cheltenham. 



