THOMAS BEWICK. 



95 



by his production of the cuts for the child's book, "Tommy Trip's History of 

 Beasts and Birds," though it is more certain, as related in Bell's Catalogue, 

 that the publisher Saint's expressed desire that Bewick should produce cuts 

 after the manner of the " Three Hundred Animals" was, with the engraver's 

 natural bent for the subject, the real beginning of the undertaking. 



The work called "A Description of Three Hundred Animals, viz., Beasts, 

 Birds, Fishes, Serpents, and Insects," was published in many editions during 

 the latter half of last century. The illustrations are on copper, unsigned, and 

 are a ludicrous set of caricatures. One or two of the beasts, as the Wild Boar 

 and the Squirrel, and a few of the birds, the Parrot and the Turkey, are 

 passable. The Salmon, the Sprat, and the Turbot are the best of the fishes ; 

 while the Whale, and the Shark with its powerful teeth, are something truly 

 wonderful. The serpents and insects are similarly poor in quality. These 

 cuts are far inferior to those in the little-known "La Clef des Champs," 

 1586, or the " Ornithologia Nova," 1744, which both contain more spirited 

 representations of animals ; some, indeed, in these books are sufficiently well 

 produced to be worthy of the most careful examination. The colouring of 

 the illustrations in "La Clef des Champs " is as natural and subdued as the 

 most refined could desire. The sub-title is, " Pour trouuer plusieurs Animaux 

 tant Bestes, qu' Oyseaux auec plusieurs fleurs et fruitz. Anno 1586. Imprime 

 aux Blackefriers pour Jacques le Moyne dit le Morgues painter." 



Of his indebtedness to Buffon's works Bewick frequently tells. Some of 

 the animals he never could hope to see alive — such as the Giraffe, the Buffalo, 

 the Bison, and others — therefore he was compelled to look for assistance to 

 books which contained drawings— perhaps themselves only copies from more 

 original works — and Buffon was certainly as good as any he could have 

 selected. Bewick, besides, took every opportunity that presented itself to 

 acquire accurate knowledge of the subject ; reading naturalists' works, 

 watching the habits of indigenous animals, and, when a travelling menagerie 

 made its appearance in Newcastle, he was one of its most frequent patrons. 



