THOMAS BEWICK. 



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The long and interesting series of the Dog engravings is begun with the 

 Shepherd's Dog, upon whose "vigilance and activity depend the safety, 

 order, and discipline of the shepherd's flock." The interest of the Cur 

 Dog lies almost wholly in the background, where a dog drives along a 

 laggard bull. The Greenland Dog in like manner stands before a scene 

 where three of its companions drag a sledge, thus giving the great use 

 of the dog in a manner which makes the letterpress almost superfluous. 

 The same, indeed, may be said of all the Dog engravings : the scowling 

 Bull-dog hangs on the lip of an escaped bull ; the noble Mastiff stands 

 in front of a dog-fair, where all breeds assemble; the Dalmatian is 

 close to a roadway along which the coach will shortly pass; the supple 

 Greyhound follows fleetly on the fugitive hare ; the Lurcher has caught 

 its prey; the plain, honest Terrier fights hard with the badger; and the 

 Beagle (though not so good as those in the "Chase") is a capital picture of 

 a running animal. The Harrier which follows this is one of the best of the 

 Dogs ; the engraving is refined, the form well-nigh perfect, and it stands out 

 like marble from the surrounding scene. In the background two hunters sit 

 on horseback, most skilfully drawn, and on the slope before them a number of 

 harriers spread themselves over the ground. The signature does not appear 

 on this block, though it must have given the artist much pleasure to engrave. 

 The Fox Hound figure is not nearly so fine, and the Old English Hound is 

 rather formal in the execution. Both are inferior to the Spanish Pointer, 

 which is reproduced on a future page. This is a very lovely print, and quite 

 worthy of the highest praise. The English Setter is placed amidst a long 

 stretch of northern country, just the best place where the sagacious dog may 

 " range in the new-shorn fields, his nose in the air erect," and where, as we 

 see, "from ridge to ridge panting he bounds." It is followed by the 

 important block of the Newfoundland Dog, done from a sketch made at 

 Eslington, where, as described in his Memoir, Bewick stayed for two days 

 when on his return from Chillingham, after he had drawn the Bull in 1789. 



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