i88 



THOMA S BE WICK. 



thoughtless and happy boy runs after his hoop, like an ideal mortal pursuing 

 pleasure, while the aged stands thinking over all that has come and gone. 



The Willow Wren, reproduced on p. 181, is a pretty engraving, the 

 varieties of tint and beauty of line making it very attractive. The Greater 

 Titmouse, a foreshortened delineation of the happy and active little bird, was 

 drawn, no doubt, from the pet in Bewick's own home. The Cole Titmouse, 

 given in fac-simile on page 180, is also a dainty representation. 



Of the Gallinaceous Birds we have a brilliant example in the Domestic 

 Cock. It "is such a masterpiece of style that if it had been carved 

 by a Greek in marble it could hardly have been finer." * The varied 

 tints of the feathers in the tail contribute greatly to the grandeur of the 

 engraving ; feather rises above feather in regular gradation, and every detail 

 is minute and true. It is somewhat curious that, although the subject is 

 well and even gracefully described in the text, there is no engraving of a 

 sitting hen, the "lively emblem of the most affectionate solicitude and 

 attention." It is, however, noticeable that Bewick seldom engraved the 

 female of any of his animals. The Pheasant is another statuesque 

 production ; the long line of its back elegantly curved, and every detail 

 brought out with great power. A fac-simile of it is given on page 47. 



On the details and condition of the vignette on page 285 of the Birds 

 depend the rarity and value of the volume. Not that the engraving itself 

 indicates intrinsically any superiority, but it is a well-established fact that 

 on the publication of the first volume in 1797, Bewick found many objections 

 raised to the grossness of this tail-piece. He therefore, after the issue of the 

 twenty- four on imperial paper, and probably a few of the thick royal, inked 

 over the cut so as to obliterate, or at least apologize for, the rudeness of the 

 design. In many instances the ink has so dried in that the complete design 

 may be observed through it, and in unscrupulous dealers' hands the cut has 

 sometimes been cleaned so as to endeavour to cause it to be taken for an 



* From F. G. Stephens's "Notes," 1881. 



