THOMAS BEWICK. 



191 



by other minor changes throughout the text. The engravings are the same 

 in both issues. The 1797 edition bears on title, "The figures engraved 

 on wood by T. Bewick," while the 1798 says, "The figures engraven," etc. 

 In the first also the price appears thus: "(Price 1/. is. in boards)," in the 

 other it is "one guinea." The 1798 preface has a line less on the first 

 page than the other, and the words " and necessary," on p. 4, line 5, are 

 deleted, making an improvement in the composition. 



The other differences in the text * show that the two impressions were not 

 taken from the same setting of types. That the latter was printed before 

 1804, and not printed then to sell with the second volume, is proved by the 

 advertisement at the end, which announces the fourth edition of the " Qua- 

 drupeds" as "In the press and speedily will be published;" the fourth 

 edition appearing in 1800. This advertisement also marks these copies as 

 being later than 1797, from the fact that the earlier ones have (when there is an 

 advertisement at all), "Lately was published the third edition of the 'History 

 of Quadrupeds.' " It may also be useful to note that the first volumes of the 

 Birds, which bear the date 1804, are simply second (1805) editions with a 

 different title-page. This with many collectors constitutes another edition, 

 and makes, with the usually acknowledged eight editions and the 1798 

 impression, ten different editions of the first volume. 



In 1800 the figures and tailpieces of the Land Birds volume and fourteen 

 foreign birds were printed without letterpress in demy 8vo, and 500 impres- 

 sions were issued at 12s. each. This was done, as stated in a short preface, 

 " in compliance with the wishes of many of the editors' friends, who were 

 desirous of possessing good impressions of the British Birds, unaccompanied 

 with the descriptive part ;" but nevertheless the sale of the copies was far 

 from satisfactory, and many of them were destroyed. A very few of the 

 engravings of the Water Birds were also printed in 1804. 



* Differences will be found at the following pages, as well as in others: 14, 20, 31, 52, 81,95, Io8 > I20 > 

 130, 148, 162, 183, 216, 223, 251, 273, 292, 316, and 335. 



