THOMA S BE WICK. 



229 



and the artist himself who executes them. I trust you will see this in its proper 

 light, and in future not attempt to act so improperly. I suppose Mr. Nicholson was 

 the artist employed in this unfriendly business. If so, I shall be obliged to convince 

 him of the impropriety of his conduct. He knows perfectly well how easy it is to 

 make a fac-simile of any design on wood, and that an impression from any woodcut 

 can, line by line, be transferred to a plain block, so that there is no difficulty in 

 cutting the lines so distinctly thus burnished on. If I do not put a stop to this kind 

 of work, then I may expect the next move will be to copy the Quadrupeds, Birds, 

 and tale pieces, and every original design I have done." 



This is one of the most forcible letters Bewick ever wrote, and the words 

 " quick, short, and summary " comprehend a world of meaning in their 

 brevity. 



In 181 7 a few copies (about twenty-five) of the Figures of the Land and 

 Water Birds, with the Foreign Birds, were printed without the letterpress, and 

 published at two guineas each quarto volume ; and the same number of 

 the Figures of the Quadrupeds and Vignettes was issued the following year. 



" The Fables of /Esop, and others, with Designs on Wood by Thomas 

 Bewick," 18 18, were commenced under the circumstances narrated at the 

 beginning of this chapter. Bewick acknowledges the assistance he received 

 with the work from his son, and from his pupils, William Harvey and William 

 Temple, " who were eager to do their utmost to forward me," says Bewick in 

 his Memoir, " in the engraving business, and in my struggles to get the book 

 ushered into the world." 



The engravings are all different from those in the preceding volumes of 

 Fables, neither is the letterpress the same, but both the text and the prints 

 are similar in design to those in the 1784 edition. Some disappointment was 

 felt on the publication of the work because it did not reach the exalted 

 standard of the Birds. Nevertheless the engravings are wonderfully clever, 

 and, as a matter of fact, received more actual expenditure of labour than did 

 the Birds. It must be admitted, however, that what they gain in finish they 

 lose in force ; and, while we have refined and delicately manipulated designs, 



