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THOMAS BEWICK. 



fondness for portraying people in trouble. "Vignettes by Thomas Bewick," 

 1827, in quarto and octavo, contain nearly all the vignettes engraved for 

 the Quadrupeds and the various editions of the Birds. The octavo edition 

 forms one of the most attractive of all Bewick's publications. "The 

 Synopsis of the Newcastle Museum" contains two woodcuts by Bewick 

 and two plates by his son Robert, as well as a quantity of letters and 

 information of which free use has been made by the author of this work. 



A favourite speculation with Bewick, first suggested by Papillon in 1768, 



The Magpie. From the " History of British Birds," Vol. I. 1797. 



was that by means of printing one block over another, much more finish, 

 colour, and softness could be obtained than by the ordinary method of 

 single-block printing. In order to demonstrate that the method of double 

 and treble printing was practicable, Bewick prepared a block from which he 

 took an impression, which he proposed to engrave so as to fit exactly over 

 the other, and by different arrangements of its lines add to the depth and 

 variety of the first. The subject of this block was a vignette of a man riding 

 amidst rain. It was printed on the title of the quarto volume of Quadrupeds 



