BEWICK, THOMAS & (BEILBY, RALPH).

Newcastle, S. Hodgson, 1797 [but 1798]. 8vo. XXX,(2),335,(1) pp. With 117 wood engravings of birds and 91 tailpieces. + BEWICK, THOMAS. History of British Birds. The figures engraved on wood by T. Bewick. Vol. II. Containing the history and description of water birds. Newcastle, E. Walker, 1804. 8vo. XX,400 pp. With 101 wood engravings of birds and 136 tailpieces. + BEWICK, THOMAS. A Supplement to the History of British Birds. The figures engraved on wood by T. Bewick. Part I. Containing the history and description of land birds. Newcastle, E. Walker, 1821 [but 1822]. 8vo. 50,(2) pp. With wood engravings. + BEWICK, THOMAS. A Supplement to the History of British Birds. The figures engraved on wood by T. Bewick. Part II. Containing the history and description of water birds. Newcastle, E. Walker, 1821 [but 1822]. 8vo. 49,(3) pp. With wood engravings. Volumes I and II bound in handsome 19th-century full red morocco, ruled in gilt, spines in compartments with raised bands, tooled and lettered in gilt, all edges gilt, inner dentelles gilt. Endpapers foxed, some occasional light soiling and spotting, otherwise clean and fresh. Supplement uncut and bound in modern marbled boards. Some occasional light foxing and soiling. With the signature of H. S. Foljam dated 1803 on title page, and the signature of Gunnar Bruzewitz on front free endpaper of volume I.

Tattersfield Thomas Bewick 1.14, 1.16. and 1.25. Roscoe Thomas Bewick a bibliography raisonné 15c and 17a, variant C, and 29c and 30c. Nissen Die illustrierten Vogelbücher 91. Zimmer Catalogue of the Edward E. Ayer ornithological library 57-58. An attractive mixed set of the second edition of ”Land Birds”, with the first edition of ”Water Birds” and the second edition of the ”Supplements”, dated 1821 but published in October 1822. Though never formally taught, Thomas Bewick (1753-1828) showed a talent for drawing from an early age. In 1767, when he was 14, he was apprenticed to Ralph Beilby, an engraver in Newcastle. In 1775 Bewick received a premium from the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce and became a partner in Beilby’s workshop the following year. ”A General History of Quadrupeds” was his first publication and appeared in 1790. By the late 18th century, the woodblock was the poor relation to steel or copper engravings. Bewick, unlike his predecessors, would carve in harder woods, notably boxwood, against the grain, using fine tools normally favoured by metal engravers. This proved to be far superior, and in so doing Bewick revolutionised the printing of illustrations using wood and brought the medium back to life and popularity. The success of ”A General History of Quadrupeds” encouraged Bewick to begin working on his most famous work ”History of British Birds”. Issued in two volumes, the ”History and Description of Land Birds” appeared in 1797, the volume devoted to water birds seven years later, in 1804. It was to be his tour de force with respect both to craftsmanship and creative imagination, and the work for which he will always be remembered. This time confining himself to only British species, he drew from live birds, specimens shot for him, or even from birds kept in his Newcastle garden for the express purpose of drawing them. Although criticised by some ornithologists for their lack of accuracy, his drawings nevertheless manage to seize the individual characters of the various birds. In addition, the work once again drew acclaim and was renowned for the many humorous and elaborate vignettes and tailpieces that so vividly capture English rural life. ”Land Birds” features 140 descriptions of birds, 117 figures and 91 vignettes and tailpieces. Bewick’s teacher Ralph Beilby (1744-1817) was an English engraver, working chiefly on silver and copper. As he had done for ”A General History of Quadrupeds”, Beilby once again wrote the descriptions for ”British Birds”, although by the time the second volume appeared Bewick had bought Beilby’s share of the partnership, and composed the letterpress himself. ”Water Birds” includes 144 descriptions, 100 figures and another 136 vignettes and tailpieces. These last are considered to be amongst his very best, and were certainly some of his own favourites. ”History of British Birds” went through various revisions and expansions. Roscoe provides a detailed account of the various states of both volumes. Though dated 1797, the present copy of the ”Land Birds” is in fact the second edition of 1798 as revealed by the price on the title page, and the images of the sea eagle and the magpie being in the second state. The infamous vignette at p. 285 appears here to be uncensored. The copy of the ”Water Birds” is variant C according to Roscoe. In 1821, and revised in 1822, Bewick published ”A Supplement to the History of British Birds”, which, although sometimes found bound with the seventh edition, was also published separately and bound together in one volume, as found here.