1829.]

To the arts as applied to its illus

HE lovers of natural history, and

tration, have lately sustained a severe loss in the death of Thomas Bewick, the celebrated reviver, or rather inventor of a new mode, of engraving on wood. Though the art of cutting or engraving on wood is undoubtedly of high antiquity, as the Chinese and Indian modes of printing on paper, cotton, and silk, sufficiently prove; though even in Europe the art of engraving on blocks of wood may proba bly be traced higher than that of printing usually so called; and though in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries designs were executed of great beauty and accuracy, as Holbein's "Dance of Death," the vignettes and head-letters of the early Missals and Bibles, and the engravings of flowers and shells in Gerard, Gesner, and Fuhschius, afford us undoubted proofs; yet the inspection of these is enough to prove that their methods must have been very different from that which Bewick and his school have followed. The principal characteristic of the ancient masters is the crossing of the black lines, to produce or deepen the shade, commonly called cross-hatching. Whether this was done by employing different blocks, one after another, as in calico-printing and paper-staining, it may be difficult to say; but to produce them on the same block is so difficult and unnatural, that though Nesbitt, one of Bewick's early pupils, attempted it on a few occasions, and the splendid print of Dentatus by Harvey shows that it is not impossible, even on a large scale, yet the waste of time and labour is scarcely worth the effect produced.

To understand this it may be necessary to state, for the information of those who may not have seen an engraved block of wood, that whereas the lines which are sunk by the graver on the surface of a copper-plate, are the parts which receive the printingink, which is rubbed over the whole plate, and the superfluous ink is then scraped and rubbed off; the lines being then transferred upon the paper by its being passed together with the plate through a rolling-press, the rest being GENT. MAG. January, 1829.

left white;-all the portions of the surface of the wooden block which are intended to be white, are carefully scooped out with burins or gouges, and the lines and other parts which are left prominent, after being inked, like types, with a ball or roller, are transferred to the paper by the common printing-press. The difficulty, therefore, of picking out of the wooden block the minute squares or lozenges, which are formed by the mere intersection of the lines on the copperplate, may be easily conceived.

The great advantage of wood-engraving is, that the thickness of the blocks (which are generally of box, sawed across the grain of the wood,) being carefully regulated by the height of the types with which they are to be used, they are set upon the same page with the types, and only one operation is required to print the letterpress

it.

and the cut which is to illustrate The greater permanency, and indeed almost indestructibility, of the wooden block is besides secured, since it is not subjected to any of the scraping and rubbing which so soon destroys the sharpness of the lines upon copper, and there is a harmony produced in the page by the engraving and the letter-press being of the same colour, which very seldom is the case where copper-plate vignettes are introduced with letter-press.

It is difficult, perhaps impossible, to trace the history of wood-engraving, its early principles, the causes of its decay, &c. till its productions came to sink below contempt. But for its revival and present state, we are unquestionably indebted to Mr. Bewick and his pupils.

Thomas Bewick was born Aug. 12, 1753, at Cherry Burn, in the parish of Ovingham, and county of Northumberland. His father, John Bewick, had for many years a landsale colliery at Mickley Bank, now in the possession of his son William. John Bewick, Thomas's younger brother, and coadjutor with him in many of his works, was seven years younger, having been born in 1760; unfortunately for the arts, and for society, of which he was an ornament, he died of a consump tion, at the age of thirty-five,

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Memoir of Mr. The early propensity of Thomas to observe natural objects, and particularly the manners and habits of animals, and to endeavour to express them by drawing, in which, without tuition, he manifested great skill at an early age, determined his friends as to the choice of a profession for him. He was bound apprentice, at the age of fourteen, to Mr. Ralph Beilby of Newcastle, a respectable copper-plate engraver, and very estimable man. Mr. Bewick might have had a master of greater eminence, but he could not have had one more anxious to encourage the rising talents of his pupil, to point out to him his peculiar line of excellence, and to enjoy without jealousy his merit and success, even when it appeared in some respects to throw himself into the shade. The circumstances which determine the fortunes of men, are often apparently accidental; and this seems to have been the case with regard to Mr. Bewick. Mr. Charles Hutton (afterwards the eminent Dr. Hutton of Woolwich, then a schoolmaster in Newcastle,) was preparing, in 1770, his great work on Mensuration, and applied to Mr. Beilby to engrave on copper-plates the mathematical figures for the work. Mr. Beilby judiciously advised that they should be cut on wood, in which case each figure might accompany, on the same page, the proposition it was intended to illustrate. He employed his young apprentice to execute many of these, and the beauty and accuracy with which they were finished, led Mr. Beilby to advise him strongly to devote his chief attention to the improvement of this long-lost art. Several mathematical works were supplied about this time, with very beautiful diagrams, particularly Dr. Enfield's translation of Rossignol's Elements of Geometry.

On the expiration of his apprenticeship he visited the Metropolis for a few months, and was during this short period employed by an engraver ou wood in the vicinity of Hatton-garden; but London, with all its gaieties and temptations had no attraction for Bewick. He panted for the enjoyment of his native air, and his indulgence in his accustomed rural habits. On his return to the North he spent a short time in Scotland, and afterwards he became his master's partner, and John his brother became

their joint apprentice. About this time Mr. Thomas Saint, printer of the Newcastle Courant, projected an edition of Gay's Fables, and the Bewicks were engaged to furnish the cuts. One of these, the old Hound, obtained the premium offered by the Society of Arts, for the best specimen of wood-engraving, in the year 1775. An impression of this may be seen in the memoir prefixed to "Select Fables, 1820, printed for Charnley, Newcastle, and sold by Baldwin and Cradock," hereafter to be mentioned, from which many notices in the present memoir are taken.

Mr. Saint published a work, entititled "Select Fables," as early as 1776, with an indifferent set of cuts. Whether any of them were furnished by the Bewicks, is not known; probably not; but in 1779 came out the Fables of Gay, and in 1784 a new edition of the Select Fables, with an entire new set of cuts, by the Bewicks.

It has been already said, that Mr. Bewick, from his earliest youth, was a close observer and accurate delineator of the forms and also of the habits and manners of animals; and during his apprenticeship, indeed through his whole life, he neglected no opportunity of visiting and drawing such foreign animals as were exhibited in the different itinerant collections which Occasionally visited Newcastle. This led to the project of the "History of Quadrupeds.' It is remarkable that the first cut which he actually engraved with this view, was finished on the 15th of Nov. 1785, the day on which he received the news of his father's death. Preparations for the work were gradually making, till in the year 1787 a regular "Prospectus" was issued, accompanied by specimens of several of the best cuts then prepared; but it was not till 1790 that the work appeared.

In the mean time the Prospectus had the effect of introducing the spirited undertaker to the notice of many ardent cultivators of natural science, particularly to Marmaduke Tonstall, esq. of Wycliffe, whose museum was even then remarkable for the extent of its treasures, and for the skill with which they had been preserved; whose collection also of living animals, both winged and quadruped, was very considerable. Mr. Bewick was invited to visit Wycliffe, and made drawings of various specimens, living and dead, which contributed greatly to enrich

his subsequent publications. The portraits which he took with him of the wild cattle in Chillingham Park, the seat of Lord Tankerville (whose agent, Mr. John Bailey, was also an eminent naturalist, and very intimate friend of Mr. Bewick), particularly attracted Mr. Tonstall's attention; and he was very urgent to obtain a representation upon a larger scale, of these, now unique, specimens of the "antient Caledonian breed." For this purpose he made a special visit to Chillingham, and the result was the largest woodcut he ever engraved, which, though it is considered as his chef d'œuvre, seems also to show the limits within which wood-engraving must necessarily be confined. The block, after a few impressions were taken off, split into several pieces, and remained so till, in the year 1817, the richly figured border having been removed, the pieces containing the figure of the wild bull were so closely clamped together, as to bear the force of printing, and impressions may still be had. A few proof impressions on thin vellum of the original block have been valued at twenty guineas.

As it obviously required much time as well as labour to collect, from various quarters, the materials for a General History of Quadrupeds," it is evident that much must be done in other ways in the regular course of business. In a country engraver's of fice, much of this requires no record; but, during this interval, three works on copper appear to have been executed chiefly by Mr. Thomas Bewick. A small quarto volume, entitled, “A Tour through Sweden, Lapland, &c. by Matthew Consett, esq. the companion of Sir G. H. Liddell," was illustrated by engravings by Beilby and Bewick; the latter executing all the specimens of natural history, particularly the rein deer and their Lapland keepers, whom he had thus the unexpected opportunity of delineating from the life. During this interval he also drew, and engraved on copper, at the expence of their respective proprietors, "The Whitley large Ox, belonging to Mr. Edward Hall, the four quarters weighing 187 stone;" and "The remarkable Kyloe Ox, bred in Mull by Donald Campbell, esq. and fed by Mr. Robt. Spearman of Rothley Park." The latter is a very curious specimen

of copper-plate engraving, combining the styles of wood and copper, particularly in the minute manner in which the verdure is executed.

At length appeared "The General History of Quadrupeds, the figures engraved on wood by T. Bewick; printed for S. Hodgson, R. Beilby, and T. Bewick;" a work uncommonly well received by the public, and ever since held in increased estimation. Perhaps there never was a work to which the rising generation of the day was, and no doubt the rising generation for many years to come will, be under such obligations for exciting in them a taste for the natural history of animals. The representations which are given of the various tribes, possess a boldness of design, a correctness of outline, an exactness of attitude, and a discrimination of general character, which convey at the first glance a just and lively idea of each different animal. The figures were accompanied by a clear and concise statement of the nature, habits, and disposition, of each animal: these were chiefly drawn up by his able coadjutors Messrs. Hodgson and Beilby, subject, no doubt, to the corrections and additions of Mr. Bewick. In drawing up these descriptions, it was the endeavour of the publishers to lay before their readers a particular account of the quadrupeds of our own country; especially of those which have so materially contributed to its strength, prosperity, and happiness; and to notice the improvements which an enlarged system of agriculture, supported by a noble spirit of generous einulation, has diffused throughout the country.

But the great and, to the public in general, unexpected charm of the History of Quadrupeds was, the number and variety of the vignettes and tailpieces with which the whole volume is embellished. Many of these are connected with the manners and habits of the animals near which they are placed; others are, in some other way, connected with them, as being intended to convey to those who avail themselves of their labours some moral lesson, as to their humane treatment, or to expose, by perhaps the most cutting possible satire, the cruelty of those who ill-treat them. But a great proportion of them express, in a way of dry humour peculiar to him

20

self, the artist's particular notions concerning men and things, the passing events of the time, &c. and exhibit often such ludicrous and, in a few instances, serious and even awful combinations of ideas, as could not perhaps have been developed so forcibly in any other way.

From the moment of the publication of this volume, the fame of Thomas Bewick was established on a foundation not to be shaken. It has passed through seven editions, with continually growing improvements.

(To be continued.)

Mr. URBAN,

THE

HERE is a writer in your Magazine, whose " products of imagination" have often influenced my risible propensities. He is sometimes very wise, and at others affects great serious ness. Sometimes he soars, sometimes he entreats, sometimes he abuses, sometimes he "affirms," and sometimes he pleads the privilege, as a member of various learned societies, of setting others right in matters which have as little to do with the wisdom of this world, as light with darkness.

With regard to his first affirmation, I do not consider the authority of Abp. Sharp decisive proof, because I steadfastly believe that HOLY SCRIPTURE containeth all things necessary to salvation, so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not required of any man that it should be believed as an article of faith." (Article vi.) Now the Gospel teaches toleration without restriction, as I shall be happy to show when your Correspondent manifests a greater disposition to be governed by the dictates of Scripture.

Your Correspondent tells us in his second count, that the regular episcopal Clergy do not support religious societies which the Bishop of the diocese does not patronise-a fact too notorious to need affirmation. Does not he know that it is not lawful for the Church to ordain (much less to practise) any thing that is contrary to God's word written?"

In the fourth affirmation, Antinomianism and Evangelical Religion are confounded. The first I believe to be a vile heresy-the second, as it is in other words the Religion of the Gospel, cannot teach anti-scriptural doctrines. Antinomianism nay abound; but this

[Jan.

fact should not be made the occasion of attack against so pure, peaceable, and wholesome a dispensation as that of the New Testament undoubtedly is.

What credit is due to the judicious Prelate mentioned in the fifth affirmation, I leave to the decision of your readers, after premising that this is the dignitary who thinks EVANGELICAL PREACHING a system of public instruction without foundation in the Bible!

In the quotation from Mr. Bowles's Poem of Banwell Hill, these lines

occur:

"the crimes That shake the earth from its propriety Are moral virtues,' a sentiment which, as a Clergyman of the Church of England, it is very possible he thought himself justified in pilfering from the Thirteenth Article. "Works done before the grace of God, or the inspiration of his spirit, are not pleasing to God, forasmuch as they spring not of faith in Jesus Christ, neither do they make men meet to receive grace, or (as the school authors say) deserve grace of congruity, 66 yea rather for that they are not done as God has willed and commanded them to be done, we doubt not but they have the nature of sin." Is it not rather strange that Dissenters, who I suppose are the persons alluded to as presumptuously assuming the priests' office, should hold the doctrines of the Established Church on this point, whilst the apostolicallydescended dignitary kicks against them? Let me tell your Correspondent, what he seems to be entirely ignorant of, that Isaiah says, "all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags;" and St. Luke, Ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants, we have done that which was our duty to do." Chap. xvii. 10.

The attack upon Prayer-meetings might, with a little pruning, pass for Cobbett's; but, as it contains not a word to prove that such assemblies are unauthorised by the Scriptures, I shall say no more on the subject. The facts narrated only prove the truth of a prominent doctrine taught by the Evangelicals, viz. the total depravity of human nature. And let it never be forgotten, that crime cannot be a consequence of religion, which is a work in the heart inducing eminent holiness;-whatever, therefore, issues in