D ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN PRODUCTION NOTE University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library Brittle Books Project, 2015.COPYRIGHT NOTIFICATION In Public Domain. Published prior to 1923. This digital copy was made from the printed version held by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It was made in compliance with copyright law. Prepared for the Brittle Books Project, Main Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign by Northern Micrographics Brookhaven Bindery La Crosse, Wisconsin 2015NOTES ON THOMAS BEWICK, ILLUSTRATING A LOAN COLLECTION OF HIS DRAWINGS AND WOODCUTS; ALSO CATALOGUE OF AN EXHIBITION OF ETCHINGS BY BR ACQUEMOND, FLAMENG, SEYMOUR HADEN, HERKOMER, HOOK, PALMER, RAJON, TISSOT, WALTNER, WHISTLER, AND OTHERS, SHOWN AT The Fine Art Society's Galleries, 148 NEW BOND STREET 1880.7 h I BU s LIBRARY ■ OF THE tjiversity of Miimr, PART I. NOTE. / THE opportunity which is afforded to The Fine Art Society of displaying the genius of Thomas Bewick in a branch of art—that of water-colour painting—which was little wot of, even by his most intimate admirers, is due to the Misses Bewick. These ladies at once acceded to the request of the Society, and placed at their disposal a store of their father's work, of which the portion now exhibited forms but a tithe. They have also lent, for the purposes of an illustrated edition of these Notes, a selection of Thomas Bewick's original wood-blocks, the printing from which can be seen in operation in the Gallery during the Exhibition in conjunction with the printing of etchings. Special thanks are also due to Mr. J. W. Barnes, of Durham, to Mr. Ford, of Enfield, and to Mr. Whitehead, for the loan of works and for much assistance. A 2 1008 S 44MEMOIR HOMAS BEWICK was born in August, 1753, at Cherryburn, Northumberland, close to the Tyne, and in the vicinity of Newcastle. Whilst at the village school of Mickley, and after- wards when under the tuition of the Rev. C. Gregson, ,at Ovingham, he showed a much greater talent for representing familiar objects on the margins of books t han for studying Latin and arithmetic. At home, t oo, he covered'the flag-stones, first of the floor, then of the fire-place, with his chalky designs, until a friend having suppied him with proper drawing materials, he began in earnest to delineate animals and scenery. When in church he often amused him- jself (whilst holding down his head and repeating the service by rote) by pricking figures on the soft book-board of the pew. All his thoughts were striving to reproduce whatever interested him, although up to this time he had not seen any pic- tures, nor drawn from copies: everything he drew having been direct from nature. At fourteen he was apprenticed to Ralph Beilby, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, an engraver, whose time was principally occupied with seal - cutting, painting,6 THOMAS BEWICK. enamelling, and silver engraving. Of this great event in the boy's life Bewick himself wrote— "The first of October, 1767, was the day fixed upon for the binding. The eventful day arrived at last, and a most grievous one it was to me. I liked my master; I liked the business; but to part from the country, and to leave all its beauties behind me, with which I had been all my life charmed in an extreme degree, and in a way I cannot describe, I can only say my heart was like to break; and, as we passed away, I inwardly bade farewell to the whinny wilds, to Mickley Bank, to the Stob-cross Hill, to the water- banks, the woods, and to particular trees, and even to the large hollow old elm which had lain, perhaps for centuries past, on the haugh near the ford we were about to pass " At first Bewick was employed in blocking-out the wood round the lines in diagrams, and in etching sword blades for manufacturers. But very soon the diagrams were entrusted to him to execute from first to last, and in due time he obtained a share in more important work. This, however, was chiefly seal- cutting and silver engraving. Occasionally orders; arrived for woodcuts, and as Beilby's own work of this kind was very defective he handed them to hiss apprentice. One of the first woodcuts which the? young engraver did was SL George and the Dragon to illustrate the bar bill of a public-house in New- castle, and, though rude in comparison wdth his later efforts, it attracted considerable attention; the result being that many other orders were received. Thomas Saint, a publisher in Newcastle, heard of this success^ and gave commissions to Mr. Beilby for several blocks to be made for children's books which hia published. In 1770 Bewick finished the cuts for Huttori§ Mensuration—the first work he illustrated with hisi own hands, Beilby his master having made two[THOMAS BEWICK. 7 plates only for the work. It is said that finding con- siderable difficulty in rendering the fine lines of these cuts, he invented a graver with a groove at the point, which enabled him to produce them at a single operation. At this time he lodged in the house of a flax-dresser, where some curious cha- racters resorted ; they were mostly bird-catchers and bird-dealers, and Bewick narrated that he listened with lively interest to their stories. The flax-dresser had numerous canaries which he bred for sale. No doubt these associates had something to do with developing the naturalistic tastes of the artist which were so strongly brought out in future years. In 1772 Bewick may be said to have fairly started as a wood-engraver. He was at work upon wood blocks for the Story-Teller and Gay*s Fables. A set of five of the cuts for the latter, including the Hunts- man and Old Hound, were submitted by Beilby to the Society of Arts in 1775, and obtained for Bewick a prize of seven guineas. On the 1st of October, 1774, Bewick was his own master. For a short time he continued to work where he had passed his apprenticeship, earning a guinea a week; but afterwards—although a Jew offered him two guineas a week to travel with jewellery—he went to his father's house at Cherry- burn, and continued there for nearly two years exe- cuting woodcuts, principally for Angus, a publisher of Newcastle. "This was a time of great enjoyment/' wrote Bewick, " for the charms of the country were highly relished by me, and after so long an almost absence from it, gave even that relish a zest which I have not words to describe.,, At this time Bewick visited on foot many parts of the North of England and Scotland, and returned from Leith to Newcastle on board a sailing vessel. In this latter fashion he, having remained in New-8 THOMAS BEWICK. castle only sufficiently long to earn enough to pay his way, came to London, the voyage occupying several weeks. But neither the metropolis nor its inhabitants pleased him. There appeared to be too many ex- tremes of richness and poverty, of vice and mean- ness. He soon tired of the place, and returned to the North in June, 1777, having been little more than half a year in London. Once again in Newcastle Bewick set to work in his old lodgings, and engraved on wood for London publishers-, and varied his labours with an occasional copper-plate. An offer was made to him to enter into partnership with his old master, which he some- what reluctantly accepted, for he did not like to be formally engaged with any one. Years afterwards he expressed a belief that it would have been better if he had gone on working alone. The partnership with Beilby commenced in 1777, and Bewick's younger brother John, who was born in 1760, was taken as an apprentice by the firm. Upon the termination of his apprenticeship John migrated to London, where close confinement soon impaired his health. After several ineffectual at- tempts to restore it by visits to his birthplace, he left London, but too late, for on the 3rd of December, J°hn Bewick died, in the 36th year of his age. Before he left London he finished many of the cuts in Les Fabliaux, and sketched the designs for Somerville's Chace, which his brother Thomas cut after his decease. John also engraved the cuts in the Looking-Glass for the Mind, of which many editions have since appeared, the Robin Hood Poems, and the Blossoms of Morality. Between Bewick's return to Newcastle in 1777 and 1785, he never missed walking once a week to visit his parents at Cherryburn, which is fourteen miles from Newcastle. His impressions received at this time are noteworthy, as being connected with the designsTHOMAS BEWICK. 9 he was soon to delineate. They are set out at length in the critical notes attached hereto (p. ). In 1785 Bewick's mother, eldest sister, and father all died, and these pleasant visits came to an end. In 1784 The Select Fables were published by Saint, of Newcastle. An edition of the work had already been issued, but for this a new set of cuts was engraved by Thomas and John Bewick. In 1820 these blocks were retouched—but not improved—by Bewick's pupil, Charlton Nesbit, and published uni- formly with the Quadrupeds and Birds. During the next five years, when not engaged in preparing the Quadrupeds, Bewick worked at the copper-plates for Liddell and Cousett's Tour through Lapland, as well as the Whitley Large Ox and the Kyloe Ox. A set of woodcuts was drawn for Walker of Goldsmith's Deserted Village, and for Elegant Selec- tions y which were published by Nicholson. Bulmer, another publisher, likewise employed him to execute the cuts for Parnell's Hermit and his edition of the Deserted Village. Many other cuts were pro- duced for smaller books. Bewick records that on the same day on which his father died, namely the 15th November, 1785, he cut the first block for the History of Quadrupeds, being the figure of the Drome- dary, which is on page of the first edition. The publication of the work was a cause of much anxiety to Bewick and Beilby. Having decided that it should be published, they employed themselves industriously with the preparations, working in the evenings after ordinary work was done. Bewick drew many of the figures from memory, and corrected them by exami- nation of the animals; while those quadrupeds which he could not see he copied from Smellie's abridge- ment of Buffon, and cut them on the wood. Beilby wrote the text. This part of the undertaking was merely superintended by Bewick, for, as he quaintly remarks, " I had little more to do than furnishing him,IO THOMAS BEWICK. in many conversations and by written memoranda, with what I knew of animals, and blotting out in his manuscript what was not truth." The first edition of the History of Quadrupeds was published in 1790, and followed by a second edition the next year. editions have been published of this book; the later ones contain many interesting additions. The issue of this work firmly established Bewick's reputation as an engraver and as an artist, and he became widely known. About this time Bewick married Miss Isabella Elliot, who died on February 1st, 1826, aged seventy- two, and who bore him three children, Robert Elliott, Jane, and Isabella. One of the causes of the length of time spent in preparing the Quadrupeds was the execution of the large wood engraving of the Chillingham Wild BulL The Quadrupeds having been very successful Bewick turned his thoughts to the History of British Birds, and commenced making sketches for that famous book. These were mostly drawn from the living animal and freshly shot specimens, first in pencil or water-colour on paper, and then on the block after the usual method. Many, especially of the vig- nettes, were drawn directly on the block. In 1791 he visited Mr. Constable, of Wycliffe, and made drawings of many birds ; but he found that they had been ignorantly stuffed, and his drawings gave him no satisfaction. A comparison of the original draw- ings (now shown) of the Wycliffe birds and those drawn from nature will at once testify to the supe- riority of the latter. The Birds were wrought at odd times, when other orders had been fulfilled. Beilby compiled the text of the first volume. The second volume Bewick himself wrote, having it revised by a literary friend, because Beilby had sold his share of the publication to Bewick. Beilby and Bewick dissolved partnership in 1798, and the former with-THOMAS BEWICK. ii drew from business, and in 1817 he died, aged seventy-three. In 1794 Bewick contemplated emigrating to America, and in a letter to a now unknown corre- spondent implied that this intention was due to the political troubles. He left no note why he changed these plans; but it may be presumed that by the time the Birds was completed public affairs had quieted down. In 1797 the first volume of the Birds was published; the second appeared in 1804. This, Bewick's greatest achievement, was as successful as the Quadrupeds had been, and six editions appeared in his lifetime. While Bewick was employed with the Birdsy he engraved plates for bank-notes for the Northumber- land, the Berwick, and the Carlisle banks. The Sportsman!s ■ Friend of 1801 contains two wood en- gravings and one etching on copper by him. His cuts for newspapers, shop cards, bar bills, coal cer- tificates, and racing meetings, which were executed about this time, are curious and interesting. Most of them were engraved on copper* / From this date until his death Bewick produced many cuts, of which complete accounts have been published. In a short memoir it is impossible to enumerate them, but the chief were The Charms of Literature (1800), Thomson's Seasons (1805), and Burns' Poems (1808.) Besides these he illustrated works on the natural histories of reptiles, insects, and foreign quadrupeds and birds; likewise many chil- dren's books, and works on the local history of Northumberland. During convalesence, after a severe and dangerous illness in 1812, he commenced to draw the designs for yiEsofi's Fables. He was now sixty years of age,^ and found himself unequal to the tasks of making the drawings and writing the letterpress for his book. The execution of the cuts and the literary12 THOMAS BEWICK. study at night taxed him so much that he ceased working at them for some time. Bewick says he found therein more difficulties than in all the quadru- peds and birds he had previously drawn; but we may believe that this was as much the result of his declining powers as of the difficulties in the work. His son Robert was now old enough to assist him ; and there can be no doubt that Bewick was also greatly aided by numerous pupils. Two of them he mentions, Harvey and Temple, as being of special service in preparing JEsop's Fables. Notwithstanding this assistance, the publication of the work was de- layed until 1818; and even then Bewick thought it was not so well printed as it should have been. In 1819 Fisher's Spring Day, with four cuts by Bewick, was published; and in 1820 the Life of Camoens was illustrated by him for Longman and Co., of London. In 1820 also the Select Fables as engraved by Thomas Bewick reappeared. In the artist retired from business in favour of his son, but continued until death to fill up gaps in the History of Birds. With his son he began a History of British Fishes, but this subject was never completed. In 1824 he issued a prospectus promising to print the work in 1826; but his health soon began to decline, and at his death only fourteen or fifteen of the large cuts were finished, though a set of tail- pieces was ready. Forty drawings of fishes and nearly as many vignettes were prepared to be drawn on the wood. A few of the latter were used in the 1847 edition of British Birds; but the greater number of the finished illustrations were not issued until 1862, when Miss Jane Bewick published the auto- biography of her father. In this work he concluded a chapter with the following: " I may be allowed to name my son and partner, whose time has been taken up with attending to all the branches of our business, and who, I trust, will not let wood en-THOMAS BEWICK. 13 graving go down; and though he has not shown any partiality towards it, yet the talent is there, and I hope he will call it forth/' This, unfortunately, he never did to any great extent, although it is right to say that at his death he left nearly fifty finished coloured drawings of fishes from nature, together with a portion of the text of the work. Thomas Bewick died at his house, in West Street, Gateshead, on Saturday, November the 8th, 1828, in the seventy-sixth year of his age; and on the 13th he was buried in the family burial-place at Oving- ham, where his parents, wife, and brother were interred. A vignette of a view of Cherryburn, with Mickley Bank in the distance, is considered by Miss Bewick to be the last vignette executed by her father. This small cut represents a funeral procession approach- ing a boat, which is waiting to convey it across the Tyne to Ovingham, Bewick's burial place. A large engraving,[called Waiting for Deaths which was in- tended to be used in a series of impressions from separate blocks printed over each other, was left un- finished by Bewick. Many publications with cuts by the artist have been issued since his^ death, but with the exception of those named in the Memoir published by his daughter (and of which Mr. Ruskin in one of his 1 lectures at Oxford said, " The first book I ask you to get is Bewick's Biography"), the illustrations had been already employed in one or other of the many works published during his lifetime.THOMAS BEWICK. SO much has been written about the life and art of Thomas Bewick, that it is almost impossible to add to the large body of criticism and biographical data which has been thus created and compiled. From Audubon, the great naturalist, to Mr. Ruskin—from Leslie, the painter, to Mr. Hugo, the collector of Bewick's works—there has arisen a chorus of praise, in which every speaker, according to his special faculty and attainments, testified to the powers of the draughts- man and designer, each by each severally, and, with the exception of the most distinguished of these critics, all with unqualified applause. Audubon said Bewick was " a son of nature," and that " in his peculiar path none had equalled him." Leslie described him as " an artist of the highest order, not a painter, but " a truly original genius;" he hinted at the pathos of many of his designs, and touched on the quaint and the sardonic, as well as sorrowful vein of his humour. Jackson, the wood-engraver — Bewick'sTHOMAS BEWICK. *5 best-known pupil—analysed the art of his master, and, from a technical standpoint, with intelligent vision carefully directed, commented at length, and with no excess of tenderness, on the more obvious qualities of that which he seems to have been able to measure superficially, although he could not quite fathom its depths nor count the wealth of its invention. By far the most accomplished, comprehensive, and acute, if not the most sympathising, of these critics of Bewick is the author of " Modern Painters," who, in the series of impulsive lectures on engraving—which were named " Ariadne Florentina," and delivered at Oxford—eloquently propounded views of the art of the Englishman which were somewhat defective in fair- ness, the main object of the discourse being to bring face to face, antagonistically, England of the last cen- tury and Florence of the time of Botticelli; or, at least, to contrast the native British mood and the heroic, and earnest genius of the Italian masters. With characteristic grace Mr. Ruskin, in the later por- tions of these lectures, made a noble and brilliant apology for himself and for Bewick—I use the term " apology" in its ancient and proper sense of "justi- fication "—and he so subtly analysed the elements of Bewick's mind and art, and so happily and honour- ably described them, that, had this portion come first, or the preceding one not been written, he would have produced so fine and just a criticism of the engraver and his powers of invention that it would, so to say, have been needless for any one thereafter to do more than attempt to fill the outlines and give solidity to the contours which were thus delineated, by adding what may be called the details of the modelling, and rendering a larger account of that robust yet tender, that homely and earnest, that simple and yet masterful artist, some of whose best works are now before us.16 THOMAS BEWICK. Mr. Ruskin in a, to admirers of Bewick, memo- rable lecture said that "without training he was Holbein's equal," although but a self-taught English- man, whose most frequent patrons were the common people, because the English dilletanti neglected him, and left him to draw frogs, and pigs, and sparrows, which, however triumphantly, he did con amore. Yet, I may add, that had this been the acme of Bewick's fortune it would not have made him a nobler artist than Stubbs, and would have left him inferior to George Morland. Another lecture of the eloquent Slade Professors returns to Bewick, and bears evi- dence that added studies and fuller care had revealed to the author greater wealth of art than he expected, and opened his eyes to the true character of the en- graver's spirit: he then averred that " On his Nor- thumbrian hill-sides Bewick grew into as stately a life as their strongest pine." And again; " I know no drawing so subtle as Bewick's since the fifteenth century, except Holbein's and Turner's." The critic ended the most sparkling of his discourses, the sixth of the series in question, with a long quotation from Bewick's autobiography as a " piece of consummate and unchanging truth, concerning the life, honour, and happiness of England." What searching observation may do for the student who desires to extend to others his delight in Bewick's powers, taking the latter beyond the point where Mr. Ruskin left them, may be indicated in a summary declaring the salient features of the art of our engrayer and designer. After this a few notes on some of the examples in the gallery may suggest larger considerations on a much greater number of these drawings and their accompanying woodcuts. It is fortunate that the liberality of the Misses Bewick has prompted them to lend a large series of drawings made by their father for his famous British Birds, than which none of his productions isTHOMAS BEWICK. i7 more characteristic, or more honourable to his memory. On the whole it would be impossible to bring together a greater number of fine and precious specimens of what Bewick could do: first, as a draughtsman pure and simple ; second, as a painter dealing with colour, in addition to the ordinary black and white of engravers and draughtsmen proper; third,' as a designer of pathetic and humorous, tragic and sar- donic moods. The ruling element of Bewick's art, technical and inventive, is nothing more nor less than sincerity. His extreme simplicity, or, to be more precise, his straightforwardness, is but one of the manifestations of this ever-dominant inspiration of sincerity. He always drew what he saw, and I think it probable that he never drew, or, what is the same thing, he never painted, anything he had not seen and thoroughly understood. The fund of knowledge thus secured and displayed, for it is obvious to me that he made himself understand everything he thought fit to draw, was employed at all times and with the utmost fidelity. He seems to have had so much reverence for his work, so much humility in the face of nature, that he became the counterpart of another English master in small, William Hunt, the water-colour painter, who, although one of the first men in the world in that peculiar line, was frequently heard to say, " I almost tremble when I sit down to paint a flower/' But, so far as design goes, and nothing in art is higher, Bewick far surpassed Hunt in the abundance, as well as in the quality, scope, richness, and depth of his invention. Entirely self-taught, beyond what was required for the mechanical use of his tools, the engraver so applied himself to nature that hardly anything left his hands without impressions of his mind, his memory, or his inventive powers. Thousands of his works testify this, which is one of the most striking, as it B18 THOMAS BEWICK. is the most just, among the manifestations of his never-sleeping sincerity. He could but seldom allow work, even of the most trivial and temporary kind, to go forth without such an imprint of himself, his learning, or his skill. One consequence of this is that persons who are unacquainted with Art, in- capable of appreciating, or careless of technical matters, seldom fail to find something which is interesting or instructive in what Bewick did, and did, there is no doubt, with the utmost frankness and swiftness of draughtsmanship. Out of this sincerity of mind was developed that veracity of execution which, being swayed and directed by rare analytical powers, enabled him to select from innumerable details and bye-matters the dominant and essential features of every subject on which he employed himself. Simplicity, sincerity, veracity, the power of selection, and never-failing fidelity to nature, which was so complete that it would be easy to persuade one's self Bewick was incapable of seeing what was insincere and unfaith- ful—these are the qualities and powers which, illus- trated by a sense of beauty of the corresponding kind, produced a mode of art which is manifestly so great in respect to style that, from the little cuts in . Gay's Fables, which were the works of his youth, to the Birds, of which the best specimens are here, hardly one is not a treasure of grave yet graceful, dignified yet homely and elegant design. Thus it happened that this son of a north-country farmer, bred by a burn-side, trained in a dingy back-shop, living in a primitive fashion ; hale, diligent, and un- corrupted, often produced in the compass of an inch or two of box-wood compositions of which neither Raphael, Stothard, nor Flaxman would have been ashamed, so elegant, naive, and animated are they, embodying all simplicity and all learning that are proper to them. Thus the large 'Domestic Cock' is a masterpiece of style, so fine that if it had beenTHOMAS BEWICK. 19 carved by a Greek in marble it could hardly have been finer. It will be seen by what I have said above, and by what follows, most of all by means of the drawings before us, that whereas Bewick has been abundantly praised for his fidelity and the verisimilitude of his works, yet they, technically speaking, exhibit the far higher and more precious quality of style, power in dealing with which he shared with all artists who have been really great. It is noteworthy, too, that few if any of the self-taught men possessed so much of this power as our subject did. Innumerable instances might be cited of Bewick's pathetic force in design; the vignettes and tail-pieces of the British Birds are wealthy in this respect. It was well said that there is " a moral in every tail- piece, a sermon in every vignette." Among these is the famous one (No. 125) of the lean and gaunt ewe nibbling at the stump of a birch broom in a land- scape of starving snow and bitter cold, while her trembling lamb vainly sucks at the 1 empty udder of its mother. The boys, in the Birds, who are playing at soldiers while they are bedizened in ragged finery and mounted on a row of tomb- stones, are among the sardonic satires, of which few designers produced better instances than Bewick. The panting stag waiting for breath that it may drink again at the well-known stream is one of the most touching of his designs; so likewise is the broken hull of the fishing-boat, which we notice below; the sea-gulls fishing on the margin of the lonely shore; the stormy petrel, "half-floating and half-flying " over the hopeless, ever-moving, melan- choly waste of waves, is another; the frightened culprit seeing ghosts in every twilight hedge may be added to a list which every student may extend for himself. On Bewick's mode of cutting his designs on the blocks no testimony is more valuable than that of his B 220 THOMAS BEWICK. pupil, John Jackson, who, writing particularly of the British Birds, stated: " Bewick's style of engrav- ing, as displayed in the Birds, is exclusively his own. He adopts no conventional mode of represent- ing texture or producing an effect, but skilfully avails himself of the most simple and effective means which his art affords of faithfully and efficiently re- presenting his subject. He never wastes his time in laborious trifling to display his skill in execution; he works with a higher aim—to represent nature; and consequently he never bestows his pains except to express a meaning. The manner in which he has represented the feathers in many of his birds is as admirable as it is perfectly original/' The general result of Bewick's mode of working, which is thus commended and is copiously and fortunately illus- trated in the cuts now before us, is the production of examples which in some degree resemble those of the ancient maniere criblee. In all instances of this process the lights are cut out of the darks of the blocks, leaving the latter to predominate in their varieties of tones, so that the general effect is grey and solid ; but not, of course, in Bewick's case, black. Much more richness and a greater depth of " colour- ing" were obtained by this mode than by the ordinary one; the latter implies reliance on the lines which, as in ordinary metal engraving, have been left when the grounds of the blocks were cut away. Neverthe- less, Bewick's characteristic practice is based on the degree of the application of the process as much as on any fundamental difference which may exist between that process and another. Its employment is a test and proof of skill. Referring to colour in the proper pictorial sense, I am much mistaken if the drawings before the reader do not prove that in Bewick's mind were poten- tialities of considerable value, which, had he become a painter, would have given peculiar charms to his works. F. jg. STEPHENS.INDEX AND NOTES BY MR. F. S. STEPHENS On the Drawings and Engravings. N.B.—The references to the work in which the woodcuts are contained are taken from the first edition of the British Birds. The impressions of the wood- cuts are not in every case as good as could be wished, but have of necessity been taken from unbound sets. The drawings, where not otherwise named, have been lent by the Misses Bewick. i. Feather of Water Crake . Vol. II., p. 12. 'Feathers of the Water Crake' are works which, since they were first made known to the world, have been reckoned among the master- pieces of English draughtsmanship on wood. In most respects they may be compared not disadvantageously with the celebrated iShells' and ' Muffs' by Hollar. Here there is an ex- ception to the rule of the superiority of the drawings to the cuts. It would be hard, if it is not impossible, to decide which is the better of the two instances of Bewick's skill. Probably the cuts have the greater claim on our interest, if not on our admiration, because, in the absence of colour, the artist was working with limited means. The success of the imitation of nature is absolute. The draughtsman must have ex- hausted his skill in rendering so happily the firmness, lightness, rigidity, elasticity, and flexi-INDEX AND NOTES. bility of the feathers. One sees with distinct- ness how these beautiful feathers were constructed to lie with their fellows, ply over ply, so as to form a complete armour for the wearer against cold and wet, or, when displayed and opened wide, to serve in flight. In these marvellous specimens we have, not only the peculiar texture and forms of the subjects, but the very cohesion of the fibres of the feathers is expressed by, as is usual with Bewick, the cutting out of the lights in the block with perfect delineation of the half- tints, while not the least hint of an outline, or margin of any sort, is to be seen anywhere. The feathers are thus exquisitely represented from the heel, or root, with its delicate down, to the strong body of the structure and its broad, light extremity. Head-piece to Introduction . Vol. I., p. vii. A vignette of a farmyard, with barns, ricks, a cottage, and figures of men and animals. A woman is winnowing grain with a sieve, tossing it from on high on a sheet laid on the earth. A numerous body of busy poultry has assembled for a feast; other creatures, who do not eat corn, look on with complete indifference. A careful study has been made of the manner in which the shadow of a ladder is projected on the sloping roof and upright wall of a barn. Bewick took much delight in this effective feature of his work. It is worth studying. The differing angles of the shadows prove how well he understood his subject. The drawing and the woodcut differ in many respects; the design in the latter .has been much elaborated, and is richer in details and incidents, testimonies of the artist's loving care for his work, the abundant resources of his art. Head-piece to Introduction . Vol. II., p. v. This head-piece appears to have been designed in order to contrast the effects of martial and peace-INDEX AND NOTES. 23 ful pursuits. Bewick's hatred of war, his active condemnation of the policy of Pitt, whose political dispensation the draughtsman had many oppor- tunities for fully appreciating, are well known to everybody who has read the autobiography which Miss Bewick was the means of giving to the world. This is the book which Mr. Ruskin warmly commended to the hearers of his Slade discourses. It is one of the most characteristic, interesting, and edifying of the autobiographical category. The stringency of the writer's feelings with regard to the martial passion is here ren- dered with a sardonic spirit which has attracted many observers. An old soldier, with one leg, his body and head tattered and torn, so that he is as much dilapidated as his garments are, has returned from the war; his weather-stained, ill- fitting coat expresses a volume of miserable stories. The wearer is a pitiable object, his back is heavily burdened with a knapsack. He greets an old stay-at-home friend, a labourer, wTho is one of those who build a house in the back- ground of the picture. The actions and faces of the men are as full of humour and as sad as if Cruikshank himself had designed them. Here it is obvious that the landscape in all its parts was drawn from nature with the utmost fidelity and care. 4 Tail-piece to Preface . . Vol. I., p. vi. 5 Tail-piece .... Vol. II., p. 313. 6 Tail-piece .... Vol. I., p. 281. 7 Tail-piece .... Vol. II., p. 84. 8 White Owl (Barn Owl, Church Owl, Gilli Howlet, or Screech Owl) . . . Vol. I., p. 51. This is one of the best of the drawings, for which distinction the subject offered great advan- tages in possessing a delicacy of colour which, in some respects, is almost Japanese. The example is remarkable for the felicitous manner in which the softness and downy quality of the plumageINDEX AND NOTES. are represented, and the fineness of the russet, brown, grey, white, and black feathers given. The colours are mainly in spots of brown, russet, and grey on white or black, or interchangeable tints of a very refined kind. Like the majority of the northern feathered population of this island, the white owl is soberly but, as to colour, very harmoniously clad. In thus depicting the bird Bewick did his best to reproduce the enamel- like purity of the tints, the perfect softness of the textures, and the serious- vanity of the expression of its features. As to the last, admirers of fine drawings may turn heedfully to the radially- arranged feathers which enclose the eyes. They deserve examination of the most careful kind, and with the aid of a lens. The extremities of the shield-like groups of feathers unite to form a line which is the outer margin of the disc, and, doubling on itself, this line reminds one of a pair of spectacles. The extremities cross each other over the beak, and form a sort of pent- house above the breathing holes or nostrils of the bird. These apertures are very large, and thus serve the needs of one who relies for his supper on his sense of smell; they enable him to take prey in twilight. The outlining of these radiating feathers, whether they surround the nearer eye, which is almost flat before us, or whether they enclose its fellow-organ, and are on a plane which vanishes sharply from the middle line of the owl's countenance, is one of the most fortunate illustrations of Bewick's skill, the delicacy and precision of his touch. The woodcut of the ' White Owl/ although a good example of Bewick's craft, and specially admi- rable for the rich textures and varied tones of the work, shows much less skill than the drawing. As to this compare the crescents of a dark colour at the outer extremities of the radiating feathers in the two examples. In the cut these minute elements are nearly if not wholly mechanical, and severally have very little character; whereas in the drawing each touch at this part is abso-INDEX AND NOTES. 25 lutely idiosyncratic and independent in its per- fect significance, and, for our wonder, renders the facts proper to each feather, which are its inclination to right or left, up or down, its length, width, thickness, and position with regard to its neighbours. This drawing bears on the bough of an oak the inscription, " Mr. Wm. Hawke, shot 17th March, 1792." 9 Tail-piece .... Vol. I., p. 147. Men shooting, sometimes called 'The Poachers,' is one of the most important and best known of those numerous vignettes, in which the true genius of Bewick as an artist, in the higher sense of the term, displayed itself. In such examples he ap- peared as a designer, student of men, manner, character, and life ; inventor, dramatist, and, not seldom, as a true poet. With works of this class his fame is universally and most honourably associated. Here the cut is very distinctly and considerably better than the drawing. In fact the latter expresses not much more than the inception of the design which was developed to the utmost on the block, which yielded the former for our instructive studies and delight. The cut is more like a picture, broader and more com- plete than its prototype. To this, fortunately, the process of printing in black and white lent itself thoroughly. But, beyond this, it is evident that • Bewick's love for his subject grew, and his in- vention developed while the block was being cut. I take it for granted that no intermediate study, sketch, or design embodied the wealth of concep- tion and varieties of incident we find in the more developed work. Therefore the weak and some- what clumsy figure of the sportsman in the fore- ground appears in the cut with fresh inspiration, and a more energetic attitude than in the draw- ing; he drags his snow-encumbered feet more heavily on the path where, half-leg deep, he trudges with difficulty and delay. His shoulders express a more acute shudder, and his arms seem to feel the burden of the gun. The very coldnessINDEX AND NOTES. of the barrel of this weapon is suggested to us by the mode in which the bearer handles it. The dog, too, has gained greatly in expressiveness, for he seems, in the woodcut, to leap out of his own feet tracks in the snow, and thus to move by bounds, in a very different manner from that shown by the drawing, where he runs along as if there were no impediment to his course over the marsh. The man and the dog make for the rustic bridge over a half-frozen rivulet which divides this field from the next, a stream whose margins are marked by rushes and an irregular hedge. This bridge connects the meadows on our left. Along the path which the huntsman follows a hare has rushed, and already, doubling after her kind, may be seen running swiftly on the ascend- ing slope of the distant field, thus making for the little friendly shaw on our right, where she will be comparatively safe. Meanwhile another sports- man has made his appearance in the middle distance beyond the second meadow, and seems to call aloud to his fellow, whose motions we have just now noticed, and who, as it appears, is making ready to bring the gun to his shoulder. No part of this capital example of Bewick's art has gained more on the wood-block than the representation of the little $haw. By this portion of the work we are taught that this is early snow which covers the landscape to the depth of about a foot. The trees are still far from being bare of leaves, some of their number retain the greater part of their summer clothing, yet others have shed already the mass of their foliage. The hare, lightly bounding and running all amaze, has left no foot-marks even on the surface of the newly fallen snow where the man labours deeply, and the dog makes large impressions. The background, which is undoubtedly a por- trait of a particular place, is of so fine and true a character, that the student could hardly do better than take it as a type of Bewick's manner in dealing with landscape. It comprises the shaw, and trees dispersed on a low hill whose flanksINDEX AND NOTES. 27 are divided into fields, with a swamp and its rushes in front, all of which elements deserve the most careful attention, because each one proves the keenness of Bewick's observation, the marvellous skill of his hands, while the whole attests his mastery and style as powerfully as any of the more important, that is, the larger birds of this series. In fact, such landscapes as this evoke our admiration for the style of the artist with much more force than accrues by means of such examples as the famous ' Bull/ the ' Elephant,' or the numerous works of the same kind which will readily occur to the memory of the reader. Here, the very wattled hedges are portrait-like ; each tree has individuality, and suggests a biography of summer suns and winter storms, of winds and rain. The oak has lost one of its main boughs, and is still rigidly balanced, the one side by the other, while the less sturdy ash, whose foliage is swaying in the wind near the distant sportsman, tells us of the breeze which pervades the upland ridges of the view ; the rushes of the swamp in front crouch towards the snow, and indicate the strength of the current which sways them. The upright posts of the fence have individuality; thus, the inequalities of the distances between them tell that the carpenter who set them up considered as he went on, but not before, how the line was to be spaced out and his material economised; again, some of these posts have, more than others, yielded to the weather; some posts have sunk or gone away in bad foundations or soft ground, and, as the circumstances compelled, sloped to the right or left. There is a curious little point in the design of the nearer sportsman's figure, which shows how he has put the long skirt of his coat over the lock of his gun. Probably this was done in order to screen the priming from the wind, or it may have been a device for keeping his numbed fingers from the chilling metal. The dog has lost his tail in the reproduction of his figure on28 INDEX AND NOTES. the block, and the whole landscape has been opened out, made more comprehensive, airy, and panoramic, greatly to the benefit of the design. 10 The Wren (Kitty Wren) . Vol. I., p. 227. The charming and piquant ' Kitty Wren'—a little gem of spirit and draughtsmanship, among the finest things of its kind—was hardly ever surpassed even by Bewick himself. This draw- ing is dated " October, 1794/' and gives a perfect view of the widely enjoyed cut at its best in the form of the original study. As a picture it is noteworthy for the warm, pearly tints of the purple and subdued grey on the throat of the plump little creature, which is all compact of form and proportion, a kind of feathered mouse, the " picture " of energy enlivening to the utmost a little body. Further, as to colour, observe the golden bronze-like lustre on its russet back, where the plumage is barred with lighter streaks of the same nature, and banded with what is almost black. Here the woodcut, fine as it is, is very inferior to the drawing, and the student of Bewick's art will be grateful to the ladies who have granted him an opportunity for seeing the works together to the enhancement of his ideas of the powers of their father. 11 Woodcut of No. 9 . 12 Woodcut of No. 10 . 13 The Bunting .... 14 White Grouse (White Game or Ptarmigan) 15 Tail-piece .... 16 Tail-piece to Introduction 17 Tail-piece .... 18 Tail-piece .... 19 Tail-piece .... 20 Tail-piece .... Vol. I., p. 141. Vol. I., p. 303. Vol. I., p. 82. Vol. I., p. xxviii. (Edition 1805.) Vol. IL, p. 263. Vol. I., p. 62. Vol. II., p. 46. Vol. I., p. 17. (Edition 1805.)INDEX AND NOTES. 29 21 Tail-piece 22 Tail-piece 23 Tail-piece 24 Tail-piece Vol. II., p. 31. Vol. II., p. 389. (Edition 1805.) Vol. I., p. 26. Vol. II, p. 52. 25 Woodcut of No. 14 . 26 Woodcut of No. 13 . 27 Woodcut to No. 29 . 28 Woodcut to No. 30 29 The Jackdaw . Vol. I., p. 73. 'The Jackdaw' is clothed in a somewhat blacker blackness of plumage than the 'Red- Legged Crow/ which is noticed elsewhere as characterizing the skill of Bewick in dealing with sables. It exhibits that broad pale blue collar of feathers which distinguishes one variety of the bird, and this greyness is delightfully harmo- nized with deep black which accompanies it here. The beauty of the drawing of the figure, repre- senting the firm bulky body and the little head, which is shaped like a finch's, and differs greatly from that of the crow, are noteworthy features of this example. 30 The Hooded Crow (Royston Crow).....Vol. I, p. 69. ' The Hooded Crow' is hardly less fine than the 'Jackdaw/ Here, as in other members of this series, we are put to a loss by the absence of a scale by means of which to judge the relative sizes of the birds. 31 Advertisement for ' The Quad- rupeds ' 32 The Redbreast (Robbin Red- breast or Ruddock) . . Vol. I., p. 204 33 The Titlark .... Vol. I, p. 185. 34 Tail-piece .... Vol. II., p. 198. 35 Tail-piece .... Vol. I., p. 226.3° INDEX AND NOTES. 36 The Pheasant .... 37 Spoonbill or White Spoonbill 38 Little Stint (Little Sandpiper or Least Snipe) 39 Yellow Bunting 40 The Dunlin 41 The Redshank 42 Tail-piece 43 Tail-piece 44 A Water Rail 45 The Water-Hen (Common Gallinule or Moor-Hen) 46 The God wit, Godwyn, Yar- whelp, or Yarwep 47 The Ruff (summer plumage) 48 The' Ruff .... 49 The Black Ouzel (Blackbird) 50 Tail-piece .... 51 Tail-piece .... Vol. I., p. 283. Vol. II., p. 25. Vol. II., p. 122. Vol. I., p. 143. Vol. II., p. 117. Vol. II., p. 286. Vol. I., p. 202. Vol. II., p. 128. Vol. II., p. 78. Vol. II., p. 95. Vol. I., p. 94. Vol. I., p. 78. Vol. II., p. 245. " There stands a ruined church, towards which the sea has encroached, the rising tide threaten- ing to submerge a tombstone raised ' to per- petuate the memory/ &c. Bewick resembles Hogarth in this, that his illustration of stories of others are not to be compared with his own in- vention. His feeling for the beauties of nature as they were impressed on him directly, and not at second-hand, is akin to the feeling of Burns, and his own designs remind me, therefore, much more of Burns than the few which he made from the poet." Leslie's Handbook to Young Painters. 52 Water Bird 53 Water Bird 54 Water Bird 55 A Feather 56 A Bustard 57 Woodcut to No. 72INDEX AND NOTES. 3i 58 Woodcut to No. 71 59 Tail-piece .... Vol. II., p. 400. A tail-piece, comprising a wrecked fishing boat on the shore, is remarkable for the drawing of the battered hull. We must admire the dexterity and firmness of the touch which so deftly fore- shortened the broken planks and shattered ribs, and, with one stroke of the pencil gave the thick- ness, fractured edges, curves, and texture of the timber. Each plank has a biography in these details. 60 Tail-piece .... Vol. II., p. 271. This is a tail-piece showing a troop of geese, after their kind and fashion, going up a bank, after drinking at the margin of a swift brook, and, in a chorus of quackings, proclaiming the fact to the heavens and the earth. The last of the line is most vociferous, but each of its companions has a distinct attitude and air which expresses its personal character, proclivities, or degrees of individuality. The birds follow a narrow path which leads to a group of cottages on a ridge in the distance of the charming "Northumbrian" landscape. The hedge and its double stile in the mid-distance are portraits. Not less so are the gaunt and ragged, wind and winter-torn trees of this boundary. The whole drawing is full of the . fruits of study and knowledge laboriously and faithfully accumulated, and delineated with inef- fable skill and delicacy. 61 Tail-piece 62 Tail-piece 63 Tail-piece 64 Tail-piece 65 Tail-piece 66 Tail-piece 67 Tail-piece 68 Tail-piece . Vol. I., p. 245. . Vol. II., p. 202. . Vol. I., p. 312. (Edition 1805.) . Vol. I., p. 162. . Vol. II., p. 9. . Vol. I., p. 70. (Edition 1805.)32 INDEX AND NOTES. 69 Tail-piece 70 Tail-piece to Introduction 71 The Nutcracker . Vol. II., p. 3. . Vol, II., p. xvi, . Vol. I., p. 79. The ' Nutcracker' is drawn in ink and bistre in an exquisite manner. As in almost all other cases, the legs and feet of this creature have been pencilled with rare delicacy. As an in- stance of Bewick's care, it may be noticed that some of the white spots on the feathers have been outlined with the pen before the colour was applied heedfully to enclose them ; other spots have been left, the pigment being deftly swept round each. The drawing of the overlapping pinions is a good specimen of Bewick's power with outlines pure and simple, because it ex- presses perfectly the contours, positions, degrees of pressure, density, and compactness of each feather and part of a feather. The under surface of the tail of this bird shows how, with a few minute lines, or rather mere elongated touches, the artist expressed the texture, substance, form, and surfaces of the life. The woodcut of the above drawing of a Nut- cracker offers one of the few instances in which the block at least equals the previously made study for it in spirit and beauty of outlining as well as modelling. Surely nothing could be better than the exquisite delineation of the wings. On the other hand, the white spots are somewhat mechanical, and less truly foreshort- ened ; nor does the draughtsmanship of the legs and claws approach the fineness of the original, 72 The Roller .... Vol. I., p. 85. The drawing of the ' Roller,' in a back-view, is a very interesting example of Bewick's skill in dealing with pigments, and a potent but somewhat timid study in rich blue, green, black, and brown, and their allies in commingled half- tints. The draughtsmanship is fine, but, the head being turned rather violently over the shoulder so as to appear in profile, while theINDEX AND NOTES. 33 body is in full back-view, the action appears strained, and the foreshortening, in dealing with which our artist was a master, is not quite satis- factory. I regard this example as a chiefly tentative study in colour, and the design as in- tended to serve as a diagram rather than as a picture. The effect is somewhat flat, the model- ling is defective in solidity, and the lighting is undefined; the sheeny quality of the plumage is not so complete as it usually is in the painter's works. These characteristics lead me to regard this example as embodying experiments in deal- ing with colour, or rather with pigments, and, above all, due to an effort to produce richness of tints by simple means subtly employed. If Bewick had seen how Albert Diirer painted certain birds—as, for instance, Mr. Morison's famous 'Wing of a Jay,' which was at the Royal Academy in the Winter Exhibition of 1879, No. 315 (Drawings), and certain similar examples which are in the British Museum and other collections—we might suppose he was aiming at equal results. Doubtless, however, our draughtsman was doing as the German masters did, i.e. studying nature with character- istic intensity, fidelity, and energy. The oriental draughtsmen—Indians, Japanese, and Chinese— all proceed on the same plan, with success com- mensurate to their intelligence. No colour stands alone in Bewick's work; the blue is fused with the black, and the black has tints of the lighter-toned blue, the grey, and the green; by this means a prodigious variety and richness of tints have been produced. This result has been enhanced by the dragging of one semi- solid pigment over another which was more or less solid or of the same quality. As a display of style, before alluded to, we may notice the outlining of the eagle-like and widely-displayed wings, which, as with all rapacious birds, are wide at the shoulders for sustaining flight at speed, broad in their middles for endurance, and sharp at the extremities for turning swiftly. c34 INDEX AND NOTES. The woodcut of the above drawing is as sharp and precise in its definition of forms as a mosaic might be, and, with very little modelling, gives the texture peculiar to the plumage, which is a sort of armour for the body of this bird, with remarkable felicity. 73 Portrait of Thomas Bewick, by T. S. Good . 74 The Chillingham Bull . Proof on Parchment. This block, the largest Bewick attempted, was broken after a few impressions had been taken from it. Originally it had a figured border; but in 1817, when the pieces were fitted together, the border was removed; many copies were printed from it in this state. Of this engraving Mr. Hugo, the collector, wrote: "The Chillingham Bull, considered by Bewick to be his masterpiece, was engraved in the year 1789, at the request of M. Tunstall, Esq., of Wycliffe. It had, in the first instance, an orna- mental border, and with it measured 9J inches by 7J inches. . . . A great difference of opinion has existed with respect to the exact number of the impressions which were taken off at first, especially of those on parchment or vellum. . . . It would appear tolerably certain that six im- pressions were all that were taken before the block was injured; but Simpson, the pressman, may have clandestinely taken some other impressions on the Sunday, and to his unauthorised use of the cut the injury may possibly be attributable. Al- lowing, however, that Simpson had the power, I do not believe he exercised it in this particular in- stance ; and I very much doubt whether more than six impressions on parchment, with the border and really without the name, can be found to exist." The injury to the block, however, seems to have been the act of Bewick rather than of his press- man ; for it is recorded by another good authority that on the Saturday when the parchment impres- sions were taken Bewick, after the required num- ber was printed, took the cut and laid it carefullyINDEX AND NOTES. 35 on a table, there to lie until the following Monday During Sunday the sun acted upon it through the window, and on Monday morning the block was found to be split. 75 Tail-piece 76 Frontispiece to Vol. II. . 77 Tail-piece 78 Tail-piece 79 Tail-piece 80 Tail-piece 81 Tail-piece 82 Tail-piece to Introduction . Vol. II., p. 319. . Title-page. . Vol. II., p. 112. . Vol. II., p. 161. . Vol. II., p. 180. . Vol. II., p. 220. . Vol. I., p. xxvi. " In this cut Bewick has represented the two blind fiddlers earnestly scraping away although there is no one to listen to their strains; the bare-legged, &#y-headed boy who leads them, and the half-starved, melancholy-looking boy at their heels, are in admirable keeping with the principal characters." Jackson on Wood Engravings p. 573. 83 The Red-legged Crow (Cor- nish Chough) . . . Vol, I., p. 77. The ' Red-legged Crow' is a fine bird of noble presence and " manly" form, a creature which, if the species were rarer than it is, would be more admired for its beauty. He is clad in a full suit of sables, which looks all the blacker because in its denseness there are undertints of rusty browns and sombre purples, with some- what dingy reflections of the light. Notice the skill of Bewick as employed in rendering the differing blacks of the body and the pinions of this bird. The crow, as a crow, fails to impress the world with his dignity because, compared with the utter nigritude of the raven's plumage, his feathers are a little " seedy," weather-beaten, and dimmed; he always looks a little "out at elbows/' and reminds one of a hired mute at a " respectable " funeral; whereas the bigger bird c 236 INDEX AND NOTES. of night—Poe's " ebony bird "—who is, by the way, very much more black than any ebony, is— " The stately raven of the saintly days of yore/' and impressive enough to lead the obsequies of the most royal among the eagles. The woodcut of the 'Red-legged Crow' has a landscape background of sandstone cliffs, the strict local truth of which convinces us that it is a portrait made for the nonce from nature. This has been introduced, somewhat injudiciously I fear, to " bring up " the figure of the bird. As at present printed—and I know few finer im- pressions of the block than that in question— • the work loses in depth of " colour" even more than it suffers in solidity and sharpness. This is one of those examples which show the superiority of the drawing to the cut. Observe how much more energy appears in the expressive attitude of the head and throat in the former than in the latter. In respect to solidity and modelling, textures, and local colouring, the two examples are not to be compared. 84 The Greater Spotted Wood- pecker (Witwall) . . Vol. I., p. 118. The ' Greater Spotted Woodpecker' is a famous and very remarkable example, and ex- ceptionally interesting because it is more free in treatment and less elaborate than common. Its merits appear by means of the fine truth of the local colour. Thus the tints proper are black, vivid crimson, and marble white, and the peculiar character of each is given so happily in this little gem that neither Holbein nor Albert Diirer could have imparted more of beauty and brilliancy with greater truth. The white, so deftly matched with the colours, has exactly the marble or rather quartz-like hue, and thus we have a pure and absolute white plumage which is different in all respects from the downyINDEX AND NOTES. 37 and greyish feathering on the breast and belly of the 'Owl,' No. 8 of this series. The black is modulated with subtle reflections of the light. With all this nothing can be clearer, more solid, or firm than the plumage of this woodpecker. 85 Woodcut to No. 84 . 86 Woodcut to No. 83 . 87 Tail-piece 88 Tail-piece 89 Tail-piece 90 Tail-piece 91 Feather of a Spotted shank 92 Feather of a Judcock 93 The Quail . Vol. II., p. 27. . Vol. II., p. 215. . Vol. II., p. 23. . Vol. II., p. 173. Red- . Vol. II., p. 90. . Vol. II., p. 74 . Vol. I., p. 308. The ' Quail' is hardly less delicate, but not nearly so attractive as the drawing of the i Green Grosbeak' (No. 94), or the 'Nutcracker' (No. 71), which are typical works. If we look at it closely, however, the beautiful draughtsmanship of the body will claim the student's admiration. This creature has a peculiar action, a sort of habitual stoop, or poising motion of the torso on the legs, as if it had been specially formed to "wade," so to say, among low herbage and shrubs, on a moorland clad with heather and fern; with the fading autumnal tints of a landscape of this kind the brown, black, and greyish white covering of the bird would closely assort. The most admi- rable portions of this little jewel of draughtsman- ship are the outlining and modelling of the neck ; the very arrangement of the feathers of this part seems proper to the peculiar gait of the bird, be- cause it is characteristic of the lunging move- ment of its well-balanced head. 94 The Green Grosbeak (Green Finch, or Green Linnet) . Vol. I., p. 136. No. 94 is the ' Green Linnet, or Green Gros- beak,' a handsome green, black, and grey bird, one of nature's own studies in low tints, and sober,38 INDEX AND NOTES. not sad, harmonies of colour. It is a noteworthy instance of Bewick's practice of dealing with mixed tints, and very much superior in that re- spect to the otherwise remarkable drawing of the 'Roller' (No. 72). It is especially so as to solidity and modelling, although the local tints are far less brilliant than those of the latter work; to the eye of an artist it is at least as sweet and much more delicate than the above. The draughts- man studied exactly, and drew perfectly the close- fitting and armour-like plumage of this bird's torso, so that it appears to be as compact and firm as a shell. We may notice with unusual pleasure the drawing of the wing and shoulder of this creature. As to colour, the sedate, Quakerish grey wing is somewhat coquettishly dashed with black, which is not in itself quite positive, and therefore it harmonizes aptly with the tints of the body. If we turn to the cut of this subject it will be profitable to remark how it differs from the drawing in the treatment of the light on the breast of the bird, which is there suppressed and somewhat confiised with the shadow, or deeper tone of the back. Owing to this, the print, fine and sound as it is, is far less picturesque than the drawing. 95 Tail-piece .... Vol. II., p. 173. "Nothing can surpass the wintry desolate appearance of the hills, where a poor man, in a fit of false economy, is fording the river with his cow to save the toll. He appears sensible of the indiscretion of his proceeding, and would fain withdraw her and himself, and the shouts of some men on the other side, together with the coldly encroaching element, suggest to him the probability of deeper water in advance. The cow, poor thing, as Bewick would say, seems to be gifted with all the pleasing perseverance of her sex, and determines to go on, which is the cause of the variety of opinion so apparent in the vignette." Atkinson's Sketch of T. Bewick, pp. 25, 26.INDEX AND NOTES. 39 96 Head-piece of Advertisement 97 Tail-piece .... 98 Tail-piece . 99 Tail-piece .... 100 101 102 La grande Mouette blanche Belon .... 103 The Wagel (Great Grey Gull, Grisard, or Burgomaster) 104 Tail-piece 105 Tail-piece 106 Tail-piece 107 Tail-piece 108 .Tail-piece 109 Common Snipe (Snite, Vol. II., p. iii. Vol. II., p. 41. Vol. II., p. 373. Vol. II., p. 176. Vol. II., p. 228. Vol. II., p. 216. or Heather Bleater) Vol. II., p. 68. The background of the drawing of this long- billed little wader is highly characteristic, and may serve to show how carefully Bewick adapted the accessories to his subjects; on this point see the ' Stormy Petrel' (No. 118). Small as this example is, it comprises a true and fine study of the haunts of the coot and hern, with tiny marshy islets in a river, and much autumnal foliage. In respect to the foliage, the plumage of the bird is in perfect keeping, being flecked with black and white on a sober brown. There is but little of this keeping, and not much cha- racter, in the cut, which, compared with the drawing, is decidedly an inferior work. The single willow near the snipe has been altered, and the row of trees in the background has been omitted in the cut to its detriment. " Mr. Moss- man/' the name of one of his intimates, was written by the artist on the right of this capital study. It is to Bewick's honour if we take a strong lens and examine the drawing of the bill of this bird, taking notice of its contours and its outlines, from the spreading and flattened point,4° INDEX AND NOTES. and following its slender, reed-like middle, which tapers like an antique spear-head, to where, in approaching the skull, it is enlarged and passes to its attachment in the bone with exquisite fine- ness of line, and is hidden at last by the close- laid feathers about the eye and poll. Let us notice the form of the breathing-hole at the base of the bill, and consider the cunning of the hand which, with one touch, represented the little roll on the upper edge of the orifice, and the slope of the other extremity where by means of a short furrow the opening is merged in the contour of the beak. The drawing of the line, which here is more slender than the finest hair, where the mandibles approximate, gives with amazing cor- rectness and felicity the sharp, incisive, undu- lating edges of the two parts, and is as expres- sive as it is delicate. no Whimbrel 111 The Curlew . 112 The Little Bittern . . Vol. II., p. 57. . Vol. II., p. 54. . Vol. II., p. 51. This work leaves no doubt as to the superior expressiveness of the drawing. Fine as the wood- cut is, it cannot be compared with the original study. The visitor will consider the action of the neck in each example. This, in the drawing, is made to raise the head with a sharp jerk, so that the throat and gullet are thus straightened and stiffened to facilitate the " bolting " of the crea- ture's food—a frog, eft, or more esculent morsel which, whole and juicy, is devoted to an insa- tiable maw. To aid the descent, the body of the bird makes a lunge forward. There is very little of this energetic action in the cut. 113 A Feather .... 114 A Feather .... 115 A Feather .... 116 A Feather .... 117 The Wryneck . . . Vol. I., p. in.INDEX AND NOTES. This is the drawing made for a well-known and beautiful example, and shows to great advantage the bolder if somewhat mechanical phase of Bewick's art. 118 The Stormy Petrel (Storm Finch, Little Petrel) . . Vol. II., p. 249. Represents with much poetry the 6 Stormy Petrel,' which, half on foot, half flying, goes swiftly, unwearied, over the sea. Here, again, the cut is better than the drawing, and far more expression has been given to the developed work, as regards the whole and every part thereof, except the head of the bird. The stu- dent of nature will not fail to notice the manner in which the long pinions of the wings have been treated; their structure and position remind us of the wings of a swallow, for their extremities cross over the owner's very succinct tail. This arrangement is employed because the bird has frequent need to turn rapidly in flight; it is accordingly provided with a short body and very long wings, and the muscles of the wings are heaped on the chest of the animal. Bewick gave to his figure of the Petrel all the energy of move- ment which would enable it to go at a great pace against the wind and fierce weather; so that, although other sea-birds are often wrecked, and voyaging land-birds die in countless hosts while crossing the ocean, and their innumerable bodies strew the sands, this small creature, which is often accepted as an omen of storms and tem- pests, is very rarely seen derelict. 119 Woodcut of No. 123. 120 Woodcut of No. 122. 121 The Red-backed Shrike (Lesser Butcher Bird or Flusher) .... Vol. I., p. 60. 4 The Red-backed Shrike' is a voracious little animal possessed of extreme energy, and always42 INDEX AND NOTES. active. This is a capital study of almost oriental colour in low tints, very rich and exceptionably delicate, but not otherwise remarkable, unless we add a note on the harmonious disposition of the brown, black, smalt-grey, and white plumage of the bird, its sub-tinges of red and blue. 122 The Cuckoo (The Gowkj . Vol. I., p. 104. No. 122 is the 1 Cuckoo,' a well-remembered example of the category of drawings in this series; here the cut has more energy than the drawing. The impression from the block shows how often the latter had been used; but it retains much of the charm of Bewick's art and workman- ship. 123 The Turtle-dove . . . Vol. I., p. 272. The plumage of the 'Turtle-dove' displays in its enamel-like softness and delicate local tints a picture which has few equals in the collec- tion. Fine as it is, this drawing possesses few features calling for further remarks. 124 Pied Fly-catcher . 125 Frame of Pencil Vignette Drawings Lent by Mr. J. W. Ford. 126 Frame of Water-colour Drawings Lent by Mr. J. W. Ford. 12 7 Frame of Drawings Lent by Mr. Edward Ford. 128 Portrait of Thomas Bewick, by Ramsey. 129 Fifteen Proof Woodcuts of Land Birds Lent by Mr. J. W. Ford. 130 Fifteen Proof Woodcuts of Water Birds Lent by Mr. J. W. Ford. 131 Twelve Engraved Wood-blocks. Lent by Mr. J. W. Ford.INDEX AND NOTES. 43 132 History of Quadrupeds 133 A History of British Birds 134 Poems by Goldsmith and Parnell Lent by Mr. J. W. Barnes. 135 The Chase, a Poem by William Somerville Lent by Mr. J. W. Barnes. 136 Emblems of Mortality Lent by Mr. J. W. Barnes. 137 Moral Instructions of a Father to his Son. Lent by Mr. J. W. Barnes. 138 A Descriptive and Critical Catalogue of Works Illustrated by Thomas and John Bewick Lent by Mr. T* M. Whitehead. 139 Select Fables Lent by Mr. J. W. Barnes. 140 Thomas Bewick's Eye-glass 141 Seven Graving Tools used by Thomas Bewick 142 A Rest 143 Two Specimens of Bank-notes engraved by Thomas Bewick Lent by Mr. J. W. Barnes. 144 An Elephant 145 A LionPART II. CATALOGUE OF ETCHINGS. The majority of the Etchings are for sale. Prices can be obtained on application. Herkomer, Hubert, A.R.A. 1 Grandfather's Pet (The Remark) 2 Grace 3 The Children in the Wood 4 Souvenir de Rembrandt 5 Portrait of Himself 6 The Blind Man's Child 7 Words of Comfort 8 Love and Faith 9 The Skipping Rope Whistler, James Abbott McNeil. 10 Flo 11 Tysac Whiteley 12 Millbank 13 The Kitchen 14 Babs 15 Old Hiingerford Bridge 16 The Forge 17 Wapping 18 The Velvet Dress 19 Wapping Wharf 20 WestminsterCATALOGUE OF ETCHINGS. 45 21 The Wine Glass 22 Weary 23 Putney Bridge 24 Thames Warehouses 25 Wych Street 26 Maud 27 Battersea Bridge 28 Price's Candle Factory 29 Speke Hall 30 Fanny Leyland 31 Billingsgate 32 Little Limehouse 33 The Fiddler Palmer, Samuel. 34 The Herdsman 35 The Bellman 36 The Dawn of Life 37 The Willow 38 Early Morning—the Opening of the Fold (new plate, 50 remark proofs) 39 The Skylark 39 The Sleeping Shepherd 39 Christmas 39 Sunset 40 The Vine 41 The Rising Moon 42 The Lonely Tower 43 The Early Ploughman Haden, Francis Seymour. 44 Windmill Hill 45 Sunset in Ireland 46 Horsley's House 47 Greenwich 48 The Waterwheel 49 The Water-meadow 50 Ye Compleat Angler 50a The Inn at Sawley46 CATALOGUE OF ETCHINGS. 51 The Three Sisters 52 Shere Mill Pond 53 Sunset on the Thames 54 High Park 55 O Laborum 56 The Turkish Bath with one Figure 57 Kensington Gardens Frame of six unpublished Etchings. 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 The Agamemnon 65 Battersea Reach 66 Spinning for Trout 67 Purfleet (zinc plate) 68 Windsor 69 On the Test 70 Byroad in Tipperary 71 Cranbrook 72 Erith Marshes 73 Brentford Ferry 74 Battersea (zinc plate) 75 Richmond Park Tissot, James. 76 The Window 77 The Emigrants 78 The National Gallery 79 Summer 80 The Winter Walk 81 Mavourneen 82 The Bow Window 83 The Little Boy 84 The Hammock 85 SpringCATALOGUE OF ETCHINGS. 47 Menpes, Mortimer L. 86 Breton Peasants 87 The Harbour, Boulogne 88 The Fish-hook Maker 89 Fruit Market, Boulogne 90 Vitre, Old Street at 91 The Brush Maker 9 2 The Quay, Boulogne 93 Vitre—Old Fountain 94 La M&re Giraud, Boulogne 94a Boulognaise 95 Brentford—Low Tide The foregoing are sold in a portfolio, price £10 10 s., or separately. Rajon, Paul. 96 Portrait of Joachim, after Watts 97 The Armourer, after J. E. Hodgson, A.R.A. 98 Corps de Garde, after G6rome 99 Portrait of Bracquemond 100 The Reader, after Meissonier 101 The Music Lesson, after Metzer 102 The Legend, after G. P. Chalmers 103 The Strigils and Sponges, after Alma-Tadema 104 The Bath, after Ger6me 105 Mr. Pochin, after Ouless 106 Portrait of Charles Darwin 107 The Smoker, after Meissonier 108 Prayer, after G. P. Chalmers 109 Le Muezzin, after Gerome 110 The Painter, after Meissonier 111 An Old Woman, after Rembrandt Hook, James Clarke, R.A. 112 Southern Shepherd Boy 113 The Land of Cuyp 114 The Fisherman's Good Night 115 Sylvia 116 The Birthplace of Cuyp48 CATALOGUE OF ETCHINGS. 117 The Mushroom Seekers 118 Sea Boy gathering Eggs 119 Five Minutes to Twelve o'Clock 120 Brimming Holland 121 Sea Urchins Bracquemond. 122 Le Cheval Blanc, after Corot 123 Nu6e d'Orage, 1st state 124 The same, 2nd state 125 Margot le Critique 126 Le Canard 127 L'Etang 128 Sarcelles 129 The Barn-door (Le haut d'un battant de porte) 130 La Source, after Ingres 131 Couchee de Soleil 132 Erasmus, 1st state 133 The same, 2nd state 134 The Moles (Les Taupes) 135 La Mort de Matamore 136 Servante, after Leys Chattock, R.S. The following ten Etchings illustrate Wordsworth's Sonnet of the " Duddon." 137 to 146 Ten Etchings illustrating the river Dud- don. Price in a portfolio's 5s., or 21s. each. The Duddon, from which these etchings are taken, forms the boundary separating the counties of Cum- berland and Lancashire. It has been celebrated by Wordsworth in a well-known series of sonnets, and of these it was originally intended that the etchings should form illustrations. But the subjects which appeal to the poet are fiot always adapted for pictorial treatment, and it was found that, while some of the most striking of the sonnets were unsuitable for landscape illustra- tion, there were upon the river many scenes of surpass- ing beauty to which the sonnets made no reference. The idea of adapting the etchings to the sonnets wasCATALOGUE OF ETCHINGS. 49 therefore abandoned, and they must be regarded rather as illustrating the scenery through which the Duddon flows. Incidentally they illustrate the sonnets as well, but, in the selection of passages to accompany them, some freedom was found necessary, and the order observed in the series has been disregarded. 137 Seathwaite Tarn " Child of the clouds ! remote from every taint, Of sordid industry thy lot is cast ; Thine are the honours of the lofty waste." Wordsworth, Duddon Sonnets IT. " Return content ! for fondly I pursued, Even when a child, the streams, unheard, unseen ; Through tangled woods, impending rocks between, Or, free as air, with flying inquest viewed The sullen reservoirs whence their bold brood, Pure as the morning, fretful, boisterous, keen, Green as the salt sea billows, white and green, Poured down the hills, a choral multitude ! " Wordsworth, Duddon Sonnets XXVI. The scene in which the Duddon takes its rise, on the flank of Wrynose, is peculiarly bleak and bare, and appeared less suitable for an etching than the solitary tarn from which the Duddon's chief tributary, " Tarn Beck," flows. The latter was therefore chosen as an illustration of " the birthplace of a native stream." It lies high among the hills, about two miles and a half from Seathwaite Church, and at the foot of the moun- tain of " Greyfriars," which is seen in the etching to the left of the spectator. 138 Birks Bridge " A rough course remains, Rough as the past; where thou of placid mien Innocuous as a firstling of the flock, And countenanced like a soft cerulean sky, Shalt change thy temper ; and with many a shock Given and received in mutual jeopardy, Dance like a Bacchanal from rock to rock, Tossing her frantic thyrsus wide and high." Wordsworth, Duddon Sonnets XX. The above striking image, if we may judge from its DCATALOGUE OF ETCHINGS. position in the Sonnets, was inspired by some scene farther down the river, but there is no spot to which it is more appropriate than the picturesque rapids which occur immediately above Birks Bridge. The river, whose course has hitherto lain over a broad flat bed, here changes its character, and, becoming suddenly narrowed, plunges down a rocky gorge which has been the scene of more than one fatal accident. The distant mountain which closes the view is " Walna Scar," lying between Seathwaite and Coniston. 139 Gouldersdale Crags and Dub " From this deep chasm, where quivering sunbeams play Upon its loftiest crags, mine eyes behold A gloomy niche, capacious, blank and cold ; A concave free from shrubs and mosses grey ; In semblance fresh as if, with dire affray, Some statue, placed amid these regions old For tutelary service, thence had rolled, Startling the flight of timid yesterday !" Wordsworth, Duddon Sonnets XV About half a mile below Birks Bridge occurs the remarkable chasm of Gouldersdale, which is doubtless the spot indicated in the above passage. The rocks are columnar in character, vand, in more than one place, the fall of a fragment has given rise to the appear- ance of a " niche " such as the poet describes. " Dub " is a local term for a pool. 140 Seathwaite Church " This low pile a Gospel teacher knew, Whose good works formed an endless retinue ! A pastor such as Chaucer's verse pourtrays ; Such as the heaven-taught skill of Herbert drew ; And tender Goldsmith crowned with endless praise." Wordsworth, Duddon Sonnets XVIII. The pastor here referred to was the Rev. Robert Walker, of whom an account is given in the notes to the Sonnets, and who still lives in the memory of the country-side as "Wonderful Walker." The church seen in the etching is modern, built on the site and embracing the area of the original fabric.CATALOGUE OF ETCHINGS. 141 At Hall, Donnerdale " Mid-noon is past;—upon the sultry mead, No zephyr breaths, no cloud its shadow throws." Wordsworth, Duddon Sonnets XXIV. 142 Old Hall, Ulpha " Fallen, and diffused into a shapeless heap, Or quietly self-buried in earth's mould, Is that embattled house, whose mossy keep Flung from yon cliff a shadow large and cold. There dwelt the gay, the bountiful, the bold." Wordsworth, Duddon Sonnets XXVII. 143 Ulpha Church and Bridge " The Kirk of Ulpha to the pilgrim's eye Is welcome as a star, that doth present Its shining forehead through the peaceful rent Of a black cloud diffused o'er half the sky ; Or as a fruitful palm-tree towering high O'er the parched waste beside an Arab's tent; Or the Indian tree whose branches, downward bent, Take root again, a boundless canopy. How sweet were leisure ! could it yield no more Than 'mid that wave-washed church-yard to recline, From pastoral graves extracting thoughts divine ; Or there to pace and mark the summits hoar Of distant moonlit mountains faintly shine, Soothed by the unseen river's gentle war." Wordsworth, Duddon Sonnets XXXI. A few hundred yards beloyv Ulpha Church the Dud- don is spanned by a picturesque bridge, over which, as viewed from below, the church is seen with a screen of ash-trees which here fringe the river. 144 Near Duddon Grove " I rose while yet the cattle, heat-opprest, Crowded together under rustling trees, Brushed by the current of the water-breeze." Wordsworth, Duddon Sonnets XXVIII. 145 The Duddon at Broughton "Not hurled precipitous from steep to steep ; Lingering no more 'mid flower-enamelled lands52 CATALOGUE OF ETCHINGS. And blooming thickets ; nor by rocky bands Held ; but in radiant progress to the deep Where mightiest rivers into powerless sleep, Sink, and forget their nature—now expands Majestic Duddon, over smooth flat sands Gliding in silence with unfettered sweep ! Beneath an ampler sky a region wide Is opened round him :—hamlets, towers and towns, And blue-topped hills behold him from afar ; In stately mien to sovereign Thames allied Spreading his bosom under Kentish downs, With commerce freighted, or triumphant war." Wordsworth, Duddon Sonnets XXXII. This view is taken from a picturesquely wooded knoll in the grounds of Broughton Tower. The dis- tant iron works are those of Millom, towards which the line of the Furness Railway is seen crossing the Duddon over a bridge of piles. The church and part of the town of Broughton are seen at the foot of the hill. 146 Evening upon the Duddon " Still glides the stream, and shall for ever glide." Wordsworth, Duddon Sonnets XXXIV, In this view the spectator looks back towards the valley through which the Duddon flows, indicated by the mist in which the bases of the hills are shrouded. At the entrance of the valley are seen the arches of " Duddon Bridge," over which the road to Whitehaven passes. 147 The Moorhen. Waltner, Charles. 148 The Blessing, after W. Hunt 149 The Gamblers Wife, after J. E. Millais, R.A. 150 The Connoisseur 151 The Coquette, after Fragonard 152 Harmony, after Frank Dicksee 153 L'Angelus, after Millet 154 Portrait of a Child, after Paul Dubois 155 The Widow's Mite, after J. E. Millais, R.A. 156 Mrs. Fitzherbert PRINTED BY VIRTUE AND CO., LIMITED, CITY ROAD, LONDON.ILLUSTRATED EDITION OF THE NOTES ON THOMAS BEWICK. It is intended to issue a small Edition (not exceeding 300 copies) of these Notes on Thomas Bewick, which will be illustrated by a series of original Wood Blocks, lent for the purpose by the Misses Bewick and others. It will contain in addition a complete List of all Editions of Works illustrated by Thomas and John Bewick. The Volume will be in large 4to, with ample margin for reference. The Wood Blocks will be printed in the Exhibi- tion Rooms. The price to Subscribers will be One Guinea, bound. N.B.—Of the Illustrated Editions issued by the Society, that on the Turner Drawings (of which 750 copies were struck off) is out of print, and very few copies remain unsold of Mr. Ruskin's " Notes on Samuel Prout and William Hunt," or Mr. Seymour Haden's "About Etching/'This book is a preservation facsimile produced for the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. It is made in compliance with copyright law and produced on acid-free archival 60# book weight paper which meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (permanence of paper). Preservation facsimile printing and binding by Northern Micrographics Brookhaven Bindery La Crosse, Wisconsin 2015