Author

photo credits: Wikimedia Commons
Thomas Bewick
English engraver and natural history author (1753-1828)
wd:Q437594
1753
-
1828
genre: engraving, printmaking
country of citizenship: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
language of expression: English
occupation: ornithologist, engraver, painter, illustrator, graphic artist
Thomas Bewick (c. 11 August 1753 – 8 November 1828) was an English wood-engraver and natural history author. Early in his career he took on all kinds of work such as engraving cutlery, making the wood blocks for advertisements, and illustrating children's books. He gradually turned to illustrating, writing and publishing his own books, gaining an adult audience for the fine illustrations in A History of Quadrupeds.
His career began when he was apprenticed to engraver Ralph Beilby in Newcastle upon Tyne. He became a partner in the business and eventually took it over. Apprentices whom Bewick trained include John Anderson, Luke Clennell, and William Harvey, who in their turn became well known as painters and engravers.
Bewick is best known for his A History of British Birds, which is admired today mainly for its wood engravings, especially the small, sharply observed, and often humorous vignettes known as tail-pieces. The book was the forerunner of all modern field guides. He notably illustrated editions of Aesop's Fables throughout his life.
He is credited with popularising a technical innovation in the printing of illustrations using wood. He adopted metal-engraving tools to cut hard boxwood across the grain, producing printing blocks that could be integrated with metal type, but were much more durable than traditional woodcuts. The result was high-quality illustration at a low price.
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Series
0Works
4Baa, Baa, Black Sheep
children's folk song
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illustrator: George Bickham the Younger, Thomas Bewick, Edmund Caldwell
1744
Robin Hood a Collection of All the Ancient Poems, Songs, and Ballads, by Joseph Ritson, 1832
1832 edition of the book, Robin Hood a Collection of All the Ancient Poems, Songs, and Ballads, Now Extant Relative to That Celebrated English Outlaw; to Which Are Prefixed Historical Anecdotes of His Life, published by Joseph Ritson
wd:Q95765289
author: Joseph Ritson
illustrator: Thomas Bewick
1832
Mother Gooſe’s Melody
1772 book of nursery rhymes
wd:Q99179657
author: William Shakespeare
illustrator: Thomas Bewick
1772