Thomas Bewick (1753–1828)

Largely entertaining. Particularly interesting are the descriptions of Newcastle before the industrial revolution and Scotland before the clearances. Bewick comes across as a naïve, thoughtful man who’s not afraid to give his opinions. Some of these do him credit. Others do not. As usual with autobiographies it’s fun to try and guess what the author is lying about. I suspect he was rather more violent in his youth than he lets on. Also, he talks about beer rather a lot for a man who show more claims rarely to drink. The second half of the book is marred by him dropping the narrative and holding forth on various subjects. Some of this is interesting, but on the whole need only be read by someone writing their own autobiography as an example of what not to do.

The Centaur Press edition is nice. A well made book with nice type on good, thick paper. Idiosyncratic margins. The 60s dust cover must be seen to be believed. It doesn’t have some of the supporting matter from the first edition, but does have many of Bewick’s prints added at the end of some of the chapters. The prints of the fish have been dropped for a selection of animals from Quadrupeds and Birds. show less

Utterly beautiful - Bewick was a chap with real talent for anatomical wood-engraving. The best bit is all the social commentary and warnings against ill-living you get thrown in for free in the backgrounds and end-pieces. Has to be seen to be believed, and is an insight into a world where taxonomical method was respected, but far less was known about even common native species.

Thomas Bewick, Memoir of Thomas Bewick Written by Himself 1822-1828. London, John lane, 1924. Ex- library.This copy smells of old public libraries and has a great Sunderland Public Libraries label on the inside front endpaper. Here's an extract: bespoken books: non-fictional books only, may be bespoken. Charge: one penny, to cover notification postage. Super!

A book of collective nouns for birds. Some you may already know: a murder of crows, a gaggle of geese, a parliament of rooks, or a run of chickens. Some you may not: an ostentation of peacocks, an invisibleness of ptarmigans.

Each bird is beautifully illustrated by Thomas Bewick on its own page.