Newcastle University

Bewick the Naturalist

Ever since he was a schoolboy, Thomas Bewick had been fascinated by animals and had wanted to design and illustrate a book on natural history. But it wasn't until 1785 that Bewick finally began cutting the blocks that would eventually comprise the now famous volume, A General History of Quadrupeds (1790).

Bewick's illustrations vividly recall his childhood love of the Northumberland countryside. He drew many of his subjects from memory and yet he managed to refrain from sentimentality.

Bewick's long-standing fascination with the natural world and his desire to represent nature as accurately as possible to the general reading public eventually culminated in the volume, A General History of Quadrupeds.

The work took five years to complete and is widely acknowledged to be a ground-breaking volume in terms of design, content and execution. The project was initiated by Bewick who, even as a young boy, had been determined to improve upon the simplistic engravings he had seen in books such as Three Hundred Animals.

After consultation with his partner Beilby, Bewick approached the bookseller Solomon Hodgson with the proposal for an illustrated volume on natural history. Wisely, Hodgson seized the opportunity to have one of the country's best illustrators produce a work on an increasingly fashionable and fascinating subject.

The work for the book was largely carried out in the evenings, following busy days at the Newcastle workshop. Bewick did the drawings and woodcuts, whilst Beilby compiled and wrote the descriptions. Progress on the volume was constantly delayed by other demands for work, but it was finally published to great acclaim in 1790.

Bewick, however, was "surprized to find how rapidly the Book was sold, as well as several successive Editions," but he was even more surprised and embarrassed by the "glut of praises" that his fine work elicited.

A History of British Birds:
Following the tremendous success of History of Quadrupeds, Bewick turned his attention to ornithology and the birds of the British Isles. After detailed study of a number of stuffed birds, Bewick realised that in order to portray the birds realistically he had to observe them in their natural environment. Bewick's black and white illustrations of bird-life are astonishingly accurate.

It is truly remarkable that within such relatively small dimensions Bewick is able to impart the appropriate characteristics and attitude of each creature, thereby making most of the birds instantly recognisable for even the novice ornithologist.

In 1797 A General History of British Birds was published, amidst some debate about who should be accredited as the principal author. Ralph Beilby, Bewick's business partner, had, with Bewick's assistance, written much of the text of the volume. However, the now famous Thomas Bewick was reluctant to allow his partner to receive all the credit. After considerable debate the spoils were shared, only for Beilby to leave the engraving business altogether. From then on, Bewick assumed full responsibility for the text and the engravings in the subsequent volumes of The History of British Birds.