Folio Archives 241: My Life by Thomas Bewick 1981

My Life by Thomas Bewick 1981

Thomas Bewick (1753 to 1828) was one of the most talented engravers ever to grace this planet. He was born into relatively humble circumstances in Northumberland, but was well educated and then apprenticed in Newcastle on Tyne to an engraver whose business he eventually took over.

Bewick engraved everything from mammals to books (Aesop’s Fables), personal and official seals and bank notes, but he is best known for his engravings of birds and his monumental History of British Birds (which was reproduced by the Folio Society in 2010). His most remarkable attribute was the tiny size and intricacy of his engravings and watercolours. Most were only 7.5 cm. (3 inches) across, but contained extraordinary detail that can only be appreciated by a magnifying glass or enlarged photos.

The Folio Society has featured Bewick’s engravings in two other publications - Bird Poems (see here) and Poems by William Wordsworth (1970).

His autobiography is easy reading and gives a fascinating insight into rural life (as well as a visit to London) in the latter part of the 18th. century. Virtually every page has an integrated engraving (67 in total), and there are eight double sided bound-in pages of his watercolour paintings (31 in total). All engravings and paintings are reproduced at actual size.

The 192 page book has brown stained page tops and is introduced by Iain Bain. It is quarter bound in brown cloth with pale yellow-green paper boards with a Bewick wood-engraving in brown printed on the cover. The endleaves are dark blue. It was the presentation volume for 1982 and as such was not issued with a slipcase but had a glassine dust-jacket (which my copy lacks). The book measures 24.1x16cm.













Endpapers






































































































Postcard with tear-off bookmark found in book.




An index of the other illustrated reviews in the "Folio Archives" series can be viewed here.

>1 wcarter:

Lovely pictures!

The FS has also published a very fine edition in two volumes of Bewick's A history of British birds.

>3 affle:
I intend to feature this beautiful book set in a future FS Archives review, but not for a few months.

Bird Poems by John Clare, featuring Bewick’s artwork, has already been reviewed.

>4 wcarter:

I'm glad to hear that, Warwick, thank you.

Those who enjoy Bewick's own account of his life may like to know there is a good recent-ish biography by Jenny Uglow, Nature's engraver - he was a remarkable man.

I'm a massive Bewick fan. Also being a keen birder, I would reckon History of British Birds as very possibly my favourite all-time FS publication - a superb production. I also have My Life and Bird Poems both of which I'd rate pretty close behind (Clare is one of my favourite poets!). All in their own ways examples of what FS does (and did) best.

I'd echo >5 affle: comments about the Uglow biography: at the risk of sounding repetitive, she's one of my favourite biographers, alongside Claire Tomalin and Hermione Lee. I particularly enjoyed Hogarth and The Pinecone, but others are excellent too (eg The Lunar Men). She's also done some good more general history (eg In These Times).

Sorry if sound a bit gushing, but this strikes a massive chord. I wish I'd been a member when this was the presentation volume!

On four occasions in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Folio Society offered a limited set of Bewick prints in a portfolio:
- 1968 Five mounted animal prints (the sparrow, the hawk, the serpent, the rat, the ibex). Limited to 50 sets
- 1968 Five mounted animal prints (the swan, the bittern, the lobster, the shepherd's dog, the leopard). Limited to 50 sets
- 1970 Seven prints by Thomas and John Bewick taken from Gregory Way's translation of Le Grand's Fabliaux. Limited to 50 sets
- 1972 Ten prints, four by Thomas Bewick, three by John Bewick and three by Charlton Nesbit. Limited to 75 sets

>7 mboyne:
Fascinating. Do you have any of these sets? Do you have any pictures?

Thanks for the enablement! Picked this up for next to nothing. Saw my first Bewick's Wren on a trip last week so the timing couldn't be better. Always looking for ways to bolster my bird library.

>7 mboyne:

Mark, do you suppose these were taken from broken-up books - like the Original Leaves pair of a year or two earlier - or newly printed? The paper would presumably be an indication. I have a couple of prints that I have always supposed were the former.

Not having known that FS did Bewick’s History of Birds, I rushed to eBay to find one and ended up getting one for 75 pounds plus shipping to Canada. Seller accepted my offer really quickly so hopefully didn’t overpay. Really looking forward to receiving it!

>11 RRCBS:

I would say that's a decent price. You haveen't been robbed. From memory they don't appear on eBay very often.

>1 wcarter:

I'd like to report a minor variation on this title. A year or two ago, I bought a secondhand copy from an Oxfam shop. The book is identical to yours (which itself conforms fully to the description in Folio 60), except for three characteristics:

1. The logo at the foot of the spine is the original classic curly-wurly 'FS' in the oval frame.

2. The endleaves are dark brown.

3. It came in a slipcase covered in paper with a stippled brown wash. It fits perfectly and is characteristic of the era, being slightly concave at the open end.

The date, colophon - indeed everything else - is identical to yours. There is no mention of a variation or reprint in Folio 60 and it is not, for example, a 'Folio Press' issue.

I wonder if anyone has any suggestions to offer or indeed owns one like mine.

>13 boldface: I wonder if anyone has any suggestions to offer or indeed owns one like mine.

This title was available in Folio's back catalogue continuously from its first publication as the Presentation Volume for 1982, through to the Folio Society Prospectus 1991, which may account for some variations in endpapers and bindings along the way.

My copy is the one shown above - but in a slipcase as described by >13 boldface:

Seems as though those who received the book as a presentation volume did not get a slipcase, but if bought later, a slipcase was supplied.

>14 bookfair_e:

Thanks for your explanation. It's curious, though. There's no mention of a reprint, so presumably the first printing lasted all that time, and that would explain why no reprintings are mentioned in Folio 60. It must have been the YRTtD of its day.

>15 wcarter:

Yes, indeed.

>16 boldface: I wonder if we are not looking at "printed but not bound" run - so there is technically no new printing but they bound it at different times and maybe different places - thus accounting for the difference in binding.

>15 wcarter: Seems as though those who received the book as a presentation volume did not get a slipcase, but if bought later, a slipcase was supplied.

That was standard practice at the time. Depending on the year you might receive a very thin card slipcase or none (usually just a glassine wrapper). If they reprinted, it would usually come with a slipcase.

>8 wcarter:
Yes I have all four sets. Here are some pictures from the third set, Seven prints by Thomas and John Bewick taken from Gregory Way's translation of Le Grand's Fabliaux

>10 affle:
These ones were definitely newly printed. There is an accompanying paper which refers to this (see photos above)

>20 mboyne:
Wonderful!