A History of British Birds. The figures engraved on wood by T. Bewick.

Newcastle: Solomon Hodgson for Beilby and Bewick, 1797 [but 1798]-1804. First edition of Water Birds on Royal 8vo; Second printing of Land Birds on Imperial 8vo. Fine. 2 volumes, 25 cm (vol. 1); 24 cm (vol. 2). 335, 400 pages, with hundreds of illustrations and vignettes in text. Volume 1: History and Description of Land Birds; points of issue: dated 1797 (but 1798), advertising fourth edition of Quadrupeds on last page, priced 1 guinea in boards. Volume 2: History and Description of Water Birds; vignette present at bottom of page 176. Bound in half calf over marbled boards, worn. Contents bright and fresh. References: Hugo, "The Bewick Collector," (truncated) #99ff; Wood, p. 236; Roscoe 15a and 17b.

Bewick refined and popularized the technique of wood-engraving, that is, using metal-engaving tools to cut hard boxwood across the grain, permitting more detail and durability that traditional methods of wood cuts could achieve. The durability of the wood-engraved blocks meant they could be integrated with the type, resulting in fine in-text illustrations and vignettes. Bewick's History of British Birds is considered the forerunner of all modern field guides. The early editions were printed in various formats. In the first press run of Land Birds (volume 1), only 24 copies were pulled in Imperial Octavo format; our copy is almost certainly from the second press run, in which 207 such copies were printed. Roscoe notes that "Bewick, who was not a bibliographer, would have ... regarded this edition as no more than an additional printing of the first" (p. 56). Our Water Birds (volume 2) is a first run in Royal Octavo. (Inventory #: 6304)