A PROVISIONAL CHECKLIST OF THE LIBRARY OF THOMAS BEWICK
Drawn up for The Bewick Society by David Gardner–Medwin
N.B. Page numbers here refer only to these web pages.
The downloadable RTF version has a different page numbering.
Bewick Catalogue - Page 1
Next Page
| Contents | |
| Preamble | Page 1 |
| Introduction | Page 1 |
| Sources | Page 1 |
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| Page 1 | |
| Page 1 | |
| Page 1 | |
| The Checklist | |
| Part 1. Books formerly in the possession of Thomas Bewick | Page 2 |
| Page 2 | |
CLASS II: Voyages & Travels, Descriptions
of ForeignCountries, Geography, |
Page 3 |
| Page 4 | |
| Page 5 | |
| Page 6 | |
| Page 7 | |
A. Arts and Architecture |
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B. Medicine |
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C. Science and Mathematics |
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E. Heraldry Etc. |
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F. Politics |
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G. Miscellaneous |
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CLASS VII: Magazines, Periodical Publications, Catalogues, Maps |
Page 8 |
A. Periodical publications |
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B. Catalogues |
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C. Pocket Maps |
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| Page 9 | |
| Part 2. Bewick’s copies of Quadrupeds and British Birds | Page 10 |
| Part 3. Books (for children) belonging to Bewick’s family during his lifetime | Page 11 |
| Addenda and Alterations | Page 12 |
| References | |
| Acknowledgements | |
PREAMBLE
This list has been made because the books owned by Thomas Bewick and his children seem to me to be interestingly numerous and varied. It is certainly incomplete. It has also been only partly checked against the usual bibliographical sources, so that some of the books are not properly identified, let alone adequately researched. In every case however, the information derived from the original source is given, and the source is identified. The list will therefore, I hope, provide a useful resource for those who wish to study the life of Thomas Bewick (1753-1828) or the reading habits of a master craftsman and artist of his period in North-East England. It should be regarded as the skeletal starting point for research projects for other people, not as a completed one of my own. I should be very grateful for corrections or additions. Of the former I expect, and of the latter I hope, there will be many. Further comment on some aspects of the Bewick family library may be found in Bewick Studies (see Gardner-Medwin, 2003 in the reference list below).
INTRODUCTION
The following checklist contains the books that I have found recorded as being in the personal library of Thomas Bewick or in that of his family during his lifetime. A few books are also included which were strictly the property of the successive engraving and copperplate-printing firms of Beilby and Bewick, Thomas Bewick, or Thomas Bewick and Son, but were evidently used by Bewick in connection with his engraving on wood or on copper, the former particularly in his preparation of his natural history publications, A General History of Quadrupeds and History of British Birds.
Sources
The sources used are listed here as A-Z, in approximately chronological order. Primarily the list derives from three manuscript schedules of Thomas’s books from the 1820s, in the handwriting of his son, Robert Elliot Bewick, now in the Huntington Library, San Marino, California (C-E below). In 1796 Thomas himself had made a similar list of the books bequeathed to him by his brother John (A, below). Further information comes from the catalogue of the sale, after her death, of the property of Isabella, Bewick’s last surviving daughter, in 1884 (M below), from the catalogues of other collections, sales and libraries, and from a few publications, including Thomas Bewick’s own Memoir, first published posthumously in 1862. Some of his book purchases were also recorded in Bewick’s business Cash Books (U below). Occasionally his name is to be found in subscribers' lists (W) and in a few instances books once in his possession and now in theirs have been reported to me by private owners.
One potential source that has not been adequately studied is Thomas Bewick’s correspondence. There is little doubt that when this becomes available in published form (Bain, in preparation) it will add to our knowledge of Bewick’s books and reading habits as it will to all aspects of his life.
In 1806 Thomas Bewick’s daughter Jane made a list of her books; there are two similar but undated lists in Robert’s hand of his books and those of his sister Elizabeth (all in B below) but none for the middle sister or Thomas’s wife, both named Isabella, though they certainly owned books. The catalogue of the Bewick sale of 1884 includes a number of children’s books, some of which we may assume had been in the family’s collection during Thomas’s lifetime, while his children were young. All of these books, which seem to have belonged to the young family rather than Thomas Bewick himself, are listed here as a separate part of the checklist (Part 3). They are of interest as an example of an early 19th century children’s library.
A. Thomas Bewick’s list of 1795. "Schedule of Sundry Goods &c left to me by Bror. John" - a ms drawn up by Thomas Bewick c.10 December 1795 (Tyne & Wear Archives 1269/258). It was transcribed and published by Tattersfield (2001 pp 204-6).
B. Three lists of children’s books c.1806. Three ms lists, two in Robert Elliot Bewick’s handwriting and the third in Jane’s, headed "Elizh Bewicks Books" (16 items), "R.E Bewicks Books" (9 items), and "July 30th 1806 Jane Bewicks Books" (49 items), all now in the Huntington Library, San Marino, California. Examined on microfilm at Newcastle City Library (Bewick Coll. 545).
C. Robert Bewick’s list of May 1822. "Catalogue of books belonging to Thos Bewick in drawing room May 19, 1822." Manuscript by R.E. Bewick, now at Huntington Library, San Marino, California, examined on microfilm at Newcastle City Library (Bewick Coll. 545).
D. Robert Bewick’s list of December 1822. "Catalogue of books belonging to Mr Thos Bewick, Gateshead, Decr 22 1822"; ms as above. This list, alone, is divided into the eight "classes" set out in the list of contents above.
E. Robert
Bewick’s list of 1826. "Books by of Thos Bewick,
1826"; ms as above.
F. Jane Bewick’s list of 1865. A rough list in Jane Bewick’s handwriting, on what appear to be page proofs of Bewick’s Memoirs (1862), headed "Chiffonier, Sep 4. 1865"; now in the Huntington Library and on microfilm as in B-E above. (Another list of Jane’s which follows this, headed "Sent to Mr Jupp", includes no informative items for our purpose.) The death of Elizabeth Bewick on 7 April 1865 may have led her surviving sisters to reappraise the family collection of Bewickian. The list may be incomplete since amongst the children’s books, at the end of the penultimate page, is written "And a great variety of little books for Children".
G. Hugo, T. The Bewick Collector, (1866 and 1868).
H. Hugo catalogue, 1877. Catalogue of Revd Thomas Hugo’s collection, sold by Sotheby, 8th August 1877. (The copy at Pease 213, shows prices paid). This largely duplicates the relevant information in G above.
J. Jupp catalogue, 1878. Catalogue of E.B. Jupp’s collection, sold by Christie, February 1878 (Pease, 216).
K. Kerslake list, 1878. A list of 14 works from the Bewick library "accidentally destroyed", published by Thomas Kerslake, a Bristol bookseller (Kerslake, 1878). The list was reproduced in Robinson’s Bewick Memento (c1884, page 7) - the Memento also includes an elaborate reprint of the Bewick Sale Catalogue (M) with buyers and prices (copy in Pease Collection, item 207).
L. Library of the Natural History Society of Northumbria, Hancock Museum, Newcastle upon Tyne, including books donated to the Society by Isabella Bewick in 1881.
M. Bewick Sale of 1884. Catalogue of a scarce and curious collection of books and engravings, formerly belonging to Thomas Bewick, the eminent wood engraver, ... to be sold by auction, ... by Messrs. Davison and Son, within the Academy of Arts, Blackett Street, Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1884) - hereafter "Bewick Sale, 1884".
N. Robinson, R. Thomas Bewick, his Life and Times, 1887. The book contains a "Catalogue of the principal works illustrated by Thomas and John Bewick", 45 in number, (pages 274-305) and identifies some items formerly owned by Thomas Bewick.
O. Boyd catalogue, 1892. Catalogue of the "Julia Boyd" Collection sold by Davison and Son, Newcastle (Boyd, 1892). Pease 208.
P. Barnes catalogue, 1894. Catalogue of J.W. Barnes' collection, sold by R. & W. Mack, May 1894 (Pease, 203). Barnes was an executor of the will of Jane Bewick.
Q. Pinkney catalogue, 1895. Catalogue of the valuable library of Robert Pinkney, Esq, of 90 Piccadilly, formerly of Newcastle ..., sold by Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge, 1st and 2nd May, 1895 (Pease 220).
R. Newcastle City Library Bewick Collection (including the Pease Collection). The Pease bequest, comprising the majority of the collection, was catalogued by Anderton and Gibson (1904).
S. Marshall catalogue, 1909. Catalogue of the John Mitchell Marshall collection (Marshall 1909). The copy in the Newcastle City Library (Bewick Coll. 343) is marked with some prices paid but only occasionally with the buyer’s name.
T. University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Robinson Library, Special Collections.
U. Cashbooks 1777-1828 and other Workshop records. The records of the successive firms of Beilby and Bewick, Thomas Bewick, and Thomas Bewick and Son are in the Tyne & Wear Archives, Newcastle upon Tyne (T&WA 1269) and the cash books (1269/1-10) record a number of identifiable book purchases. Many others must be concealed behind general statements like “Binding 3 Books 2s.” on 2.10.1790 “pd Bell bookseller for sundries £4.11.10” on 21.6.1799, “Charnley’s Note £2.2.3½” on 2.1.1802, or even “Paid Mrs Kidd for 3 Books of Impressions 15s.” on 14.5.1811. Mrs Kidd was the widow of J.A. Kidd, freelance engraver, who had died on 1 May (T&WA 1269/6; see also Tattersfield (1999) p.11). In the ledger T&WA 1269/84 at pp. 103-4, Jane Bewick recorded the sale of some family books to Thomas Kerslake (as in K above) in 1859. One batch included ten copies of British Birds (for £9-17-6), a copy of the Vignettes (for £1-1-0), a vellum paper family copy of the Quadrupeds (377 below) for £21, and ‘Latin books for £7-0-0’. These last were 13 volumes (not all in Latin) such as Gerard’s Herbal, Topsell’s Foure-footed beastes, Stradanus, a Vulgate, an Ovid etc. Jane wrote later under her list of these books “All these latin books as above were sold to Kerslake for £7!!!”. Another batch included five works on penmanship, two books on vases, Ricard’s work on grotesque heads, all sold for 10s. These books are identifiable in the catalogue below by searching on “1269/84”.
V. Bewick’s Memoir (1975). First published in a heavily edited form in 1862; the original text (Bain, 1975) identifies a few books as in Bewick’s possession. Some of these are also cited in his History of British Birds or other publications but only the Memoir identifies them as Bewick’s own property.
W. Subscribers’ lists. Bewick’s name occasionally appears on subscribers' lists in published books. Two books to which his wife, Isabella, subscribed were also found. Sources: Romulus Press: Biography Database 1680-1830 (CD) and chance findings.
X. John Bell manuscript. An undated manuscript statement reporting the sale of books (and failure to sell others) by John Bell of Newcastle for Beilby and Bewick, probably in about 1797 (ex inf. Iain Bain). For details see under Brisson’s Ornithologie (119) below.
Y. National Trust’s collection, Cherryburn, Northumberland (Thomas Bewick’s birthplace). This contains some of the books themselves, coded Y, and also an undated manuscript (catalogued as Schiller 260), probably in the hand of Robert Elliot Bewick, which includes a short list of books owned by Thomas Bewick’s children “we had good store of nice little gilt backed books ... to these my uncle [John Bewick] brot us a large addition”. Those on this list are coded Ys.
Z. Other sources. These are described individually in the entries concerned.
Arrangement
The checklist is arranged in three parts, but with the items numbered 1-487 consecutively. In Parts 1 and 2 are all of the books known or suspected to have been at any time the personal property of Thomas Bewick. Most of these are in Part 1, including the few copies of the Quadrupeds and British Birds mentioned in Robert Bewick’s lists (C-E).
In Part 1, the books are arranged according to the eight "classes" used by Robert Bewick in his longest list, that of December 1822 (D). Where he used mixed categories ("Arts, Sciences, Mathematics and Heraldry &c" for example) and the number of items makes for confusion, these subcategories have been separated. An added category of "Politics", not used by Robert Bewick, has been put into Class VI because of the special interest of these books as possible indicators of Thomas Bewick’s radical interests. Within these classes and throughout his other lists Robert Bewick seems to have listed the books in a wholly random order without attention to subject matter, date, size, the alphabet, or any other discernible system. They have here been re-ordered alphabetically by author, or by title where no author is identified. Where the title is questionable, that given in the most informative original source is used. Readers interested in the original order which may, for example, have reflected the way the family’s books were shelved, will need to look at the manuscript sources.
Items for which there is no evidence for or against specific ownership by Thomas Bewick (as opposed to other members of the family) are included in square brackets; and throughout, any books owned by the family but published or known to have been acquired after Bewick’s death in 1828 are omitted. The many stock copies of Bewick’s own publications which remained in the family’s possession and were sold in 1884 are also excluded. The sale catalogue M included many un-named "other" books in several of the lots; some of these may have been books now identifiable only in schedules A-E or that remain unknown.
Part 2 contains all copies of Bewick’s Quadrupeds and British Birds (and related books) known to have been at least for a time in Thomas Bewick’s personal collection or that of his family during his lifetime, separated from Part 1 only for convenience, because they are so numerous. They are arranged by date of publication. Naturally many other copies of books illustrated by him passed through Thomas’s hands, including some copies that he inscribed as gifts to friends, but these are excluded unless they had previously been held in his own library or had been his working copies.
In Part 3 are the children’s books listed in B and some from the 1884 sale M, but excluding any where additional evidence indicates ownership by Thomas Bewick (which are in Part 1). As in Part 1 they are arranged alphabetically by author or by title where no author is mentioned.
Codes and markings
The sources of information, coded A-Z, are indicated for each title in the checklist. Some marks of unknown significance (=, x or √) preceding many items in list C are reproduced here. These marks appear to have been added after the completion of the list, somewhat untidily and with a different pen, perhaps by another member of the family.
Books in list D are coded D1-D8 according to the class in which they were put by Robert Bewick. Items in the sale and collection catalogues are shown with the lot or catalogue number following the code letter.
Items in Parts 1 and 3 marked * contain illustrations drawn or engraved by Thomas or John Bewick; in the case of John, the JB numbers from Tattersfield’s (2001) catalogue are given. Items where there is doubt about the attribution as their personal work or which have a claim to being illustrated by Thomas’s pupils or family are marked (*).
“Bewick Library number”. In several volumes in the Natural History Society and Pease collections a characteristic number appears on the upper outer corner of the flyleaf or elsewhere on the endpapers (Mrs June Holmes, Archivist to the Natural History Society, kindly drew my attention to these). The handwriting has been provisionally identified by Iain Bain as Robert Bewick’s. This suggests that at some time before 1881, and perhaps before 1849 when Robert Bewick died, the books in the Bewick family library were numbered, and that a corresponding list or catalogue may have existed. If so, its whereabouts are now unknown. The sequence of these numbered books does not correspond to any of the Bewick family’s lists (A-F). To complicate the situation, a copy of Bewick’s Memoir (1862 edition, Pease 188), with manuscript notes by Jane Bewick and inserted proof copies of many Bewick wood engravings, has a detached but probably original flyleaf with a tell-tale ‘No 3’ in a similar hand. Three similarly grangerised copies of the Memoir, numbered 5, 6, and 7, are in the collection of Iain Bain. It cannot be assumed that any such numbering system was used during Thomas Bewick’s lifetime, or that the books given such numbers were necessarily ipso facto ever in his own possession. The books in which such numbers have so far been found are those numbered in this catalogue: 46, 65, 69, 117, 120, 133, 136, 144, 342, 357, and possibly 379.
Abbreviations
BL British Library Catalogue
ESTC English Short Title Catalogue (for the 18th Century)
JB John Bewick, for the numbering of his works given by Tattersfield (2000)
Nat Hist Soc Natural History Society of Northumbria (Newcastle upon Tyne)
n.d. No date - i.e. no recorded date of publication.
TB Thomas Bewick
T&WA Tyne & Wear Archives
A note on Bewick’s access to books other than his own
In July - September 1791 Bewick made good use of the ornithological library formed by the late Marmaduke Tunstall at Wycliffe in Yorkshire while he was there sketching the birds in Tunstall’s museum (see under Buffon Natural History of Birds (120) below). He also recorded in his Memoir (1975 edition, pp 116-117) the use or loan of bird books from the libraries of other gentlemen.
In 1736 two additional stories were built over the new vestry of St Nicholas Church in Newcastle to house the extensive library donated to the Corporation of Newcastle, for public use, by the Revd Dr Robert Thomlinson, Vicar of Whickham. The collection of more than 1600 volumes (now in the City Library) included many works of natural history and others that would have been of interest to Bewick. The vestry library was half-way between and only a few yards from the two workshops, at Amen Corner and in the southeast corner of the Churchyard, where Bewick worked. However, at that very time, between the late 1760s and late 1820s, the duties of the librarian were frequently neglected and access to the library appears to have been limited, perhaps at times impossible (Mackenzie, 1827). Bewick made no known mention of the library, and it remains unknown whether he made any use of it, even during the short periods when access was improved.
Subscription libraries were run by a number of Newcastle printers and booksellers, including Joseph Barber at Amen Corner and William Charnley at the bottom of the Groat Market, both very well known to Bewick. Again he made no mention of using these, evidently preferring as a young man to arrive early in the morning before work at the workshop of the bookbinder William Gray in Pudding Chare, and there to read the "Works of the best Authors" left there by gentlemen for binding (Memoir).
In 1799, six years after its foundation, Bewick was elected to membership of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle upon Tyne. At that time the Society’s rooms were in the Groat Market, conveniently close to the workshop and to Bewick’s home on the Forth. Almost from the beginning, the Society accumulated a library, at first largely scientific in emphasis, and its book stock increased from about 500 in 1796, to 4000 in 1807 and 8000 in 1825 (Parish, 1986). As it grew, the range of subjects rather closely resembled that of Bewick’s own library, so it seems probable that it would have been of great interest to Bewick and in view of his habit of making use of books whenever he had access to them, it is difficult to imagine his not making good use of his membership. Nevertheless, once again, in his Memoir he makes no mention of using the library of the "Lit and Phil".