Product Description

At the end of the eighteenth-century Britain fell in love with nature. Thomas Bewick's "History of British Birds" marked the moment: the first 'field-guide' for ordinary people, illustrated by woodcuts of astonishing accuracy and beauty. But it was far more than that, for in the vivid vignettes scattered through the book Bewick drew the vanishing way of life of the country people of the North East. In this superbly illustrated biography, Jenny Uglow tells a story of violent change, radical politics, lost ways of life and the beauty of the wild - a journey to the beginning of our lasting obsession with the natural world.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18692 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 480 pages

Guardian
'A superb biography, written with as much sensitivity and attention to detail as one of Bewick's woodcuts.'

Evening Standard
'Delightful ... Bewick always meant for his work to be accessible: 250 years after his birth, it still is.'

Sunday Times
'Bewick emerges from her pages as a rare artist whose work ... has an originality that transcends the time and place in which it was created.'

Customer Reviews

Nature's Engraver
An enchanting book. I hadn't heard of Bewick, but seeing the lovely illustrations, I bought it. A charming story with most evocative woodcuts by this master engraver.

Best book I've read this year


I had heard of Thomas Bewick, and had seen the occasional woodcut (especially of his rightly-famous birds), so I was delighted when this biography by Jenny Uglow came out From page one, Uglow makes Bewick come alive. Apart from a short, unhappy spell in London as a young man, Bewick lived all his long life in Northumberland, growing up in a small village and first learning, then perfecting , his trade in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He comes over as a dedicated artist, a devoted family man and a loyal friend. Yet Uglow doesn't sugarcoat him-his faults and weaknesses are here too.

I can't imagine how this biography could be bettered. Excellent lively writing, extensive research, fascinating subject living in a fascinating period of history (late C18th-early C19th ). The text is accompanied by engravings and, of course, by some of Bewick's own woodcuts.

the magic of good biography
I didn't know I'd heard of Thomas Bewick. You have, too, if you have read Jane Eyre. You've seen his influence if you've read Beatrix Potter. Bewick was famous and very influential until technology, in the form of photography, xerox, and the laser printer, rendered his art form obsolete. Imagine how difficult it would be to engrave the image of a lion when one had only ever seen one (1) in a traveling zoo. This is a fascinating book; I learned so much!