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Bewick, Thomas

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Bewick, Thomas

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Bewick, Thomas

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The life and work of the artist-engraver and water-colorist.

Artists --- Bewick, Thomas,

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The superlative wood engraivngs of Thomas Bewick met with widespread acclaim during his lifetime and have remained popular ever since. However, in the decades following his death in 1828, a number of unscrupulous bookdealers conspired to foist specious publications, 'doctored' woodblocks and even 'original' drawings upon a gullible audience of enthusiastic collectors of 'Bewickiana'. Although most of the productions may be easily dismissed, other more guileful publications have proved vaxatious for modern collectors, scholars and bibliographers. Chief amongst the opportunistic dealers was Edwin Pearson of 'The Bewick Repository' bookshop in London. Not content with reprinting Bewick's earlier masterpieces from the late 1770s and early 1780s such as A Pretty Book of Pictures for Little Masters and Misses, and Select Fables of Aesop and Others, Pearson succumbed to the temptation of surreptitiously issuing clever pastiches, mainly of children's books, under titles which had never existed but which featured woodcuts genuinely by Bewick. Old friends it might be said, but in an unfamiliar guise. Through the agency of his own catalogues, Pearson then offered these bogus productions to covetous collectors at eye-watering prices. As will be seen in this entertaining chronicle of Pearson's life and carreer, deceit ran like a thread through all he touched. It infected both his book-dealing and his married life, illuminationg the hollow core which all too frequently lay at the heart of the much-vaunted 'Victorian family values'. Piecing together the clues from Edwin Pearson's ephemeral book catalogues and his private correspondence, plus trade directories, newspaper reports, court papers and death certificates, enables us to approach as close to the truth about this elusive, abusive and disreputable dealer as we are likely to get. Perhaps more importantly, it exposes the route by which a number of spurious Bewick 'rarities' were concocted, marketed and welcomed with open arms (and wallets) by 'authorities' such as Thomas Hugo (whose curious willingness to be deceived and accommodating attitude to Pearson are both examined in some detail) before finally being listed in his oft-quoted Bewick Collector. --The Bewick Society

Pearson, Edwin --- Bewick, Thomas