Bookplates by Beilby & Bewick : A Biographical Dictionary of Bookplates from the Workshop of Ralph Beilby, Thomas Bewick & Robert Bewick, 1760-1849

British Library and Oak Knoll Press, London, first edition, 1999. Cloth, 8vo, 28 cm,. xi, 352 pp, ills, facs. From the blurb: "Though seldom acknowledged, the spare-time production by Thomas Bewick of his celebrated natural histories was supported by the vigorous activity of a general engraving business involving Bewick, his partner Ralph Beilby and their numerous apprentices. Revealing a vast range of work, from banknotes and inscriptions on silver, to the making of type punches and bottle moulds, the workshop's surviving records are unique in their diversity and quantity. In recent years these records have been used in the study of engraved silver, pottery transfers and the preparatory studies for Bewick's wood engravings. But Nigel Tattersfield's account of the several hundred bookplates engraved on copper and wood, executed and printed in the workshop over a period of 89 years, is quite the most extensive and thorough in its use of the primary sources. The author's lively enthiusiasm and careful scholarship have combined to produce a valuable and truly pioneering work on a subject hitherto clouded by speculation and optimistic attribution. It is very fully illustrated, with over 300 examples reproduced, and its wealth of biographical information on the owners of the bookplates represents an important contribution to the social history of the north of England. Elegant bookplate on front pastedown endpaper, Near Fine in Near Fine dustwrapper.