Customer Reviews
Ars Gratia Artis - By: Silver Moon Sailor, 28 Aug 2008 
This book is a joy. It is a joy to touch, to hold, to read & to study the most excellent reproductions of Bewick's tiny works. I live close to Bewick's birthplace & this book has inspired me with a new ardour for the Tyne Valley, its people & Natural History and, of course, the prodigious talents of Thomas Bewick & family.
Outstanding biography - By: Hilary McGowan, 28 Jul 2008 This is an outstandingly good biography of this amazing engraver whose work I have long admired. It is very easy to read & although he lived to a ripe old age, the story does not drag. Uglow evokes smoky, smelly, cramped Newcastle-upon-Tyne superbly & contrasts this with the wilds of Northumberland where Bewick grew up & where his heart remained. A must for anyone interestedin history, art, countryside or just life!
Best book I've read this year - By: ILONACAT, 06 Oct 2007 I had heard of Thomas Bewick, & 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 spellin London as a young man, Bewick lived all his long lifein Northumberland, growing upin a small village & first learning, then perfecting , his tradein Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He comes over as a dedicated artist, a devoted family man & a loyal friend. Yet Uglow doesn't sugarcoat him-his faults & weaknesses are here too.
I can't imagine how this biography could be bettered. Excellent lively writing, extensive research, fascinating subject livingin 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 - By: Catherine Levi, 08 Aug 2007 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 & very influential until technology,in the form of photography, xerox, & 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!
Nature's Engraver - By: Daniel, 25 May 2007 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.
