Pre-Victorian Book Illustration in Britain and Europe

This set of eight volumes focuses on pre-Victorian book illustration, and in particular wood engraving. At the centre of this collection stand two major figures of British illustration, William Blake (1757-1827) and Thomas Bewick (1753-1828). Bewick was one of the major revivalists of wood engraving technique, and Blake has had a large impact on the nature of book illustration and design. Bewick's autobiography is complemented with Hugo's book describing the wide variety of Bewick's illustrations. Gilchrist's biography of Blake contains descriptions of his engraving techniques as well as many illustrations and a descriptive catalogue of his output. Ottley's treatise is a rare work that Bigmore and Wyman describe as occupying the same relation to engraving as Dibdin's Ames does to typography. Along with Chatto and Woodberry they may serve as standard works on wood engraving. Together these volumes form a source collection for pre-Victorian engraving techniques in Britain, Germany, France, and the Low Countries.