Tailpiece (page 330) from The Fables of Aesop
Thomas Bewick
British, 1753–1828
1818
A small wood-engraved tailpiece by Thomas Bewick that punctuates a page of Aesop’s Fables, using miniature, narrative carving to ornament and conclude the text.
At a glance it reads like a tiny, jewel-like scene—a reclining pastoral group beneath trees with a distant house, all defined by crisply hatched lines and delicate textures that reward close inspection.
Bewick’s wood engravings helped redefine book illustration around 1800 by producing highly detailed, durable images that could be economicaly printed with type, shaping how stories were visually told and widely circulated in the age of mass publication.
Medium
Wood engraving from an illustrated book with 323 wood engravings and one etching and engraving
Dimensions
composition (irreg.): 1 × 1 7/8" (2.6 × 4.8 cm); page (irreg.): 8 1/4 × 5 5/16" (21 × 13.5 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
The Louis E. Stern Collection
Accession
680.1964.283
Palette
Exhibitions
