Tailpiece (page xviv) from The Fables of Aesop
Thomas Bewick
British, 1753–1828
1818
A small wood engraving by Thomas Bewick from his 1818 edition of Aesop’s Fables, meant to punctuate the page with a compact, narrative image that echoes the book’s animal tales.
At first glance you notice a tiny, theater-like woodland vignette—a carefully carved animal perched on a fallen log above a reflective pool, rendered in crisp lines and dense cross-hatching that leaps from the wide, empty margins.
Bewick’s delicate tailpieces demonstrated how wood engraving could achieve fine tonal nuance and naturalistic observation, reshaping nineteenth‑century book illustration and the visual rhythm of reading.
Medium
Wood engraving from an illustrated book with 323 wood engravings and one etching and engraving
Dimensions
composition (irreg.): 1 7/16 × 1 9/16" (3.6 × 3.9 cm); page (irreg.): 8 1/4 × 5 5/16" (21 × 13.5 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
The Louis E. Stern Collection
Accession
680.1964.6
Palette
Exhibitions
