expensive embellishments, which, at the time he commenced business, were
exceedingly rare. The taste he displayed in the execution of his work will
be best exemplified in examining some of the printed editions of the
standard works which emanated from his press; and in no instance is this
more characteristically set forth than in those finely printed books which
are so beautifully illustrated by the masterly hand of Thomas Bewick and
his accomplished and talented pupil, Luke Clennell. Notably among which
are:--
1.--"The Beauties of Natural History. Selected from Buffon's History of
Quadrupeds, &c. Alnwick: J. Catnach, [n. d.] _Circa_ 1790, 12mo., pp. 92.
With 67 cuts by Bewick."--Another edition. Published and Sold by the
Booksellers. By Wilson and Spence, York, and J. Catnach, printer, Alnwick.
(Price 1_s._ 6_d._ sewed, or 2_s._ half-bound.) [n. d.] _Circa_ 1795.
The embellishments of "The Beauties of Natural History" form an unique and
valuable collection. They are very small and were done at an exceedingly
low price, yet every bird and animal is exquisitely brought out in the
minutest detail; whilst many of the illustrations which served as "tail
pieces" are gems of art.
2.--"Poems by Percival Stockdale. With cuts by Thomas Bewick. Alnwick:
printed by J. Catnach. 1800."
3.--"The Hermit of Warkworth. A Northumberland Ballad. In three Fits. By
Dr. Thos. Percy, Bishop of Dromore. With Designs by Mr. Craig; and
Engraved on Wood by Mr. Bewick. Alnwick: Printed and Sold by J. Catnach.
Sold by Lackington, Allen, and Co., London; Constable and Co., Edinburgh;
and Hodgson, Newcastle. 1806." The Arms of the Duke of Northumberland
precedes the Dedication, thus:--
[Illustration]
TO HER GRACE FRANCES JULIA,
DUCHESS OF NORTHUMBERLAND,
_This Edition of_
THE HERMIT OF WARKWORTH,
Is respectfully Inscribed
By Her Grace's Obliged and Humble Servant,
J. CATNACH
ALNWICK, _October, 1805_.
4.--A Second Edition; of which a few copies were printed on extra thick
paper, royal 8vo., to match with some of his other works, illustrated by
Bewick, pp. xiv., 182, with 13 cuts. At the end of the Poem are a
Postcript, a Description of the Hermitage of Warkworth, Warkworth Castle,
Alnwick Castle, Alnwick Abbey, and A Descriptive Ride in Hulne Park,
Alnwick: Printed and Sold by J. Catnach. Sold by Wilson and Spence, York.
1807.
THE HERMIT OF WARKWORTH.
[Illustration]
"And now, attended by their host,
The hermitage they view'd."
[Illustration]
With hospitable haste he rose,
And wak'd his sleeping fire:
And snatching up a lighted brand,
Forth hied the reverend sire.
* * * *
[Illustration]
He fought till more assistance came;
The Scots were overthrown;
Thus freed me, captive, from their bands,
To make me more his own.
The illustrations of "The Hermit of Warkworth" are, upon the whole, very
creditable, and are well calculated to enhance the value of the book, but
as works of art some few of them fall far short of many of Craig or
Bewick's other productions.
John Catnach also printed and published a series of Juvenile Works, as
"The Royal Play Book: or, Children's Friend. A Present for Little Masters
and Misses." "The Death and Burial of Cock Robin, &c. ADORNED WITH
CUTS.--Which in many cases were the early productions of Thomas
Bewick.--Alnwick: Sold Wholesale and Retail by J. Catnach, at his Toy-Book
Manufactory."
[Illustration]
In the year 1807, John Catnach took an apprentice--a lad named Mark Smith,
of whom more anon; a few months afterwards he entered into partnership
with a Mr. William Davison, who was a native of Ponteland, in the county
of Northumberland, but he duly served his apprenticeship as a chemist and
druggist to Mr. Hind, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and for whom he ever
cherished a fond regard. The union was not of long duration--certainly
under two years--but it is very remarkable that two such men should have
been brought together, for experience has shown that they were both
morally and socially, the very opposite of each other.
During the partnership: Mr. Davison held his business of chemist, &c., in
Bondgate-street; while the printing and publishing continued at
Narrowgate-street, and among the works published by the firm of CATNACH
and DAVISON we may record:--
"The Minstrel; or, The Progress of Genuis. In Two Parts. With some other
Poems. By James Beattie, LL.D. With sixteen Cuts from Designs by Mr.
Thurston; and engraved on Wood by Mr. Clennel, Alnwick. Printed by Catnach
and Davison. Sold by the Booksellers in England and Scotland. 1807. 12mo.
and Royal 8vo., pp. 142."
"The Grave. A Poem. By Robert Blair. To which is added Gray's Elegy. In a
Country Church Yard. With Notes Moral and Explanatory. Alnwick: Printed by
Catnach and Davison. Sold by the Booksellers in England, Scotland, and
Ireland. 1808. 12mo., pp. xiv., 72. With a frontispiece and other cuts by
Thomas Bewick."
[Illustration: _T. Bewick._]
THE GRAVE.
"Prone, on the lowly grave of the dear man
She drops; whilst busy meddling Memory,
In barbarous succession, musters up
The past endearments of their softer hours
Tenacious of its theme."
After the dissolution of the strange partnership, Mr. Davison still
prosecuted with vigour the several departments of the business; for
although reared to the prescribing of physics, he had a fine taste and
relish for the book trade, and the short time that he was with Catnach
enabled him to acquire a good amount of valuable information on this
subject. Be this as it may, he soon laid the basis of a large and
lucrative business. About the first work Mr. Davison issued on his own
account was:--
[Illustration]
THE REPOSITORY OF SELECT LITERATURE.
Being an Elegant Assemblage of Curious, Scarce, Entertaining and
Instructive Pieces in Prose and Verse. Adorned with beautiful Engravings
by Bewick, &c. Alnwick: Printed by W. Davison. Sold by the Booksellers in
England and Scotland. 1808.
This work is a fine specimen of provincial book-printing; its pages are
adorned with some of Bewick's excellent cuts. There is one that we would
particularly refer to, and that is "Shepherd Lubin." In size it is very
small, but, like most of Bewick's pieces, sufficiently large to show the
inimitable skill of the artist. The picture tells its own tale:--
"Young Lubin was a shepherd's boy,
Who watched a rigid master's sheep,
And many a night was heard to sigh,
And may a day was seen to weep."
[Illustration: _And for whole days would wander in those places she had
been used to walk with Henry._]
"The History of Crazy Jane, by Sarah Wilkinson, with a frontispiece by
Bewick: Alnwick. Printed by W. Davison; _and Sold by all the Principal
Booksellers in England and Scotland_. 1813."
[Illustration: "WILLIE BREW'D A PECK O'MAUT."]
"The Poetical Works of Robert Burns. Engravings on Wood by Bewick, from
designs by Thurston. Alnwick: Printed by Catnach and Davison, 1808." And
London: Printed for T. Cadell and Davis, Strand, 1814. With cuts
previously used in Davison's publications.
[Illustration]
"Many of the engravings produced for Burns' Poems, are of a very superior
class, and cannot be too highly commended."--_Hugo._
[Illustration: "SANDIE AND WILLIE."]
"The Poetical Works of Robert Ferguson, with his Life. Engravings on Wood
by Bewick. ALNWICK: Printed by W. Davison."
Mr. Davison, following up the actions of his former partner, had a great
regard for the standard poets. Previous to the issuing of the poems of
Ferguson they had tried to imbue a better taste into the minds of the
general reader, by means of publishing nothing but what was of an
elevating character. And this will be seen by examining such works as
Buffon, Beattie, Percy, Burns, &c. Almost simultaneously with the poems of
Burns appeared those of Ferguson. Both works are uniform in size and
price--_viz_: 2 vols., Foolscap 8vo.--12s. in boards; they contain some of
Bewick's choicest and most exquisite wood-engravings.
"The Northumberland Minstrel: A Choice Selection of Songs. Alnwick:
Printed by W. Davison."
There were only three numbers of this work published,[4] each of which
contained 48 pages. The object of this undertaking was for the carrying
out a project which at that time was becoming very popular, and consisted
in bringing together in a collected form some of the best and most admired
of our ballad-poetry. In fact, the object Mr. Davison had in view was only
to extend what had been so successfully accomplished by Herd, Ramsay,
Motherwell, Ritson, and others.
Mr. Davison continued in business at Alnwick up to the time of his death,
in 1858, at the ripe age of 77. He was by far the most enterprising
printer that had settled in the North of England. His collection of wood
blocks was very large, and it is hardly possible to form an adequate
conception of the many hundreds of beautiful specimens which he possessed.
He stated that he had paid Thomas Bewick upwards of five hundred pounds
for various woodcut blocks. With a view of disposing of some of his
surplus stock, he printed and published in 4to., a catalogue:--"NEW
SPECIMENS OF CAST-METAL ORNAMENTS AND WOOD TYPES, SOLD BY W. DAVISON.
ALNWICK. With impressions of 1,100 Cast Ornaments and Wood Blocks, many of
the latter executed by Thomas Bewick." This Catalogue--now exceedingly
rare--is of the greatest interest and utility, as it embraces a series of
cuts dispersed, as Mr. Hugo plainly shows, among a considerable number of
publications, and enables those who collect Bewick's pieces to detect the
hand of the Artist in many of his less elaborated productions.
Those of our readers who desire more information as to the many books
printed by W. Davison, the Alnwick publisher, are referred to "The Bewick
Collector," and the Supplement thereto, by the Rev. Thomas Hugo, M.A., &c.
London: 1866-68. These volumes, illustrated by upwards of two hundred and
ninety cuts, comprise an elaborate descriptive list of the most complete
collection yet formed of the works of the renowned wood-engravers of
Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Not only to Bewick collectors, but to all persons
interested in the progress of Art, and especially of wood-engraving, these
volumes, exhibiting chronologically the works of the Fathers of that Art
in England, cannot fail to be of the highest interest.
Mr. Davison printed and published a series of Halfpenny Books; they are
not only well printed, but in addition to this it is not unusual to see
them illustrated by some of Thomas Bewick's choicest engravings. Mr. Hugo
possessed twenty-seven in number, the titles of which he enumerates in his
"Bewick Collector" and the Supplement thereto: adding the remarks that
follow:--
"The cuts in these little publications are for the most part the same
which were used by Davison in the other and more important works which
issued from his press. The volumes are in 32mo, and in typographical
excellence are far in advance of all other children's books of the
period of their publication with which I am acquainted."
Herewith we publish one of the series from our own private collection. The
justness of Mr. Hugo's opinion will be at once seen.
THE GUESS BOOK,
A COLLECTION OF
_INGENIOUS PUZZLES_.
[Illustration]
ALNWICK:
Published and Sold by W. Davison.
_Price One Halfpenny_,
2
a b c d e
f g h i j k
l m n o p
q r s t u v
w x y z &
3
THE
GUESS BOOK.
[Illustration]
THE MOON.
There was a thing a full month old,
When Adam was no more;
But ere that thing was five weeks old,
Adam was years five score.
4
_Guess Book._
[Illustration]
A CAT.
In almost every house I'm seen,
(No wonder then I'm common),
I'm neither man, nor maid, nor child,
Nor yet a married woman.
5
_Guess Book._
[Illustration]
A CANNON.
I am the terror of mankind,
My breath is flame, and by its power
I urge my messenger to find
A way into the strongest tower.
6
_Guess Book._
[Illustration]
AN OWL.
My patron is Wisdom--if Wisdom you prize,
In me put your confidence, borrow my eyes,
Who into a mill-stone can see quite as far
As the best of you all, by the light of a star.
7
_Guess Book._
[Illustration]
A TOP.
I ne'er offend thee,
Yet thou dost me whip,
Which don't amend me,
Though I dance and skip;
When I'm upright,
Me you always like best,
And barbarously whip me
When I want rest.
8
_Guess Book._
[Illustration]
BOOKS.
With words unnumber'd I abound;
In me mankind do take delight;
In me much learning's to be found;
Yet I can neither read nor write.
9
_Guess Book._
[Illustration]
A DRUM.
My sides are firmly
Lac'd about,
Yet nothing is within:
You'll think my head
Is strange indeed,
Being nothing else but skin.
10
_Guess Book._
[Illustration]
A SAND-GLASS.
Made of two bodies join'd,
Without foot or hand;
And yet you will find
I can both run and stand.
11
_Guess Book._
[Illustration]
TIME.
Ever eating, never cloying,
All devouring, all destroying,
Never finding full repast
Till I eat the world at last.
12
_Guess Book._
[Illustration]
DEATH.
The gate of life, the cause of strife,
The fruit of sin,
When I appear, you drop a tear,
And stay within.
13
_Guess Book._
[Illustration]
A PAIR OF SHOES.
To rich and poor
We useful are;
And yet for our reward,
By both at last
We're thrown away,
Without the least regard.
14
_Guess Book._
[Illustration]
A SQUIRREL.
I am a busy active creature,
Fashion'd for the sport of nature,
Nimbly skip from tree to tree,
Under a well-wrought canopy;
Bid Chloe then to Mira tell
What's my name and where I dwell.
15
_Guess Book._
[Illustration]
A FISH.
Though it be cold I wear no clothes,
The frost and snow I never fear;
I value neither shoes nor hose,
And yet I wander far and near.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
[Signature: John Catnach]
AT NEWCASTLE.
"There is no fooling with Life, when it is once turned forty: the
seeking of a Fortune then is but a desperate after-game: it is a
hundred to one if a man fling three sixes, and recover all; if his
hand be no luckier than mine."--_Cowley._
In or about the latter part of the year 1808, John Catnach, with his wife
and family, left Alnwick for Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and commenced business
in a small shop in Newgate-street, and among other Works which he printed
there, mention may be made of "The Battle of Chevy Chase," a selection
from the works of "Dr. Samuel Johnson, in two volumes," and "The Life of
John Thompson, Mariner. Written by Himself: Also, his Divine Selections,
in Prose and Verse. _From esteemed Authors._ Embellished with steel
Engravings. Newcastle: _Printed for the Author_. By J. Catnach,
Newgate-street. 1810. 12mo., pp. lxxvi., 214. With two tail-pieces by
Thomas Bewick."
John Thompson, _alias_ Godfried Thomas Leschinsky, born at Riga, 1782, was
a seaman. He sailed with Nelson's fleet to Copenhagen, 1801. Continuing at
sea he endured many hardships from severe accidents and ill health, and
was at length discharged as not being fit for his Majesty's service. In
1806, while in the Infirmary at Newcastle, one of his legs--from old
injuries, rapidly mortified and had to be amputated. Subsequently, in
consequence of the bones and joints of his right hand decaying, his arm
was taken off below the elbow. He for years made a living out of his
misfortunes and assumed piety. Catnach was induced, by specious reasoning,
to undertake the printing of the book, but the eleemosynary author dying
just as it was all worked off but not bound, he had the whole of the stock
thrown on his hands to do the best he could with. There were between fifty
and sixty claims set up by persons who averred that they had in part, or
whole, paid for a copy each to the author on signing his subscription
list, and most of these claims were allowed on the payment of sixpence
extra: the work was subscribed for at 3s. 6d., but being extended to 20
pages more than was expected, the price was advanced to 4s.
John Catnach, at Newcastle, worked attentively for awhile, but without
finding his expectations realised. Alas! time and the change of scene and
companions had not improved the man. He contrived to get into a great
amount of debt, without the least possible chance, from his irregular mode
of living, of being able to pay it off. Eventually, he made up his mind
for the worst, and the downward course would seem to have been the only
way open to him. From bad to worse, and from one extreme to the other, he
rapidly drifted. The loose and irregular manner in which he had existed
was beginning to tell upon his constitution. His business had been
neglected, and his adventures were nearly at a climax. The wreck came,
with a terrific blow; but it was not unlooked for. Poor Catnach was a
bankrupt, and as such sent to the debtor's gaol. But just before, he had
managed to send his wife and daughters to London, together with a wooden
printing press, some small quantity of type, and other articles of his
trade that could be hurriedly and clandestinely got together.
During the five years' residence of John and Mary Catnach in Newcastle,
they had one child, Isabella, burned to death, and another, Julia Dalton,
born to them.
Mr. Mark Smith, who had been bound apprentice to John Catnach, but by
reason of whose removal from the Borough of Alnwick, the indentures had
been rendered void, was then in London, serving out his time as a turnover
and improver with Mr. John Walker, of Paternoster Row, and on being made
acquainted with the arrival of Mrs. Catnach and her family, paid them a
visit at their lodgings in a court leading off Drury-lane, and assisted in
putting up the press and arranging the other few matters and utensils in
connection with their tiny printing office, there to await John Catnach's
release from prison and arrival in the metropolis.
London life to John Catnach proved very disastrous, matters never went
smoothly with him. It was evident to all his friends that he had made a
great mistake in leaving the North of England. Mr. Mark Smith continued to
visit the family as opportunities presented themselves. On one occasion he
found them in extremely distressed circumstances, so much so, that he had
to afford them some temporary relief from his slender earnings and then
left the northern sojourners for the night, promising that he would return
to see them at an early date. Anxious to learn how they were succeeding in
the crowded metropolis, it was not many days before he again visited them,
but this time he found them in a sorry plight; the landlady had distrained
upon their all for arrears of rent. This was an awkward predicament; but
the indomitable young Northumbrian, like the more burly Dr. Johnson of
old, when his friend Oliver Goldsmith was similarly situated, resolved to
do all he could to rescue him from the peril in which he was placed. Not
being prepared for a case of such pressing emergency, the full debt and
costs being demanded, he was compelled to borrow the required amount of
Mr. Matthew Willoughby, a native and freeman of the Borough of Alnwick,
then residing in London, and once more his old master was free.
John Catnach then removed his business to a front shop in Soho, when, in
the absence of work of a higher class, he had to resort to printing
quarter-sheet ballads, here is the title and imprint of one example:--
[Illustration]
TOM STARBOARD AND FAITHFUL NANCY.
Tom Starboard was a lover true,
As brave a tar as ever sail'd;
The duties ablest seamen do
Tom did, and never had fail'd.
LONDON.--Printed by J. Catnach, and Sold Wholesale and Retail at No. 60,
Wardour-street, Soho-square.
For his wife and family he took apartments in Charlotte Street,
Fitzroy-square. Again he shortly removed his business to Gerrard-street,
where he had hardly got his plant into working order, when on returning
home on the evening of the 29th of August, 1813, he had the misfortune to
fall down and injure his leg. He was immediately taken to St. George's
Hospital, Hyde-park Corner, when rheumatic fever supervened, and although
placed under the skilful treatment of Dr. Young, he never rallied, his
constitution being completely broken, but by means of superior medical
treatment and good nursing he lingered until the 4th of December in the
same year, on which day he died.
Such is a brief _résumé_ of the latter years of John Catnach's life. It is
apparent that, by a little application and self-denial, this man might
have made for himself a name and position in the world. He possessed all
the necessary talents for bringing success within his reach. The ground
which he took is the same which in after years proved to be of inestimable
value to hundreds of publishers who never possessed half the amount of
ability and good taste in printing and embellishing books that was centred
in him.
After his death, and just at the time when his widow and daughters were
sunk in the greatest poverty, his son James, who in after years became so
noted in street literature publications, made his way to the metropolis.
It appears that this extraordinary man at one time contemplated devoting
his life to rural pursuits; in fact, when a youth he served for some time
as a shepherd boy, quite contrary to the wish and desire of his parents.
Every opportunity he could get he would run away, far across the moors and
over the Northumbrian mountains, and, always accompanied with his
favourite dog Venus, and a common-place book, in which he jotted down in
rhymes and chymes his notions of a pastoral life.[5] Thus he would stay
away from home for days and nights together.
This project, however, was abandoned, and he commenced to serve as a
printer in the employment of his father. It is rather remarkable that he
and Mr. Mark Smith
[Signature: Mr. Smith.]
were both bound on the same day as apprentices to Mr. John Catnach, and
that they afterwards worked together as "improvers" in their trade with:--
[Illustration: _Joseph Graham, Printer, Alnwick._]
Mr. Hugo, in the Supplement to his "Bewick Collector," pp. 256 (5137),
says:--"This very beautiful Cut was done by Thomas Bewick, sometime about
the year 1794, for a well-known Alnwick printer."
[Signature: James Catnach]
"Death made no conquest of this man,
For now he lives in fame, though not in life."
At the time James--or, as he afterwards was popularly called "_Jemmy_,"
or, "_Old Jemmy_" Catnach commenced business in Seven Dials it took all
the prudence and tact which he could command to maintain his position, as
at that time "Johnny" Pitts,[6] of the Toy and Marble Warehouse, No. 6,
Great St. Andrew street, was the acknowledged and established printer of
street literature for the "Dials" district; therefore, as may be easily
imagined, a powerful rivalry and vindictive jealousy soon arose between
these "two of a trade"--most especially on the part of "Old Mother" Pitts,
who is described as being a coarse and vulgar-minded personage, and as
having originally followed the trade of a bumboat woman at Portsmouth: she
"wowed wengeance" against the young fellow in the court for daring to set
up in their business, and also spoke of him as a young "Catsnatch,"
"Catblock," "Cut-throat," and many other opprobrious terms which were
freely given to the new comer. Pitts' staff of "bards" were duly cautioned
of the consequences which would inevitably follow should they dare to
write a line for Catnach--the new _cove_ up the court. The injunction was
for a time obeyed, but the "Seven Bards of the Seven Dials" soon found it
not only convenient, but also more profitable to sell copies of their
effusions to both sides at the same time, and by keeping their own counsel
they avoided detection, as each printer accused the other of obtaining an
early sold copy, and then reprinting it with the utmost speed, which was
in reality often the case, as "Both Houses" had emissaries on the constant
look-out for any new production suitable for street-sale. Now, although
this style of "double dealing" and competition tended much to lessen the
cost price to the "middle-man" or vendor, the public in this case did not
get any of the reduction, as a penny broadside was still a penny, and a
quarter-sheet still a halfpenny to them, the "street-patterer" obtaining
the whole of the reduction as extra profit.