Introduction
Benjamin Fawcett was a printer in the small market town of Driffield in the East Riding of Yorkshire. In the nineteenth century, from his modest premises on Middle Street, he produced coloured illustrations of the highest quality, renowned both nationally and internationally. Fawcett engraved on the end grain of the finest Turkish boxwood which he imported, seasoned and prepared himself. He meticulously produced his own inks and watercolours by grinding minerals and mixing powders using copal varnish, water and ox gall as the medium. This produced colours with a unique and lasting quality that made his work exceptional and recognisable. He would never compromise on the quality of his materials. If the finest paper could not be readily sourced he would import it from France. Contemporaries and historians have called him "a genius" and "the finest of Victorian colour printers". It has been said that "his work has no equal" and that he produced "the finest piece of woodblock printing of the century". His illustrations have been described as "the very best ever published" and "virtually indistinguishable" from the original watercolour. He was never attracted to London and spent the whole of his working life in Driffield. He could reproduce an image in print "with such skill that few of his London contemporaries could match and none surpass".
In the mid-1840s Fawcett became acquainted with the new vicar of nearby Nafferton, the Reverend Francis Orpen Morris. Both shared an interest in natural history, Morris having written essays and corresponded extensively on the subject. Their first collaboration was The Bible Natural History published in 1850 with 161 coloured illustrations of the plants, animals, birds and insects which are mentioned in the bible. Fawcett then invited Morris to write the text for a work that he had been planning for some time - A History of British Birds. Fawcett himself would finance the project and produce the coloured illustrations. Birds took over seven years to complete and was originally issued in monthly parts at a cost of one shilling. The complete edition contained 358 hand coloured illustrations in six volumes. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had a copy and were amazed that a work of this quality could be produced in a small northern town such as Driffield. It was a revolutionary work not only for the quality of the illustrations but also because it changed the concept of ornithology. Fawcett's aim was to bring the subject to a much wider audience.
The success of Birds meant that Fawcett had to move to larger premises so in October 1850 he set up his home and printing works at East Lodge, Driffield and discontinued his retail business. East Lodge was a fine house with an adjoining printing works. "There he invented and perfected a new process for fine printing in colours" - The British Printer, Volume 6, 1893. East Lodge had extensive ornate gardens. In the fleeting moments when he was away from printing Fawcett could wander into the garden and relax while tending his prize winning flowers, fruit and vegetables.
The move to East Lodge also meant that Fawcett could take on more staff. Among them was a 14-year-old apprentice, Alexander Francis Lydon. Lydon had recently arrived in Driffield with his family as his father, a retired soldier, had taken up a post in the town. Trained and supported by Fawcett, Lydon was a gifted artist and engraver who was particularly skilful in his ability to analyse colour and translate that into the printing process. He would become Fawcett's principle artist and engraver.
By the mid 1850s the hand colouring process was becoming too time consuming and laborious so Fawcett started to experiment with colour printing from multiple wooden blocks. The results were outstanding. Fawcett, in his pursuit of perfection, would continue to inspect and retouch illustrations by hand if any errors were noticed or if there were known problems with a particular wooden block.
By the end of the 1850s Lydon, now in his twenties, had completed his apprenticeship. Not only was he an exceptionally talented artist and engraver, he also had the same dedication and commitment to his work as Fawcett. So much so that Fawcett felt confident enough to pass on many of the tasks and responsibilities that he had previously taken care of himself.
Fawcett, Morris and Lydon collaborated over many decades producing the most exquisitely illustrated books, culminating in their final collaborative masterpiece in six volumes - The County Seats of the Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland - with 240 coloured illustrations of the finest castles, halls and houses. Fawcett and Lydon also worked with numerous other authors producing works of outstanding quality. Close collaboration with authors and publishers, the skill of his engravers and colourists, and his own tenacity and dedication, created a unique and lasting legacy in the art of colour printing.
Unlike most of his contemporaries, Fawcett did not produce prints for sale, his illustrations were only used in the production of books. However, there are four known plates by Lydon, printed at the Fawcett works, that were solely for presentation to staff, family or others on special occasions at Fawcett's discretion - The Requiem, Frozen Out, Stoke Poges Church and Burnham Beeches. These four prints were mentioned by Margaret Maynard (see below). McLean, in the 1970s, believed that some of Fawcett's descendants were still in possession of some of these prints. They are undoubtedly rare so I am very pleased to have recently acquired a copy of Stoke Poges Church. The original watercolour for Frozen Out was offered for sale by Lydon for 17 Guineas at the Yorkshire Fine Art and Industrial Exhibition in 1879 along with a "Group of Fish" and "Rievaulx Abbey" at the same price.
Two books have been written specifically about Benjamin Fawcett, one in 1925 by Rev M C F Morris, the son of F O Morris, and one in 1988 by Ruari and Antonia McLean. Morris's book is a memoir and rather anecdotal in style but it does have a link with people who knew Fawcett in his lifetime. Morris had previously written a memoir about his father. The late Ruari McLean was a leading British typographical designer who wrote extensively on the history of printing, typography and book design. He described Fawcett as the finest of Victorian colour woodblock printers. The McLeans' book, the definitive work on Fawcett, lists in detail every known publication and illustration that Fawcett produced. That said, there are corrections to be made and it is possible, as McLean agrees, that there are other works yet to be discovered, as I can happily confirm. McLean didn't have the luxury of the Internet or on-line catalogues, he had to rely on friends, colleagues, booksellers, academics, libraries and librarians to assist him in his research. The McLean Collection, which covers the history of printing in the nineteenth century, is now in the library of Massey College at the University of Toronto. When shipped to Canada it weighed 11 tonnes!
The late Tony Appleton, Brighton bookseller and compiler of the Appleton Collection of Nineteenth Century Colour Printing now at Aberystwyth University, wrote that Fawcett's work has no equal and nominated British Fresh-water Fishes as the finest piece of woodblock printing of the century with the best of the plates in Gems from the Poets and English Lake Scenery as equally superb. McLean agreed and added that equal claims could be made for Ruined Abbeys, Beautiful Leaved Plants, Curiosities of Entomology and Parrots in Captivity, just for a start. Fellow engraver, W D Ridley, considered Birds to be "an achievement without parallel in book production."
A number of books have been published in recent decades as reproductions of Fawcett's original works and acknowledging their importance and timeless quality, for example, British Fresh-water Fishes (Peerage Books, 1984), Beautiful Leaved Plants (Scholar Press, 1978), Parrots in Captivity (TFH Publications, 1979), Rustic Adornments (National Trust, 1987) and British Birds (Peerage Books, Tony Soper, 1984). Numerous books on the history of printing, etc. devote sections to the work of Benjamin Fawcett and his books adorn the shelves of libraries, museums and private collections across the world. In recent years, as seems to be the trend, many of Fawcett's books are available as scans to download or as "print on demand". Although this makes Fawcett's works available to a vast audience, he must be turning in his grave!
Fawcett was awarded a number of medals at national and international exhibitions, the Yorkshire Fine Art and Industrial Exhibition in 1866, the National Fisheries Exhibition in 1881 for his exceptional work British Fresh-Water Fishes, and the North-East Coast Exhibition in 1882. Beautiful Leaved Plants was exhibited at the Paris Exhibition where it was selected by the executive to be presented to Empress Eugènie.
I have been fortunate to be able to compare copies of rare original watercolours by A F Lydon to illustrations produced by Fawcett's colour printing process. In my opinion, the analysis of colour and delineation onto multiple wooden blocks, the skill of the artist, engraver and printer along with the quality of ink, wood and paper combines to create an image that actually surpasses the quality of the original watercolour producing a result that transcends the constraints of what is, in reality, an industrial process. My recent acquisition of the monthly parts 1 and 2 of Birds has also confirmed the beauty and lasting quality of those early hand coloured illustrations which were the foundations of Fawcett's unique contribution to nineteenth century printing.
This developing website is a tribute to Benjamin Fawcett and his work.
Well at least that's how it started out! Research into the lives of some of the people involved, and their families, ancestors and descendants, spanning over 300 years, has provided a fleeting glimpse into such varied subjects as crime, politics, wars on three continents, health, mortality, morality, class, wealth, poverty, social and working conditions and more including George Washington's first love and the first ever fatality in a car accident. Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, Jane Austin, Lord Byron, Edwin Hubble, Winston Churchill and many other notable personalities also get a mention! I hope you find this unexpected and hitherto largely unpublished aspect of the "Benjamin Fawcett Story" as interesting as I did. This website is very much a 'work in progress' with more details about Fawcett's books and the people who were involved in their production being added as the research progresses.
Acknowledgements
I'm afraid this section is rather long but it's very important. Without the help of the people and organisations mentioned below this website would not exist. I apologise if I have inadvertently left anyone out.
Some of the information on this website comes from the works mentioned above, especially McLean, and from other works which I gratefully acknowledge and wholeheartedly recommend. Some information comes from original research and from material in my own collection which includes a number of items that are undocumented by McLean, M C F Morris, Library Hub Discover (COPAC as was), WorldCat or the British Library. Biographical and genealogical information has been gathered from original material and from publicly accessible sources. The accuracy of such information cannot be guaranteed so where possible it has been cross-referenced, verified and corroborated.
McLean relied heavily on the memoir by M C F Morris though he found it "irritatingly chatty" and lacking any "technical information". It did, however, include the reminiscences of W D Ridley, "one of Fawcett's early and most competent engravers". McLean also had access to a letter from another of Fawcett's engravers, J D Maynard (1858-1944), to his daughter, Margaret (1894-1981). Maynard had contacted some of Fawcett's relatives and his daughter used the information to prepare a lecture on Benjamin Fawcett. Margaret Maynard passed the notes on to Brenda Moon who donated them to Hull University in 1974. The notes are now at the Hull History Centre. I also consulted these notes and have included some information not mentioned by McLean. Maynard moved to London a year or so before A F Lydon where he continued to work as an engraver.
If you use any of the information on this website, please acknowledge it and send me a message, it would be nice to know that it's been useful. If you come across any information that you believe to be incorrect or inaccurate, please let me know. You can contact me through the Contact and Feedback page.
There are people mentioned below who were kind enough to put themselves out and go the extra mile on my behalf. Although they probably don't realise, acknowledging that I may be doing something interesting or worthwhile has been a great encouragement.
For their time and assistance I would particularly like to thank:
Elizabeth Jacklin, Assistant Curator, Victoria and Albert Museum, Curator at Tate Britain, now Keeper of Art at Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums.
PJ MacDougall, College Librarian, Massey College, University of Toronto.
Margaret Hornby, Secretary, and the Volunteers at Otley Museum, West Yorkshire.
Madeline Keyser, Reference Assistant, Lilly Library, Indiana University.
Bob Richardson, Library Manager, and the volunteer team, St Bride Library, London.
James Mosley, Librarian at the St Bride from 1956 to 2000, founder of the Printing Historical Society 1964 and Visiting Professor at the University of Reading.
Dr Heidi Egginton, Curator Archives and Manuscript Collections, now Curator Political Collections & Archives of Art and Artists, National Library of Scotland.
Professor Caroline Archer, Professor of Typography and Director of the Centre for Printing History and Culture, Birmingham City University.
Colin Neville, Woodbine Books.
Linda McGregor, Research Librarian, Alexander Turnbull Library, New Zealand.
Dr Sallie Morris, Volunteer Curator at the Type Archive.
Patrick Perratt, Librarian, National Art Library, Victoria and Albert Museum.
Stuart Bennett, Stuart Bennett Rare Books, formerly with Christie's, Sotheby's and President of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America. Grateful thanks for Kings and Queens.
Ellie Drew, York Archaeological Trust.
Steven Newman, York Minster Library Special Collections.
Sally Cooper and Julie Richards, University of Southampton Library.
Dian Ross, National Library of Scotland.
Anna Franz, Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University, USA.
Lane Osborne, Kat Tiler, Becky Higgins, Joanna Wilk, Joy Ingle, Helen Price and Ellen Dutton, Special Collections, the Brotherton Library, Leeds University. What a team!
Jason Burley, Camden Lock Books. Grateful thanks for The Corsair.
For their help and advice, I would like to thank:
Colin T Clarkson, Head of the Reference Department, Cambridge University Library.
Frank Bowles, Superintendent, Manuscripts Reading Room, Cambridge University Library.
Johanna Ward, Picture Library Assistant, Cambridge University Library.
Gemma Wilson, Brotherton Library Special Collections, Leeds University.
Professor Steven Parissien, Director of Compton Verney Museum and Visiting Fellow at the University of Oxford.
Geoff Burns, Archives and Collections, Birmingham City Council.
Shane Taylor, Tarrington Books. Grateful thanks for English Lake Scenery with an original pencil sketch by A F Lydon.
Staff at the Hull History Centre and the Treasure House, Beverley.
Thanks to staff at the British Library for your help and for your patience.
Special thanks.
I would like to express my sincerest thanks to Wallace Kwong and the curator of Rare Books & Music at the British Library. During a period of major technology outage due to a cyber attack, Wallace and the curator took the time to research and respond to my query about Byron's The Corsair published by Webb Millington and provided some very useful information and links for further research. It seems that The Corsair is indeed a rare item and the 1848 inscription in the copy at the University of Virginia is the only clue to the date it was published. I'm flattered and delighted that this website may be of benefit to the British Library for any future enquiries about Benjamin Fawcett and related matters. Many thanks Wallace.
I would also like to thank Aimee Burnett at the British Library, Rare Books and Music, for looking into an even rarer book on my behalf, Byron's Lara also published by Webb Millington. Aimee could find no references to this item but gave me some useful advice for further research. I think I'm extremely fortunate to have recently acquired a copy of this edition of Lara, perhaps Fawcett's rarest work. Aimee also looked in to another query for me over the Christmas period and consulted the curator. It looks like my suspicions have been confirmed and that Fawcett only printed the Index in Maw's Monograph of the Genus Crocus.
I am extremely grateful to Professor Alan Blum, the world's leading advocate and researcher into the history of the anti-smoking movement, Chair of Family Medicine at the University of Alabama, founder and Director of the Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society. The Center holds the world's largest collection of original documents, artefacts, images and reports on the tobacco industry and the anti-smoking movement which was established by Professor Blum in the 1970s. Professor Blum kindly provided of full copy of the 1842 tobacco pamphlet printed by Fawcett and uploaded it onto his website. We've had an interesting exchange of information and Professor Blum has made some very complimentary remarks about this website for which I am extremely grateful.
A very special thanks to Brooke Guthrie at the Rubenstein Library, Duke University, North Carolina. Brooke kindly sent me a scan of the title page of an extremely rare pamphlet on the perils of intoxicating drink that was printed by Fawcett in 1839. Brooke also had the whole document scanned on my behalf and uploaded to the Internet Archive. Their copy is probably the only one in any public library or museum collection anywhere in the world. It acknowledges Fawcett as the printer with Driffield printed in a style that I've never seen him use before - in a typeface rather like the current Old English font, all in upper case, most unusual. (Note, January 2024, it's the same in Bannockburn, also 1839, scan just received from the Brotherton Library.) Brooke has offered to help with any further requests should there be more items waiting to be discovered in their catalogue. It makes "going the extra mile" sound rather inadequate! Thanks Brooke.
I'm also extremely grateful to Grace Hale, Reference Librarian at the University of Virginia. Grace kindly supplied images of an extremely rare miniature book in their collection which was printed by Fawcett, Corsair, a poem by Byron. It's undated but has an inscription from 1848. It's another item that is possibly the only copy in any public library or museum collection anywhere. Grace also answered a number of further questions about the book and also provided some very useful advice on copyright and fair use policies regarding material supplied by libraries.
Thanks to Fiona McHenry of the Rare Books & Music Reference Team at the British Library for spending time on my behalf investigating options for returning more than just a handful of results when searching the Library for books printed by Benjamin Fawcett. Unfortunately it seems that there is no way of improving the outcome. Fiona kindly offered some advice for searching other sources which has proved very useful.
I would like to thank Dr Melissa Tedone, Conservator and Lab Head for Library Materials Conservation at the Winterthur Museum and Associate Professor, University of Delaware, for her advice and comments and for her pivotal work on the Poison Book Project. Melissa also kindly sent me an image of the binders' ticket in their copy of Fawcett's Rustic Adornments, the book which started it all off. Along with an image of the binders' ticket in the very rare Castles and Halls, kindly supplied by Patrick Perratt at the V&A, this has prompted me to look more closely at covers and bindings as an important aspect of Fawcett's book production.
Special thanks to Kristen Thornton, Special Collections Librarian at the Deakin University Library in Australia, for an interesting exchange of information. Kristen also kindly sent images of the covers and binders' tickets from their rare copy of Castles and Halls and from Ancestral Homes. I'm delighted that information from this website will help Kristen re-catalogue these two books and provide a more complete and informative record. Kristen epitomises the welcoming and generous nature of librarians and certainly falls into the category mentioned above in acknowledging and encouraging the work of amateur researchers.
I'm very grateful to Sally Hayes, Curator at the Treasure House Museum, Beverley. The Treasure House recently put on an exhibition on the life and work of the Reverend Francis Orpen Morris and we had a most interesting and informative exchange of information in the run up to the exhibition. I'm delighted that Sally accepted a number of items that I've donated to the museum or loaned for the exhibition. The exhibition - Birds, Books and Belfries - was on from 26 March to 24 September 2022.
Sally kindly invited me to join her at a "meet the experts" Open Day on 21 May 2022. Along with the museum's conservator, Kat Saunt, and experts from the RSPB, we were able to explain the background and detail of the work of Rev F O Morris and his collaboration with Benjamin Fawcett, and answer questions from the visitors. I took along some further rare and interesting items to give the visitors a "hands on" opportunity to appreciate the works of Morris and Fawcett at close quarters.
I would like to thank one of Benjamin Fawcett's Great Great Granddaughters who got in touch. I think we've both been frustrated by being unable to delve deeper into Benjamin's ancestry.
I would also like to express my sincerest thanks to a family who are descendants of one of Fawcett's engravers. They have in their possession a rare collection of over one hundred original watercolours by A F Lydon which were used in the production of one of Fawcett's major works - County Seats. The engraver was apprenticed to Fawcett in the 1850s but he left in the 1860s and became a photographer. He died in 1909. Possession of the watercolours can definitely be traced back to the engraver's son. It is possible that the former engraver carried out photographic work for Fawcett in preparation for the expansion of the County Seats series. I would suggest that the watercolours were either gifted to the former engraver for this work or by Lydon himself, or, most likely, he acquired them at the auction of the contents of East Lodge in September 1894. See An Engraver's Story.
A special thanks also to Nicholas Rougeux for his exceptional work on the illustrations in County Seats. The research is meticulous, the images amazing and the presentation outstanding. Thanks Nick. Check out Seats on c82.
NOTE
Where possible, images are taken from items in my own collection. Some images are taken from open source material or material in the public domain. Some images have kindly been provided by individuals or organisations with no restrictions on publication. Images that do have restrictions on publication do not appear on the website unless permission has been granted and/or copyright issues have been resolved. I have produced a very small number of Word documents containing, for example, title, author, publisher, date and printer. They may occasionally appear as images on the website, annotated accordingly. They are in a style used by Fawcett and the content may be speculative or loosely based on existing images or other sources.
This website does not use cookies or advertising. If you contact us we will communicate by email solely for the purpose of discussing the life and works of Benjamin Fawcett and related matters. Your email address will never be passed on to anyone else without your permission. I am retired and have been researching the life and works of Benjamin Fawcett for some time. This website is simply a means for me to document my research and make it available to anyone who may be interested.
13 January 2024, I've just made a first attempt at optimising the site for mobile phones and tablets. Please let me know if it's working OK or if there are any gremlins.
Benjamin Fawcett is a very niche area of interest but I hope anyone passing through does find it interesting and informative.
Research and website by Richard Taylor
In the mid-1840s Fawcett became acquainted with the new vicar of nearby Nafferton, the Reverend Francis Orpen Morris. Both shared an interest in natural history, Morris having written essays and corresponded extensively on the subject. Their first collaboration was The Bible Natural History published in 1850 with 161 coloured illustrations of the plants, animals, birds and insects which are mentioned in the bible. Fawcett then invited Morris to write the text for a work that he had been planning for some time - A History of British Birds. Fawcett himself would finance the project and produce the coloured illustrations. Birds took over seven years to complete and was originally issued in monthly parts at a cost of one shilling. The complete edition contained 358 hand coloured illustrations in six volumes. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had a copy and were amazed that a work of this quality could be produced in a small northern town such as Driffield. It was a revolutionary work not only for the quality of the illustrations but also because it changed the concept of ornithology. Fawcett's aim was to bring the subject to a much wider audience.
The success of Birds meant that Fawcett had to move to larger premises so in October 1850 he set up his home and printing works at East Lodge, Driffield and discontinued his retail business. East Lodge was a fine house with an adjoining printing works. "There he invented and perfected a new process for fine printing in colours" - The British Printer, Volume 6, 1893. East Lodge had extensive ornate gardens. In the fleeting moments when he was away from printing Fawcett could wander into the garden and relax while tending his prize winning flowers, fruit and vegetables.
The move to East Lodge also meant that Fawcett could take on more staff. Among them was a 14-year-old apprentice, Alexander Francis Lydon. Lydon had recently arrived in Driffield with his family as his father, a retired soldier, had taken up a post in the town. Trained and supported by Fawcett, Lydon was a gifted artist and engraver who was particularly skilful in his ability to analyse colour and translate that into the printing process. He would become Fawcett's principle artist and engraver.
By the mid 1850s the hand colouring process was becoming too time consuming and laborious so Fawcett started to experiment with colour printing from multiple wooden blocks. The results were outstanding. Fawcett, in his pursuit of perfection, would continue to inspect and retouch illustrations by hand if any errors were noticed or if there were known problems with a particular wooden block.
By the end of the 1850s Lydon, now in his twenties, had completed his apprenticeship. Not only was he an exceptionally talented artist and engraver, he also had the same dedication and commitment to his work as Fawcett. So much so that Fawcett felt confident enough to pass on many of the tasks and responsibilities that he had previously taken care of himself.
Fawcett, Morris and Lydon collaborated over many decades producing the most exquisitely illustrated books, culminating in their final collaborative masterpiece in six volumes - The County Seats of the Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland - with 240 coloured illustrations of the finest castles, halls and houses. Fawcett and Lydon also worked with numerous other authors producing works of outstanding quality. Close collaboration with authors and publishers, the skill of his engravers and colourists, and his own tenacity and dedication, created a unique and lasting legacy in the art of colour printing.
Unlike most of his contemporaries, Fawcett did not produce prints for sale, his illustrations were only used in the production of books. However, there are four known plates by Lydon, printed at the Fawcett works, that were solely for presentation to staff, family or others on special occasions at Fawcett's discretion - The Requiem, Frozen Out, Stoke Poges Church and Burnham Beeches. These four prints were mentioned by Margaret Maynard (see below). McLean, in the 1970s, believed that some of Fawcett's descendants were still in possession of some of these prints. They are undoubtedly rare so I am very pleased to have recently acquired a copy of Stoke Poges Church. The original watercolour for Frozen Out was offered for sale by Lydon for 17 Guineas at the Yorkshire Fine Art and Industrial Exhibition in 1879 along with a "Group of Fish" and "Rievaulx Abbey" at the same price.
Two books have been written specifically about Benjamin Fawcett, one in 1925 by Rev M C F Morris, the son of F O Morris, and one in 1988 by Ruari and Antonia McLean. Morris's book is a memoir and rather anecdotal in style but it does have a link with people who knew Fawcett in his lifetime. Morris had previously written a memoir about his father. The late Ruari McLean was a leading British typographical designer who wrote extensively on the history of printing, typography and book design. He described Fawcett as the finest of Victorian colour woodblock printers. The McLeans' book, the definitive work on Fawcett, lists in detail every known publication and illustration that Fawcett produced. That said, there are corrections to be made and it is possible, as McLean agrees, that there are other works yet to be discovered, as I can happily confirm. McLean didn't have the luxury of the Internet or on-line catalogues, he had to rely on friends, colleagues, booksellers, academics, libraries and librarians to assist him in his research. The McLean Collection, which covers the history of printing in the nineteenth century, is now in the library of Massey College at the University of Toronto. When shipped to Canada it weighed 11 tonnes!
The late Tony Appleton, Brighton bookseller and compiler of the Appleton Collection of Nineteenth Century Colour Printing now at Aberystwyth University, wrote that Fawcett's work has no equal and nominated British Fresh-water Fishes as the finest piece of woodblock printing of the century with the best of the plates in Gems from the Poets and English Lake Scenery as equally superb. McLean agreed and added that equal claims could be made for Ruined Abbeys, Beautiful Leaved Plants, Curiosities of Entomology and Parrots in Captivity, just for a start. Fellow engraver, W D Ridley, considered Birds to be "an achievement without parallel in book production."
A number of books have been published in recent decades as reproductions of Fawcett's original works and acknowledging their importance and timeless quality, for example, British Fresh-water Fishes (Peerage Books, 1984), Beautiful Leaved Plants (Scholar Press, 1978), Parrots in Captivity (TFH Publications, 1979), Rustic Adornments (National Trust, 1987) and British Birds (Peerage Books, Tony Soper, 1984). Numerous books on the history of printing, etc. devote sections to the work of Benjamin Fawcett and his books adorn the shelves of libraries, museums and private collections across the world. In recent years, as seems to be the trend, many of Fawcett's books are available as scans to download or as "print on demand". Although this makes Fawcett's works available to a vast audience, he must be turning in his grave!
Fawcett was awarded a number of medals at national and international exhibitions, the Yorkshire Fine Art and Industrial Exhibition in 1866, the National Fisheries Exhibition in 1881 for his exceptional work British Fresh-Water Fishes, and the North-East Coast Exhibition in 1882. Beautiful Leaved Plants was exhibited at the Paris Exhibition where it was selected by the executive to be presented to Empress Eugènie.
I have been fortunate to be able to compare copies of rare original watercolours by A F Lydon to illustrations produced by Fawcett's colour printing process. In my opinion, the analysis of colour and delineation onto multiple wooden blocks, the skill of the artist, engraver and printer along with the quality of ink, wood and paper combines to create an image that actually surpasses the quality of the original watercolour producing a result that transcends the constraints of what is, in reality, an industrial process. My recent acquisition of the monthly parts 1 and 2 of Birds has also confirmed the beauty and lasting quality of those early hand coloured illustrations which were the foundations of Fawcett's unique contribution to nineteenth century printing.
This developing website is a tribute to Benjamin Fawcett and his work.
Well at least that's how it started out! Research into the lives of some of the people involved, and their families, ancestors and descendants, spanning over 300 years, has provided a fleeting glimpse into such varied subjects as crime, politics, wars on three continents, health, mortality, morality, class, wealth, poverty, social and working conditions and more including George Washington's first love and the first ever fatality in a car accident. Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, Jane Austin, Lord Byron, Edwin Hubble, Winston Churchill and many other notable personalities also get a mention! I hope you find this unexpected and hitherto largely unpublished aspect of the "Benjamin Fawcett Story" as interesting as I did. This website is very much a 'work in progress' with more details about Fawcett's books and the people who were involved in their production being added as the research progresses.
Acknowledgements
I'm afraid this section is rather long but it's very important. Without the help of the people and organisations mentioned below this website would not exist. I apologise if I have inadvertently left anyone out.
Some of the information on this website comes from the works mentioned above, especially McLean, and from other works which I gratefully acknowledge and wholeheartedly recommend. Some information comes from original research and from material in my own collection which includes a number of items that are undocumented by McLean, M C F Morris, Library Hub Discover (COPAC as was), WorldCat or the British Library. Biographical and genealogical information has been gathered from original material and from publicly accessible sources. The accuracy of such information cannot be guaranteed so where possible it has been cross-referenced, verified and corroborated.
McLean relied heavily on the memoir by M C F Morris though he found it "irritatingly chatty" and lacking any "technical information". It did, however, include the reminiscences of W D Ridley, "one of Fawcett's early and most competent engravers". McLean also had access to a letter from another of Fawcett's engravers, J D Maynard (1858-1944), to his daughter, Margaret (1894-1981). Maynard had contacted some of Fawcett's relatives and his daughter used the information to prepare a lecture on Benjamin Fawcett. Margaret Maynard passed the notes on to Brenda Moon who donated them to Hull University in 1974. The notes are now at the Hull History Centre. I also consulted these notes and have included some information not mentioned by McLean. Maynard moved to London a year or so before A F Lydon where he continued to work as an engraver.
Although much of the information on this website has been distilled from these sources there are a number of interesting items and stories connected with Benjamin Fawcett which I think have been described for the first time. These include a number of rare works printed by Fawcett that were previously unknown or unattributed and some that were thought to have been unpublished.
Both the earliest known work printed by Fawcett and the rarest have had to be revised several times. Currently, the earliest is Greenwood's Picture of Hull 1835 and the rarest is The Sacred Harp, a miniature book published by Webb Millington with a single known copy at the Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio. Grateful thanks to Eric Rivet, Chief Curator, September 2025.
The mystery surrounding the seven unidentified plates in the M C F Morris papers has finally been solved, something which had eluded McLean for over twenty years.
Piecing together the family histories and biographies of Frank Fawcett, Rev F O Morris, A F Lydon, Frederick Ross and the apprentice engraver, William Dobson Brigham, has also revealed some surprising, poignant and heart-wrenching, previously unknown and untold stories.
Undocumented items printed by Fawcett not in McLean's "list of his books and plates". . . . .
The list of undocumented items has grown significantly since 2023 so it now has its own page.
Both the earliest known work printed by Fawcett and the rarest have had to be revised several times. Currently, the earliest is Greenwood's Picture of Hull 1835 and the rarest is The Sacred Harp, a miniature book published by Webb Millington with a single known copy at the Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio. Grateful thanks to Eric Rivet, Chief Curator, September 2025.
The mystery surrounding the seven unidentified plates in the M C F Morris papers has finally been solved, something which had eluded McLean for over twenty years.
Piecing together the family histories and biographies of Frank Fawcett, Rev F O Morris, A F Lydon, Frederick Ross and the apprentice engraver, William Dobson Brigham, has also revealed some surprising, poignant and heart-wrenching, previously unknown and untold stories.
Undocumented items printed by Fawcett not in McLean's "list of his books and plates". . . . .
The list of undocumented items has grown significantly since 2023 so it now has its own page.
If you use any of the information on this website, please acknowledge it and send me a message, it would be nice to know that it's been useful. If you come across any information that you believe to be incorrect or inaccurate, please let me know. You can contact me through the Contact and Feedback page.
There are people mentioned below who were kind enough to put themselves out and go the extra mile on my behalf. Although they probably don't realise, acknowledging that I may be doing something interesting or worthwhile has been a great encouragement.
For their time and assistance I would particularly like to thank:
Elizabeth Jacklin, Assistant Curator, Victoria and Albert Museum, Curator at Tate Britain, now Keeper of Art at Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums.
PJ MacDougall, College Librarian, Massey College, University of Toronto.
Margaret Hornby, Secretary, and the Volunteers at Otley Museum, West Yorkshire.
Madeline Keyser, Reference Assistant, Lilly Library, Indiana University.
Bob Richardson, Library Manager, and the volunteer team, St Bride Library, London.
James Mosley, Librarian at the St Bride from 1956 to 2000, founder of the Printing Historical Society 1964 and Visiting Professor at the University of Reading.
Dr Heidi Egginton, Curator Archives and Manuscript Collections, now Curator Political Collections & Archives of Art and Artists, National Library of Scotland.
Professor Caroline Archer, Professor of Typography and Director of the Centre for Printing History and Culture, Birmingham City University.
Colin Neville, Woodbine Books.
Linda McGregor, Research Librarian, Alexander Turnbull Library, New Zealand.
Dr Sallie Morris, Volunteer Curator at the Type Archive.
Patrick Perratt, Librarian, National Art Library, Victoria and Albert Museum.
Stuart Bennett, Stuart Bennett Rare Books, formerly with Christie's, Sotheby's and President of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America. Grateful thanks for Kings and Queens.
Ellie Drew, York Archaeological Trust.
Steven Newman, York Minster Library Special Collections.
Sally Cooper and Julie Richards, University of Southampton Library.
Dian Ross, National Library of Scotland.
Anna Franz, Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University, USA.
Lane Osborne, Kat Tiler, Becky Higgins, Joanna Wilk, Joy Ingle, Helen Price and Ellen Dutton, Special Collections, the Brotherton Library, Leeds University. What a team!
Jason Burley, Camden Lock Books. Grateful thanks for The Corsair.
For their help and advice, I would like to thank:
Colin T Clarkson, Head of the Reference Department, Cambridge University Library.
Frank Bowles, Superintendent, Manuscripts Reading Room, Cambridge University Library.
Johanna Ward, Picture Library Assistant, Cambridge University Library.
Gemma Wilson, Brotherton Library Special Collections, Leeds University.
Professor Steven Parissien, Director of Compton Verney Museum and Visiting Fellow at the University of Oxford.
Geoff Burns, Archives and Collections, Birmingham City Council.
Shane Taylor, Tarrington Books. Grateful thanks for English Lake Scenery with an original pencil sketch by A F Lydon.
Staff at the Hull History Centre and the Treasure House, Beverley.
Thanks to staff at the British Library for your help and for your patience.
Special thanks.
I would like to express my sincerest thanks to Wallace Kwong and the curator of Rare Books & Music at the British Library. During a period of major technology outage due to a cyber attack, Wallace and the curator took the time to research and respond to my query about Byron's The Corsair published by Webb Millington and provided some very useful information and links for further research. It seems that The Corsair is indeed a rare item and the 1848 inscription in the copy at the University of Virginia is the only clue to the date it was published. I'm flattered and delighted that this website may be of benefit to the British Library for any future enquiries about Benjamin Fawcett and related matters. Many thanks Wallace.
I would also like to thank Aimee Burnett at the British Library, Rare Books and Music, for looking into an even rarer book on my behalf, Byron's Lara also published by Webb Millington. Aimee could find no references to this item but gave me some useful advice for further research. I think I'm extremely fortunate to have recently acquired a copy of this edition of Lara, perhaps Fawcett's rarest work. Aimee also looked in to another query for me over the Christmas period and consulted the curator. It looks like my suspicions have been confirmed and that Fawcett only printed the Index in Maw's Monograph of the Genus Crocus.
I am extremely grateful to Professor Alan Blum, the world's leading advocate and researcher into the history of the anti-smoking movement, Chair of Family Medicine at the University of Alabama, founder and Director of the Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society. The Center holds the world's largest collection of original documents, artefacts, images and reports on the tobacco industry and the anti-smoking movement which was established by Professor Blum in the 1970s. Professor Blum kindly provided of full copy of the 1842 tobacco pamphlet printed by Fawcett and uploaded it onto his website. We've had an interesting exchange of information and Professor Blum has made some very complimentary remarks about this website for which I am extremely grateful.
A very special thanks to Brooke Guthrie at the Rubenstein Library, Duke University, North Carolina. Brooke kindly sent me a scan of the title page of an extremely rare pamphlet on the perils of intoxicating drink that was printed by Fawcett in 1839. Brooke also had the whole document scanned on my behalf and uploaded to the Internet Archive. Their copy is probably the only one in any public library or museum collection anywhere in the world. It acknowledges Fawcett as the printer with Driffield printed in a style that I've never seen him use before - in a typeface rather like the current Old English font, all in upper case, most unusual. (Note, January 2024, it's the same in Bannockburn, also 1839, scan just received from the Brotherton Library.) Brooke has offered to help with any further requests should there be more items waiting to be discovered in their catalogue. It makes "going the extra mile" sound rather inadequate! Thanks Brooke.
I'm also extremely grateful to Grace Hale, Reference Librarian at the University of Virginia. Grace kindly supplied images of an extremely rare miniature book in their collection which was printed by Fawcett, Corsair, a poem by Byron. It's undated but has an inscription from 1848. It's another item that is possibly the only copy in any public library or museum collection anywhere. Grace also answered a number of further questions about the book and also provided some very useful advice on copyright and fair use policies regarding material supplied by libraries.
Thanks to Fiona McHenry of the Rare Books & Music Reference Team at the British Library for spending time on my behalf investigating options for returning more than just a handful of results when searching the Library for books printed by Benjamin Fawcett. Unfortunately it seems that there is no way of improving the outcome. Fiona kindly offered some advice for searching other sources which has proved very useful.
Special thanks to Conrad Vispo from the Hawthorne Valley project in upstate New York, a not-for-profit organisation on a 900 acre site encompassing farming, education and art, working towards a sustainable future. Conrad has recently organised an exhibition centred around their amazing collection of 19th century natural history books and we've had a very interesting exchange of information particularly regarding some of their Benjamin Fawcett illustrations.
Special thanks also to Barrie Kaye of K Books for his help, support and exchange of information. Barrie has been an antiquarian bookseller for nearly 60 years and an enthusiastic expert and collector of the works of Benjamin Fawcett.I would like to thank Dr Melissa Tedone, Conservator and Lab Head for Library Materials Conservation at the Winterthur Museum and Associate Professor, University of Delaware, for her advice and comments and for her pivotal work on the Poison Book Project. Melissa also kindly sent me an image of the binders' ticket in their copy of Fawcett's Rustic Adornments, the book which started it all off. Along with an image of the binders' ticket in the very rare Castles and Halls, kindly supplied by Patrick Perratt at the V&A, this has prompted me to look more closely at covers and bindings as an important aspect of Fawcett's book production.
Special thanks to Kristen Thornton, Special Collections Librarian at the Deakin University Library in Australia, for an interesting exchange of information. Kristen also kindly sent images of the covers and binders' tickets from their rare copy of Castles and Halls and from Ancestral Homes. I'm delighted that information from this website will help Kristen re-catalogue these two books and provide a more complete and informative record. Kristen epitomises the welcoming and generous nature of librarians and certainly falls into the category mentioned above in acknowledging and encouraging the work of amateur researchers.
I'm very grateful to Sally Hayes, Curator at the Treasure House Museum, Beverley. The Treasure House recently put on an exhibition on the life and work of the Reverend Francis Orpen Morris and we had a most interesting and informative exchange of information in the run up to the exhibition. I'm delighted that Sally accepted a number of items that I've donated to the museum or loaned for the exhibition. The exhibition - Birds, Books and Belfries - was on from 26 March to 24 September 2022.
Sally kindly invited me to join her at a "meet the experts" Open Day on 21 May 2022. Along with the museum's conservator, Kat Saunt, and experts from the RSPB, we were able to explain the background and detail of the work of Rev F O Morris and his collaboration with Benjamin Fawcett, and answer questions from the visitors. I took along some further rare and interesting items to give the visitors a "hands on" opportunity to appreciate the works of Morris and Fawcett at close quarters.
I would like to thank one of Benjamin Fawcett's Great Great Granddaughters who got in touch. I think we've both been frustrated by being unable to delve deeper into Benjamin's ancestry.
I would also like to express my sincerest thanks to a family who are descendants of one of Fawcett's engravers. They have in their possession a rare collection of over one hundred original watercolours by A F Lydon which were used in the production of one of Fawcett's major works - County Seats. The engraver was apprenticed to Fawcett in the 1850s but he left in the 1860s and became a photographer. He died in 1909. Possession of the watercolours can definitely be traced back to the engraver's son. It is possible that the former engraver carried out photographic work for Fawcett in preparation for the expansion of the County Seats series. I would suggest that the watercolours were either gifted to the former engraver for this work or by Lydon himself, or, most likely, he acquired them at the auction of the contents of East Lodge in September 1894. See An Engraver's Story.
A special thanks also to Nicholas Rougeux for his exceptional work on the illustrations in County Seats. The research is meticulous, the images amazing and the presentation outstanding. Thanks Nick. Check out Seats on c82.
NOTE
Where possible, images are taken from items in my own collection. Some images are taken from open source material or material in the public domain. Some images have kindly been provided by individuals or organisations with no restrictions on publication. Images that do have restrictions on publication do not appear on the website unless permission has been granted and/or copyright issues have been resolved. I have produced a very small number of Word documents containing, for example, title, author, publisher, date and printer. They may occasionally appear as images on the website, annotated accordingly. They are in a style used by Fawcett and the content may be speculative or loosely based on existing images or other sources.
This website does not use cookies or advertising. If you contact us we will communicate by email solely for the purpose of discussing the life and works of Benjamin Fawcett and related matters. Your email address will never be passed on to anyone else without your permission. I am retired and have been researching the life and works of Benjamin Fawcett for some time. This website is simply a means for me to document my research and make it available to anyone who may be interested.
13 January 2024, I've just made a first attempt at optimising the site for mobile phones and tablets. Please let me know if it's working OK or if there are any gremlins.
Benjamin Fawcett is a very niche area of interest but I hope anyone passing through does find it interesting and informative.
Research and website by Richard Taylor
