Unlike most of his contemporaries, Benjamin Fawcett was an unassuming character who did not seek the limelight. Personal ambition, publicity and, to some extent, commercial success were not his driving forces, he was more interested in the perfection of his art than in fame and fortune. Fawcett would most certainly have been aware of the work of many other printers and he may have been influenced by them but his techniques and materials and the unique quality of his work were purely down to his own skill, dedication and tenacity. None of his contemporaries had anything approaching the range of Fawcett's subjects - flora, fauna, science, architecture, landscape, literature, poetry, etc. Fawcett had an illustrious career that lasted over sixty years producing some of the finest colour printing of the century in the small East Yorkshire market town of Driffield.

Thomas Bewick (1753-1828)

Thomas Bewick was not known for printing in colour though his black and white illustrations exhibited the finest of detail, especially those of the natural world. The son of a tenant farmer, Bewick was an uneducated, self-taught artist. He was apprenticed to Ralph Beilby of Newcastle where he developed his skill as an engraver. On completion of his apprenticeship he travelled widely in Scotland and then, in 1776 and with printing in mind, he went to London. Although the experience did enhance his reputation he found London an unpleasant place. He returned to Newcastle the same year and rejoined Beilby as a partner in 1777. Like Fawcett, he remained in his northern heartland for the whole of his working life. Bewick was keen to pass on his skills and had at least thirty apprentices though this was probably more to do with expanding his business than to altruism. A General History of Quadrupeds was published jointly by Beilby and Bewick in 1790. Following the success of Quadrupeds, the publishing of Bewick's most famous work, A History of British Birds, Land Birds in 1797, led to an irreconcilable and acrimonious split with Beilby. Beilby did not contribute greatly to the task and Bewick ended up doing most of the work himself. Litigation ensued and Bewick took complete control of the company in 1798. The second and final volume of Birds, Water Birds, was published in 1804. Bewick went on to have an illustrious career and enjoyed celebrity status. John James Audubon, the great American naturalist and painter, named the species Bewick's Wren in 1821 and William Yarrel, the famous British zoologist, named the species Bewick's Swan in 1830.

William Savage (1770-1843)

William Savage was born in Howden, East Yorkshire, about 25 miles from Driffield. He was the son of a clockmaker and went into business with his elder brother James as Printer and Bookseller. In 1797 he moved to London and in 1799 he was appointed printer to the Royal Institution where he also held a number of secretarial and managerial posts. In 1803 Savage set up his own printing business in London. In 1807 he was responsible for the printing of Edward Forster's British Gallery of Engravings, a phenomenal work of 52 engravings of old masters from the collections of George III and others. The Society for the Encouragement of Arts awarded him a medal "for his imitations of drawings, printed from engravings on wood, with inks of his own preparing". He published Practical Hints on Decorative Printing in 1822, On the Preparation of Printing Ink; both Black and Coloured in 1832 and A Dictionary of the Art of Printing in 1841. Rather than use linseed oil in the preparation of his inks, Savage preferred the use of copaiba balsam varnish derived from a species of tree found in Brazil. Savage makes no mention of the unique method of ink preparation that was perfected by Fawcett. Fawcett's prints do not have the glossiness or migration problems or the tendency to fade as a result of using varnish or oil, they exhibit a dry, matte finish and a unique softness of colour with very little tendency to fade.

George Baxter (1804-1867)

George Baxter, inspired by William Savage, was primarily known for the "Baxter Process" of colour printing, a patented process which he licensed to other printers. The "Process" involved an initial print from a steel "key" plate followed by colour prints from copper or zinc plates or wood blocks. All Baxter's work and that of his "licensees" had his name and patent emblazoned on the print. Despite what may have been stated elsewhere, Baxter did not invent colour printing! He probably didn't invent the "Baxter Process" either, he simply patented it. Also, contrary to what may have been stated elsewhere, Benjamin Fawcett never used the "Baxter Process" nor was he a licensee. Baxter moved to London, from Lewes in Sussex, at the age of 23. His father was a printer and publisher and his father-in-law, a close friend of his father, was a print engineer. They both backed him either financially or with their knowledge and experience. Although his early work was mainly for book illustrations, Baxter was primarily known for his prints. His finest work in book form was the Pictorial Album of 1837. Baxter was a perfectionist but he lacked business skills and was often unable to meet deadlines. It took over four years for Baxter to publish his print of the coronation of Queen Victoria. Baxter's own prints, although of the highest order, have been described as having "uninspiring" subject matter and his oil based inks had a tendency to migrate or fade over time. Baxter's business was declared bankrupt in 1865 after a little over thirty years in operation. Baxter died of apoplexy following an accident in 1867. While boarding a horse drawn omnibus he was struck by another as it passed.

Edmund Evans (1826-1905)

Edmund Evans was known as "the last of the great wood engravers". He had an illustrious career and worked with many of the most notable writers, illustrators, engravers and printers of the Victorian period. Kate Greenaway was one of the most prominent, Evans being the sole printer of her illustrations. Along with her colleagues Crane and Caldecott, Greenaway's success was, to a large extent, due to Evans' expertise in interpreting and printing their work. One of Evans' most significant works was A Chronicle of England: B.C. 55 - A.D. 1485 1864 by James William Edmund Doyle. It contained 80 illustrations drawn by Doyle and engraved by Evans. The book illustrates important events from the invasion of the Romans to the Battle of Bosworth Field. Evans himself described it as "the most carefully executed book I have ever printed." Such was Evans' reputation that Beatrix Potter asked him to print the watercolour illustrations for her first book, "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" 1902, despite the fact that Evans had retired ten years earlier. Following rejection by a number of publishers, Potter published the book privately in 1901 with black and white illustrations and an initial print run of 250. It was an immediate success. Frederick Warne & Co, who had earlier rejected the book, published the "first trade edition" in 1902 with Evans' coloured illustrations. It became one of the most popular children's books of all time. Before he died Evans wrote The Reminiscences of Edmund Evans a unique insight into the art of printing in the Victorian period. Interestingly, in the 1960s Evans' grandson gave the original unrevised manuscript to Ruari McLean who edited and published it in 1967.

George Cargill Leighton (1826-1895)

George Cargill Leighton was from an illustrious family of printers that stretched over many generations. Leighton, in partnership with his brother, Charles Blair Leighton, produced the world's first colour edition of a newspaper with the Illustrated London News Christmas Supplement of 22nd December 1855. Although rather crude, it was revolutionary and a watershed in newspaper publishing. Leighton achieved high volume at low cost but could still not produce results fast enough to satisfy the demand. He became the principle printer and publisher of the Illustrated London News in 1858 where he remained for another 27 years. Leighton was an apprentice of Baxter but never a licensee. He married Michael Faraday's niece, Margaret Faraday, in 1849. The Leighton Brothers patented a process of colour printing invented by Dean Wolstenholme, Junior.

Charles Knight (1791-1873)

Charles Knight was noted for his colour printing and for employing more than twenty of the leading illustrators and wood engravers of the period. He patented the "Illuminating Process" in 1838. Although used extensively by Knight to mass produce coloured illustrations it was not taken up significantly by other illustrators, if at all. St Georges Hall, Windsor in Old England: A Pictorial Museum 1885 is an example of this process. He wrote The Old Printer and the Modern Press in 1854, it was a revision of his William Caxton of 1844 with the addition of a second part, a review of printing in the 19th century.

Henry Vizetelly (1820-1894)

Henry Vizetelly specialised in the illustrated press. He was a proponent of combining printing, publishing and journalism. He worked for the Illustrated London News and started his own paper, the Pictorial Times, in 1843. "Christmas with the Poets" 1855 is one of his notable works. He produced work for John Ruskin though not entirely to Ruskin's satisfaction.

Joseph Martin Kronheim (1810-1896)

Joseph Kronheim was born in Germany. A licensee of the "Baxter Process", he preferred to use zinc rather than woodblocks. Pictures of English History from the Earliest Times to the Present Period 1868 is one of his notable works. He has been criticised for pursuing quantity over quality. Noted for his work with the Baxter licensees Gregory, Dowlen and Thompson.

William Dickes (1815-1892)

A pioneering colour printer, William Dickes was another Baxter licensee though he also used his own specialised processes. Having an artistic approach to printing, he exhibited at the Royal Academy. He provided the drawings on wood for Charles Knight's London and a number of colour illustrations for Peter Parley's Annual 1868 including "Attacked by Sharks". He supervised the production of illustrations for the Abbotsford edition of Scott's Waverley Novels, supervising some of the most talented illustrators and engravers of the day, including Edmund Evans and his master, Robert Branston, a former pupil of Bewick.

Owen Jones (1809-1874)

Primarily an architect, Owen Jones travelled Europe and carried out a detailed study of the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. He produced Plans, Elevations, Sections, and Details of the Alhambra: from Drawings taken on the Spot in 1834 by the late M. Jules Goury, and in 1834 and 1837 by Owen Jones, Architect. Unable to find anyone to print the detailed colour illustrations, he set up his own printing works. The result was the first chromolithographed book in England. Sadly, Jones' collaborator, the French architect Jules Goury, died of cholera in Granada in 1834. Jones was also well known for The Grammar of Ornament 1856 and as a designer of exquisite playing cards, primarily for De La Rue and then Lawrence and Cohen of New York. De La Rue is still in existence and is the world's largest banknote producer. Jones was superintendent of works for the Great Exhibition of 1851 at the Crystal Palace.

Henry Noel Humphreys (1810-1879)

Influenced by the artists and architects of Italy, where he worked up until returning to England in 1843, as well as being an engraver on wood and an illustrator, Henry Humphreys was also a naturalist and numismatist (a specialist in the study of coins). He is known for his History of the Art of Writing 1851 and History of the Art of Printing 1855. He also wrote and illustrated The Night Fliers, a series of Moth Pictures.