iece by Thomas Bewick (actual size), from
_A general history of quadrupeds_, 1790, in the collections of the
Library of Congress.]

When the cuts in this book are compared with earlier impressions from
wood blocks, the difference is quickly seen. The blocks are more highly
wrought, yet every line is crisp and clear and the impressions are black
and brilliant. When we realize that the only new technological factor of
any consequence was the use of good smooth wove paper, we can appreciate
its significance.

There were no other developments of note in the practice of printing
during the 18th century. The old wooden hand press, unimproved except
for minor devices, was still in universal use. Ink was little improved;
paper was handmade; type was made from hand moulds. The ink was still
applied by dabbing with inking balls of wool-stuffed leather nailed to
wooden forms. The leather was still kept soft by removing it and soaking
it in urine, after which it was trampled for some time to complete the
unsavory operation. Paper still had to be dampened overnight before
printing, and freshly inked sheets were still hung to dry over cords
stretched across the room.

[24] D. C. Thomson, _The life and works of Thomas Bewick_, London, 1882,
p. 152.

[25] D. B. Updike, _Printing types, their history, forms and use_,
Cambridge and London, 1922, vol. 2, pp. 122, 123.

But with a more sympathetic surface for receiving ink from relief
blocks, a new avenue for wood engraving was now open. In the following
year, 1797, the first volume of Bewick's finest and best-known work was
published. This was the _History of British birds_, for which he and his
pupils did the cuts while Ralph Beilby, his partner and former master,
provided the descriptions (see figs. 12, 13, and 14.) It achieved an
immense and instantaneous popularity that carried the artist's name over
the British Isles. The attractiveness of the subject, the freshness of
the medium--which could render the softness of feathers and could be
interspersed with text--the powerful and decorative little tail pieces,
and the comparative inexpensiveness of the volumes, brought the _Birds_
into homes everywhere.

[Illustration: Figure 10.--Tailpiece by Thomas Bewick (actual size),
from _A general history of quadrupeds_, 1790, in the collections of the
Library of Congress.]

Actually, wood engraving was not immediately adopted on a wide scale.
Having done without it for so long, printers