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ORIGINAL ANDREW BELL COPPER PLATE

ENGRAVINGS FROM THE 1797 ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA

THESE ARE ORIGINAL ENGRAVINGS
OVER 215 YEARS OLD

AND NOT LATER REPRODUCTIONS

THIS LISTING IS FOR:

1 TEXT SHEET ~ PART OF WHICH RELATES TO THE ARTICLE
+
2 ORIGINAL COPPER PLATE ENGRAVINGS

This was originally bound into a volume of The Ecyclopedia Britannica 3rd edition 1797

** THIS IS A COMPLETE ARTICLE**
** ALL OF THE ENGRAVINGS REFERED TO IN THIS ARTICLE ARE PRESENT **

The pages measure approximately

10 inches x 7 3/4 inches

(255mm x 197mm)

The is a genuine 18th century original

Fine quality HAND MADE ~ LAID PAPER
A fascinating insight into the knowledge, understanding and philosophy on the subject during the reign of GEORGE III

***THE CONDITION IS EXCELLENT***

CRISP & CLEAN IMAGES

MINIMAL FOXING or SPOTTING

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(1797 Britannica -14 Vol 7)

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Andrew Bell (1726–1809) was a Scottish engraver and printer, who co-founded Encyclopædia Britannica with Colin Macfarquhar.

Bell was a colourful Scot. His height was 4 foot 6; he had crooked legs and an enormous nose that he would sometimes augment with a paper-mache version whenever anyone stared at his natural nose. Bell began work as an engraver of crests, names, etc. on dog collars. Despite his small stature, he deliberately rode the tallest horse available in Edinburgh, dismounting by a ladder to the cheers of onlookers.

Bell produced almost all of the copperplate engravings for the 1st-4th editions of the Britannica: 160 for the 1st, 340 for the 2nd, 542 for the 3rd, and 531 for the 4th. For the 1st edition, Bell produced three full pages of anatomically accurate depictions of dissected female pelvises and of foetuses in wombs for the midwifery article; these illustrations shocked King George III who commanded that the pages be ripped from every copy.

After Macfarquhar died in 1793, Bell bought out his heirs and became sole owner of the Britannica until his own death in 1809

HAND MADE LAID PAPER The paper is original 18th century "Laid paper". Laid paper is a type of paper having a ribbed texture imparted by the manufacturing process in the 18th century. In pre-mechanical papermaking (from the 12th century into the 19th century), the laid pattern was produced by the wire sieve in the rectangular mold used to produce single sheets of paper. A worker would dip the mold into a vat containing diluted linen pulp, then lift it out, tilt it to spread the pulp evenly over the sieve, and, as the water drained out between the wires, shake the mold to lock the fibers together. In the process, the pattern of the wires in the sieve was imparted to the sheet of Paper