Charlton Nesbit (1775 – 11 November 1838) was a British

wood-engraver Wood engraving is a printmaking technique, in which an artist works an image or ''matrix'' of images into a block of wood. Functionally a variety of woodcut, it uses relief printing, where the artist applies ink to the face of the block and pr ...

Life

Nesbit was born in Swalwell in

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

, the son of a keelman. Nesbit became the wood-engraver

Thomas Bewick Thomas Bewick (c. 11 August 17538 November 1828) was an English wood-engraver and natural history author. Early in his career he took on all kinds of work such as engraving cutlery, making the wood blocks for advertisements, and illustrating ch ...

apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

around 1789. During his apprenticeship, he drew and engraved the bird's nest that heads the preface in the first volume of ''

A History of British Birds ''A History of British Birds'' is a natural history book by Thomas Bewick, published in two volumes. Volume 1, ''Land Birds'', appeared in 1797. Volume 2, ''Water Birds'', appeared in 1804. A supplement was published in 1821. The text in ''Land ...

'', and he engraved the majority of vignettes and tail-pieces for ''Poems of

Goldsmith A goldsmith is a Metalworking, metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Nowadays they mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, goldsmiths have also made cutlery, silverware, platter (dishware), pl ...

and Parnell'', 1795. In 1796, Nesbit engraved a memorial cut to another of Bewick's apprentices,

Robert Johnson Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911August 16, 1938) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His landmark recordings in 1936 and 1937 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that has influenced later generati ...

(1770–1796), from one of that artist's designs, and a little more than a year later, for the benefit of Johnson's parents, a large block after a

watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

by Johnson of a north view of St Nicholas's Church, Newcastle. This print, fifteen inches by twelve, was one of the largest wood-engravings ever attempted in the precise mode of Bewick's shop. Nesbit presented an example of this print to the

Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

, who awarded him their lesser silver palette. Around 1799 Nesbit moved from Newcastle to

Fetter Lane Fetter Lane is a street in the ward of Farringdon Without in the City of London. It forms part of the A4 road and runs between Fleet Street at its southern end and Holborn. History The street was originally called Faytor or Faiter Lane, then Fe ...

, London, where in 1801 he engraved woodcuts for Grey's edition of Samuel Butler's ''

Hudibras ''Hudibras'' is a vigorous satirical poem, written in a mock-heroic style by Samuel Butler (1613–1680), and published in three parts in 1663, 1664 and 1678. The action is set in the last years of the Interregnum, around 1658–60, immediately b ...

''. In 1802 he received a silver medal from the

. He worked on the 1806 ''Scriptures Illustrated'' of

William Marshall Craig William Marshall Craig (died 1827) was an English painter who exhibited at times at the Royal Academy, from 1788 until 1827. Craig first lived at Manchester, but settled in London about 1791. He was painter in water-colours to the Queen, and mi ...

, and on Wallis and Scholey's edition of

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's ''History of England'', which often bears his name on the woodcuts. With Branston and another of Bewick's pupils,

Luke Clennell Luke Clennell (8 April 1781 – 9 February 1840) was a British wood-engraver and painter. Life Clennell was born in Ulgham near Morpeth, Northumberland, the son of a farmer. He was apprenticed to the Newcastle upon Tyne wood-engraver Thomas ...

, he engraved the head and tail pieces for an 1808 edition of

William Cowper William Cowper ( ; 26 November 1731 – 25 April 1800) was an English poet and Anglican hymnwriter. One of the most popular poets of his time, Cowper changed the direction of 18th-century nature poetry by writing of everyday life and scen ...

's ''Poems'' in two volumes. He also engraved 'Hope Departing', 'Joyful Retribution', 'Sinners Hiding in the Grave', among other wood engravings for Ackermann's 1809 ''Religious Emblems''. By 1818, Nesbit had returned to Swalwell in Durham, though he continued to work as a wood engraver for London and Newcastle booksellers. He engraved a likeness of Bewick, after Nicholson, for Emerson Charnley's ''Select Fables'', 1820; and some excellent reproductions of

William Harvey William Harvey (1 April 1578 – 3 June 1657) was an English physician who made influential contributions in anatomy and physiology. He was the first known physician to describe completely, and in detail, the systemic circulation and proper ...

's designs for Northcote's ''Fables'', 1828. In 1830 Nesbit returned to London and worked upon Harvey's 'Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green', 1832;

Gilbert White Gilbert White FRS (18 July 1720 – 26 June 1793) was a " parson-naturalist", a pioneering English naturalist, ecologist, and ornithologist. He is best known for his ''Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne''. Life White was born on ...

's ''Selborne'', 1836; and Latrobe's ''Scripture Illustrations'', 1838. Nesbit, perhaps the best of Bewick's pupils, died at Queen's Elm, Brompton, on 11 November 1838.

References

External links

Charlton Nesbit wood engravings
;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Nesbit, Charlton 1775 births 1838 deaths English engravers