Natural History of Selborne Title Page Engraving by John Anderson

John Anderson (born 1775) was a Scottish

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 ...

and illustrator, a pupil of the British 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 ...

Life

Anderson was born at

Foveran Foveran ( gd, Fobharan) is the name of both a parish and village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The village is located north of Aberdeen and southeast of Ellon; the main group of houses and the village school are located adjacent to the main A90 ...

in Scotland in 1775, the son of

James Anderson of Hermiston James Anderson FRSE FSAScot (1739 – 15 October 1808) was a Scottish agriculturist, journalist and economist. A member of the Edinburgh Philosophical Society, Anderson was a prominent figure in the Scottish Enlightenment. He invented the Sc ...

. He was a pupil of

, taken on at his father's wish to help with illustration of a periodical, ''The Bee''. The relationship with Bewick ended acrimoniously, however, and by the later 1790s he was working for London printers. He went abroad by 1805, and died by 1808.

Works

Anderson cut (after drawings by George Samuel) the blocks which illustrate ''Grove Hill'', a 1799 poem by

Thomas Maurice Thomas Maurice (1754 – 30 March 1824) was a British oriental scholar and historian. The son of a schoolmaster, Maurice was educated at the Wesleyan seminary at Bristol before entering University College, Oxford in 1774, aged 19 (B.A. 1778, M. ...

. It was sumptuously issued by

Thomas Bensley Thomas Bensley (1759–1835) was an English printer known for fine work, and as a collaborator of Friedrich Koenig. He was an innovator in the fields of steam-powered printing presses, and lithography for book illustration. Life Bensley, the son o ...

in 1799, in a book that has been compared with

William Somervile William Somervile or Somerville (2 September 167517 July 1742) was an English poet who wrote in many genres and is especially remembered for "The Chace", in which he pioneered an early English georgic. Life Somervile, the eldest son of a long es ...

's ''The Chace''. Anderson, with ''Shakespeare's Walk'' in the book, almost equals Bewick, according to

Ernest Radford Ernest William Radford (1857–1919) was an English poet, critic and socialist. He was a follower of William Morris, and one of the organisers in the Arts and Crafts Movement; he acted as secretary to the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society. He w ...

writing in the ''

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'', and his treatment of foliage is reminiscent of the prints in

Robert Bloomfield Robert Bloomfield (3 December 1766 – 19 August 1823) was an English labouring-class poet, whose work is appreciated in the context of other self-educated writers, such as Stephen Duck, Mary Collier and John Clare. Life Robert Bloomfield wa ...

's ''Farmer's Boy'', where the first edition of 1800 notes "with ornaments engraved by Anderson." These wood-engravings have been erroneously ascribed to Bewick. Anderson also engraved illustrations to an edition of Junius. Redgrave says he formed "a style of his own and showed much ability". Anderson engraved an 1841 edition of

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 ''

Natural History of Selborne ''The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne'', or just ''The Natural History of Selborne'' is a book by English parson-naturalist Gilbert White (1720–1793). It was first published in 1789 by his brother Benjamin. It has been continuous ...

''.Archive.org: Natural History of Selborne, Harper and brothers, 1841
Title-page wood-engraving of The Wakes, Selborne is signed Anderson. Some wood-engravings are copied from Bewick's ''British Birds'', e.g. the Nightjar (p. 85).

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, John 1775 births Year of death unknown 18th-century Scottish people 18th-century engravers Scottish engravers Natural history illustrators