Plate CXLVIII from 1st Encyclopaedia Britannica

Andrew Bell (1726–1809) was a Scottish engraver and printer, who co-founded ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...

'' with

Colin Macfarquhar Colin Macfarquhar (1744 or 1745? – 2 April 1793 or May 1793, Edinburgh?, Scotland) was a Scottish bookseller and printer who is most known for co-founding ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' with Andrew Bell, first published in December 1768. The da ...

Biography

Bell was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

in 1726, his father a baker. He had little formal education and was apprenticed to the engraver Richard Cooper. 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

, 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. By contrast, the 50 plates of the Supplement to the 3rd edition were engraved by D. Lizars. After Macfarquhar died in 1793, Bell bought out his heirs and became sole owner of the ''Britannica'' until his own death in 1809. He quarrelled with his son-in-law,

Thomson Bonar Thomson Bonar (* 1738 or 1739, † 25 July 1814) was a wine-merchant who married Elizabeth, the daughter of the engraver Andrew Bell, who co-founded the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' with Colin Macfarquhar. Bonar sold the 3rd through 5th edition ...

, and refused to speak with him for the last ten years of his life.

Family

He married Anne Wake who was the daughter of an excise officer in 1756. She was apparently the granddaughter of the artist

John Scougal John Scougal (1645–1730) was a Scottish painter. Life He was a cousin to Patrick Scougal (died 1682), Bishop of Aberdeen and to Patrick's brother John Scougal, Lord Whitekirk. John Scougal is said to have been born at Leith, where his fathe ...

and through this connection Bell inherited many of Scougal's paintings.Cassell's Old and New Edinburgh vol. II p. 222/3

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Andrew 1726 births 1809 deaths Artists from Edinburgh 18th-century engravers 19th-century engravers Scottish engravers Scottish businesspeople Scottish encyclopedists Encyclopædia Britannica