Banbury Chap Books | Page 5

books, almanacks, primers, "A. B. C.," horn books, battledores, etc., that were ever gathered together. I am glad to place on record, that by his will, his collection will remain intact. The special opportunities afforded him at the time for collecting them have entirely passed away.
I believe he was descended from John White, printer for the five northern counties of England to King William. This is referred to by Mr. Dodd in his preface to a quarto volume of woodcut impressions. William Dodd fully appreciated the local interest, by producing a limited impression of the quaint blocks in his possession.
The Rev. Mr. Hugo had a very large and important collection of blocks and books, and at his death I arranged and catalogued them for Messrs. Sotheby, according to the wish of his widow. The Rev. gentleman had wished his collection to be purchased by the trustees of the British Museum, but some little hitch occurred and this was not accomplished. In his collection the Robin Hood block, perforated with worm holes, realized quite a fancy price.
Among the relics of ancient woodcutting, are some so early and crude in their execution--quaint as the period they illustrate--as to really entitle them to the literal name and meaning of woodcuts, rather than wood-engravings, which they really became in the hands of the two Bewicks and their numerous school of pupils. Other provincial publishers were not so favoured as those at Newcastle-on-Tyne, as to have a Bewick trying his prentice hand on similar series, as used by J. Bell and others.
The Cock Robin blocks in this collection are certainly the earliest series I have seen among the thousands I have examined. The York Cries, Tom Hickethrift, Jack the Giant Killer, and many kindred cuts, are evidently from the collection of John White, the early printer, and are as quaint, as funny and droll in crudity of execution, as any of Thomas Gent's, the unique York engraver and bookseller.
The rarity and interest of a collection like the present, with their varied associations, may be fairly estimated when we consider that the country printers in those days were not particular in making the same woodcut do duty in most incongrous and inapplicable positions and subjects.
We have met with a block in a child's book, then the identical woodcut on a ballad, catchpenny, or last dying speech and confession, setting at defiance any suitability of illustration, or adaptability to the text matter. Of course now, some of these examples are exceedingly ludicrous, and do not fail to excite merriment, and often add to the intrinsic value of the article, as may be judged by numerous examples that have occurred in our literary auction marts during the last half century.
Besides it must be taken fair notice of that a genuine wood-engraving, or woodcut block may soon become a curiosity of the past, owing to the improved methods of illustrating children's books. Many of Bewick's blocks are veritable paintings on boxwood, and are as much classical works of art as work by Josiah Wedgwood, and his able coadjutor, J. Flaxman are in Fine Art. These early crude, quaint, droll little pioneer wood blocks will ever remain of great and even historical interest as showing the progress and influence on the illustrated literature of the civilized world.
Many of our readers have heard of Banbury Cross and Banbury cakes, and other famous juvenile associations, as the lady with bells on her toes, but it was also connected with the production of books for juvenile readers. A great portion of the blocks in this volume are Banbury blocks used for illustrating the toy books, children's histories, etc., for which this quaint old Oxfordshire town was famous. Many of them are connected with the early printing and engraving carried on in this and other towns of England. A quantity of the blocks were used in the books printed by John White of York, who established himself, as before mentioned, as a printer in Newcastle-on-Tyne, bringing with him a stock of quaint old blocks formerly his father's [at York], where he was sole printer to King William, for the five northern counties of England.
Boswell has recorded several conversations of Oliver Goldsmith with Dr. Johnson, in which the warm-hearted poet expressed a wish, "to make fishes, animals, birds, etc., talk, or appear so to do, for the amusement and instruction of children." In the National Collection is "The Valentine's Gift, or a Plan to enable children of all sizes and denomination to behave with honour, integrity, and humanity, very necessary to a trading nation: to which is added some account of Old Zigzag, and of the Horn with which he used to understand the language of birds, beasts, fishes and insects," etc., "Printed for Francis Power, (grandson to the late Mr. J. Newbery) and Co.,