< Back

[Trusler, John].
HOLD Proverbs in Verse, or Moral Instruction Conveyed in Pictures, for the Use of Schools: On the plan of Hogarth moralized by the Same Author.
Publisher: I. Souter, London;
Date of Publication: 1815
Stock Code: 8341
12mo (approx 16.5 cm x 10 cm), pp. 122 [6], including two leaves of ads at end. Engraved woodcut to title-page and 55 square woodcuts and 38 tail-pieces, all by John Bewick (some signed J. B.). Later 19th c. plain brown cloth. Cloth lightly spine sunned, and rubbed to edge with minor wear at spine tips and corners. A Near Fine early edition of this work, with all editions being scarce. Proverbs in poetical form with accompanying illustrations by John Bewick, designed to appeal to children. John Bewick was the brother of the celebrated naturalist and engraver Thomas, and he provided the artwork for several of Trusler’s publications over a lengthy period in the late eighteenth century. “Proverbs in Verse” was a revised text of “Proverbs Exemplified” which was published by Trusler in 1790 and is one of the earliest known books of illustrated proverbs for children; the revised work still used the John Bewick illustrations and incorporates in addition five cuts borrowed from “The Progress of Man and Society”, a new proverb, and a new cut of the Good Samaritan (presumably produced for the original but unused) as well as an additional nine vignettes. By publication in 1817 John had died, and though he was named as the artist in the original publication, “Proverbs in Verse” was published without accreditation for his illustrations. Rare. £450.00