figures and indoor scenes. He worked in rivalry with Bewick and
Nesbit; but he excelled neither, while he fell far behind the
former. John Thompson, one of the very best of modern English
engravers on wood, was Branston's pupil. His range was of the
widest, and he succeeded as well in engraving fishes and birds for
Yarrell and Walton's "Angler," as in illustrations to Moliere and
"Hudibras." He was, besides, a clever draughtsman, though he worked
chiefly from the designs of Thurston and others. One of the most
successful of his illustrated books is the "Vicar of Wakefield,"
after Mulready, whose simplicity and homely feeling were well suited
to Goldsmith's style. Another excellent engraver of this date is
Samuel Williams. There is an edition of Thomson's "Seasons," with
cuts both drawn and engraved by him, which is well worthy of
attention, and (like Thompson and Branston) he was very skilful in
reproducing the designs of Cruikshank. Some of his best work in
this way is to be found in Clarke's "Three Courses and a Dessert,"
published by Vizetelly in 1830.

From this time forth, however, one hears less of the engraver and
more of the artist. The establishment of the "Penny Magazine" in
1832, and the multifarious publications of Charles Knight, gave an
extraordinary impetus to wood-engraving. Ten years later came
"Punch," and the "Illustrated London News," which further increased
its popularity. Artists of eminence began to draw on or for the
block, as they had drawn, and were still drawing, for the "Annuals."
In 1842-6 was issued the great "Abbotsford" edition of the "Waverley
Novels," which, besides 120 plates, contained nearly 2000 wood-
engravings; and with the "Book of British Ballads," 1843, edited by
Mr. S. C. Hall, arose that long series of illustrated Christmas
books, which gradually supplanted the "Annuals," and made familiar