Benjamin Fawcett (1808 - 1893)

An English nineteenth century woodblock color printer known for his professional relationships with Francis Orpen Morris and Alexander Francis Lydon. Morris wrote the text for books which were financed and printed by Fawcett, and were engraved by Lydon.

Hand-coloured wood engraving started with an accurate painting of the subject. This picture was then carved on a wooden block, standing proud in order to pick up the ink. The block was then placed in a printing press to give a black-and-white print, which was then hand-coloured. The wooden print blocks were carved with great attention detail. Pear and boxwood were sufficiently hard and fine-grained, making them durable and capable of showing fine detail. Most of the joint works of Fawcett and Lydon were published by Groombridge, of London.

Some of his publications include: A Natural History of British Birds and British Fresh-water Fishes.