‘Five hundred and forty-two copperplates’ : Andrew Bell’s illustrations for the Encyclopaedia Britannica 1771-1797

Abstract

Andrew Bell (1725/6–1809) is best known as co-founder and co-publisher with Colin Macfarquhar of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, but he was also the sole provider of images for the earliest editions. These illustrations are an integral part of this publication. This article examines the plates for the early edition of the Encyclopaedia, considering them conceptually as an essential visual component of the publication, and logistically in terms of source material and places Bell in the context of the development of printmaking as an art form in Scotland in the eighteenth century.