Parentage ; Birth ; Schooling ; Early talent as a draughtsman ; Countryside in winter ; Border songs --
Childhood pranks ; Country sports ; Local superstitions --
Cherryburn ; Fellside neighbours ; Old soldiers, farmers and gentry --
Departure for Newcastle, 1767 ; Apprenticeship to Ralph Beilby ; Early training ; First wood engraving --
Influence of remarkable characters ; Fellow lodgers ; Improving literature --
End of apprenticeship, 1774 ; Pedestrian tours in Cumberland and Scotland ; Character of the Highlanders --
Visit to London, 1776 ; Work for the publishers ; Dislike of city life ; Return to Newcastle --
Partnership with Beilby, 1777 ; Brother Jack Bewick ; Troublesome apprentices --
Death of parents and sisters, 1785 ; Visits to Cherryburn cease --
Convivial society in Newcastle ; Dinners, songs and music ; Northumberland pipes --
Pedestrian tours in Yorkshire, Cumberland and to Holy Island ; Work for provincial printers and publishers, and for William Bulmer, London --
The History of quadrupeds, 1790 ; Marriage ; Engraving of the Chillingham Bull ; Revd Christopher Gregson and other friends --
The History of British birds, 1797 ; Visit to Tunstall's museum at Wycliffe ; First drawings of birds ; Contributions from many correspondents --
General labour of the engraving shop ; Banknote production ; Methods of forgery prevention --
The Fables of Aesop, 1818 ; Observations on the French Revolution and agricultural improvements of the day --
Reflections on war and its horrors ; Pitt and Napoleon --
Game laws ; Conservation of the fisheries --
Visit to Edinburgh, 1823 ; Thoughts on monuments --
Methods of engraving on wood ; Techniques of printing --
Further notes on wood and copper engraving ; Apprentices --
Advice to artists ; Study of nature to be preferred.