Andrew Bell
Illustration — Andrew Bell by George Watson • Illustration — Bell's copperplate engraving of a first rate ship-of-war from the First Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica - "undoubtedly the noblest machine that ever was invented" Andrew Bell (1726–1809) was a Scottish engraver and printer, who co-founded Encyclopædia Britannica with Colin Macfarquhar.
Andrew Bell
Andrew Bell · Wellcome Collection, London · Wellcome Collection · Public Domain Mark
- Born
- 1726. · Edinburgh.
- Nationality
- United Kingdom.
- Occupation
- printmaker, printer, publisher and copper engraver.
- Languages
- English.
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Documentary summary
Illustration — Andrew Bell by George Watson • Illustration — Bell's copperplate engraving of a first rate ship-of-war from the First Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica - "undoubtedly the noblest machine that ever was invented" Andrew Bell (1726–1809) was a Scottish engraver and printer, who co-founded Encyclopædia Britannica with Colin Macfarquhar.
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Andrew Bell (1726–1809) was a British copper engraver, printer and printmaker, among other activities. The copper engraver was born and died in Edinburgh.
Andrew Bell worked in Edinburgh. The copper engraver was active in engraving and publishing house. Languages used include English.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 01 October 2026
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In this article
Biography
Biography
Bell was born in Edinburgh in 1726, his father a baker. He had little formal education and was apprenticed to the engraver Richard Cooper. Bell was a colourful Scot. His height was 4 foot; he had crooked legs and an enormous nose that he would sometimes augment with a papier-mache version whenever anyone stared at his natural nose. Bell began work as an engraver of crests, names, etc., on dog collars. Despite his small stature, he deliberately rode the tallest horse available in Edinburgh, dismounting by a ladder to the cheers of onlookers. Bell produced almost all of the copperplate engravings for the 1st–4th editions of the Britannica: 160 for the 1st, 340 for the 2nd, 542 for the 3rd, and 531 for the 4th. By contrast, the 50 plates of the Supplement to the 3rd edition were engraved by D.Lizars. After Macfarquhar died in 1793, Bell bought out his heirs and became sole owner of the Britannica until his own death in 1809. He quarrelled with his son-in-law, Thomson Bonar, and refused to speak with him for the last ten years of his life.
Family
Family
He married Anne Wake who was the daughter of an excise officer in 1756. She was apparently the granddaughter of the artist John Scougal and through this connection Bell inherited many of Scougal's paintings.
Identity
Identity
Andrew Bell is recorded as printmaker, printer, publisher and copper engraver.
Surgical instruments. Engraving by Andrew Bell., by Andrew Bell
Andrew Bell · Wellcome Collection, London · Wellcome Collection
Surgical instruments. Engraving by Andrew Bell., by Andrew Bell
Andrew Bell · Wellcome Collection, London · Wellcome Collection
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1726
Andrew Bell was born in 1726 at Edinburgh.
1809
Andrew Bell died in 1809 at Edinburgh.
Primary material
Documents and archives
scholarly publication
- Bell, Andrew (1726–1809), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2018
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2018
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q2846567: Andrew Bell
Reputable secondary · Wikidata
Literature
Literature
Literature
Bell, Andrew (1726–1809), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2018
Bell, Andrew (1753–1832), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2017
Scholarly footprint
Literature
Scholarly footprint
A count of publications is evidence of attention, not of standing, and is given here only as a measure.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Kafker, Frank A. The Achievement of Andrew Bell and Colin Macfarquhar as the First Publishers of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies. 18. 2. 139–152. 1 October 2008. 10.1111/j.1754-0208.1995.tb00185.x.
- 2.Kogan, Herman. The Great EB: The Story of the Encyclopædia Britannica. The University of Chicago Press. 1958.
- 3.Gunn, Ann. 'Five Hundred and Forty-Two Copperplates': Andrew Bell’s Illustrations for the Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1771–97". Journal of the Scottish Society for Art History. V. 22, (2017–2018): 7-14.
- 4.Kafker, Frank A. THE ACHIEVEMENT OF ANDREW BELL and COLIN MACFARQUHAR AS THE FIRST PUBLISHERS OF THE ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA. Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies. 18. 2. 139–152. 2008-10-01. 1754-0194.
- 5.Cassell's Old and New Edinburgh vol. II p. 222/3
References
Citations
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scholarly publication
Institutional witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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