THE work of a North-East artist considered to be one of Britain's greatest engravers has gone on show.

The exhibition of work by Thomas Bewick, called An Anecdotal Eye, is at the dli, formerly the DLI Museum and Durham Art Gallery, until Sunday, October 27.

Bewick, who was born in Northumberland in the 18th Century, taught himself and created narratives in miniature of the Ways of Nature and Ways of Men.

He spent nearly all his life in the North-East, but the excellence of his wood engravings ensured him fame across Britain and beyond. His observations of animals and birds, which he published as volumes of natural history, are exquisite illustrations of creatures in their natural habitat.

Dennis Hardingham, dli exhibitions and events officer, said: "The small pictorial accounts of everyday life allow us to witness the private and public lives of the ordinary man or woman in the 18th Century - and to find that we are perhaps not so different to them in our habits and foibles."