| Mary Byfield | |
| Birth Date: | 1795 |
| Birth Place: | London |
| Death Place: | Islington, London |
| Nationality: | British |
| Known For: | Book illustration and printmaking |
Mary Byfield (baptized 11 November 1795 – 1871) was an English book illustrator and wood engraver. She and Ann Byfield were "artist engravers on wood" with a business in Florence Street, Islington.[1]
Byfield was born in London into a family of wood engravers. Taught by their father, Mary Byfield often worked with her brothers John (1788-1841) and Ebenezer (1790-1817) to produce engraved illustrations for books.[2] [3] These included several volumes for the writer Thomas Frognall Dibdin.[4] Mary and John Byfield also produced illustrations for the Chiswick Press, notably for the works of William Pickering.[4] [5] Working alone, Mary Byfield also produced engravings for several other volumes and designed a version of the Oxford University arms that became, for a time, the mark of the Oxford University Press.[4] She worked for the printer Charles Whittingham and his nephew, Charles at the Chiswick Press throughout her life.[5] As well as full page illustrations, her work included engraved alphabets for the first letter of a page, head and tail pieces, decorative borders and vignettes.[4] Byfield taught several other members of her family, and members of the Whittingham family, wood engraving techniques.[4] For most of her life, Byfield lived in the Holloway area of London, notably at Canonbury Place and Liverpool Road.[4]
Works illustrated in whole, or part, by Mary Byfield include,[4]