Page:Dictionary of National Biography. Sup. Vol I (1901).djvu/225

 tree-marbled calf. Clarke and Bedford carried on their business in Frith Street until 1850, when the partnership was dissolved. In 1851 Bedford went to the Cape of Good Hope for the benefit of his health, where he remained a considerable time, the expenses of his journey being defrayed by the Duke of Portland, and on his return to England he established himself in Blue Anchor Yard, York Street, Westminster. He afterwards added 91 York Street to his premises, and remained there until his death, which took place at his residence at Shepherd's Bush, Hammersmith, on 8 June 1883. Bedford was twice married, but had no children by either of his wives.

The work of Bedford is not excelled by that of any English bookbinder of his time. If not distinguished by much originality, it is always in good taste, and although it may not be quite equal in finish to that of the best of the contemporary French binders, for soundness and thoroughness it could not be surpassed. Bedford appreciated tall copies, and a book never came from his hands shorn of its margins. He was also a very skilful mender of damaged leaves. The number of volumes bound by him is very large, and for many years a continuous stream of beautiful bindings issued from his workshops, the great majority of which are now to be found on the shelves of the finest libraries of England and America. Many of his choicest productions are imitations of the work of the great French bookbinders of the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, and the bindings of Rogers's 'Poems' and 'Italy,' of which he bound several copies in morocco inlaid with coloured leathers and covered with delicate gold tooling in the style of Padeloup, are exquisite specimens of his skill. These two volumes have repeatedly realised upwards of one hundred guineas. Bedford himself considered that an edition of Dante, which he bound in brown morocco and tooled with a Grolier pattern, was his chef d'oeuvre, and wished it placed in his coffin ; but his request was not complied with, and it was sold at the sale of his books for 49l. He obtained prize medals at several of the great English and French exhibitions. His books were disposed of by Sotheby, Wilkinson, & Hodge, in March 1884, and realised 4,876l. 16s. 6d. Many of the best examples of his work were among them. In addition to his skill as a bookbinder, Bedford possessed much literary and bibliographical knowledge.  BEITH, ALEXANDER (1799–1891), divine and author, was born at Campbeltown, Argyleshire, on 13 Jan. 1799. His parents were Gilbert Beith and Helen Elder. Beith's father was a land agent and farmer in the Kintyre district of Argyleshire, and was a man of wide reading, especially in theology and church history. After the usual course of education at Campbeltown young Beith entered the Glasgow University with a view to the ministry of the church of Scotland. He was licensed by the presbytery of Kintyre on 7 Feb. 1821. Called to the chapel-of-ease at Oban in June following, he laboured there until November 1824, when he was transferred to Hope Street church, Glasgow. There for two years he ministered to a large congregation. In 1826 he removed to the parish of Kilbrandon, Argyleshire, and in 1830 to the parish of Glenelg, Invernessshire. In 1839 he was called to the first charge of Stirling. When the agitation on the subject of spiritual independence was reaching a crisis in the church of Scotland, Beith was one of the seven ministers appointed in 1842 to preach at Strathbogie in spite of the prohibition of the civil courts. He was one of the 474 ministers who in 1843 left the established church and formed the free church of Scotland. He and his congregation removed to a handsome place of worship which was subsequently erected in Stirling and named the Free North Church. In 1847 Beith gave evidence on the question of sites before a committee of the House of Commons, some landowners having refused sites for the erection of buildings in connection with the free church. He took a prominent part in educational and other matters affecting the new religious denomination. The degree of D.D. was conferred upon him in 1850 by the university of Princeton, U.S.A. In 1858 he was elected moderator of the general assembly of the free church, the assembly which first dealt with the famous Cardross case. Beith retired from the active service of the church in Stirling in 1876, but continued to take part in the general work of the denomination. He was a fluent speaker and able preacher; his theological position was broad and liberal. When the deposition of William Robertson Smith [q. v.] was first moved in the assembly, Beith proposed and carried a motion that the charges be withdrawn and the professor be restored to his chair in Aberdeen. 'He held that critical study of the scriptures was not inconsistent with reverence for them and belief in their inspiration. He died at Edinburgh on 11 May 1891 in his ninety-third year. By his wife Julia Robson (d. 25 Sept. 