The problems encountered in trying to answer queries on local artists of the past prompt an experimental attempt to find out what material by and about one of Newcastle’s better-known artists. Thomas Bewick, exists within the bounds of Newcastle upon Tyne itself. The results are not particularly encouraging. Printed catalogues of holdings are rare, although check-lists of material held by the institution concerned are rather more frequent. Some holdings are not catalogued at all. The long-term desideratum is for the compilation of a union-catalogue of all the public collections of Newcastle.