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 ; 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. 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==