, one of the most eminent of modern engravers in England, was born
, one of the most eminent of modern engravers in England, was born at Maidstone, in Kent,
Aug. 27, 1735. Of his early history few particulars have
been preserved, and those mostly traditionary. His father
was a thread-maker, and long time a foreman to Mr. Robert Pope. The family is said to have come originally
from Holland; and there is a tradition that Woollett’s great
grandfather escaped from the battle fought by the parliamentary forces against the royalists near Maidstone. Our
artist was educated at Maidstone under Mr. Simon Goodwin, who used to notice his graphic talents. Once having
taken on a slate the likeness of a schoolfellow named Burtenshaw, who had a prominent nose, his master desired him to
finish it on paper, and preserved the drawing. He was also
in the habit of drawing the likenesses of his father’s acquaintances. His earliest production on copper was a portrait of
a Mr. Scott, of Maidstone, with a pipe in his mouth.
These are perhaps trifles, but they compose all that is now
remembered of Woollett’s younger days. His first attempts having been seen by Mr. Tinney, an engraver, he
took him as an apprentice at the same time with Mr. Anthony Walker and Mr. Brown. His rise in his profession
was rapid, and much distinguished, for he brought the art
of landscape engraving to great perfection. With respect
to the grand and sublime, says Strutt, “if 1 may be allowed the term in landscapes, the whole world cannot produce his equal.
” Woollett, however, did not confine
himself to landscapes, he engraved historical subjects and portraits with the greatest success. The world has done
ample justice to his memory, and the highest prices still
continue to be given for good impressions of all his prints,
but particularly of his “Niobe
” and its companion “Phaeton,? ' his
” Celadon and Amelia,“and
” Ceyx and Alcyone;“and
” The Fishery,“all from Wilson, whose peculiar happiness it was that his best pictures were put into the
hands of Woollett, who so perfectly well understood and
expressed the very spirit of his ideas upon thecopper.
To these we may add the portrait of Rubens, from Vandyke, and, what are in every collection of taste, his justly
celebrated prints from the venerable president of the academy,
” The Death of General Wolfe,“and The Battle
of the Boyne.
”