Sackville, Earl of Dorset, a magnificent piece of engraving, for 5s. Houbraken, like Vertue, varies considerably in price. A proof of his Dryden is worth £4, George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, proof before letters, £3 10s., and many of his other portraits of lesser known personages may be easily procured for a few shillings. These have been taken from "The Heads of Illustrious Persons of Great Britain," in two volumes folio, the first edition of which appeared in 1747-1752. This work is often "broken up" by printsellers, who find that the 108 portraits engraved by "Mr. Houbraken" and "Mr. Vertue" when sold separately realise more than the volume, which sells for about ten pounds. Collectors cannot be too careful to examine the state of any separate print they buy, as the old plates have been printed from times without number and up to quite recent days. But Houbraken at his best is superb. Raphael Morghen, the great Italian engraver, said of him: "No engraver has ever equalled, and probably will not equal, the Dutchman, Jacobus Houbraken, in the manner of imitating the flesh and the hair by means of the graver."
