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was, when five years old, sent to an uncle at Aconib, near York, where he grew strong, and gained some instruction at a village school, and afterwards at a school near Tadcaster. At the age of 13 he returned to his parents in London, and then went to a school at Uford. In 1770 his father died, leaving him 1200/., and having shown an aptitude for drawing, he was apprenticed to a pattern draftsman for brocaded silks in Spitalfields, and occupied his leisure by designs from the poets. Some of these falling under the notice of the proprietor of the ' Novelists' Magazine/ he employed him to make a few designs, and though he did not then receive further employment, his thoughts were turned in that direction, and when, from a change in the silk trade and the death of his master, he was released a year before the completion of his appren- ticeship, he at once devoted himself to art.
His first designs engraved were for an edition of ' Ossian,' and for * Bell's Poets/ and the talent they displayed led to his employment on a series of designs for the ' Novelists' Magazine/ These subjects were well suited to his tender, simple tastes, and their truth and grace at once established a reputation. He was at first paid half a guinea each, which was soon raised to one guinea. Of these illustrations, the eleven illustrating * Peregrine Pickle,' published in 1781, are admirable, the characters excel- lent, having all the flavour of Smollett. They were followed by some graceful de- signs for Richardson's ' Clarissa,' and * Sir Charles Grandison,' full of a sweet imagery, which has rarely been surpassed. He after- wards designed from Shakespeare and Cer- vantes, illustrated * Pilgrim's Progress,' in 1788, followed by ' Robinson Crusoe,' and in 1798, ' The Rape of the Lock,' in which tenderness ana grace are combined with allegory.
Tne foregoing designs were exclusively for book illustration, and were usually drawn and washed in with India ink, some- times sweetly coloured, but he painted many pictures in oil. He had entered the schools of the Royal Academy in 1777, and was a contributor to its exhibition. Commencing in 1778, his exhibited works were chiefly his book designs, which after his election as an associate in 1791 were chiefly in oil, with occasionally a work of more import- ance ; but his contributions, though con- tinued till his death, did not often exceed one each year. His last work of note was his 'Venus Attended by the Graces,' in 1824. He was elected a full member in 1794, and in 1810 was appointed the libra- rian. Among his oil pictures were his works for Boydell's Shakespeare Galler^ c The Canterbury Pilgrims/ and 'The Dun- mow Flitch.' Also, the great staircase at Burleigh, on which he was employed during 416
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the summer months for four successive years ; and the staircase of the Advocates' Library in Edinburgh. He was engaged likewise in designing for goldsmiths' work; and his Wellington Shield, modelled in silver, is a noble example of his talent
He had been an industrious worker during a long life, and his designs have been estimated at 4000 ; above half that number have been engraved. Their ele- gance and grace gave a charm to book illustration, in which he stands unrivalled. But his oil paintings are not equal to his drawings; they are crude and defective in tone. Female beauty and purity are conspicuous in his works, but, wanting individuality, they are too much of one conventional type. His art did not, how- ever, reach the sacred or historical. His conceptions were not of the severe charac- ter such subjects demand, and his works of this class are wanting in elevation of charac- ter and expression. He had married early and had a large family. He lived in New- man Street from 1794 till his death, April 27, 1834. He was buried in Bunhill Fields' ground. His life, with personal reminis- cences, was published in 1861 by Mrs. Bray, the widow of his son Charles Alfred.
- STOTHARD, Charles Alfred, anti-
quarian draftsman. Son of the foregoing. Was born July 5, 1786. He early showed a taste for drawing, and was admitted a student of the Royal Academy. He started in art with an attempt in the grand style, and in 1810 painted the murder of Richard II. in Pomfret Castle, but did not meet with encouragement; and having made some drawings of the old monuments at Burleigh, while his father was engaged there, he turned his attention to the illus- tration of our national antiquities, and in 1811 published the first number of 'The Sepulchral Effigies.' He was painstaking and accurate, and soon established a name as an antiquarian draftsman, and from this time till 1815 travelled in England, often taking long journeys on foot, in pursuit of antique monuments. He was associated with Lysons in his 'Magna Britannia,' and was elected historical draftsman to the Society of Antiquaries. In 1816 he was employed by the Society to make drawings of the Bayeaux Tapestry, and while m Normandy made several anti- quarian researches, and discovered the tombs of the Plantagenets, the existence of which had been doubted. He had com- pleted nine (out of twelve) numbers of his
- Sepulchral Effigies,' having etched 127 of
the plates with his own hand, and had commenced the collection of materials to illustrate the agje of Elizabeth, when he met his untimely death. He went into Devonshire to make drawings and notes for the ' Magna Britannia/ and while tracing
