Edward Scriven (1775 – 23 August 1841) was an English engraver of portraits, in the stipple and chalk manner. Scriven was the pre-eminent engraver of his generation, with 210 portraits ascribed to him by the

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...

Life

Scriven was born in 1775 at

Alcester Alcester ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon District in Warwickshire, England. It is west of Stratford-upon-Avon, and 7 miles south of Redditch. The town dates back to the times of Roman ...

, Warwickshire, though his name does not appear in the parish register. He was for eight years a pupil of Northall (

Northaw Northaw is a village in the Welwyn Hatfield district of Hertfordshire, England. It is part of the civil parish of Northaw and Cuffley (where at the 2011 Census the population was included), which was originally known as Northaw. The parish h ...

), Hertfordshire engraver Robert Thew. When Thew died in 1802, Scriven replaced him as Historical Engraver to the Prince of Wales. On the Prince of Wales' succession to the throne in 1820 as

George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 29 January 1820 until his death in 1830. At the time of his accession to the throne, h ...

Scriven was appointed Historical Engraver to the King. Early in his career he came to London to work on plates for the London publisher, John Boydell. Scriven became the eminent engraver of his generation, producing over 200 portrait engravings. He was a man of great active benevolence among the members of his profession and a leading proponent and founder of the Artists' Annuity Fund in 1810. He died on 23 August 1841 at his home at 46 Clarendon Square,

Somers Town, London Somers Town is an inner-city district in North West London. It has been strongly influenced by the three mainline north London railway termini: Euston (1838), St Pancras (1868) and King's Cross (1852), together with the Midland Railway Some ...

, leaving a widow and five children. He was buried in

Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of North Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in P ...

, where a stone was erected to his memory by the members of the Artists' Fund. The monument was designed and created by

Charles Harriott Smith Charles Harriott Smith (1792–1864) was an English architect and architectural sculptor involved in several prestigious projects, ranging from the National Gallery to the Houses of Parliament. His iconic works include the capital of Nelson ...

. Benjamin Phelps Gibbon and

Robert William Sievier Robert William Sievier FRS (24 July 1794 – 28 April 1865) was a British engraver, sculptor and later inventor of the 19th century. Engraver and sculptor Sievier showed an early talent for drawing, and studied under John Young and Edward Scr ...

studied engraving under Scriven.

Works

Scriven worked mainly for the publishers of expensively illustrated books and serials, such as the ''British Gallery of Portraits'', (1809–17); ''Ancient Marbles in the British Museum'' (1814) ;

Henry Tresham Henry Tresham (c.1751 – 17 June 1814) was an Irish-born British historical painter active in London in the late 18th century. He spent some time in Rome early in his career, and was professor of painting at the Royal Academy of Arts in Londo ...

and

William Young Ottley William Young Ottley (6 August 1771 – 26 May 1836) was a British collector of and writer on art, amateur artist, and Keeper of the Department of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum. He was an early English enthusiast for 14th- and 15 ...

's ''British Gallery'', 1828;''The British Gallery of pictures'' .

Edmund Lodge Edmund Lodge, Royal Guelphic Order, KH (1756–1839), herald, was a long-serving England, English Officer of Arms, officer of arms, a writer on heraldry, heraldic subjects, and a compiler of short biographies. Life and career Lodge was born in P ...

's ''Portraits of Illustrious Persons'', 1821–34;

Thomas Frognall Dibdin Thomas Frognall Dibdin (177618 November 1847) was an English bibliographer, born in Calcutta to Thomas Dibdin, the sailor brother of the composer Charles Dibdin. Dibdin was orphaned at a young age. His father and mother died in 1780 while re ...

's ''Ædes Althorpianæ'', 1822;

William Jerdan William Jerdan FSA (16 April 1782 – 11 July 1869), Scotland, Scottish journalist, was born at Kelso, Scotland. During the years between 1799 and 1806, he spent short periods in a country lawyer's office, a London West India merchant's co ...

's ''National Portrait Gallery'', 1830–4; and

Anna Jameson Anna Brownell Jameson (17 May 179417 March 1860) was an Anglo-Irish art historian whose work spanned art and literary criticism, philosophy, travel writing, and feminism. She became very well known for her extensive writings. Jameson was conn ...

's ''Beauties of the Court of Charles II'', 1833. His few individual plates included: * ''Telemachus and Mentor discovered by Calypso'', after

Richard Westall Richard Westall (2 January 1765 – 4 December 1836) was an English painter and illustrator of portraits, historical and literary events, best known for his portraits of Byron. He was also Queen Victoria's drawing master. Biography We ...

, 1810; * A portrait of Rev. Rowland Broomhead, after Joseph Allen, 1813; * A portrait of

Thomas Clifford, 1st Baron Clifford of Chudleigh Thomas Clifford, 1st Baron Clifford of Chudleigh (1 August 1630 – 17 October 1673) was an English statesman who sat in the House of Commons from 1660 to 1672 when he was created Baron Clifford. He was one of five leading politicians who form ...

, after

Samuel Cooper Samuel or Sam Cooper may refer to: * Samuel Cooper (painter) (1609–1672), English miniature painter * Samuel Cooper (clergyman) (1725–1783), Congregationalist minister in Boston, Massachusetts * Samuel Cooper (surgeon) (1780–1848), English su ...

, 1819; * ''Miranda'', after William Hilton, 1828; and * A portrait of

Edward Daniel Clarke Edward Daniel Clarke (5 June 17699 March 1822) was an English clergyman, naturalist, mineralogist, and traveller. Life Edward Daniel Clarke was born at Willingdon, Sussex, and educated first at Uckfield School"Anthony Saunders, D.D." in Mark ...

, after

John Opie John Opie (16 May 1761 – 9 April 1807) was a British painter whose subjects included many prominent men and women of his day, members of the British royal family and others who were notable in the artistic and literary professions. Early ca ...

, 1828. He also engraved a set of

Benjamin West Benjamin West (October 10, 1738 – March 11, 1820) was a British-American artist who painted famous historical scenes such as ''The Death of Nelson (West painting), The Death of Nelson'', ''The Death of General Wolfe'', the ''Treaty of Paris ( ...

's studies of heads for his picture of ''Christ Rejected''. A portrait of Scriven, painted by Andrew Morton, was engraved by Benjamin Phelps Gibbon as an illustration to

John Pye John Pye (Birmingham 7 November 1782 – 6 February 1874 London) was a British landscape engraver. Life He was the second son of Charles Pye (Birmingham), Charles Pye of Birmingham, where he was born on 7 November 1782; his mother was a da ...

's ''Patronage of British Art''.

References

;Attribution

External links

* An engraving of the George Richmond's portrait of for Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1837 with a poetical illustration by

Letitia Elizabeth Landon Letitia Elizabeth Landon (14 August 1802 – 15 October 1838) was an English poet and novelist, better known by her initials L.E.L. Landon's writings are emblematic of the transition from Romanticism to Victorian literature. Her first major b ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Scriven, Edward 1775 births 1841 deaths Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery English engravers People from Somers Town, London People from Alcester