Pierce Tempest (1653–1717) was an English printseller, best known for the series ''Cryes of the City of London''.

Life

Born at Tong, Yorkshire, in July 1653, he was the sixth son of Henry Tempest of Tong by his wife, Mary Bushall, and brother of Sir John Tempest, 1st Baronet. It is said that he was a pupil and assistant of

Wenceslaus Hollar Wenceslaus Hollar (23 July 1607 – 25 March 1677) was a prolific and accomplished Bohemian graphic artist of the 17th century, who spent much of his life in England. He is known to German speakers as ; and to Czech speakers as . He is partic ...

, and some of the prints which bear his name as the publisher have been assumed to be his own work; but there is no actual evidence that he ever practised engraving. Tempest died on 1 April 1717, and was buried at St. Paul's,

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

, London. There is a mezzotint portrait of him by Place, after G. Heemskerk, with the motto "Cavete vobis principes", and the figure of a nonconformist minister in the ''Cryes'' is said to represent him.

Works

Establishing himself in The Strand as a book and print seller about 1680, Tempest issued some sets of plates of birds and beasts etched by

Francis Place Francis Place (3 November 1771 in London – 1 January 1854 in London) was an English social reformer. Early life He was an illegitimate son of Simon Place and Mary Gray. His father was originally a journeyman baker. He then became a Marshal ...

and

John Griffier Jan Griffier ( 1652 – 1718) was a Dutch Golden Age painter who was active in England, where he was admitted to the London Company of Painter-Stainers in 1677. Biography Griffier was born in Amsterdam and learned to paint landscapes and to e ...

from drawings by Francis Barlow; and some

mezzotint Mezzotint is a monochrome printmaking process of the '' intaglio'' family. It was the first printing process that yielded half-tones without using line- or dot-based techniques like hatching, cross-hatching or stipple. Mezzotint achieves tona ...

portraits by Place and others, mainly of royal personages. A translation of

Cesare Ripa Cesare Ripa (c. 1555, Perugia – Rome) was an Italian iconographer who worked for Cardinal Anton Maria Salviati as a cook and butler. Life Little is known about his life. He was born of humble origin in Perugia about 1555. The exact dat ...

's ''Iconologia'' (1709) was illustrated by

Isaac Fuller the younger Isaac Fuller (1606(?) – 1672) was an English painter. Trained in France, he worked in Oxford and London. His works included portraits, religious subjects and decorative paintings. Early life and education Fuller is often said to have been bor ...

. Tempest also published

William Lodge William Lodge (July 4, 1649 – 1689) was an English engraver and printmaker of the Baroque period. Life He was born in Yorkshire, where his father was a merchant, and he inherited a degree of financial independence. Lodge was educated first at L ...

. The celebrated ''Cryes of the City of London'', which he published in 1711, was a series of 74 portraits, from drawings by

Marcellus Laroon the elder Marcellus Laroon or Lauron, the elder (1653–1702) was a Dutch-born painter and engraver, active in England. He provided the drawings for the popular series of prints "The Cries of London". Life He was born at The Hague, the son of Marcellus ...

. It shows itinerant dealers and other remarkable characters who at that time frequented London streets. The plates were engraved by John Savage.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Tempest, Pierce 1653 births 1717 deaths English businesspeople