Selina Hall (1780?–1853) was a British
engraver and printer in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
who prepared maps for several well-known works including
John Gorton's ''A Topographical Dictionary'', Charles Black's ''1840 General Atlas'' and several
Chapman & Hall
Chapman & Hall is an Imprint (trade name), imprint owned by CRC Press, originally founded as a United Kingdom, British publishing house in London in the first half of the 19th century by Edward Chapman (publisher), Edward Chapman and William Hall ...
publications.
Born Selina Price in
Radnorshire
, HQ = Presteigne
, Government = Radnorshire County Council (1889–1974) Radnorshire District Council (1974–1996)
, Origin =
, Status = historic county, administrative county
, Start ...
around 1780, she was listed as a creditor and beneficiary of London mapmaker and engraver Michael Thomson. In 1821, she married Thomson's business partner
Sidney Hall
Sidney Hall (1788?–1831) was a British engraver and cartographer well known and popular for his early nineteenth century atlases containing maps of the United Kingdom and of the ancient world reproduced from Hall's engravings. Hall made eng ...
. Hall took over the business from her husband upon his death in 1831. At that time and place it was illegal for married women to own businesses, however, unmarried women (including widows) could own businesses. Maps engraved by Sidney Hall were signed "Engraved by Sid
y. Hall" while Selina marked her maps as "Engraved by S. Hall."
The similarity in their signatures caused extensive misattribution of her works to her deceased husband.
From 1831 until her death, she operated at 18 Bury Street in the
Bloomsbury District of London.
Hall died in 1853 around the age of 73. The business was carried on by her nephew
Edward Weller.
References
1780 births
1853 deaths
British engravers
19th-century British printmakers
Women engravers
19th-century British women artists
People from Radnorshire
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