Samuel Williams (23 February 1788 19 September 1853) was a British draughtsman and wood-engraver.

Life

Williams was born at Colchester, on 23 February 1788. He was apprenticed to the Colchester printer J. Marsden, but taught himself to draw and engrave on wood, and adopted printmaking as his profession, and became known as a specialist in landscapes. He established himself first in Colchester, and then in 1819 settled in London.[1]

In the early part of his life Williams also painted miniatures, and a few oil pictures. Having a facility in design, he used his own drawings for a high proportion of his prints. His first patron was Benjamin Crosby the publisher, for whom he illustrated a work on natural history in 1810.[1]

He was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1819.[2] John Orrin Smith and George Baxter were his pupils.[3]

Williams died on 19 September 1853.[1]

Works

Wood-engraving of the numiscatist Joseph Hilarius Eckhel by Williams on the first front-page of The Numismatic Journal, about 1837

From his own designs, Williams produced the illustrations to:[1]

Cuts from the designs of others are in:[1]

Family

Williams left four sons and a daughter, who all successfully practised wood-engraving.[4] Thomas Williams (fl. 1830), his younger brother, was his pupil, and a wood-engraver who worked only after others. His prints are to be found in James Northcote's Artist's Book of Fables 1828; and John Martin and Richard Westall's Bible Illustrations, 1833.[1]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lee, Sidney, ed. (1900). "Williams, Samuel" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 61. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  2. American Antiquarian Society Members Directory
  3. Avery-Quash, Susanna. "Williams family". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/72918. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  4. "Williams family (per. c. 1800–c. 1875), engravers genre painter and illustrator". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/72918. Retrieved 29 November 2023. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
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