Charles Taylor (1756–1823) was an English engraver, known also as a man of letters and biblical scholar.

Life

Born in the parish of

Shenfield Shenfield is a commuter suburb of Brentwood, in the borough of Brentwood, Essex, England. In 2020, the suburb was estimated to have a population of 5,396. History The old village (now town), by the church and Green Dragon pub, lies along the ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

on 1 February 1756, he was the son of

Isaac Taylor Isaac Taylor (17 August 1787 – 28 June 1865) was an English philosophical and historical writer, artist, and inventor. Life He was the eldest surviving son of Isaac Taylor of Ongar. He was born at Lavenham, Suffolk, on 17 August 1787, and m ...

by his wife, Sarah Hackshaw, daughter of Josiah Jefferys of Shenfield. He was educated at a grammar school at Brentwood in Essex, and on completing his fifteenth year was articled to his father as an engraver, and studied under

Francesco Bartolozzi __NOTOC__ Francesco Bartolozzi (21 September 1727, in Florence – 7 March 1815, in Lisbon) was an Italian engraver, whose most productive period was spent in London. He is noted for popularizing the "crayon" method of engraving. Early life B ...

. In 1777 he visited Paris. Taylor went into business in London as an engraver. In 1780 his house was burnt down during the

Gordon riots The Gordon Riots of 1780 were several days of rioting in London motivated by anti-Catholic sentiment. They began with a large and orderly protest against the Papists Act 1778, which was intended to reduce official discrimination against British ...

, and he moved to

Holborn Holborn ( or ) is a district in central London, which covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part ( St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Ward of Farringdon Without in the City of London. The area has its roots ...

. Later he lived in

Hatton Garden Hatton Garden is a street and commercial zone in the Holborn district of the London Borough of Camden, abutting the narrow precinct of Saffron Hill which then abuts the City of London. It takes its name from Sir Christopher Hatton, a favourit ...

, where he died on 13 November 1823, and was buried in

Bunhill Fields Bunhill Fields is a former burial ground in central London, in the London Borough of Islington, just north of the City of London. What remains is about in extent and the bulk of the site is a public garden maintained by the City of London Cor ...

Works

Taylor initially adopted the standard practice for engravers, of executing ornamental proofs. These were for the most part after Robert Smirke and

Angelica Kauffman Maria Anna Angelika Kauffmann ( ; 30 October 1741 – 5 November 1807), usually known in English as Angelica Kauffman, was a Swiss Neoclassical painter who had a successful career in London and Rome. Remembered primarily as a history painter, K ...

. His main artistic publications were: * ''Picturesque Beauties of Shakespeare'', London, 1783; the illustrations were by

Thomas Stothard Thomas Stothard (17 August 1755 – 27 April 1834) was an English painter, illustrator and engraver. His son, Robert T. Stothard was a painter ( fl. 1810): he painted the proclamation outside York Minster of Queen Victoria's accession to the t ...

and Smirke, engraved with his brother

. * ''Picturesque Miscellanies'', 1785. * ''The Cabinet of Genius'', London, 1787. * ''The Artist's Repository or Drawing Magazine'', London, 1788. * ''The Elegant Repository and New Print Magazine'', London, 1791. * ''Elegant Historical Engravings'', London, 1791. * ''The Landscape Magazine'', London, 1791–3. * ''The Shakespeare Gallery'', London, 1792. A self-portrait, from about 1774, went to Braeside,

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the Weald, High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Roc ...

, the home of Henry Taylor, son of

, and Charles Taylor's great-nephew.nationalarchives.gov.uk, ''Taylor family of Lavenham and Ongar''.
/ref> Dagon Charles Taylor

In later life Taylor devoted concentrated on a revision of

Antoine Augustin Calmet Antoine Augustin Calmet, O.S.B. (26 February 167225 October 1757), a French Benedictine monk, was born at Ménil-la-Horgne, then in the Duchy of Bar, part of the Holy Roman Empire (now the French department of Meuse, located in the region of ...

's ''Dictionary of the Bible'', which he began to publish anonymously in 1797. It sold well, but Taylor called himself only the publisher and the engraver of some of the plates. There was a fourth edition by 1824, and the work of revision occupied Taylor during the rest of his life. After his death he was acknowledged to be the editor. He was also the author of: * ''The General Genteel Preceptor'', London, 2nd edit., 1797. * ''A Familiar Treatise on Drawing for Youth'', London, 1815. * ''Facts and Evidences on the Subject of Baptism'', London, 1815. * ''A Familiar Treatise on Perspective'', London, 1816. * ''The Baptist Self-convicted'', London, 1819. Taylor edited the ''Literary Annual Register'', London, 1808, afterwards merged in the ''Literary Panorama'', and translated the ''Adventures of Telemachus'' (London, 1792) from ''

Les Aventures de Télémaque :''"Les Aventures de Télémaque" is also the title of a 1922 seven-chapter story by Louis Aragon.'' ''Les aventures de Télémaque, fils d'Ulysse'' (English: ''The adventures of Telemachus, son of Ulysses'') is a didactic novel by François F ...

'' of

François Fénelon François de Salignac de la Mothe-Fénelon (), more commonly known as François Fénelon (6 August 1651 – 7 January 1715), was a French Catholic archbishop, theologian, poet and writer. Today, he is remembered mostly as the author of '' Th ...

Family

In 1777 Taylor married Mary Forrest, niece of Cornelius Humphreys, chaplain of the Tower, by whom he had a son, Charles (1780–1856), and two daughters, Mary and Sarah.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Charles 1756 births 1823 deaths English engravers British biblical scholars English translators Burials at Bunhill Fields People from Shenfield