Edward Rooker (c. 1712 – 22 November 1774) was an English engraver, draughtsman and actor.

Life and work

Rooker was born in

Towcester Towcester ( ) is an affluent market town in Northamptonshire, England. It currently lies in West Northamptonshire but was the former administrative headquarters of the South Northamptonshire district council. Towcester is one of the oldest ...

in Northamptonshire around 1712, to Michael and Ann Rooker, and was a pupil of Henry Roberts, a landscape engraver. He became celebrated for his architectural plates, which he executed in an extremely rich and artistic style. Art historian

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician. He had Strawb ...

termed him the " Marc Antonio" of architecture. Among Rooker's early works are a view on the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

from

Somerset House Somerset House is a large Neoclassical complex situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The Georgian era quadrangle was built on the site of a Tudor palace ("O ...

(1750), and a view of

Vauxhall Gardens Vauxhall Gardens is a public park in Kennington in the London Borough of Lambeth, England, on the south bank of the River Thames. Originally known as New Spring Gardens, it is believed to have opened before the Restoration of 1660, being ...

(1751), both after

Canaletto Giovanni Antonio Canal (18 October 1697 – 19 April 1768), commonly known as Canaletto (), was an Italian painter from the Republic of Venice, considered an important member of the 18th-century Venetian school. Painter of city views or ...

; a view of the

Parthenon The Parthenon (; grc, Παρθενών, , ; ell, Παρθενώνας, , ) is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the goddess Athena during the fifth century BC. Its decorative sculptures are considere ...

for Dalton's 'Views of Sicily and Greece' (1751), and a section of St. Paul's Cathedral, decorated according to the original intention of

Sir Christopher Wren Sir Christopher Wren PRS FRS (; – ) was one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history, as well as an anatomist, astronomer, geometer, and mathematician-physicist. He was accorded responsibility for rebuilding 52 churches ...

, from a drawing by J. Gwyn and S. Wale (1755). Rooker also contributed plates to

Sir William Chambers __NOTOC__ Sir William Chambers (23 February 1723 – 10 March 1796) was a Swedish-Scottish architect, based in London. Among his best-known works are Somerset House, and the pagoda at Kew. Chambers was a founder member of the Royal Academy. Biog ...

' 'Civil Architecture' (1759) and 'Kew Gardens' (1763), James Stuart's 'The Antiquities of Athens and Other Monuments of Greece' (1762), and

Robert Adam Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him. With his o ...

's 'Ruins of the Palace of Diocletian at Spalatro' (1764). Perhaps Rooker's finest work is a set of six views of London, engraved in the manner of

Piranesi Giovanni Battista (or Giambattista) Piranesi (; also known as simply Piranesi; 4 October 1720 – 9 November 1778) was an Italian Classical archaeologist, architect, and artist, famous for his etchings of Rome and of fictitious and atmospheric ...

from drawings by

Paul Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

and

Thomas Sandby Thomas Sandby (1721 – 25 June 1798) was an English draughtsman, watercolour artist, architect and teacher. In 1743 he was appointed private secretary to the Duke of Cumberland, who later appointed him Deputy Ranger of Windsor Great Park, wh ...

, which he published himself in 1766. In that year he also drew and engraved a large view of

Blackfriars Bridge Blackfriars Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge over the River Thames in London, between Waterloo Bridge and Blackfriars Railway Bridge, carrying the A201 road. The north end is in the City of London near the Inns of Court and Temple Chu ...

, then in course of construction.Rooker at the Government Art Collection
He engraved many landscapes after

William Pars William Pars (28 February 1742 – 1782) was an English watercolour portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and illustrator. Life and works Pars was born in London, the son of a metal engraver. He studied at "Shipley's Drawing Schoo ...

, Paul Sandby, Richard Wilson, and others. He also etched, in conjunction with Sandby, three of the set of six large plates of subjects from

Tasso TASSO (Two Arm Spectrometer SOlenoid) was a particle detector at the PETRA particle accelerator at the German national laboratory DESY. The TASSO collaboration is best known for having discovered the gluon, the mediator of the strong interaction an ...

's "Gerusalemme Liberata" (painted by John Collins . 1725 - c. 1759. The headings of the '

Oxford Almanack The ''Oxford Almanack'' was an annual almanac published by the Oxford University Press for the University of Oxford from 1674 through 2019. The Oxford University Press originally held a monopoly on publishing almanacs. The almanacs traditionally ...

s' from 1769 to 1775 were all the joint work of Edward and his son

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...

. Rooker was an original member of the

Incorporated Society of Artists The Society of Artists of Great Britain was founded in London in May 1761 by an association of artists in order to provide a venue for the public exhibition of recent work by living artists, such as was having success in the long-established P ...

, and exhibited with them from 1760 to 1768. His last work was done for the 'Copper Plate Magazine', forming a series of landscapes and portraits, which began to appear a few months before his death. Rooker was also an actor, working at the

Drury Lane Theatre The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Drur ...

in London between 1752 and 1774, often playing the role of the

harlequin Harlequin (; it, Arlecchino ; lmo, Arlechin, Bergamasque dialect, Bergamasque pronunciation ) is the best-known of the ''zanni'' or comic servant characters from the Italian language, Italian ''commedia dell'arte'', associated with the city o ...

.Philip H. Highfill, Kalman A. Burnim, Edward A. Langhans. ''A biographical dictionary of actors, actresses, musicians, volume 13'' (Southern Illinois University Press, 1991) pp. 86-8. Edward Rooker died on 22 November 1774 at his house in

Great Russell Street Great Russell Street is a street in Bloomsbury, London, best known for being the location of the British Museum. It runs between Tottenham Court Road (part of the A400 route) in the west, and Southampton Row (part of the A4200 route) in the east ...

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural, intellectual, and educational institutions. Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum, the largest mus ...

. His son

Michael Angelo Rooker Michael Angelo Rooker (1746 or 1743 – 3 March 1801) was an English oil and watercolour painter of architecture and landscapes, illustrator and engraver. He was also the principal scene painter at the Haymarket Theatre. Life and work Mic ...

was a notable artist and engraver. Another son Edward Rooker Jr. was also an engraver.

References

External links

Edward & Michael "Angelo" Rooker
(Towcester families)
Works by Edward Rooker
(

Government Art Collection The Government Art Collection (GAC) is the collection of artworks owned by the UK government and administered by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The GAC's artworks are used to decorate major government buildings in t ...

)
A View of the Wilderness, with the Alhambra
(c. 1763 engraving after W. Pars - Royal Collection) {{DEFAULTSORT:Rooker, Edward English engravers British draughtsmen English male stage actors 1712 births 1774 deaths People from Towcester 18th-century English male actors