John Ireland (died November 1808) was a British writer. He was born at the Trench Farm, near

Wem Wem may refer to: * HMS ''Wem'' (1919), a minesweeper of the Royal Navy during World War I *Weem, a village in Perthshire, Scotland * Wem, a small town in Shropshire, England *Wem (musician), hip hop musician WEM may stand for: * County Westmeath, ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

; the house had been the birthplace and country house of William Wycherley, whose widow is said to have adopted him, but, dying without a will, to have left him unprovided for. His mother was daughter of the Rev. Thomas Holland, and granddaughter of

Philip Henry Philip Henry (24 August 1631 – 24 June 1696) was an English Nonconformist clergyman and diarist. His son Matthew Henry was a notable commentator on the Bible and also a Presbyterian minister. Early life Philip Henry was born at Whitehall, L ...

. Ireland was first apprenticed to Isaac Wood, a watchmaker, of

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

. He afterwards practised as a watchmaker in Maiden Lane,

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, and was a well-known member of the society that frequented the Three Feathers coffee-house, Leicester Fields. He published in 1785 a poem, ''The Emigrant'', for which he apologised on the score of youth. He was a friend of John Henderson the actor, and in 1786 published Henderson's ''Letters and Poems, with Anecdotes of his Life'', a book of some merit. Ireland was a great admirer and collector of the works of William Hogarth. In 1793 he was employed by

John Boydell John Boydell (; 19 January 1720 (New Style) – 12 December 1804) was a British publisher noted for his reproductions of engravings. He helped alter the trade imbalance between Britain and France in engravings and initiated a British tradition i ...

to edit a work on the lines of John Trusler's ''Hogarth Moralised'', and called ''Hogarth Illustrated''. The first two volumes were published in 1791, and reprinted in 1793 and 1806. Subsequently Ireland obtained from Mrs. Lewis, the executrix of Mrs. Hogarth, a number of manuscripts and sketches which had belonged to Hogarth, including the original manuscript of ''

The Analysis of Beauty ''The Analysis of Beauty'' is a book written by the 18th-century artist and writer William Hogarth, published in 1753, which describes Hogarth's theories of visual beauty and grace in a manner accessible to the common man of his day. The "Li ...

'', and many autobiographical memoranda and sketches prepared by Hogarth himself in view of the publication of ''A History of the Arts''. From this Ireland compiled a biography of the artist, which has been the foundation of all subsequent memoirs. It was published in 1798 as a supplementary volume to his ''Hogarth Illustrated, with Engravings from some hitherto unpublished Drawings''. A second edition of the ''Supplement'' appeared in 1804; the whole work was reprinted in 1812. Ireland died in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

in November 1808. His collection was sold by auction on 5 and 6 March 1810. A portrait of Ireland was engraved by Isaac Mills from a drawing by J. R. Smith, which was afterwards in the collection of

John Bowyer Nichols John Bowyer Nichols (1779–1863) was an English printer and antiquary. Life The eldest son of John Nichols, by his second wife, Martha Green (1756–1788), he was born at Red Lion Passage, Fleet Street, London, on 15 July 1779. He spent his ...

. Another portrait, drawn by his friend J. H. Mortimer, was engraved by

William Skelton William Skelton (1763–1848) was an English engraver. Life He was born in London on 14 June 1763, the brother of the engraver Joseph Skelton. He studied in the schools of the Royal Academy, and was a pupil first of James Basire and later of ...

for his ''Hogarth Illustrated''; a copy of this by T. Tagg appeared in the later reprints. A portrait of him, drawn by R. Westall, R.A., is in the print room at the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

, where there is also a small drawing of him prefixed to a copy of the sale catalogue of his collection. He is sometimes stated to have been a print-seller, but, if this was the case, he does not appear to have concerned himself with other engravings than those by or after Hogarth.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ireland, John Year of birth unknown 1808 deaths 18th-century British writers Writers from Shropshire People from Wem