John Sturt (6 April 1658 – August 1730) was an English engraver, apprenticed to Robert White. Becoming associated with

John Ayres John Ayres ('' fl.'' 1680–1700), an English author, scribe and publisher. Life Ayres was of very humble origin, and the date and place of his birth are unknown. Coming up from the country a poor lad, he became footman to Mr. William Ashhur ...

, he engraved the most important of his books on

calligraphy Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

. He is popularly known as an illustrator of ''

The Pilgrim's Progress ''The Pilgrim's Progress from This World, to That Which Is to Come'' is a 1678 Christian allegory written by John Bunyan. It is regarded as one of the most significant works of theological fiction in English literature and a progenitor of ...

''.

Life

He was born in London on 6 April 1658, and at the age of seventeen was apprenticed to Robert White, in whose manner he engraved a number of small portraits as frontispieces to books. Sturt at one time kept a drawing school in St. Paul's churchyard in partnership with

Bernard Lens II Bernard Lens II (1659–1725) was an English engraver, pioneer of mezzotint technique, and publisher. Bernard Lens II was the son of Bernard Lens I, "an obscure painter". of Dutch origin. Bernard Lens I practiced enamel technique and also aut ...

. He died in London, poor, in August 1730.

Works

Sturt executed the illustrations to many of the religious and artistic publications of the time, including: * Francis Bragge's ''Passion of Our Saviour'', 1694; *

Samuel Wesley Samuel Wesley (24 February 1766 – 11 October 1837) was an English organist and composer in the late Georgian period. Wesley was a contemporary of Mozart (1756–1791) and was called by some "the English Mozart".Kassler, Michael & Olleson, Phi ...

's ''History of the Old and New Testament in Verse'', 1704 and 1715; * the English editions of Gerard Audran's ''Perspective of the Human Body'',

Andrea Pozzo Andrea Pozzo (; Latinized version: ''Andreas Puteus''; 30 November 1642 – 31 August 1709) was an Italian Jesuit brother, Baroque painter, architect, decorator, stage designer, and art theoretician. Pozzo was best known for his grandiose fresc ...

's ''Rules of Perspective'', and

Charles Perrault Charles Perrault ( , also , ; 12 January 1628 – 16 May 1703) was an iconic French author and member of the Académie Française. He laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from earlier folk tales ...

's ''Treatise on the Five Orders of Architecture''; *

Laurence Howell Laurence Howell (–1720) was a nonjuring Church of England clergyman and divine. Life Howell was born about 1664 at Deptford and received his education at Lewisham Grammar School, where he was a foundation scholar, and Jesus College, Cambr ...

's ''View of the Pontificate'', 1712; * J. Hammond's ''Historical Narrative of the Whole Bible'', 1727; and *

John Bunyan John Bunyan (; baptised 30 November 162831 August 1688) was an English writer and Puritan preacher best remembered as the author of the Christian allegory ''The Pilgrim's Progress,'' which also became an influential literary model. In addition ...

's ''Pilgrim's Progress'', 1728. He also engraved the ''Genealogy of George I'', in two sheets, 1714; ''Chronological Tables of Europe'', 1726; and a plate of the ''Seven Bishops'', from a calligraphic drawing by Thomas Rodway.British Museum, 1872,0608.539.
/ref> Sturt was the inventor of the class of prints known as "medleys", the first of which he published in 1706. His last employment was upon the plates to

James Anderson James Anderson may refer to: Arts *James Anderson (American actor) (1921–1969), American actor *James Anderson (author) (1936–2007), British mystery writer *James Anderson (English actor) (born 1980), British actor * James Anderson (filmmaker) ...

's ''Selectus Diplomatum et Numismatum Thesaurus''. In association with John Ayres, Sturt engraved the writing-master's books on calligraphy. He engraved the

Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father or Pater Noster, is a central Christian prayer which Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gosp ...

within the space of a silver halfpenny, the Creed in that of a silver penny, and an elegy on Queen Mary so small that it could be inserted in a finger-ring. Sturt's most spectacular production of this kind was the

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...

, executed on 188 silver plates, all adorned with borders and vignettes, the frontispiece being a portrait of George I, on which were inscribed, in characters legible only with a magnifying glass, the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, the Commandments, the prayer for the royal family, and the twenty-first psalm. This was published in 1717, and in 1721 he engraved, in a similar manner, the ''Orthodox Communicant''.

References

* . * .

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Sturt, John English engravers 1658 births 1730 deaths Artists from London