Black Redstart from Yarrell History of British Birds 1843

Thompson signature Del et Sc in Yarrell History of British Birds 1843

John Thompson (25 May 1785 – 20 February 1866) was a British

wood-engraver Wood engraving is a printmaking technique, in which an artist works an image or ''matrix'' of images into a block of wood. Functionally a variety of woodcut, it uses relief printing, where the artist applies ink to the face of the block and pr ...

. He is best known for his contribution to

William Yarrell William Yarrell (3 June 1784 – 1 September 1856) was an English zoologist, prolific writer, bookseller and naturalist admired by his contemporaries for his precise scientific work. Yarrell is best known as the author of ''The History of Bri ...

's 1843 ''

History of British Birds ''A History of British Birds'' is a natural history book by Thomas Bewick, published in two volumes. Volume 1, ''Land Birds'', appeared in 1797. Volume 2, ''Water Birds'', appeared in 1804. A supplement was published in 1821. The text in ''Lan ...

''. He was described as the most distinguished wood-engraver of his time. Thompson also engraved the design for the 1839

penny post The Penny Post is any one of several postal systems in which normal letters could be sent for one penny. Five such schemes existed in the United Kingdom while the United States initiated at least three such simple fixed rate postal arrangements. Un ...

age envelope, on a brass plate; and the design for the iconic figure of

Britannia Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Great ...

which appeared on British banknotes.

Life and work

John Warburton engraving by John Thompson 1832

Thompson was born in Manchester to a London merchant, Richard Thompson. He trained under the wood-engraver Allen Robert Branston, and then collaborated with the artist John Thurston. He engraved around 900 of Thurston's designs from 1814 onwards including illustrations for Butler's ''

Hudibras ''Hudibras'' is a vigorous satirical poem, written in a mock-heroic style by Samuel Butler (1613–1680), and published in three parts in 1663, 1664 and 1678. The action is set in the last years of the Interregnum, around 1658–60, immediately b ...

'' in 1918. He is described as Branston's "most celebrated pupil". He illustrated many books, becoming in the words of Freeman Marius O'Donoghue in the

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

"the most distinguished wood-engraver of his time", and "perhaps the ablest exponent that has ever lived of the style of wood engraving which aimed at rivalling the effect of copper". He is thanked by

in the preface to ''

'' for engraving the original drawings by

Alexander Fussell Alexander Fussell or Fussel (b. circa 1814, Warwickshire; d. 1881) was an English artist and illustrator. He drew the bird illustrations for William Yarrell's 1843 ''History of British Birds''. Life and career Fussell painted in various me ...

, "nearly five hundred of the drawings on wood here employed", in what was a "very long series of

engravings Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an in ...

". As well as wood-engravings for books, Thompson engraved the design for the

age envelope "in relief on brass" in 1839, and in 1852 he engraved on steel the figure of

which appeared on British banknotes for the rest of the nineteenth century. Thompson won the grand medal of honour for wood-engraving at the 1855 Paris exhibition.

Family

His younger brother, Charles Thompson (1791–1843), was likewise an engraver. Charles studied under the Newcastle engraver John Bewick, the younger brother of

Thomas Bewick Thomas Bewick (c. 11 August 17538 November 1828) was an English wood-engraver and natural history author. Early in his career he took on all kinds of work such as engraving cutlery, making the wood blocks for advertisements, and illustrating ch ...

; the latter produced the predecessor to Yarrell's handbook, also named ''

'' (first published 1797–1804). Charles won a gold medal for his illustrations in Paris in 1824. John Thompson's eldest son, Charles Thurston Thompson (1816–1868), followed his father into the wood-engraving profession. After assisting in organising the

Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary The Crystal Palace, structure in which it was held), was an International Exhib ...

of 1851 in London, he moved into photography and became the

South Kensington Museum South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...

's official photographer. His other son, Richard Anthony Thompson was an assistant director at the South Kensington Museum (until 1892). Thompson's three daughters, Isabel Agnes Cowper, Eliza Thompson and Augusta Thompson, were also accomplished wood-engravers. Cowper followed her brother, Charles Thurston Thompson into photography, assuming his role as the

's official photographer upon his death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, John 1785 births 1866 deaths English wood engravers