Robert Plot Natural History of Oxfordshire

Michael Burghers (b. ''c''.1647/8 – 1727) was a Dutch

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

and

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...

of the 17th century, who spent most of his career in England. He was commissioned to create

map A map is a symbolic depiction emphasizing relationships between elements of some space, such as objects, regions, or themes. Many maps are static, fixed to paper or some other durable medium, while others are dynamic or interactive. Although ...

s, estate plans, and illustrations of stately houses, by the English

aristocracy Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocracy (class), aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'. At t ...

Biography

Michael Burghers was a Dutch engraver, who settled in England on the taking of

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

. He lived mostly at

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, and on several of his plates he added ''Academiae Oxon. calcographus'' after his name. He was the author of a book, ''Ancient Mysteries Described'', which was reprinted into the early 19th century. Describing Burghers' style, Joseph Strutt wrote

He worked almost wholly with the graver, in a stiff, tasteless style, without genius, or knowledge of the art of design. His drawing, when he attempted to draw the naked figure is wholly defective. He has, though, painfully preserved many ancient reliques, the originals of which are now lost.

Strutt thought that Burghers' best plates were his copies after

Claude Mellan Claude Mellan (23 May 1598 – 9 September 1688) was a French draughtsman, engraver, and painter.Brejon de Lavergnée 1996. Early life and training Mellan was born in Abbeville, the son of a customs official.Strutt 1746. His first known pr ...

, and his topographical work, much of it for the antiquary Thomas Hearne. He died on 10 January 1726–7.

Works

From 1676 Burghers engraved the plates for the Almanacks of the university. His most esteemed prints are his antiquities, ruins of abbeys, and other curiosities. He also engraved several portraits and plates for the classics. They include:

Book illustrations

François Junius, after Anthony van Dijck

*Illustrations to Dr. Plot's ''Natural History of Oxfordshire. Being an Essay towards the Natural History of England''. 1677. *Illustrations to Robert Plot's ''Natural History of Staffordshire.'' 1686. (pictured) *Illustrations to Dr.

White Kennet White Kennett (10 August 166019 December 1728) was an English bishop and antiquarian. He was educated at Westminster School and at St Edmund Hall, Oxford, where, while an undergraduate, he published several translations of Latin works, including ...

's ''History of Ambroseden.'' *Illustrations to the fourth edition of

Milton Milton may refer to: Names * Milton (surname), a surname (and list of people with that surname) ** John Milton (1608–1674), English poet * Milton (given name) ** Milton Friedman (1912–2006), Nobel laureate in Economics, author of '' Free t ...

's ''

Paradise Lost ''Paradise Lost'' is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The first version, published in 1667, consists of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse (poetry), verse. A second edition fo ...

'', published by

Jacob Tonson Jacob Tonson, sometimes referred to as Jacob Tonson the Elder (1655–1736), was an eighteenth-century English bookseller and publisher. Tonson published editions of John Dryden and John Milton, and is best known for having obtained a copyright ...

. Burghers engraved eleven of the twelve plates; seven of them after drawings by J.B. de Medina; the drawings for the others may have been by

Henry Aldrich Henry Aldrich (15 January 1648 – 14 December 1710) was an English theologian, philosopher, and composer. Life Aldrich was educated at Westminster School under Dr Richard Busby. In 1662, he entered Christ Church, Oxford, and in 1689 was mad ...

. The one plate not engraved by Burghers was by P.P. Bouche after Bernard Lens. *Engravings of ichnographies in

Browne Willis Browne Willis (16 September 1682 – 5 February 1760) was an antiquary, author, numismatist and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1705 to 1708. Early life Willis was born at Blandford St Mary, Dorset, the eldest son of Thomas Wil ...

's ''Survey of York, Durham, Carlisle, Chester, Man, Lichfield, Hereford, Worcester, Gloucester, and Bristol Cathedrals''. 1727. The exception is Man.

Other plates

*''

William Somner William Somner (1598–1669) was an English antiquarian scholar, the author of the first dictionary of the Anglo-Saxon language. Life He was baptised in the church of St. Margaret, Canterbury, on 5 November 1598, but according to a statement of ...

, the antiquary''; after

van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Brabantian Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy. The seventh c ...

(pictured) *'' Franciscus Junius''; after the same. *''John Barefoot, letter doctor to the University''. 1681. * Illustrated Plate in Philosophical Transactions, 1684, vol 14. *''Head of James II'' for an Almanack. 1686. *''

Anthony à Wood Anthony Wood (17 December 1632 – 28 November 1695), who styled himself Anthony à Wood in his later writings, was an English antiquary. He was responsible for a celebrated ''Hist. and Antiq. of the Universitie of Oxon''. Early life Anthony W ...

''; in a niche; his only

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. *''

King Alfred Alfred the Great (alt. Ælfred 848/849 – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who bot ...

''; from a

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in the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second- ...

. *''Sir

Thomas Bodley Sir Thomas Bodley (2 March 1545 – 28 January 1613) was an English diplomat and scholar who founded the Bodleian Library in Oxford. Origins Thomas Bodley was born on 2 March 1545, in the second-to-last year of the reign of King Henry VIII, ...

''; in the corners of the plate are the heads of the other benefactors of the Bodleian Library; William, Earl of Pembroke,

Archbishop Laud William Laud (; 7 October 1573 – 10 January 1645) was a bishop in the Church of England. Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Charles I in 1633, Laud was a key advocate of Charles I's religious reforms, he was arrested by Parliament in 1640 ...

, Sir

Kenelm Digby Sir Kenelm Digby (11 July 1603 – 11 June 1665) was an English courtier and diplomat. He was also a highly reputed natural philosopher, astrologer and known as a leading Roman Catholic intellectual and Blackloist. For his versatility, he is d ...

, and

John Selden John Selden (16 December 1584 – 30 November 1654) was an English jurist, a scholar of England's ancient laws and constitution and scholar of Jewish law. He was known as a polymath; John Milton hailed Selden in 1644 as "the chief of learned ...

. The plate was published as a frontispiece to a catalogue of manuscripts in the library. *''Timothy Hatton, provost of Queen's College''. *'' Dr. Wallis''. 1699. *''Sir Thomas Wyat''. *''

John Baliol John Balliol ( – late 1314), known derisively as ''Toom Tabard'' (meaning "empty coat" – coat of arms), was King of Scots from 1292 to 1296. Little is known of his early life. After the death of Margaret, Maid of Norway, Scotland entered an ...

''. *'' Devorguilla'', his spouse. *''Dr. Ratcliff''. *''The Visage of Christ''; engraved in the manner of

, with a single line.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burghers, Michael 1640s births 1727 deaths Dutch engravers Dutch illustrators Dutch expatriates in England Artists from Utrecht