Panorama of London in 1543 Wyngaerde Section 2

Nathaniel Whittock (26 January 1791 – 12 August 1860) was a Victorian topographical engraver, who published

bird's-eye view A bird's-eye view is an elevated view of an object or location from a very steep viewing angle, creating a perspective as if the observer were a bird in flight looking downwards. Bird's-eye views can be an aerial photograph, but also a draw ...

s, e.g. of

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

(1856),

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 ...

(1834),

Melbourne, Australia Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metropol ...

(1854), Hull (1855), and London (1845, 1849, 1859).

Life

He was born to John and Sarah Whittock in the

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and London boroughs, borough in Inner London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It occupies a large area of cent ...

and was baptised on 6 March 1791 at

St John's, Smith Square St John's Smith Square is a redundant church in the centre of Smith Square, Westminster, London. Sold to a charitable trust as a ruin following firebombing in the Second World War, it was restored as a concert hall. This Grade I listed churc ...

. By 1819 he was living in

, where he ran the Oxford Drawing Academy in

Oriel Street Oriel may refer to: Places Canada * Oriel, a community in the municipality of Norwich, Ontario, Canada Ireland * Oriel Park, Dundalk, the home ground of Dundalk FC * Oriel House, Ballincollig, County Cork * Kingdom of Oriel ('' Airgíalla'' in I ...

, teaching ladies on Tuesdays and Thursdays and gentlemen on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for two hours, charging a guinea every three months. He also had a Painting Room next to the Angel Hotel in the

High Street High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym fo ...

. In 1823 he moved out of his house and shop in the High Street, and the premises were auctioned on 19 June that year. He moved to St Clement’s, a suburb of Oxford. The Oxford Baths were in St Clement’s, and on 6 May 1826 his book ''A Description of the Oxford Baths and School of Natation'' was published. In 1824–1829 he appears as "Teacher of Drawing and Perspective, and Lithographist to the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

", and worked for the University's

Ashmolean Museum The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology () on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University of ...

and scientific community. By October 1827 he had left Oxford, and the contents of his St Clement’s house were sold by auction. In 1830 and 1831 he was at 24 Garnault Place,

Spa Fields Spa Fields is a park and its surrounding area in the London Borough of Islington, bordering Finsbury and Clerkenwell. Historically it is known for the Spa Fields riots of 1816 and an Owenite community which existed there between 1821 and 1824. The ...

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

, London. The 1841 census shows him living at 34 Richard Street in Islington with his young nephew Henry Hyde: both were described as engravers. In 1851 he was still at the same address with his wife Ann Whitlock, nee Hyde, his nephew and business partner Henry Hyde, and his niece Caroline Hyde.

Works

Whittock was "a prolific writer of instruction books", on drawing and other subjects, such as ''The decorative painters' and glaziers' guide'' (1828), ''On the construction and decoration of the shop fronts of London'' (1840), and ''The complete book of trades, or the parents' guide and youths' instructor'' (1837). The full title of the first of these was: As the full title shows, the work was very comprehensive, and the preface "rails against trade secrecy" which the book was intended to dispel. The work has been described as "influential" and "important" and is often cited by modern scholars of

interior decoration Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. An interior designer is someone who plans, researches, coordina ...

.It is described as "influential" in both: Parissien, Steven. ''Interiors: The Home Since 1700'', p. 140 (quoted) - 141, 2008, Laurence King Publishing, and ''Encyclopedia of interior design: M-Z., Volume 2'', Editors Joanna Banham, Leanda Shrimpton, Fitzroy Dearborn, p. 785, 1997, , . "Important":''Painted wood: history and conservation'', p. 245, 1998, Symposium Proceedings, Getty Conservatiomn Institute, Eds, Valérie Dorge, F. Carey Howlett, , * * * * * * * * * * * *

References

External links

Images of engravings, etc.

Whittock's picture
of

Robin Hood's Bay Robin Hood's Bay is a small Yorkshire coast fishery, fishing village and a bay located in the North York Moors National Park, south of Whitby and north of Scarborough, North Yorkshire, Scarborough on the coast of North Yorkshire, England. Ba ...

List of publications

List from British Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whittock, Nathaniel 1791 births 1860 deaths Artists from London 19th-century engravers British engravers