The Etching Club (also known as Etching Club, the London Etching Club, and the British Etching Club; or the Junior Etching Club for its younger membership grouped separately) was an artists' society founded in

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 ...

, England, in 1838 by

Charles West Cope Charles West Cope (28 July 1811, in Leeds – 21 August 1890, in Bournemouth) was an English, Victorian era painter of genre and history scenes, and an etcher. He was responsible for painting several frescos in the House of Lords in Lond ...

. The club published illustrated editions of works by authors such as

Oliver Goldsmith Oliver Goldsmith (10 November 1728 – 4 April 1774) was an Anglo-Irish novelist, playwright, dramatist and poet, who is best known for his novel ''The Vicar of Wakefield'' (1766), his pastoral poem ''The Deserted Village'' (1770), and his pl ...

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual. His 1667 epic poem '' Paradise Lost'', written in blank verse and including over ten chapters, was written in a time of immense religious flux and political ...

and

Thomas Gray Thomas Gray (26 December 1716 – 30 July 1771) was an English poet, letter-writer, classics, classical scholar, and professor at Pembroke College, Cambridge, Pembroke College, Cambridge. He is widely known for his ''Elegy Written in a Country ...

. It effectively ceased to exist in 1878.Lang, p. 39.

Membership

* Richard Ansdell *

Thomas Oldham Barlow Thomas Oldham Barlow (4 August 1824 – 24 December 1889) was an English mezzotint engraver. His prints helped to popularise the works of painters like John Phillip and Sir John Everett Millais. Biography Barlow was born in Oldham in Lancas ...

(1811–1890) *

Thomas Creswick Thomas Creswick (5 February 181128 December 1869) was a British landscapist and illustrator, and one of the best-known members of the Birmingham School of landscapists. Biography Creswick was born in Sheffield (at the time it was within Der ...

* William Charles Thomas Dobson * Edwin Austin Forbes (1839–1895) (Honorary member) *

William Edward Frost William Edward Frost (September 1810 – 4 June 1877) was an English painter of the Victorian era. Virtually alone among English artists in the middle Victorian period, he devoted his practice to the portrayal of the female nude. Frost w ...

Francis Seymour Haden Sir Francis Seymour Haden PPRE (16 September 1818 – 1 June 1910), was an English surgeon, better known as an original etcher who championed original printmaking. He was at the heart of the Etching Revival in Britain, and one of the founder ...

* James Clarke Hook *

John Callcott Horsley John Callcott Horsley RA (29 January 1817 – 18 October 1903) was an English academic painter of genre and historical scenes, illustrator, and designer of the first Christmas card. He was a member of the artist's colony in Cranbrook. Child ...

* William Henry Hunt *

William Holman Hunt William Holman Hunt (2 April 1827 – 7 September 1910) was an English painter and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. His paintings were notable for their great attention to detail, vivid colour, and elaborate symbolism. ...

John Everett Millais Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet, ( , ; 8 June 1829 – 13 August 1896) was an English painter and illustrator who was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He was a child prodigy who, aged eleven, became the youngest ...

* George B. O'Neill *

Samuel Palmer Samuel Palmer Hon.RE (Hon. Fellow of the Society of Painter-Etchers) (27 January 180524 May 1881) was a British landscape painter, etcher and printmaker. He was also a prolific writer. Palmer was a key figure in Romanticism in Britain and p ...

Richard Redgrave Richard Redgrave (30 April 1804 in Pimlico, London – 14 December 1888 in Kensington, London) was an English landscape artist, genre painter and administrator. Early life He was born in Pimlico, London, at 2 Belgrave Terrace, the second son o ...

(1804–1888) * Frank Stone *

John Frederick Tayler (John) Frederick Tayler (30 April 1802England Births and Christenings, ...

(1806–1889) * Henry James Townsend (1810–1890) * Thomas Webster

Publications of The Etching Club

''The Deserted Village''
(

Joseph Cundall Joseph Cundall (22 September 1818 – 10 January 1895) was a Victorian English writer under the pseudonym of "Stephen Percy", a pioneer photographer and London publisher of children's books. He provided employment for many of the best artists o ...

, 1855 - first pub. 1841). *

. ''The Vicar of Wakefield''. *

Bolton Corney Bolton Corney (1784–1870) was an English army officer and official, known as a critic and antiquary. Life Corney was born at Greenwich on 28 April 1784, and baptised in the parish church of St. Alphage. He obtained in 1803 a commission as ensig ...

. ''

Goldsmith A goldsmith is a Metalworking, metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Nowadays they mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, goldsmiths have also made cutlery, silverware, platter (dishware), pl ...

's poetical works'' (1845). *

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

. ''Songs of Shakespeare'' (1843). *

. ''The Ballads of Shakespeare'' (1852). *

. ''L'Allegro and Il ponseroso'' (1849). *

.
Elegy written in a country churchyard
' (1847). *The Etching Club. ''Etched thoughts'' (1844) *The Etching Club. ''Etchings For The Art-Union Of London by The Etching Club'' (London: Art Union of London, 1857). *The Etching Club. ''A selection of etchings by the etchings club'' (Joseph Cundall, 1865).

Publications of the Junior Etching Club

*Junior Etching Club. ''Passages from Modern English Poets (Forty-Seven Etchings)'' (London: William Tegg, 1875);

Alaric Alexander Watts Alaric Alexander Watts (16 March 1797 – 5 April 1864) was a British poet and journalist, born in London. His life was dedicated to newspaper creation and editing, and he was seen as a conservative writer. It led him to bankruptcy, when a p ...

References and bibliography

*Cope, H. W.
Reminiscences of Charles West Cope, R. A.
(London: Bentley, 1891) p. 35 ff. *Ray, Gordon Norton. ''The Illustrator and the Book in England from 1790 to 1914'' Dover Publications, 1992) p. 139 ff. *Lang, Gladys Engel & Lang, Kurt. ''Etched in memory: the building and survival of artistic reputation'' (University of Illinois Press, 2001) p. 37 ff. *Fredericksen, A. ''The Etching Club of London: a taste for painters' etchings'' (exhibition catalogue, 2002).

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Etching Club British artist groups and collectives Organizations established in 1838 1838 establishments in England Arts organizations established in the 1830s Etching