William Walker (1 August 1791 – 7 September 1867) was a Scottish engraver. He is known for engravings of

Sir Henry Raeburn Sir Henry Raeburn (; 4 March 1756 – 8 July 1823) was a Scottish portrait painter. He served as Portrait Painter to King George IV in Scotland. Biography Raeburn was born the son of a manufacturer in Stockbridge, on the Water of Leith: a ...

's portraits of

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy' ...

and Raeburn himself, Sir Thomas Lawrence's portrait of Lord Broughham (commissioned by Walker), and

Alexander Nasmyth Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

's portrait of

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

Biography

Walker was born on 1 August 1791 at Markton,

Musselburgh Musselburgh (; sco, Musselburrae; gd, Baile nam Feusgan) is the largest settlement in East Lothian, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth, east of Edinburgh city centre. It has a population of . History The name Musselburgh is Ol ...

, near

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. In 1815, Walker went to London to study as a stipple engraver under

Thomas Woolnoth Thomas Alfred Woolnoth (1785–1857) was an English engraver. He was known for his portraits of theatre people. He also painted, and engraved works of Correggio and Van Dyck. Woolnoth was engraver to Queen Victoria. His work was also included in Ca ...

. He established his reputation by engraving a large plate of Sir Henry Raeburn's equestrian portrait of

John Hope, 4th Earl of Hopetoun General John Hope, 4th Earl of Hopetoun, (17 August 1765 – 27 August 1823), known as The Honourable John Hope from 1781 to 1814 and as Lord Niddry from 1814 to 1816, was a Scottish politician and British Army officer. Military career Hopetoun ...

. In 1829, on his marriage to Elizabeth Reynolds, the famous miniaturist, he settled at 64 Margaret Street, where he resided until his death. Walker's work consists of about one hundred portraits of eminent contemporaries, after various oil painters, chiefly in mezzotint, all published by himself. Additionally, Walker created some interesting subject-pieces. His most famous work is the engraving of

based on

's famous portrait. This engraving was used many times in printed versions of Burns' poems. He died at his house in Margaret Street, London, on 7 September 1867. His grave is in

Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is a London cemetery, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries. Estab ...

Sculptural Work

Whilst being principally remembered as an engraver, Walker was also an able sculptor, his notable work being the figure of Queen Elizabeth I on the

Scott Monument The Scott Monument is a Victorian Gothic monument to Scottish author Sir Walter Scott. It is the second largest monument to a writer in the world after the José Martí monument in Havana. It stands in Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh, opp ...

on Princes Street in Edinburgh.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, William 1791 births 1867 deaths 19th-century engravers Scottish engravers