Josiah Boydell (18 January

1752 In the British Empire, it was the only leap year with 355 days, as September 3–13 were skipped when the Empire adopted the Gregorian calendar. Events January–March * January 1 – The British Empire (except Scotland, which h ...

– 27 March

1817 Events January–March * January 1 – Sailing through the Sandwich Islands, Otto von Kotzebue discovers New Year Island. * January 19 – An army of 5,423 soldiers, led by General José de San Martín, starts crossing the ...

) was a British publisher and painter, whose main achievement was the establishment of the Boydell Shakespeare Gallery with his uncle,

John Boydell John Boydell (; 19 January 1720 (New Style) – 12 December 1804) was a British publisher noted for his reproductions of engravings. He helped alter the trade imbalance between Britain and France in engravings and initiated a British tradition i ...

Biography

Boydell was born in

Hawarden Hawarden (; cy, Penarlâg) is a village, community and electoral ward in Flintshire, Wales. It is part of the Deeside conurbation on the Wales-England border and is home to Hawarden Castle. In the 2011 census the ward of the same name had ...

Flintshire , settlement_type = County , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms of Flint ...

, the fourth child of a farmer, Samuel Boydell (1727–1783), and his wife Ann, née Turner (1725–1764). In 1766, at the age of 14, he moved to London to begin his seven-year apprenticeship to Samuel's brother, John Boydell. While an apprentice, he learned painting from

Benjamin West Benjamin West, (October 10, 1738 – March 11, 1820) was a British-American artist who painted famous historical scenes such as '' The Death of Nelson'', ''The Death of General Wolfe'', the '' Treaty of Paris'', and '' Benjamin Franklin Drawin ...

and

mezzotint Mezzotint is a monochrome printmaking process of the '' intaglio'' family. It was the first printing process that yielded half-tones without using line- or dot-based techniques like hatching, cross-hatching or stipple. Mezzotint achieves tonal ...

engraving from

Richard Earlom Richard Earlom (baptised 14 May 17439 October 1822) was an English mezzotinter. Biography Earlom was born and died in London. His natural faculty for art appears to have been first called into exercise by his admiration for the lord mayor's sta ...

.Fagan
After completing his apprenticeship, he continued to work closely with John Boydell, making some engravings himself and drawing scenes for others. He also exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1772 and 1779. One of his major early tasks was to draw the picture collection of

Sir Robert Walpole Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, (26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745; known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole) was a British statesman and Whig politician who, as First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Leade ...

Houghton Hall Houghton Hall ( ) is a country house in the parish of Houghton in Norfolk, England. It is the residence of David Cholmondeley, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley. It was commissioned by the ''de facto'' first British Prime Minister, Sir Robert Wa ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

prior to the export of the pictures to Catherine the Great of Russia. Boydell worked on this project with

Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

and George Farington. While in Norfolk, he met and (on 6 December 1774) married Jane North, the daughter of Sir Roger North. Josiah and Jane had several children. One son, John North Boydell, was later involved in the family's publishing company.

Artistic works

This partial list is based largely on Fagan.

Paintings

*''Portrait of Alderman John Boydell'' (exhibited at the Royal Academy, 1772) *''Portrait of Jane North in the character of Juno'' (exhibited at the Royal Academy, 1776) *''Portrait of Josiah and Jane Boydell'' (exhibited at the Royal Academy, 1776)Fagan conjectures that this may be the portrait in

Adams' Grammar School Haberdashers' Adams is a grammar school for boys aged 11–18 and girls aged 16–18, located in Newport, Shropshire, offering day and boarding education. Current (2021) boarding fees are £12,144 per year and £13,644 per year for overseas stu ...

, Newport, Shropshire.

Paintings and drawings for the Shakespeare Gallery

For the Folio, Volume II *''Prince Henry Taking the Crown'', from '' Henry IV, Part 2'' (Act IV, scene 4) *''Prince Henry’s Apology'', from ''Henry IV, Part 2'' (Act IV, scene 4) *a scene from ''

Henry VI, Part 1 ''Henry VI, Part 1'', often referred to as ''1 Henry VI'', is a history play by William Shakespeare—possibly in collaboration with Christopher Marlowe and Thomas Nashe—believed to have been written in 1591. It is set during the lifetime ...

'' (Act II, scene 4) *a scene from ''

Henry VI, Part 3 ''Henry VI, Part 3'' (often written as ''3 Henry VI'') is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1591 and set during the lifetime of King Henry VI of England. Whereas '' 1 Henry VI'' deals with the loss of Eng ...

'' (Act II, scene 5) *'' Desdemona Asleep'' from '' Othello'' (Act V, scene 2) For the Illustrated Edition, Volume VI *''Henry VI, Part 1'' (Act II, scene 4) For the Illustrated Edition, Volume IX *''Desdemona Asleep'', from ''Othello'' (Act V, scene 2)

Engravings

*frontispiece to ''

Liber Veritatis The ''Liber Veritatis'', meaning ''Book of Truth'' in Latin, is a book of drawings recording his completed paintings made by Claude Lorrain, known in English as "Claude". Claude was a landscape painter in Rome, who began keeping this record i ...

'' (25 March 1777, a self-portrait by Claude Lorrain) *''Charles I'' (1778, after Van Dyck) *''Jane Wenman'' (1779, after Van Dyck)

Notes

Bibliography

*Fagan, L.A., rev. Vivienne W. Painting.
Josiah Boydell (1752–1817)
. ''

Oxford 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 ...

''. Oxford University Press. 2004. Retrieved on 17 January 2008. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Boydell, Josiah 1752 births 1817 deaths 18th-century English painters English male painters 19th-century English painters English publishers (people) People from Hawarden 19th-century English male artists 18th-century English male artists