"The Cottagers" (inspired by Thomson) painted by Reynolds and commissioned by Macklin in 1788, featuring his daughter, Maria, (left), and his wife, Hannah (right) and friend (Jane Potts ( Edwin Landseer's mother), standing). Thomas Macklin (1752/53 – 25 October 1800) was a British printseller and picture dealer. He commissioned many noted painters and engravers for his "Poets Gallery" project and his illustrated folio Bible project.

Life

Macklin was born in 1752 or 1753 and his father may have been the Reverend Garrard Macklin of the Kingdom of Ireland. Macklin married Hannah Kenting in 1777 and started a printselling business 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 ...

in 1779. His first year, his sold 7,000 copies of a print of Rear Admiral

Richard Kempenfelt Rear-Admiral Richard Kempenfelt (1718 – 29 August 1782) was a British rear admiral who gained a reputation as a naval innovator. He is best known for his victory against the French at the Second Battle of Ushant and for his death when acciden ...

. In 1781, he inherited £20,000, which he used to speculate in the print market. Macklin is most famous for his Poet's Gallery, a project he announced on 1 January 1787. He planned to commission 100 paintings illustrating famous English poems, which he would publish monthly as engravings between 1790 and 1795. He also held an annual exhibition in Pall Mall, like

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 ...

and his Shakespeare Gallery. However, the war with France cut into his profits, as prints could not be traded across the channel, and his partner, Edward Rogers, died. The project produced paintings by

Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter, specialising in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depend ...

Henry Fuseli Henry Fuseli ( ; German: Johann Heinrich Füssli ; 7 February 1741 – 17 April 1825) was a Swiss painter, draughtsman and writer on art who spent much of his life in Britain. Many of his works, such as ''The Nightmare'', deal with supernatura ...

Thomas Gainsborough Thomas Gainsborough (14 May 1727 (baptised) – 2 August 1788) was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. Along with his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds, he is considered one of the most important British artists of ...

John Opie John Opie (16 May 1761 – 9 April 1807) was an English historical and portrait painter. He painted many great men and women of his day, including members of the British Royal Family, and others who were notable in the artistic and literary ...

Angelica Kauffman Maria Anna Angelika Kauffmann ( ; 30 October 1741 – 5 November 1807), usually known in English as Angelica Kauffman, was a Swiss Neoclassical painter who had a successful career in London and Rome. Remembered primarily as a history painter, K ...

Thomas Stothard Thomas Stothard (17 August 1755 – 27 April 1834) was an English painter, illustrator and engraver. His son, Robert T. Stothard was a painter ( fl. 1810): he painted the proclamation outside York Minster of Queen Victoria's accession to the t ...

, and Francis Wheatley.

Francesco Bartolozzi __NOTOC__ Francesco Bartolozzi (21 September 1727, in Florence – 7 March 1815, in Lisbon) was an Italian engraver, whose most productive period was spent in London. He is noted for popularizing the "crayon" method of engraving. Early life Ba ...

engraved many of the prints. Just two years after beginning the Poet's Gallery, Macklin undertook to publish an illustrated folio Bible in multiple volumes to promote "'the glory of the English school' of painting and engraving and 'the interest of our HOLY RELIGION'". A new typeface and a new kind of paper were designed for the work. The finished Bible had 70 engraved plates, 16 of which were by Philippe Jacques de Louthenbourg. Many of the same artists who were participating in the Poet's Gallery worked on the Bible project. 703 people signed the subscription list, including

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

. Macklin's Bible project was expensive to produce: he paid Reynolds £500 for his Holy Family, for example, and the total cost was estimated at £30,000. To realize this project, he was forced to sell some of the paintings from the Poet's Gallery by lottery in 1797. Macklin died on 25 October 1800, just five days after the last large engraving was finished for the Bible. The

vignette Vignette may refer to: * Vignette (entertainment), a sketch in a sketch comedy * Vignette (graphic design), decorative designs in books (originally in the form of leaves and vines) to separate sections or chapters * Vignette (literature), short, i ...

s were not finished until six weeks later. According to the ''

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 ...

'', " e Macklin Bible endures as the most ambitious edition produced in Britain, often pirated but never rivalled."Bentley, "Thomas Macklin". Macklin's influence was felt in the world of the arts not only as a publisher but also as a patron. The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' records that he may have spent as much as £300,000 as a patron of the arts.

Gallery

File:Plate 12 of 22 for the Macklin Bible after Loutherbourg. Bowyer Bible. Fraud of the Priests of Bel.gif, Plate for the Macklin Bible after Louthenbourg.
''The Fraud of Bel's Priests detected''.

Notes

References

*Bentley, G. E., Jr. "Thomas Macklin". ''

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 29 January 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Macklin, Thomas 1750s births 1800 deaths British publishers (people) Art dealers from London