Antique Portrait of Joseph Addison

About this Item

Antique portrait titled 'Joseph Addison Esqr.'. Old print of Joseph Addison, English essayist, poet, playwright and politician. It depicts a bust portrait of Addison in an ornamental oval. He is turned to his right, but he is looking directly at the viewer. He is wearing a dark coat over a white shirt. Below the oval are items relating to plays, music, as well as the rod of Asclepius and books lying in foreground on the right. This print originates from Thomas Birch's 'The Heads of Illustrious Persons of Great Britain'. The portraits featured in the series, which were engraved by Jacob Houbraken and George Vertue, were originally issued from 1737 onwards in portfolios of four portraits. Between 1743 and 1752, the series was published by John and Paul Knapton in London in the form of Birch's The Heads of Illustrious Persons of Great Britain, and contained biographies alongside the portraits. The number of plates included varied from edition to edition. Although the majority contained 108 plates, some editions contained as many as 120. Houbraken was responsible for producing a large proportion of the portraits, with Vertue only engraving around seven. The ornamental surroundings featured on the plates were engraved prior to the portraits, and were done so by Hubert-François Gravelot.

Seller Inventory # BG-13360-27

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Antique Portrait of Joseph Addison