John Orrin Smith
John Orrin Smith (1799–1843) was an English wood engraver.[1]
Life
Born in Colchester, Smith went to London about 1818, and spent a short time training as an architect. Coming of age in 1821, he inherited some money, and bought a part-proprietorship in a newspaper, The Sunday Monitor, on which Douglas Jerrold worked as a compositor. By the time he was 24 he found himself penniless. William Harvey then instructed him in wood-engraving.[2] He[who?] had previously been a pupil of Samuel Williams.[3]
In 1842 Smith took into partnership William James Linton. Smith & Linton did much work for the Illustrated London News, and illustrated books, including Whist, its History and Practice, from designs by Kenny Meadows (1843).[2]
Smith died of apoplexy on 15 October 1843, at 11 Mabledon Place, Burton Crescent, London.[2]
Works
After much hack-work, Smith was employed by Léon Curmer of Paris to engrave a number of the blocks for his edition of Paul et Virginie (1835). In 1837 he prepared engravings for John Antes Latrobe's The Solace of Song (Seeley & Burnside), a new departure in wood-engraving with a finish contrasting with the crisp work of Luke Clennell, Charlton Nesbit, and John Thompson.[2]
There followed, with other work:[2]
- Johann Gottfried Herder's : Der Cid nach spanischen Romanzen, published at Stuttgart, 1839;
- an English edition of Paul et Virginie, 1840;
- Christopher Wordsworth's Greece, 1840–1;
- Heads of the People, by Kenny Meadows;
- Shakespeare's Works, in 1839–43, with nearly 1,000 designs by Kenny Meadows.
The last two works were part-owned by Smith, with Meadows and Henry Vizetelly.[2]
Family
In 1821 Smith married Jane Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph Barney. His widow survived him with four children. Harvey Edward Orrinsmith, the son practised wood-engraving, but then became a director of the firm of James Burn & Co., bookbinders.[2]
Notes
- ^ "Obit. Mr. Orrin Smith". The Art-Union: 296. November 1843.
- ^ a b c d e f g Lee, Sidney, ed. (1898). . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 53. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
- ^ Marsden, Christoper. "Smith, John Orrin". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/25859. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lee, Sidney, ed. (1898). "Smith, John Orrin". Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 53. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
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