FINDEN, William (1787-1852), English line engraver, was born in 1787. He served his apprenticeship to one James Mitan, but appears to have owed far more to the influence of James Heath, whose works he privately and earnestly studied. His first employment on his own account was engraving illustrations for books, and among the most noteworthy of these early plates were Smirke’s illustrations to Don Quixote. His neat style and smooth finish made his pictures very attractive and popular, and although he executed several large plates, his chief work throughout his life was book illustration. His younger brother, Edward Finden, worked in conjunction with him, and so much demand arose for their productions that ultimately a company of assistants was engaged, and plates were produced in increasing numbers, their quality as works of art declining as their quantity rose. The largest plate executed by William Finden was the portrait of King George IV. seated on a sofa, after the painting by Sir...
Thomas Lawrence. For this work he received two thousand guineas, a sum larger than had ever before been paid for an engraved portrait. The demand for this print was for a time so great that proofs were advertised at a price largely in advance of the publication price. But the reputation of the subject, of the painter, and of the engraver have alike declined. Finden’s next works on a large scale were the Highlander’s Return and the Village Festival, after Wilkie’s well-known works, the latter now forming part of the national collection. These are esteemed as Finden’s happiest works. Later in life he undertook, in co-operation with his brother, aided by their numerous staff, the publication as well as the production of various galleries of engravings. The first of these, a series of landscape and portrait illustrations to the life and works of Byron, appeared in 1833 and following years, and was a very successful venture. Other attempts of a like kind were less so; and by the last, the most costly, and by far the most deserving of success, both for its subjects and the quality of its workmanship, the Gallery of British Art, he lost the fruits of all his former success. Of this Gallery fifteen parts were published between 1838 and 1840. Finden’s last undertaking was an engraving on a largo scale of Hilton’s Crucifixion, which was completed just before his death. The plate was bought by the Art Union for £1470. A few days before his death this industrious engraver joined with a few of his brothers in art in a petition to the queen for the admission of engravers to the honours of the Royal Academy. He died in London, unmarried, September 20, 1852.
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