HOUBRAKEN, Jacobüs (1698-1780), Dutch engraver, was born at Dort, December 25, 1698. All that his father, Arnold Houbraken, bequeathed to him was a fine constitution and a pure love for work. In 1707 he came to reside at Amsterdam, where for years he had to struggle incessantly against difficulties. He commenced the art of engraving by studying the works of Cornelis Cort, Suyder-hoef, Edelinck, and the Visschers. He devoted himself almost entirely to portraiture, and as his reputation became known in and beyond the boundary of his country he soon found himself with commissions more than he could conveniently execute. Seeking happiness in the bosom of his family, and being temperate in his habits, he lived to an advanced age, and the work executed the last year of his life shows no failing of his power in the use of the burin. Among his best works are scenes from the comedy of De Ontdekte Schijndeugd, executed in his eightieth year, after Cornelis Troost, who was called by his countrymen the Dutch Hogarth, with, however, very small title to such a distinction. Houbraken died on the 14th of November 1780, having nearly completed his eighty-second year.

See A. Ver Hull, Jacobus Houbraken et son Oeuvre Arnhem, 1875, where 120 engraved works are fully described.