Quick Facts
Biography
William Humphrey (1740?–1810?) was an English engraver and printseller.
Life
Born about 1740, Humphrey began life as an engraver. In 1765 he obtained a premium from the Society of Arts for a mezzotint engraving of a self-portrait of Rembrandt.
Later in life Humphrey concentrated on printselling. He made journeys to Holland and elsewhere on the continent and had a penchant for collecting English portraits. He became the chief agent for the major private collections of portraits made about this time. At one time he took Charles Howard Hodges, the engraver, to Amsterdam, where Hodges established himself.
Humphrey was residing at 227 Strand in 1785. This was also the first address of his sister Hannah's shop where she sold James Gillray's prints before moving to Bond Street. He died probably about 1810 in a particular state of debt.
Works
Humphrey engraved portraits in mezzotint, some after Robert Edge Pine. That of John Sturt the engraver was after William Faithorne the younger; of Colonel Richard King, after Godfrey Kneller; Mr Mannock, brother of Sir William Mannock, after Samuel Cooper; of Madame Du Barry, from a drawing by Benjamin Wilson; and others. He also etched a few small portraits, and engraved in stipple Cupid and Psyche and Beauty and Time, from his own drawings, and The Nativity of Christ, after John Singleton Copley.