Early Victorian Portraits Catalogue

William Mulready (1786-1863), Painter and illustrator

Painter; entered RA schools, 1808; studied with and taught by John Varley whose sister he married, 1803; illustrated children's books; exhibited at the RA, 1804-62; designed first penny postage envelope, 1840; famous for his genre paintings, and illustrations to The Vicar of Wakefield.


This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: Richard Ormond, Early Victorian Portraits, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1973, and is as published then. For the most up-to-date details on individual Collection works, we recommend reading the information provided in the Search the Collection results on this website in parallel with this text.