23 OF 23

William Wordsworth

23 of 23 portraits of William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth

by Charles William Sherborn, after Margaret Gillies
etching, 1887
6 1/4 in. x 4 1/8 in. (158 mm x 104 mm) plate size; 9 in. x 6 1/8 in. (229 mm x 156 mm) paper size
Given by Timothy Aidan John Knox, 2005
Reference Collection
NPG D21204

Sitterback to top

William Wordsworth (1770-1850), Poet Laureate. Sitter in 23 portraits.

Artistsback to top

Margaret Gillies (1803-1887), Painter. Artist or producer associated with 9 portraits, Sitter in 2 portraits.
Charles William Sherborn (1831-1912), Etcher and engraver. Artist or producer associated with 43 portraits, Sitter in 4 portraits.

Related worksback to top

NPG D13986: William Wordsworth (based on same portrait)
NPG D36298: William Wordsworth (based on same portrait)

Subject/Themeback to top

Etching

Events of 1887back to top

Current affairs

Queen Victoria celebrates her Golden Jubilee, marking 50 years of her reign.
In what becomes known as 'Bloody Sunday', or the Trafalgar Square Riot, the police attack a meeting of the Social Democratic Federation, led by among others) Elizabeth Reynolds, John Burns, Annie Besant and Robert Cunninghame-Graham, killing three and injuring more than 200 crowd members.

Art and science

A Study in Scarlet, the first of Arthur Conan Doyle's detective mysteries featuring Sherlock Holmes and his assistant Dr Watson, is published. One of only four novels (there were a further 56 short stories) featuring Holmes, the mystery turns around the discovery of a corpse in Brixton.
The essayist and critic Walter Pater publishes Imaginary Portraits in which he consolidates his doctrine of Aestheticism, 'art for art's sake'.

International

Britain ratifies the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, thus accepting the terms of the International Copyright Act (1886), which abolishes the requirement to register foreign works and introduces an exclusive right to import or produce translations.
The British annex Zululand; it becomes part of Natal in 1897.

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