Unknown boy engraved as Thomas Chatterton

after Unknown artist
stipple engraving, published 1797
5 1/2 in. x 3 3/8 in. (140 mm x 86 mm)
Purchased with help from the Friends of the National Libraries and the Pilgrim Trust, 1966
Reference Collection
NPG D7830

Sitterback to top

Thomas Chatterton (1752-1770), Poet. Sitter associated with 11 portraits.

Artistback to top

Unknown artist, Artist. Artist associated with 6556 portraits.

Portrait setback to top

Macdonnell Collection

Subject/Themeback to top

Stipple engraving

Events of 1797back to top

Current affairs

The Anti-Jacobin periodical makes its debut followed by The Anti-Jacobin Review the year after. Edited by William Gifford, it acted as a Tory mouthpiece against the 'New Morality' associated with republicanism.
Bank crisis results in the temporary suspension of payments by the Bank of England leading to a nationwide currency shortage.

Art and science

Robert Southey, later Poet Laureate, publishes his collected Poems, exploring contemporary interest in mythology and non-European cultures.
Ann Radcliffe publishes her popular gothic novel The Italian. One of the most imaginative novelists of the period, she helped introduce readers to the romantic sense of the supernatural.

International

Battle of Cape St Vincent. Admiral John Jervis leads the fleet which defeat the Spanish.
Failure of a small French invasion in Pembrokeshire.
Naval mutinies at Spithead and Nore.
Attack on the Canary Islands in which Rear-Admiral Nelson loses an arm.

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