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James Boswell

7 of 16 portraits of James Boswell

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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James Boswell

by G.W. Hutin, published by Abraham Wivell, after Sir Joshua Reynolds
stipple engraving, (1785)
7 7/8 in. x 5 3/8 in. (199 mm x 135 mm) plate size; 8 1/4 in. x 5 3/4 in. (209 mm x 147 mm) paper size
Bequeathed by (Frederick) Leverton Harris, 1927
Reference Collection
NPG D14716

Sitterback to top

  • James Boswell (1740-1795), Biographer of Dr Johnson. Sitter associated with 16 portraits.

Artistsback to top

  • G.W. Hutin. Artist associated with 2 portraits.
  • Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), Painter and first President of the Royal Academy. Artist associated with 1413 portraits, Sitter associated with 38 portraits.
  • Abraham Wivell (1786-1849), Portrait painter. Artist associated with 76 portraits.

Related worksback to top

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Portrait setback to top

Subject/Themeback to top

Events of 1785back to top

Current affairs

George Prince of Wales secretly marries his mistress Maria Fitzherbert in contravention of the Royal Marriages Act of 1772.
Prime Minister William Pitt introduces a bill proposing parliamentary reform and the abolition of 'rotten boroughs' but is defeated.

Art and science

William Cowper publishes his best -known poem The Task.
James Boswell publishes The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides, narrating his travels with the late writer Samuel Johnson.
Physician and naturalist James Hutton presents his studies of local rocks to the Royal Society of Edinburgh, launching the era of scientific geology.

International

Warren Hastings resigns as Governor-General of Bengal and returns to England. His trial begins on charges of corruption in the administration of India.
French sculptor Jean Antoine Houdon crosses the Atlantic to sculpt a statue of George Washington.
British government establishes a permanent land force in the Eastern Caribbean, based in Barbados.

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