top of page

The Basire Family of Copper Plate Engravers

This page and the following three pages contain information on four distinct research projects relating to copper-plate engravers and engraving in London, with a focus on the eighteenth century.

The first project told the story of five generations of the Basire family of copper-plate engravers and latterly lithographers, who were active from 1730 to 1865. They were engravers at various times to the House of Commons, Oxford University Press, the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries of London.

A study entitled, "Drawing on Copper". The Basire Family of Copper Plate Engravers, was published in a hard-back and digital format by the University of Maastricth Press in 2016.

This monograph is available for download on the right-hand side of this page.

This monograph was followed by three related articles in the digital edition of the Vetusta Monumenta of the Society of Antiquaries of London. Links to these can be found below, together with further unpublished materials.

"Drawing on Copper"
The Basire Family of Copper Plate Engravers and their works (Maastricht, 2016)
From the newsletter of the Society of Antiquaries of London, Salon 379, 7 February 2017, by Julian Pooley, FSA
Review from The Library, volume 18, no. 3, September 2017, pp. 350-352,
by Antony Griffiths
Review from Print Quarterly, XXXV,  2018, 4, pp. 437-439, by Anthony Dyson
Review from the Antiquaries Journal, volume 99, September 2019 , pp. 463-465, by Liam Sims

© 2025 by Richard Goddard

bottom of page