5

This inscription, a satire on the engraver, but happily concealed in an unknown tongue, is placed at the bottom of Milton's print, prefixed to Moseley's edition of these poems, 1645. The print is in an oval: at the angles of the page are the Muses Melpomene, Erato, Urania, and Clio; and in a background a landscape with Shepherds, evidently in allusion to Lycidas and L'Allegro. Conscious of the comeliness of his person, from which he afterwards delineated Adam, Milton could not help expressing his resentment at so palpable a dissimilitude. Salmasius, in his Defensio Regia, calls it comptulam imaginem, and declares that it gave him no disadvan

VOL. IV.

rem

mium cultum objicis." Prose Works, vol. ii. 367. Round it is inscribed Johannis Miltoni Angli Effigies anno ætatis vigesimo primo. There was therefore some drawing or painting of Milton in 1629, from which this engraving was made in 1645, eo belli tempore, when the civil war was now begun. The engraver is William Marshall; who from the year 1634, was often employed by Moseley, Milton's bookseller, to engrave heads for books of poetry. One of these heads was of Shakespeare, to his Poems in 1640. Marshall's manner has sometimes a neatness, and a delicacy discernible through

A a

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much laboured hardness. In the year 1670, there was another plate of Milton by Faithorne, from a drawing in crayons by Faithorne, prefixed to his History of Britain, with this legend, "Gul. Faithorne ad vivum delin, "et sculpsit. Joannis Miltoni effigies Etat. 62. 1670." It is also prefixed to our author's Prose Works, in three volumes, 1698. This is not in Faithorne's best manner. Between the two prints, hitherto mentioned, allowing for the great difference of years, there is very little if any resemblance. This last was copied by W. Dolle, before Milton's Logic, 1672. Afterwards by Robert White; and next by Vertue, one of his chief works, in 1725. There are four or five original pictures of our author. The first, a half length with a laced ruff, is by Cornelius Jansen, in 1618, when he was only a boy of ten years old. It had belonged to Milton's widow, his third wife, who lived in Cheshire. This was in the possession of Mr. Thomas Hollis, having been purchased at Mr. Charles Stanhope's sale for thirty one guineas, in June, 1760. Lord Harrington wishing to have the lot returned, Mr. Hollis replied, "his lordship's whole estate should not repurchase it." It was engraved by J. B. Cipriani, in 1760. Mr. Stanhope bought it of the executors of Milton's widow for twenty guineas. The late Mr. Hollis, when his lodgings in Covent-garden were on fire, walked calmly out of the house with this picture by Jansen in his hand, neglecting to secure any other portable article of value. I presume it is now in the possession of Mr.

Brand Hollis. [The picture of Milton by C. Jansen passed with the rest of the Hollis property into the hands of Dr. Disney, who inherited also from Mr. Brand a small silver seal with which Milton was accustomed to seal his letters. On the death of Foster, the husband of Milton's grand-daughter, it passed through one intermediate hand into the possession of Mr. T. Hollis in 1761. It bears Milton's arms, which were argent, a spread eagle with two heads gules, legged and beaked sable. Symmons.] (See Ad Patr. note, v. 75.) Another, which had also belonged to Milton's widow, is in the possession of the Onslow family. This, which is not at all like Faithorne's crayon-drawing, and by some is suspected not to be a portrait of Milton, has been more than once engraved by Vertue: who in his first plate of it, dated 1731, and in others, makes the age twenty one. This has been also engraved by Houbraken in 1741, and by Cipriani. The ruff is much in the neat style of painting ruffs, about and before 1628. The picture is handsomer than the engravings. This portrait is mentioned in Aubrey's manuscript Life of Milton, 1681, as then belonging to the widow. And he says, "Mem. Write his "name in red letters on his pictures "which his widowe has, to

preserve them.” Vertue, in a Letter to Mr. Christian the seal engraver, in the British Museum, about 1720, proposes to ask Prior the poet, whether there had not been a picture of Milton in the late Lord Dorset's collection. The Duchess of Portland has a miniature of his head, when

young: the face has a stern thoughtfulness, and, to use his own expression, is severe in youthful beauty. Before Peck's New Memoirs of Milton, printed 1740, is a pretended head of Milton in exquisite mezzotinto, done by the second J. Faber: which is characteristically unlike any other representation of our author I remember to have seen. It is from a painting given to Peck by Sir John Meres of Kirkby-Belers in Leicestershire. But Peck himself knew that he was imposing upon the public. For having asked Vertue whether he thought it a picture of Milton, and Vertue peremptorily answering in the negative, Peck replied, "I'll have a scraping "from it, however; and let "posterity settle the difference." Besides, in this picture the left hand is on a book, lettered Paradise Lost. But Peck supposes the age about twenty five, when Milton had never thought of that poem or subject. Peck mentions a head done by Milton himself on board: but it does not appear to be authenticated. The Richardsons, and next the Tonsons, had the admirable crayon-drawing above mentioned, done by Faithorne, the best likeness extant, and for which Milton sate at the age of sixty two. About the year 1725, Vertue carried this drawing, with other reputed engravings and paintings of Milton, to Milton's favourite daughter Deborah, a very sensible woman, who died the wife of Abraham Clark, a weaver in Spitalfields, in 1727, aged 76. He contrived to have them brought into the room as if by accident, while he was conversing with her. At

seeing the drawing, taking no notice of the rest, she suddenly cried out in great surprise, O Lord, that is the picture of my father! How came you by it? And stroking down the hair of her forehead, added, Just so my father wore his hair. She was very like Milton. Compare Richardson, Explan. N. p. xxxvi. This head by Faithorne was etched by Richardson the father about 1734, with the addition of a laurel-crown to help the propriety of the motto. It is before the Explanatory Notes on the Paradise Lost, by the Richardsons, Lond. 1734, 8vo. The busts prefixed to Milton's Prose Works by Birch, 1738, and by Baron 1753, are engraved by Vertue from a bad drawing made by J. Richardson, after an original cast in plaister about fifty. Of this cast Mr Hollis gave a drawing by Cipriani to Speaker Onslow, in 1759. It was executed, perhaps on the publication of the Defensio, by one Pierce, an artist of some note, the same who did the marble bust of Sir Christopher Wren in the Bodleian library, or by Abraham Simon. Mr. Hollis bought it of Vertue. It has been remodelled in wax by Gosset. Richardson the father also etched this bust, for The Poems and Critical Essays of S. Say, 1754. 4to. But, I believe, this is the same etching that I have mentioned above, to have been made by old Richardson 1734, and which was now lent to Say's editor, 1754, for Say's Essays. Old Richardson was not living in 1754. There is, however, another etching of Milton, by Richardson, the younger, before he blind, and when much younger

was

than fifty, accompanied with six bombast verses, Authentic "Homer, &c." The verses are subscribed "J. R. jun." The drawings, as well as engravings, of Milton by Cipriani, are many. There is a drawing of our author by Deacon: it is taken from a proof-impression on wax of a seal by Thomas Simon, Cromwell's chief mint-master, first in the hands of Mr. Yeo, afterwards of Mr. Hollis. This, a profile, has been lately engraved by Ryland. Mr. Hollis had a small steel puncheon of Milton's head, a full front, for a seal or ring, by the same T. Simon, who did many more of Milton's party in the same way. The medal of Milton struck by Tanner, for auditor Benson, is after the old plaister-bust, and Faithorne's crayon-piece, chiefly the latter. So is the marble bust in the Abbey, by Rysbrack, 1737. Scheemaker's marble bust, for Dr. Mead, and bought at his sale by Mr. Duncombe, was professedly and exactly copied from the plaister-bust. Faithorne's is the most common representation of Milton's head. Either that, or the Onslow picture, are the heads in Bertley's, and Tickell's, and Newton's editions. All by Vertue. Milton's daughter Deborah above mentioned, the daughter of his first wife, and his amanuensis, told Vertue, that "her father "was of a fair complexion, a "little red in his cheeks, and light brown lank hair." Letter to Mr. Christian, ut supr. MS. Brit. Mus.

It is diverting enough, that M. Vandergucht engraved for Tonson's edition, 1713, a copy of Marshall's print, 1645, with his

own name, and the accompaniment of this Greek inscription, an unperceived reflection on himself. Vertue's Greek motto is a trite and well known couplet from the Odyssey.

Since these imperfect and hasty notices were thrown together, Sir Joshua Reynolds has purchased a picture of Milton for one hundred guineas. It was brought to Sir Joshua, 1784, by one Mr. Hunt, a printseller and picture-dealer, who bought it of a broker; but the broker does not know the person of whom he had it. The portrait is dressed in black, with a band; and the painter's mark and date are "S. C. 1653." This is written on the back. "This picture be"longed to Deborah Milton, who

was her father's amanuensis: "at her death was sold to Sir "W. Davenant's family. It was "painted by Mr. Samuel Cooper, "who was painter to Oliver "Cromwell, at the time Milton "was Latin Secretary to the "Protector. The painter and

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poet were near of the same

age; Milton was born in 1608, " and died in 1674, and Cooper "was born in 1609, and died in "1672, and were companions "and friends till death parted "them. Several encouragers and "lovers of the fine arts at that "time wanted this picture; par"ticularly, Lord Dorset, John "Somers, Esquire, Sir Robert "Howard, Dryden, Atterbury, "Dr. Aldrich, and Sir John "Denham." Lord Dorset was probably the lucky man; for this seems to be the very picture for which, as I have before observed, Vertue wished Prior to search in Lord Dorset's collection. Sir Joshua Reynolds says, "The pic