Rudolph Ackermann
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| - | '''Thomas Rowlandson''' ([[July 14]], [[1756]] – [[April 22]], [[1827]]) was an [[English caricaturist]]. | + | '''Rudolph Ackermann''' (20 April 1764 – 30 March 1834) was an Anglo-German [[inventor]] and [[publisher]]. |
| - | He was born in [[Old Jewry]], in the [[City of London]], the son of a tradesman or city merchant. On leaving school he became a student at the [[Royal Academy]]. At the age of sixteen, he lived and studied for a time in [[Paris, France|Paris]], and he later made frequent tours to the [[Europe|Continent]], enriching his [[Career portfolio|portfolio]]s with numerous jottings of life and character. In 1775 he exhibited a drawing of ''[[Delilah]] visiting [[Samson]] in Prison,'' and in the following years he was represented by various portraits and landscapes. He was spoken of as a promising student; and had he continued his early application he would have made his mark as a painter. But by the death of his aunt, a French lady, he inherited £7,000, plunged into the dissipations of the town and was known to sit at the gaming-table for thirty-six hours at a stretch. | + | == Biography == |
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| + | He was born at [[Schneeberg, Saxony|Schneeberg]], in [[Saxony]], where he attended the Latin school. His wish to study at the university was made impossible by lack of financial means, and he therefore became a [[saddler]] like his father. | ||
| - | In time poverty overtook him; and the friendship and example of [[James Gillray]] and [[Henry William Bunbury]] seem to have suggested [[caricature]] as a means of filling an empty purse. His drawing of [[Vauxhall]], shown in the Royal Academy exhibition of 1784, had been engraved by Pollard, and the print was a success. Rowlandson was largely employed by [[Rudolph Ackermann]], the art publisher, who in 1809--issued in his ''Poetical Magazine'' ''The Schoolmaster’s Tour''--a series of plates with illustrative verses by Dr. [[William Combe]]. They were the most popular of the artist’s works. Again engraved by Rowlandson himself in 1812, and issued under the title of the ''Tour of Dr Syntax in Search of the Picturesque,'' they had attained a fifth edition by 1813, and were followed in 1820 by ''Dr Syntax in Search of Consolation,'' and in 1821 by the ''Third Tour of Dr Syntax in Search of a Wife.'' | + | He was a saddler and coach-builder in different German cities, then moved to [[Paris]], and [[London]], where in 1795 he established a print-shop and drawing-school in [[Strand, London|The Strand]].<ref>[[Chambers Biographical Dictionary]], ISBN 0-550-18022-2, page 6</ref> Ackermann set up a [[lithography|lithographic]] press and begun a trade in [[copper]] lithographs. He later began to manufacture colours and thick carton paper for landscape and miniature painters. |
| - | He also produced a body of [[erotic print]]s and woodcuts, many of which would be considered [[pornographic]] today. | + | In 1809 he applied his press to the illustration of his ''Repository of Arts, Literature, Fashions'', which appeared monthly until 1829, when forty volumes had appeared. [[Thomas Rowlandson]] and other distinguished artists were regular contributors. ''Ackermann's Repository'' documented the changing classicising fashions in dress and furniture of the Regency. He also introduced the fashion of the once popular ''Literary Annuals'', beginning in 1823 with ''Forget-me-not''; and he published many illustrated volumes of [[topography]] and travel, ''The Microcosm of London'' (3 vols., 1808-1811), ''[[Westminster Abbey]]'' (2 vols., 1812), ''The [[Rhine]]'' (1820), ''The World in Miniature'' (43 vols., 1821-1826), etc. |
| - | The same collaboration of designer, author and publisher appeared in the English ''[[Dance of Death]],'' issued in 1814-16, one of the most admirable of Rowlandson’s series, and in the ''Dance of Life,'' 1822. Rowlandson also illustrated [[Tobias Smollett|Smollett]], [[Oliver Goldsmith|Goldsmith]] and [[Laurence Sterne|Sterne]], and his designs will be found in ''The Spirit of the Public Journals'' (1825), ''The English Spy'' (1825), and ''The Humourist'' (1831). He died in London, after a prolonged illness, on 22 April 1827. | + | Ackermann was an enterprising man; he [[patent]]ed in 1801 a method for rendering paper and cloth waterproof and erected a factory in [[Chelsea, London|Chelsea]] to make it. He was one of the first to illuminate his own premises with [[gas]]. Indeed the introduction of lighting by gas owed much to him.{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}} After the [[Battle of Leipzig]], Ackermann collected nearly a quarter of a million pounds sterling for the German casualties. He also patented the [[Ackermann steering geometry]]. |
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| - | Rowlandson’s designs were usually done in outline with the reed-pen, and delicately washed with colour. They were then [[etching|etched]] by the artist on the copper, and afterwards [[aquatint]]ed --usually by a professional [[engraver]], the impressions being finally coloured by hand. As a designer he was characterized by the utmost facility and ease of [[draughtsmanship]], and the quality of his art suffered from this haste and over-production. He dealt less frequently with politics than his fierce contemporary, Gillray, but commonly touching, in a rather gentle spirit, the various aspects and incidents of social life. His most artistic work is to be found among the more careful drawings of his earlier period; but even among the exaggerated caricature of his later time we find hints that this master of the humorous might have attained to the beautiful had he so willed. | + | |
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| - | His work included a personification of the [[United Kingdom]] named [[John Bull]] who was developed from about 1790 in conjunction with other British satirical artists such as Gillray and [[George Cruikshank]]. | + | |
| + | == See also == | ||
| + | * [[Thomas Rowlandson]] | ||
| + | * ''[[Microcosm of London]]'' | ||
| + | * ''[[Poetical Magazine]]'' | ||
| + | * [[Isaac Cruikshank]] | ||
| + | * [[George Moutard Woodward]] | ||
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Revision as of 20:08, 25 January 2010
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Rudolph Ackermann (20 April 1764 – 30 March 1834) was an Anglo-German inventor and publisher.
Biography
He was born at Schneeberg, in Saxony, where he attended the Latin school. His wish to study at the university was made impossible by lack of financial means, and he therefore became a saddler like his father.
He was a saddler and coach-builder in different German cities, then moved to Paris, and London, where in 1795 he established a print-shop and drawing-school in The Strand.<ref>Chambers Biographical Dictionary, ISBN 0-550-18022-2, page 6</ref> Ackermann set up a lithographic press and begun a trade in copper lithographs. He later began to manufacture colours and thick carton paper for landscape and miniature painters.
In 1809 he applied his press to the illustration of his Repository of Arts, Literature, Fashions, which appeared monthly until 1829, when forty volumes had appeared. Thomas Rowlandson and other distinguished artists were regular contributors. Ackermann's Repository documented the changing classicising fashions in dress and furniture of the Regency. He also introduced the fashion of the once popular Literary Annuals, beginning in 1823 with Forget-me-not; and he published many illustrated volumes of topography and travel, The Microcosm of London (3 vols., 1808-1811), Westminster Abbey (2 vols., 1812), The Rhine (1820), The World in Miniature (43 vols., 1821-1826), etc.
Ackermann was an enterprising man; he patented in 1801 a method for rendering paper and cloth waterproof and erected a factory in Chelsea to make it. He was one of the first to illuminate his own premises with gas. Indeed the introduction of lighting by gas owed much to him.Template:Citation needed After the Battle of Leipzig, Ackermann collected nearly a quarter of a million pounds sterling for the German casualties. He also patented the Ackermann steering geometry.
See also
