Detail from The Shepherd's Flute, The Virgin's Lay by Peltro William Tomkins, after a painting by William Hamilton, 1798. Dayton C. Miller Collection, Music Division, Library of Congress.

after a painting by William Hamilton, history and portrait painter, 1751-1801

In a clearing deep in a forest and beneath large trees, a shepherd plays a flute for a young maiden. In the center of the scene, the shepherd sits on a branch of a tree and plays a transverse flute. The young woman sits on a knoll at the right, hand to chin, as she listens to the flutist. She wears a light-colored dress and the ribbons of her hat are untied. In her arms is the shepherd's staff. A flock of sheep is at rest in the grass at the lower left. Water splashes from a rock into a stream at the lower right.

This etching illustrates a passage from a poem, The Seasons, by James Thomson (1700-1748). Thomson's poem was first published in four parts from 1726 to 1730 (first published as a complete poem in 1730, and revised in 1744). For more than a century, it was the most popular poem in the English language. It went through 174 editions between 1750 and 1800, and by the mid-19th century, 270 more editions were published. Between 1790 and 1810 alone, more than 80 editions of The Seasons were published. Passages from this poem and the characters in it, such as Musidora and Lavinia, inspired generations of artists.

The painter William Hamilton (1751-1801) was one of the most prolific illustrators of The Seasons and his designs for the folio edition of 1797 were considered his masterpieces. This etching by Tomkins, based on a painting by Hamilton, first appeared in a deluxe folio edition of The Seasons in 1797. (The title page of the book is dated 1797, though this print in this edition carried the date of 1798.) This image of the shepherd and the maiden appeared at the end of the book as the headpiece for the last section of the poem which was entitled "Hymn."

All of the illustrations for Thomson's poem in this deluxe edition were based on paintings by William Hamilton and they were engraved by Tomkins' master, Francesco Bartolozzi (1727-1815), and Tomkins himself. Tomkins at this time was the engraver to Queen Charlotte, wife of George III, and he was also the drawing master to the royal princesses. Tomkins had set up a publishing house on New Bond Street and he was the publisher of this deluxe 1797 edition of The Seasons which carries an elaborate dedication page to the queen, signed by Tomkins. However, the etching in the 1797 edition only mentions the names of the artists and the publisher's information beneath the print, though its title, The Shepherd's Flute, The Virgin's Lay, is given in the list of illustrations at the beginning of the book.

The caption, The Shepherd's Flute, The Virgin's Lay, appears beneath the print itself in the 1807 edition, and the plate occupies a full page facing the text of the "Hymn" on page 235. The caption derives from lines in the poem: "Or if you rather choose the rural shade, / And find a fane in every sacred grove; / There let the shepherd's flute, the virgin's lay, / The prompting seraph, and the poet's lyre, / Still sing the God of Seasons, as they roll." (1797 edition, p. 243; 1807 edition, p. 235).[1]

The Miller etching matches the impressions and dimensions of the images in both the 1797 and 1807 editions of The Seasons. Because of the inclusion of the caption in the Miller print, however, it most closely matches the illustration as it appeared in the 1807 edition.[2] For other prints in the Miller Collection based on works by William Hamilton, see 443/R (Bartolozzi, after Hamilton) and 504/L (White, after Hamilton).

About the Artists

Peltro William Tomkins, stipple engraver, 1760-1840
Peltro William Tomkins, a British artist, was born in London in 1760 and died in the same city in 1840. He was the son of William Tomkins (ca. 1730-1792), a landscape painter, and one of the first associates of the Royal Academy where he exhibited his work from 1769 to 1790. Peltro Tomkins'older brother, Charles Tomkins (ca. 1750-ca. 1810), was also a landscape painter who exhibited his work at the Royal Academy from 1773 to 1779. Charles Tomkins was mostly known for his engravings, some of which were based on his own landscapes, and for his illustrations of books from about 1796 to 1805. Peltro William Tomkins studied with Francesco Bartolozzi (1727-1815) who came to England from Italy in 1764 to engrave works in the Royal Collection. Bartolozzi mastered the technique of stipple engraving and had many students and assistants during the 38 years he lived in England. Peltro William Tomkins was one of his best students. Tomkins was appointed engraver to Queen Charlotte, wife of George III, in 1793, and he taught drawing to the royal princesses. He engraved the works of many prominent 18th-century artists, among them the paintings of Angelica Kauffman (1740-1807) and William Hamilton (1751-1801).

He established a print publishing business on New Bond Street in London but, like Boydell, Bowyer and other publishers at the end of the 18th century, lost his business due to financial reverses. The most important books to which Peltro William Tomkins contributed illustrations were: 1) James Thomson, The Seasons. London: Printed for P. W. Tomkins, 1797 (deluxe folio edition). 2) James Thomson, The Seasons. London: Printed for T. Bensley for Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, 1807.[3] Tomkins contributed fifteen of the twenty-one engravings to these editions - full plates as well as the vignettes and head and tail pieces - with Bartolozzi contributing the balance. The frontispiece is especially notable. It depicts a bust of Thomson surrounded by allegorical figures representing The Seasons as well as medallion portraits of Bartolozzi, Hamilton and Tomkins. 3) John Chamberlaine, Original designs of the most celebrated masters of the Bolognese, Roman, Florentine, and Venetian schools..., of 1812.[4] 4) Henry Tresham, The British Gallery of Pictures..., of 1818.[5] Tomkins provided the drawings and/or engraved ten of the twenty-four oversize plates in this book.[6]

William Hamilton, history and portrait painter, 1751-1801
The painter of this scene was William Hamilton, a British painter, draughtsman and book illustrator, born in Chelsea in 1751, and who died in London in 1801. He began his studies as a decorative painter in the studio of Robert Adam (1728-1792), the architect, draughtsman, watercolorist and engraver. About 1766, Adam sent Hamilton to Italy to study with Antonio Zucchi (1726-1795). (Zucchi was a decorative painter who had traveled to Italy with the Adam brothers from 1750 to 1760 to draw ancient monuments and ruins. On his return to England, Zucchi did much of the decorative paintings in houses designed by the Adam brothers and exhibited his work in London from 1770 to 1784, becoming an associate of the Royal Academy in 1784. Zucchi married the painter Angelica Kauffman in 1781 and eventually returned to Italy).

Hamilton was back in London by 1768 and enrolled in studies at the Royal Academy beginning in 1769. He exhibited portraits and history paintings at the Royal Academy from 1774 to 1801. He was elected as an associate of the Royal Academy in 1784 and as a member in 1789. In 1779, Hamilton began to provide illustrations for book publishers John Murray, Robert Dodsley, and Francis Isaac Du Roveray. He was also commissioned to paint 23 works for John Boydell's "Shakespeare Gallery" as well as to paint works for the galleries of Robert Bowyer and Thomas Macklin. Hamilton also provided illustrations for Bowyer's History of England, for Thomas Macklin's Bible and Macklin's British Poets. Hamilton painted more designs for James Thomson's poem, The Seasons, than any other illustrator, preparing designs for five editions between 1777 and 1801. Hamilton also collaborated with the painter, Henry Fuseli (1740-1825), in book illustration. Together, Hamilton and Fuseli contributed designs for illustrations for editions of Thomas Gray's Poems (1800) and Milton's Paradise Lost (1802).[7]

Notes

1. Both editions are in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division of the Library of Congress. LC call numbers: PR3732.S4 1797 and PR3732.S4 1807c. [back to article]
2. For a publication history of James Thomson's poem, The Seasons, its many editions, and a discussion of the artists who were inspired by it, see Richard D. Altick, Paintings from Books: Art and Literature in Britain, 1760-1900. Columbus: Ohio University Press, 1985, pp. 390-394; mention of William Hamilton as the most prolific illustrator of The Seasons is on p. 392. The authoritative book on James Thomson and The Seasons, which includes an extensive bibliography of its multiple editions, is Ralph Cohen, The Art of Discrimination: Thomson's 'The Seasons' and the Language of Criticism. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1964. LC call number: PN99.G7C6. For a short biography of James Thomson that includes chapters on The Seasons as well as his other poetry and dramatic writings, see Hilbert H. Campbell, James Thomson. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1979. LC call number: PR3733.C3. [back to article]
3. See note 1. [back to article]
4. John Chamberlaine, Original designs of the most celebrated masters of the Bolognese, Roman, Florentine, and Venetian schools; comprising some of the works of Leonardo da Vinci, the Carracci, Claude Lorraine, Raphael, Michel Angelo, the Poussins, and others, in His Majesty's collection / eng. By Bartolozzi, P. W. Tomkins, Schiavonetti, Lewis, and other eminent engravers.... London: Printed by W. Bulmer and Co., sold by G. and W. Nicol [etc.], 1812. Not in the Library of Congress. See copy in the library of the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. Call number: NC1045.C44. [back to article]
5. Henry Tresham, The British Gallery of Pictures, selected from the most admired productions of the Old Masters in Great Britain.... London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown [etc.], 1818. LC call number: ND1246.T7 Folio. [back to article]
6. See Bénézit for additional biographical information on Peltro William Tomkins. See also S[arah] T[reverbian] Prideaux. Aquatint Engraving: A Chapter in the History of Book Illustration. 3rd ed. London: W. & G. Foyle Ltd., 1968, pp. 56, 233, 291, and 370. LC call number: NE1820.P8. Descriptions of prints engraved jointly by Tomkins and Bartolozzi, while Tomkins was still a student of Bartolozzi, are included in Alessandro Baudi de Vesme, Francesco Bartolozzi: Catalogue des Estampes, with a critical study by Augusto Calabi. Milan: Guido Modiano, 1928. Library of Congress. General Collection. LC call number: NE662.B3B3 Folio. [back to article]
7. For additional biographical information on William Hamilton and his book illustrations, see Hanns Hammelmann, Book Illustrators in Eighteenth-Century England, edited and completed by T. S. R. Boase. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, published for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, 1975, pp. 48-49. Library of Congress. General Collection. LC call number: NC978.H28. Further discussions of Hamilton as an illustrator of books can be found in Richard D. Altick, Paintings from Books: Art and Literature in Britain, 1760-1900. Columbus: Ohio University Press, 1985, see index, under Hamilton; see p. 392 for a discussion of his illustrations for James Thomson's The Seasons. LC call number: PR408.A68A48. Also, see a biography of Hamilton by Geoffrey Ashton, "William Hamilton," in Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online (subscription only). [back to article]