Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Obituary.
various plans suggested by him . for the improvement of the town of Cambridge . He was well known in the literary world for his ' Essay on the Learning of Shakspeare , addressed to Joseph Cradock , Esq . 1776 , ' which has been four times printed , viz . 1766 , 1767 , 1789 ,
and ( in Mr . Steeven ' s complete edition of the great Dramatic Bard ) 1793 . Two letters of Dr . Johnson to Dr . Far- , mer are preserved in Boswell ' s Life ; the one , in 1770 , requesting ( for Mr . Steevens and himself ) such information concerning Shakspeare as Dr . F . was ' more able to give than any other
man ; ' the other , in 1780 , soliciting information concerning ' Ambrose i'hilips , Broome , and Gray , who were all of Cambridge ; and of whose lives he was to give such accounts as he could gather . ' In 1765 he announced his intention of publishing the ' History
and Antiquities of the Town of Leicester ; ' but , in his letter to Mr . Cradock on a more favourite subject , laments that ' he had been persuaded into that employment .- ' [ ' Though I have as much , ' he says , ' of the nalale solum about me as any man w ha 'so ever , yet , I own , the
primrose path is still more pleasing than the posse or the Walling-slrecl : ' Agecannotwitherit , norcusfomstale Its infinite variety . ' And , when I am fairly rid of the dust of topographical antiquity , which hath continued much longer about me than I expectedyou may very probably be
, troubled again with the ever-fruitful subject of Shakspeare ancl his Commentators . ' ] After having printed only four pages of his History , he relinquished it , returned the subscriptions , and presented his Leicester MSS . and plates to Mr .
Nichois . Dr . Fanner ' s knowledge was various , extensive , and recondite ; audit is to be regretted that he never concentrated and exerted all the great powers of his mind on some great and important subject ; in quickness of apprehension , and acuteness of discrimination , he had
few equals ; without the smallest propensity to avarice , he possessed a large income ; and without the mean submission of dependence , he rose to a high station ; ever liberal in patronizing learned men , and forward in promoting learned publications ; his ambition , if ne hacl a » J ' - was without
insolence , his munificence Without oslenta * tion , his wit without acrimony , and his learning without pedantry . There is a large . and very fine portrait of him by J . Jones ; and . a small one in Mr . Malone ' s edition of Shakspeare . ¦ At his house in Derby , aged 63 ,
Joseph Wright , Esq . long esteemed throughout Europe as a chaste and elegant painter . He was a pupil of Hudson , who instructed tliree of the most eminent painters of the age , viz . Sir Joshua Reynolds , Mr . Wright , and Mr . Mortimer . Mr . W ' s early historical ictures be considered as the first
p may valuable productions of the English school ; because , at the time his Gladiator , Orrery , Air-pump , Hermit , and Blacksmith ' s Forge , were painted , nothing , of any consequence , hacl been produced in the historical line . His attention was afterwards directed , for some to portrait paintingin which
years , , he would have excelled , hacl he chosen to , pursue it . At a mature age he visited Italy . His-fine drawings afler Michael Angelo , and the enthusiasm with which healwaysspokeofthe sublime original , evinced the estimation in which he held them ; and they may be considered
such as have never yet been exhibited to the public . During his abode in Italy he had an opportunity of seeing a very memorable eruption of Vesuvius , which rekindled his inclination for painting extraordinary effects of light ; and his different pictures of this sublime event stand ' - ' decidedly chef d ' auvres in
that lineof painting . A large landscape ( his last work ) now at Derby , being a view of Ullswater , mav be considered his best , and deservedly ranked with the most valuable productions of Wilson , or even Claude himself . , ln the historical line , the Dead Soldier would alone establish his fame , if his
Edwin , his Destruction of the Floatingbatteries off Gibraltar , the two pictuies of Hero and Leander , the Lady in Connis , the Indian Widow , and other historical subjects , had not already ascertained his excellence . His pictures have been so much in request that there is scarcely an instance of their ever
having come into the hands of dealers . 11 is with pleasure we record that the world has not been unmindful of his extraordinary talents ; and also , that , as a man , he enjoyed the friendship and esteem of all who had the happiness , of his acquaintance .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Obituary.
various plans suggested by him . for the improvement of the town of Cambridge . He was well known in the literary world for his ' Essay on the Learning of Shakspeare , addressed to Joseph Cradock , Esq . 1776 , ' which has been four times printed , viz . 1766 , 1767 , 1789 ,
and ( in Mr . Steeven ' s complete edition of the great Dramatic Bard ) 1793 . Two letters of Dr . Johnson to Dr . Far- , mer are preserved in Boswell ' s Life ; the one , in 1770 , requesting ( for Mr . Steevens and himself ) such information concerning Shakspeare as Dr . F . was ' more able to give than any other
man ; ' the other , in 1780 , soliciting information concerning ' Ambrose i'hilips , Broome , and Gray , who were all of Cambridge ; and of whose lives he was to give such accounts as he could gather . ' In 1765 he announced his intention of publishing the ' History
and Antiquities of the Town of Leicester ; ' but , in his letter to Mr . Cradock on a more favourite subject , laments that ' he had been persuaded into that employment .- ' [ ' Though I have as much , ' he says , ' of the nalale solum about me as any man w ha 'so ever , yet , I own , the
primrose path is still more pleasing than the posse or the Walling-slrecl : ' Agecannotwitherit , norcusfomstale Its infinite variety . ' And , when I am fairly rid of the dust of topographical antiquity , which hath continued much longer about me than I expectedyou may very probably be
, troubled again with the ever-fruitful subject of Shakspeare ancl his Commentators . ' ] After having printed only four pages of his History , he relinquished it , returned the subscriptions , and presented his Leicester MSS . and plates to Mr .
Nichois . Dr . Fanner ' s knowledge was various , extensive , and recondite ; audit is to be regretted that he never concentrated and exerted all the great powers of his mind on some great and important subject ; in quickness of apprehension , and acuteness of discrimination , he had
few equals ; without the smallest propensity to avarice , he possessed a large income ; and without the mean submission of dependence , he rose to a high station ; ever liberal in patronizing learned men , and forward in promoting learned publications ; his ambition , if ne hacl a » J ' - was without
insolence , his munificence Without oslenta * tion , his wit without acrimony , and his learning without pedantry . There is a large . and very fine portrait of him by J . Jones ; and . a small one in Mr . Malone ' s edition of Shakspeare . ¦ At his house in Derby , aged 63 ,
Joseph Wright , Esq . long esteemed throughout Europe as a chaste and elegant painter . He was a pupil of Hudson , who instructed tliree of the most eminent painters of the age , viz . Sir Joshua Reynolds , Mr . Wright , and Mr . Mortimer . Mr . W ' s early historical ictures be considered as the first
p may valuable productions of the English school ; because , at the time his Gladiator , Orrery , Air-pump , Hermit , and Blacksmith ' s Forge , were painted , nothing , of any consequence , hacl been produced in the historical line . His attention was afterwards directed , for some to portrait paintingin which
years , , he would have excelled , hacl he chosen to , pursue it . At a mature age he visited Italy . His-fine drawings afler Michael Angelo , and the enthusiasm with which healwaysspokeofthe sublime original , evinced the estimation in which he held them ; and they may be considered
such as have never yet been exhibited to the public . During his abode in Italy he had an opportunity of seeing a very memorable eruption of Vesuvius , which rekindled his inclination for painting extraordinary effects of light ; and his different pictures of this sublime event stand ' - ' decidedly chef d ' auvres in
that lineof painting . A large landscape ( his last work ) now at Derby , being a view of Ullswater , mav be considered his best , and deservedly ranked with the most valuable productions of Wilson , or even Claude himself . , ln the historical line , the Dead Soldier would alone establish his fame , if his
Edwin , his Destruction of the Floatingbatteries off Gibraltar , the two pictuies of Hero and Leander , the Lady in Connis , the Indian Widow , and other historical subjects , had not already ascertained his excellence . His pictures have been so much in request that there is scarcely an instance of their ever
having come into the hands of dealers . 11 is with pleasure we record that the world has not been unmindful of his extraordinary talents ; and also , that , as a man , he enjoyed the friendship and esteem of all who had the happiness , of his acquaintance .