Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Gifford, George (fl.1635)

by Lionel Henry Cust

GIFFORD, GEORGE (fl. 1635), engraver, one of the earliest English engravers, is principally known from the interesting portrait of Bishop Hugh Latimer, engraved as frontispiece to the edition of Latimer's sermons published in 1635. It is well engraved, in a manner superior to that of some of the contemporary engravers. Gifford engraved a portrait of John Bate as frontispiece to the second edition of his ‘Mysteries of Art and Nature,’ published in the same year. He also engraved a portrait of Sir Edmund Marmion. An engraving of St. Peter, evidently one of a set, in the print room at the British Museum, bears his name in full. All his engravings are scarce.

[Walpole's Anecdotes of Painting, ed. Dallaway and Wornum; Dodd's MS. Hist. of English Engr. (Brit. Mus. Addit. MS. 33401).]

L. C.