1849, 12mo; reprinted in 1859 and 1874. 25. 'Book of the Lodge, or Officer's Manual,' London, 1849, 12mo; 2nd ed., to which was added 'A Century of Aphorisms,' 1856; 3rd ed. 1864; 4th ed. 1879. 26. 'The Symbol of Glory, shewing the Object and End of Free-Masonry,' London, 1850, 8vo. 27. 'Dictionary of Symbolical Masonry,' 1853. 28. 'The Revelations of a Square, exhibiting a Graphic Display of the Sayings and Doings of eminent Free and Accepted Masons,' London, 1855, 12mo, with curious engravings. 29. 'Freemason's Treasury,' 1863. 30. 'Papal Teachings in Freemasonry,' 1866. 31. 'The Origin of the Royal Arch Order of Masonry,' 1867. 32. 'The Pythagorean Triangle, or the Science of Numbers,' 1875. 33. 'Discrepancies of Freemasonry,' 1875. He also edited the fourteenth edition of 'Illustrations of Masonry,' by W. Preston, 'bringing the History of Freemasonry down to 1829,' London, 1829, 12mo, 16th ed. 1840, 16th ed. 1849; Ashe's 'Masonic Manual,' 1843, and again 1870; and Hutchinson's 'Spirit of Masonry,' 1843.
Several of the masonic works contain the author's portrait. There is also a large engraved portrait of him, in masonic costume, published separately.
[Lincoln. Rutland, and Stamford Mercury, 8 March 1867 p. 4 col. 5 and 6, and 15 March p. 4 col. 6; Freemasons' Mag. 9 March 1867 p. 185, 16 March p. 217; Notes and Queries, 7th Mr. vii. 288, 355; Gent. Mag. 1867. i. 537; Lowndes's Bibl. Man. (Bohn), pp. 838, 1724; Dr. Brushfield's Bibliography of the Rev. G. Oliver of Exeter; Cat. of Books in the Library at Freemasons' Hall, London, p. 28; Gowans's Cat. of Books on Freemasonry, p. 43; Simms's Bibl. Stafford. 1894. pp. 336-7.]
OLIVER, OLIVIER, or OLLIVIER, ISAAC (1556?–1617), miniature painter, appears to have been of French origin, and to have been born about 1556. Sandrart, in his 'Teutsch Academie,' speaks of him as 'membranarum pictor Londinensis,' and in the inscription below the portrait of him engraved by Hendrik Hondius he is styled 'Isaacus Oliverus, Anglus.' His contemporaries appear to have all regarded him as an Englishman (see Peacham, Treatise on Drawing and Limning, 1634). On the other hand, when he signs his name in full he always spells it 'Olivier' or 'Ollivier.' There is some ground for supposing that he is identical with 'Isaac Olivier of Rouen,' who on 9 Feb. 1602 was married at the Dutch Church, Austin Friars, London, to Sara Gheeraerts of London (Moens, Registers of Dutch Church, Austin Friars). The siege and capture of Rouen by the Guises in 1562 drove many huguenots to take refuge in London, among whom may well have been Oliver's parents, with their boy of five or six years old. Moreover, in the portrait by Hondius mentioned above there is seen through a window a river scene resembling nothing in England, but very like the scenery of the Seine near Rouen; this may indicate the place of his birth. This identification would possibly lead also to that of the anonymous author of a treatise on limning (Brit, Mus. Harl MS. 6000), who alludes more than once to his late cousin, Isaac Oliver. Sara Gheeraerts, Olivier's wife, appears to have been daughter of Marcus Gheeraerta the elder [q. v.], by his second wife Susanna De Critz, who was certainly related to John De Critz [q. v.], serjeant-painter to James I. Francis Meres, in his 'Palladis Tamia' (1598), selects the three, 'Hilliard, Isaac Oliver, and John De Critz' as especially excellent in the art of painting. Assuming De Critz to be a cousin by marriage of Isaac Oliver, he may well have been the author of the said treatise on limning. There seems no ground for connecting Oliver with the family seated at East Norton in Leicestershire, as stated in Burton's manuscript collections for that county (Nichols, Hist. of Leicestershire, vol. iii. pt. i. p. 489).
Oliver was the pupil of Nicholas Hilliard [q. v.], as we learn from R. Haydocke s introduction to Lomazzo's 'Art of Painting.' He followed Hilliard's manner in miniature-painting very closely, and often excelled him. Their works, being very similar and contemporaneous in many cases, have been frequently confused. Like Hilliard, Oliver painted most of his miniatures on a light blue ground (no doubt adopted by Hilliard from Hans Holbein), and sometimes on a crimson satin ground. The actual portrait often forms but a small portion of the miniature, great attention being given to the details of costume, armour, jewels, and other accessories, with a decorative purpose. Oliver's portraits are to be found in nearly every important collection, such as those of the queen, the Duke of Buccleuch, the Duke of Devonshire, the Earl of Derby, Mr. James Whitehead, Dr. Lumsden Propert, &c. They have always been highly prized, and figured conspicuously at the exhibitions at South Kensington in 1862 and 1865, at Burlington House m 1879, at the Burlington Fine Arts Club in 1889, and other exhibitions. He painted James I, his family, and most of the court and nobility of the time. Among the best known is the full-length portrait of Sir Philip Sidney, formerly Dr. Mead's, and now in the royal collection at Windsor. A big limning of Henry, prince of Wales, in gilt
