The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Weir, Harrison William

WEIR, wēr, Harrison William, English artist and journalist: b. Lewes, Sussex, 5 May 1824; d. London, 4 Jan. 1906. He learned the art of wood-engraving, but disliking it turned to painting, and his first exhibition at the British Institution was in 1843. He was the last survivor of the original staff of the London News and was engaged on the Graphic, Pictorial Times, Black and White and other London periodicals. He was an authority on the correct delineation of domesticated animals, was noted for his paintings of country life and as an illustrator of books and periodicals. He wrote and illustrated ‘The Poetry of Nature’; ‘Every-day Life in the Country’; ‘Our Cats and All About Them’, etc. Perhaps his greatest achievement was his work ‘Our Poultry and All About Them’ (1903), the writing and illustrating of which claimed his attention for more than 20 years.