Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Noble, George

1413968Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 41 — Noble, George1895Robert Edmund Graves

NOBLE, GEORGE (fl. 1795–1806), line-engraver, was a son of Edward Noble, author of ‘Elements of Linear Perspective,’ and brother of Samuel Noble [q. v.] and William Bonneau Noble [q. v.] The dates of his birth and death are not recorded. He engraved for Boydell's edition of ‘Shakespeare,’ 1802, a scene, ‘Borachio, Conrade, and Watchman,’ after Francis Wheatley, R.A., from ‘Much Ado about Nothing;’ ‘Bassanio, Portia, and Attendants,’ after Richard Westall, R.A., from the ‘Merchant of Venice;’ ‘Orlando and Adam,’ after Robert Smirke, R.A., from ‘As you like it;’ ‘Desdemona in bed asleep,’ after Josiah Boydell, from ‘Othello;’ and ‘Cleopatra, Guards, &c.,’ after Henry Tresham, R.A., from ‘Antony and Cleopatra.’ He engraved also the following subjects for Bowyer's sumptuous edition of Hume's ‘History of England,’ 1806: ‘Canute reproving his Courtiers,’ ‘Henry VIII and Catharine Parr,’ ‘Charles I imprisoned in Carisbrooke Castle,’ ‘Lord William Russell's last Interview with his Family,’ and ‘The Bishops before the Privy Council,’ after Robert Smirke, R.A.; ‘William I receiving the Crown of England,’ after Benjamin West, P.R.A.; and ‘The Landing of William III at Torbay,’ after Thomas Stothard, R.A. His works possess considerable merit, and include also eighteen oval portraits of Admiral Lord Duncan and other naval officers, from miniatures by John Smart, which form part of a large plate designed by Robert Smirke, R.A., and engraved by James Parker, in commemoration of the battle of Camperdown on 11 Oct. 1797; ‘Maternal Instruction,’ after Bochardt; portraits of Lady Jane Grey and Rosamond Clifford; and illustrations to Goldsmith's ‘Miscellaneous Works,’ from drawings by Richard Cook, R.A.

[Redgrave's Dictionary of Artists of the English School, 1878; Dodd's Memorials of Engravers in Great Britain, Brit. Mus. Add. MSS. 33394–407.]

R. E. G.