hamshire, which was impoverished on account of its loyalty during the time of Charles I. His father possessed Thurgarton Priory, granted to one of his ancestors by Henry VIII, and here the son was born in 1723. He was educated at Westminster School, and in 1743 entered Trinity College, Cambridge, but quitted it on his marriage to Miss Wright, daughter of Sir Nathan Wright, the recorder of Leicester, without taking a degree. In 1745 he published the ‘Power of Harmony,’ in two books, in which he promulgated that attention to what was beautiful and perfect in nature was the best means to harmonise the soul. The style is modelled on that of the author of the ‘Characteristics’ [see Cooper, Anthony Ashley, third earl of Shaftesbury], of whom he was an enthusiastic disciple. Under the name of ‘Philaretes’ Cooper became one of the chief contributors to Dodsley's ‘Museum,’ started in 1746. In 1749 he wrote a Latin epitaph on the death of his son, who expired the same day that he was born. The epitaph, a very affected piece of composition, appeared in the ‘Gentleman's Magazine’ for 1778, p. 486, accompanied with a poetical English translation. In 1749 Cooper published a ‘Life of Socrates,’ with an edition of his writings collected from all the ancient authorities. For this work he received notes from John Jackson, an opponent of Warburton, who took care to handle the conclusions of Warburton with some severity. Warburton replied in a note to his edition of Pope (ed. 1751, i. 151), characterising the attack as ‘ignorant abuse, the offspring of ignorance.’ To this Cooper replied in ‘Cursory Remarks on Warburton's edition of Pope,’ asserting that he attacked him as an author and not as a man. In 1754 he published ‘Letters on Taste,’ which received a high encomium from Johnson. In 1755 he published ‘The Tomb of Shakespeare, a Vision,’ and in the following year, in the ‘Genius of Britain,’ denounced the proposal to bring Hessian troops to defend the kingdom. In 1758 he published ‘Epistles to the Great from Aristippus in retirement,’ which was soon afterwards followed by the ‘Call of Aristippus, Epistle IV. to Mark Akenside, M.D.’ In 1759 he published a translation of Gresset's ‘Vert-Vert,’ which was reprinted in the ‘Repository’ in 1777. In 1764 Dodsley published those of his poems which had appeared in the ‘Museum,’ and in Dodsley's collections, the title being ‘Poems on several subjects.’ He died at Mayfair, London, in April 1769.
[Biog. Brit. (Kippis), iv. 262–6; Chalmers's Biog. Dict. x. 226–30; Nichols's Lit. Anecd. i. 130–1, ii. 294–7, 379, v. 602–3; Johnson's Lives of the Poets; Thoroton's Nottinghamshire.]
COOPER, RICHARD, the elder (d. 1764), engraver, was born in London, and studied engraving under John Pine. On the death of his father he inherited some money and quitted his profession as an engraver in order to visit Italy and study art there. He remained there some years, acquiring considerable knowledge of the great masters, and becoming a good draughtsman and fair painter himself. He also formed a good collection of drawings by the old masters and prints of various schools and countries. On his return to England he was induced by a friend and brother artist, Mr. Guthrie, to accompany the latter on a visit to Edinburgh. Scotland was at that time suffering from a lack of first-rate artists, and Cooper was warmly welcomed, so much so that he decided on settling in Edinburgh, and resumed his old profession of engraver. Finding plenty of employment he built for himself a house in St. John Street, the interior of which he decorated with pictures from his own hand. Here he took various apprentices, the best known of whom was Robert Strange [q. v.], who was apprenticed to Cooper for six years, and became not only an inmate but an intimate friend of the family. About 1738 Cooper married Miss Ann Lind, by whom he left a son, Richard Cooper the younger [q. v.], who followed his father's profession. According to Strange, Cooper as an engraver lacked practice, but all his work showed spirit and taste. He is chiefly known for his engravings of contemporary portraits, among which were John Taylor, oculist, after W. De Nune; William Carstares and Andrew Allan, both after W. Robinson; Sir Hugh Dalrymple, after W. Aikman; John Napier, the inventor of logarithms; George, lord Jeffreys, and others. He also occasionally engraved in mezzotint, viz. Archibald, duke of Argyll, after W. Aikman; John Dalrymple, earl of Stair, after Kneller; Lady Wallace, and others. He also engraved anatomical plates for the ‘Edinburgh Medical Essays,’ &c., book-plates, and other similar compositions. He died in 1764, and was buried in the Canongate churchyard, Edinburgh. W. Robinson painted his portrait, and Cooper engraved it himself. J. Donaldson engraved his portrait in mezzotint, and this is perhaps identical with a mezzotint portrait of him from a picture by G. Schroider.
[Redgrave's Dict. of Artists; Dennistoun's Memoirs of Sir Robert Strange; Huber and Roost's Manuel des Curieux et des Amateurs de l'Art, vol. ix.; Chaloner Smith's British Mezzotinto Portraits.]
COOPER, RICHARD, the younger (1740?–1814?), painter and engraver, son of Richard Cooper the elder, engraver, of
