An Engraver and Writer of the Late Eighteenth Century
Isaac Taylor was an English engraver and writer of books for the young. Born in London, he was the son of Isaac Taylor and Sarah, daughter of Josiah Jefferys. He was raised as an engraver in his father's studio, working in both landscape and portraiture alongside his brother, Charles Taylor. During his apprenticeship, he supervised the execution of plates for Abraham Rees's edition of Chambers's Cyclopaedia.
His artistic output included engraving a set of views on the Thames near London and various plates for John Boydell's Bible and Shakespeare. Notably, in 1791, he engraved the assassination of Rizzio after John Opie, a work for which he received the gold palette from the Society of Arts. His later years were spent as a nonconformist pastor, first in Colchester and later in Ongar, Essex, where he lived until his death.
Literary and Topographical Works
Beyond his engravings, Taylor was a prolific author of educational manuals and biographical works. His publications included The Biography of a Brown Loaf, Advice to the Teens, and Beginnings of British Biography. He also produced a series of topographies, such as Scenes in Europe and Scenes in England, which featured engravings from designs often made by himself.
His family, known as the "Taylors of Ongar," was noted for its literary productivity. His wife, Ann Taylor, also authored several manuals of conduct and correspondence. His work as an engraver and writer spanned various subjects, from architectural details of the fifteenth-century church at Lavenham to religious and topographical illustrations.
