BOYDELL, JOHN (1719-1804), English engraver, print publisher and lord mayor of London, was born at Dorrington. At the age of 21 he came to London and was apprenticed for seven years to an engraver. In 1746 he published a volume of views in England and Wales and started in business as a print-seller. He was sheriff in 1785, and in 1796 became lord mayor of London. In 1786 he published, by subscription, a series of prints illustrating Shakespeare's plays. The pictures from which these were made were commissioned from the most famous artists of the day, and were exhibited in Boydell's own gallery in Pall Mall. In 1802, the year of the production of Boydell's Shakespeare, the gallery con tained 102 pictures, including canvases by Reynolds, Romney, Opie, Barry, Fuseli; Angelica Kaufmann, Stothard and others. Towards the close of his life Boydell sustained severe losses and was compelled to dispose of his Shakespeare gallery by lottery.
(See also FUSELI. )