English engraving
The English engraving collection of the National Library of Spain is distributed in loose prints and illustrated books. A very special group consists of the Iconography of British characters, which, although it is smaller in quantity than the collection of French and Hispanic Iconography, stands out for its originality and artistic technique. They were masters in the so-called black form or "smoke" engraving procedure.
The most important English engravers that were printed using the black way are represented in our collection: Beckett, Faithorne, Smith, Burke, etc. The portraits of English characters by Spanish engravers are also part of this set.
On the other hand, the library has numerous engravings made by English artists which, due to their peculiarities, particularly stand out as, for example, the prints of William Hogarth (1697-1764), an exceptional interpreter of the reality of his time, which mark a before and a after in the way of describing through an image and which had great influence on the Spanish art of the 18th century.
