Sidney, Earl of Godolphin (after Godfrey Kneller)

The Heads of Illustrious Persons of Great Britain (1743–1752) was a very successful publishing enterprise of Arthur Pond and Charles Knapton. The engraver Jacobus Houbraken reproduced painted portraits by a variety of artists, and all of the figures were cropped to bust length regardless of the format of the originals. Houbraken’s engravings translate each portrait into a relatively uniform grammar of lines and cross-hatchings. The sturdier engraved plate allowed for a beautifully clear impression, even for a large edition, but at the expense of subtle distinctions in coloration or brushstroke. As a result, the portraits look remarkably homogeneous.

The images were initially available by periodic subscription, but their popularity led the publishers to offer them in bound form, accompanied by text by Thomas Birch. There was no hierarchy within the book once bound, however, not even a chronological sequence. Kings, queens, poets, and gentlemen were all engraved to the same specifications regardless of whether their renown was of a political, artistic, or literary nature. On the other hand, each framing device includes individual references to the subject: for example, the crown beneath the portrait of Queen Anne of Cleves, or the poet’s lyre beneath John Dryden.