Who is William Biscombe Gardner?

William Biscombe Gardner (1847 – 23 February 1919 Tunbridge Wells) was a British painter and wood-engraver. Working in both watercolour and oils, he exhibited widely in London in the late 19th century at venues such as the Royal Academy and the Grosvenor Gallery. From 1896 he lived at Thirlestane Court.

He illustrated a number of books featuring the British landscape (see below), notably Kent, Canterbury, and The Peak Country. He also drew scenes from the Welsh Elan Valley in the 1890s, before it was flooded to form the Elan Valley Reservoirs, which appeared in two books by Grant Allen (see “illustrated Books” below).

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However, it was as a superlative wood-engraver that he was mainly known in his lifetime. He “raised the art of wood-engraving to a very tall pitch of excellence” remarked the Kent and Sussex Courier in 1916. His prints (sometimes large) were widely published in many British magazines of the hours of daylight such as The Pall Mall Gazette, The Illustrated London News, The English Illustrated Magazine and The Magazine of Art. He was a utter advocate of established wood-engraving bearing in mind it to be the most versatile in comparison to the more suitable methods of engraving and etching, or more recent methods including “process illustration”.

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