Gray's Elegy after William Hamilton. Francesco Bartolozzi (1727-1815)

The poem's origins are unknown, but it was partly inspired by Gray's thoughts following the death of the poet Richard West in 1742. Originally titled Stanzas Wrote in a Country Church-Yard, the poem was completed when Gray was living near St Giles' parish church at Stoke Poges. It was sent to his friend Horace Walpole, who popularised the poem among London literary circles. Gray was eventually forced to publish the work on 15 February 1751 in order to preempt a magazine publisher from printing an unlicensed copy of the poem. Francesco Bartolozzi RA (21 September 1727, in Florence 7 March 1815, in Lisbon) was an Italian engraver, whose most productive period was spent in London. He is noted for popularizing the "crayon" method of engraving. While Bartolozzi was not the original inventor of the crayon manner of engraving, he became a leading exponent that "stipple" method and it became associated with him. With that technique images are created by delicate dots rather than lines as in traditional etchings or engravings. Bartolozzi added distinction to his work by using red (sanguine), orange and brown inks rather than common black ink. William Hamilton RA (17511801) was an English painter and illustrator. Hamilton became very well known for his paintings depicting episodes from the plays of Shakespeare and for his illustrations of poems. Francesco Bartolozzi engraved a number of Hamilton's best known works.