Elizabeth Jackson (publisher)


Elizabeth Jackson was a London print seller, significant in particular for being the publisher of nearly seventy prints by the young Thomas Rowlandson in the mid 1780s.

Biography

Jackson operated from premises at 14 Marylebone Street, Golden Square between 1783 and 1788. There is a Trade card in the Banks Collection for "Jackson. No.14, Marylebone Street, Golden Square, London. Prints Wholesale & Retail.". She was one of a number of woman publishers who ran successful print selling businesses in 18th century London; others include Mary Darly, Hannah Humphrey, Mrs Lay, Susan Vivares and Elizabeth D'Archery.
Her output was mostly non-political, and includes cutting satires of the husband and wife artists Richard Cosway and Maria Cosway. There are nearly 45 different print published by Jackson in the British Museum, including a number of caricatures; several of her prints were also published by Thomas Cornell. Her output in the mid 1780s included three significant series of Thomas Rowlandson's works that helped establish his career as a printmaker:
A number of Jackson's plates were acquired by S.W.Fores in the late 1780s and reissued by him with modified lettering.