Alexander stewart burton biography of william shakespeare
Biography of william shakespeare pdf.
W. S. Burton was born in London, the City of London, on 1 June 1824, the only child of William Evans Burton, an actor and playwright, and his wife Elizabeth Loft.
Alexander stewart burton biography of william shakespeare
The family's financial situation was always precarious and at one point his father was in debtor's prison. The father deserted the family and fled to Philadelphia in the United States where he found considerable financial success as a theatrical entrepreneur.
Burton entered King's College on the Strand in 1836 and remained there until the age of sixteen.
After leaving school in 1842 he became a student at the Government School of Design. A printseller Henry Palser allowed Burton use of a garret studio in his premises at 366 Strand and commissioned illustrative work from the budding artist.
He was befriended by the prominent journalist Tom Taylor who admired a painting Burton had copied at the National Gallery and found him work at Punch designing capital letters for illustrations in early numbers of the magazine as well