Lithographer
William Purkiss
 (1834 – 1898)
  
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley


William Purkiss was an active 19th-century British natural history lithographer and scientific illustrator. Operating primarily in London, he specialized in translating delicate scientific drawings onto lithographic limestone blocks for textbook and journal printing. In particular, he prepared illustrations for learned articles by Baron Rothschild and Herbert H.Druce. and worked hand-in-hand with London's elite printing firms, including Mintern Bros. and M. & N. Hanhart, who took his finished stone plates to run the actual print presses.

Because he worked behind the scenes as a trade artisan, few personal details survive about his life, but his professional legacy remains highly visible in late-Victorian science:

His name almost always appeared on completed lithographic prints in the shortened form "W. Purkiss, lith." or simply "W. P."

Some of the plates he prepared on stone, before his death in 1898, were kept, stored, and printed years later as the text volumes were finally compiled and finished.

Copies of illustrations in this website by Purkiss :-


Neogalea sunia

Trismelasmos donovani



in progress


Australian
Australian Butterflies
butterflies
Australian
home
Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera
home
artists
Australian
Australian Moths
moths


(written 24 October 2026)