JACOBUS

HOUBRAKEN (1698–178o)  , Dutch engraver, was born at Dort, on the 25th of December 1698 . All that his father, Arnold Houbraken (1660–1719), bequeathed to him was a fine constitution and a pure love for work . In 1707 he came to reside at Amsterdam, where for years he had to struggle incessantly against difficulties . He commenced the art of engraving by studying the works of Cornelis Cort, Suyderhoef, Edelinck and the Visschers . He devoted himself almost entirely to portraiture . Among his best works are scenes from the comedy of De Ontdekte Schijndeugd, executed in his eightieth year, after Cornelis Troost, who was called by his countrymen the Dutch Hogarth . He died on the 14th of November 1780 . See A . Ver Hull, Jacobus Houbraken et son oeuvre (Arnhem, 1875), where 120 engraved works are fully described .