Peter Fourdrinier

Who is Peter Fourdrinier?

Paul Fourdrinier was an 18th Century engraver in England.

The 2004 edition of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography makes it clear that in the 19th century edition of the Dictionary of National Biography this engraver's works and career were assigned to two individuals, Peter and Paul Fourdrinier. Peter/Pierre is now seen to be a fictitious individual resulting from an accidental misnaming of Paul.

Paul Fourdrinier, engraver and printseller, was born in 1698 in Groningen in the Netherlands, the son of Jacques Fourdrinier and his wife, Jeanne Theroude, Huguenot refugees from Dieppe, Normandy.

He was a pupil of Bernard Picart at Amsterdam for six years, and came to England in 1720. He was employed in engraving portraits and book illustrations. He also engraved two works by Peter Monamy, marine paintings displayed in Vauxhall Gardens. The engravings were published in 1743, but may have been executed earlier. Starting in 1742 Fourdrinier produced a series of books consisting of numerous folding charts showing "The Succession of Colonels to all his Majesties Land Forces from their Rise to 1742", as well as many other details of British military and naval personnel.