F H (FRANCIS HOFFMAN) RELIEF CUTS

Francis Hoffman, identified by his initials "F H" in most of his relief cuts, was active in London at the beginning of the 18th century. His head-pieces, tail-pieces, initials and factotums (small ornaments with the center cut out for the placement of an initial letter type) appeared in numerous English, and later American, publications. Very little is known about his life, yet his few publications indicate an individual who held no modesty in expressing his opinion on a variety of subjects.

The University of Florida has a strong collection of early 18th century London imprints, so it is not unusual to find examples of his work. Keeping track of them became somewhat confusing as the same pieces would appear in different books at different times. There are a numbers of the ornaments that are close variants of one another, further complicating the matter. The result was the construction of this site which allows the Dept. of Special Collections to have a handy reference to FH engravings in the collection and permits us to share it with the public. Obviously, this site will grow over time.

Note: Unless there is a significant alteration in the block, such as a chip, fracture, or evident additional engraving, the same image of the engraving is used to represent all occurrences.