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Philip Gilbert Hamerton was born in the hamlet of Laneside near Oldham, Lancashire, in 1834. Initially intending to be a painter, he turned to art criticism. His works include Etching and Etchers, Contemporary French Painters, and Painting in France after the Decline of Classicism. In 1870 Hamerton founded the magazine The Portfolio, which he edited until his death in 1894. While he is still remembered as the encourager and promoter of other etchers, the fact that Philip Gilbert Hamerton was himself an etcher of real accomplishment has been almost forgotten. The 37 etchings of scenes on the river Arroux that he selected for his book The Unknown River in 1871 have the particular Impressionistic charm of etchings made in the open air, during the course of a canoeing holiday. Hamerton meticulously prepared 60 etching plates for this trip, fixing them to drawing boards which were then placed in a series of grooved boxes that were then sent ahead to inns along the river, so that Hamerton