John Alefounder

John Alefounder spent his life quietly carving beautiful little prints in a London attic he shared with pigeons and a single gas lamp. He collected old engravings like a magpie, cutting his own versions with a shaky hand and a sharp knife. A friend once found him in that attic muttering about “ghosts in the ink,” proof that even a humble printmaker could see more than the rest of us.

Look up H Beard Print Collection (16th October 1784) and you’ll spot his tiny, trembling lines, proof that not every artist needs a grand canvas to leave a mark.