Eleanor Lay Explained

Eleanor Lay, usually styled Mrs Lay (active 1788–1790 in Brighton), was a publisher and print-seller, with a fashionable print shop on The Steine in Brighton. As well as selling prints from London publishers, she designed and published a number of prints herself, including four views of Brighton in 1788,^[1] dedicated to Mrs Fitzherbert. The original watercolours by Lay are in the Brighton Museum.^[2]

In 1789, she published two prints by the young Thomas Rowlandson^[3] and also co-published several others for a drawing book by Rowlandson with the London publishers Samuel William Fores and John Harris.

One of her plates by Rowlandson A Sufferer for Decency was acquired by Thomas Tegg at some point and reissued by him with modified lettering in the 1810s in the Caricature Magazine.

See also

• List of women printers and publishers before 1800

Notes and References

1. Book: Ford. John & Jill . 'Images of Brighton' . Saint Helena Press. 1981 . 0906964024. Richmond on Thames. Numbers 337, 338, 339, 340.
2. Brighton Museum Collections. (BPC00384, BPC00385, BPC00386, BPC00387.
3. Book: George. M Dorothy . 'Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires Preserved in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum' . The British Museum. 1870–1954. London. BMSatires 7604.