Born into an eminent family, Augustus Hoppin trained for a legal career but left that field to become an illustrator of adult fiction and children's books. His skillful draftsmanship and lively use of line served his subjects well, and he excelled at social satire. Perhaps his financial independence prevented him from being as prolific as Felix Octavius Carr Darley, his better-known contemporary, but his work was well regarded by nineteenth-century critics.

Hoppin was born in Providence, Rhode Island, on 13 July 1828. The son of Thomas Coles Hoppin and Harriet D. Jones Hoppin, Augustus was one of twelve children, one of whom died in infancy. Hoppin's father, descended from Thomas Hoppin, who came to Massachusetts about 1635, was a successful merchant in the China and West Indies trade until his death in 1850. His widow lived until 1874. In the nineteenth century several members of the extended Hoppin family were prominent. One of...