Background
Scriven was born in 1775 at Alcester, Warwickshire, though his name does not appear in the parish register.
Scriven was born in 1775 at Alcester, Warwickshire, though his name does not appear in the parish register.
Scriven was the pre-eminent engraver of his generation, with 206 portraits ascribed to him by the National Portrait Gallery. He was for eight years a pupil of Northall (Northaw), Hertfordshire engraver Robert Thew. When Thew died in 1802, Scriven replaced him as Historical Engraver to the Prince of Wales.
On the Prince of Wales" succession to the throne in 1820 as George IV Scriven was appointed Historical Engraver to the King.
Early in his career he came to London to work on plates for the London publisher, John Boydell. Scriven became the eminent engraver of his generation, producing over 200 portrait engravings.
Benjamin Phelps Gibbon and Robert William Sievier studied engraving under Scriven.
He was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery, where a stone was erected to his memory by the members of the Artists" Fund.