WILLIAM, an ingenious English artist, a native of London, was the disciple of Peak the painter, with whom he worked three or four years. At the breaking out of the civil war, Peak espoused the cause of his sovereign; and Faithorn, who accompanied his master, was taken prisoner by the rebels at Baringhouse, whence he was sent to London, and confined in Aldersgate. In this uncomfortable situation he exercised his graver; and a small head of the first Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, in the style of Melan, is reckoned as one of his performances at this period. The solicitations of his friends in his favour at last prevailed; and he was released from prison, with permission to retire to the Continent. In France he found encouragement and protection from the Abbé de Marolles; and it was at this time that he formed an acquaintance with Nanteuil, from whose instructions he derived very considerable advantage. About the year 1650 he returned to England, and soon afterwards married the sister of a Captain Ground, by whom he had two sons, Henry, who became a bookseller, and William, an engraver in mezzotinto. Faithorn opened a shop near Temple-Bar, where he sold not only his own engravings, but those of other English artists, and imported a considerable number of prints from Holland, France, and Italy. About the year 1680 he retired from his shop, and resided in Printing-House Yard; but he still continued to work for the booksellers, especially Royston, Martin, and Peak the younger, his former master's brother. He painted portraits from the life in crayons, an art which he had learned of Nanteuil during his abode in France; he also painted in miniature; and his performances in both these styles were much esteemed. But his spirits were broken by the indiscretion and dissipation of his son William; and a lingering consumption put an end to his life in 1691. He wrote a book Upon Drawing, Graving, and Etching, for which he was highly commended by his friend Thomas Flatman the poet.