John Keyse, an English engraver of considerable excellence, was born in Sussex about 1751. Being of humble origin, he learned early to handle the instrument of toil. The attention of his master, a Mr Mitford of Petworth, having been drawn to some remarkable drawings which he had executed, he was induced to send one to the Society of Arts, which obtained the silver pallet as a reward. Having subsequently gone to London to learn the art of engraving, he studied under Ashley and Bartolozzi. He won the silver and gold medals at the Royal Academy, and carried off numerous honours from the Society of Arts. Sherwin was appointed engraver to his Majesty and the Prince of Wales in 1785, and continued to drink, brag, and handle the graver, with surprising assiduity. He certainly had genius, but he foolishly supposed that this endowed him also with the right of bullying everybody, both of those above and of those beneath him. His attention was confined mostly to portraits and historical subjects, though he occasionally attempted oil-paintings, as in his "Leonidas," but with indifferent success. He died on the 26th September 1790, in very melancholy circumstances, in his thirty-ninth year. (See Gentleman's Magazine for 1790-91.)