Edward Le Davis

Edward Le Davis (fl. 1671–1691) was a Welsh engraver and art dealer. Born Edward Davis, he spent some time working in France, and later prefixed "Le" to his surname.

Life Davis was apprenticed to David Loggan, but got on badly with Loggan's wife. He broke his articles of apprenticeship and went to Paris. There he worked as an engraver and was given business by François Chauveau.

In the early 1670s Davis returned to London, where he engaged in picture-dealing, and painted portraits.

Works From his Paris period, Davis's prints put out by Chaveau included St. Cecilia after Van Dyck, Ecce Homo after Annibale Carracci, and The Infant Christ holding a cross (1671).

His London engravings included portraits of: Charles II (later altered to William III); Catherine of Braganza after John Baptist Gaspers, the frontispiece to vol. ii. of Moses Pitt's English Atlas, 1681; James, Duke of York; the Prince and Princess of Orange, after Peter Lely; the Duchess of Portsmouth, after Lely; and Charles, Duke of Richmond, after Willem Wissing; also George Monck, Duke of Albemarle, and Bertram Ashburnham, both engraved for the 1679 edition of John Guillim's Heraldry.