Augustus Hoppin was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 book illustrator, born in Providence

Providence, Rhode Island

Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...

, R. I.

Rhode Island

The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...

. He graduated at Brown University

Brown University

Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...

 in 1848 and was admitted to the bar

Bar association

A bar association is a professional body of lawyers. Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both...

, but soon gave up the law and went abroad to study art. Upon his return he devoted himself to drawing on wood and to the illustration of books, in which he was successful. His pictures in Nothing to Wear (1857), Poliphar Papers (1853), and The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table

The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table

The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table is a collection of essays written by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. The essays were originally published in The Atlantic Monthly in 1857 and 1858 before being collected in book form...

(1858) are widely known. He published several volumes of sketches and novels, among the latter Recollections of Auton House (1881) and Married for Fun (1885).