William Alexander (1767–1816) was an English artist. William Alexander was  the son of a coachmaker in Maidstone, Kent. In 1784, he became a student of the Royal Academy, from which time until 1792, when he was appointed one of the draughtsmen to the Macartney Embassy to China, he  applied himself to  study , and obtained the notice  of Sir Joshua Reynolds. From 1792 to 1794 he accompanied Lord George Macartney's official embassy on behalf of the British government to Beijing, where he documented the visit and made drawings of the Chinese court. In 1802 he was named professor of drawing at the Royal Military School, and later served as curator of drawings and prints at the British Museum.  Here he made the drawings for the plates which accompany Sir George Staunton's account of that embassy; and afterwards published also The Costume of China, illustrated by ninety-six coloured engravings, (2 vols. 4to. 1805–1 815.) The other principal works of this artist were Views of Headlands, Islands, etc., taken during the Voyage to China, 1798; the drawings from Mr.Daniells's Sketches, for Vancouver's Voyage to the North Pacific Ocean, and the descriptive plates to Mr. Barrow's Travels in China, and Voyage to Cochin China.

These plates are from either  :- 

1.Sir George Leonard Staunton's  An Authentic Account of an Embassy from the King of Great Britain to the Emperor of China. London: G. Nicol, 1796. Folio and double folio: images vary, folio size 16 x 22. Engravings. All very good condition. unless stated otherwise.
2. The other costume prints are from The VIEWS OF 18TH CENTURY CHINA: Costumes, History, Customs. , illustrated by ninety-six coloured engravings, (2 vols. 4to. 1805–1815.) They are all untitled but cleanly mounted unless stated  ., co-author George Mason, sold with no title page or text, just the fine plates,The earliest & best colour illustrations of China from the early 1800'sShows various Mandarins, tradesmen, royalty & all phases of Chinese society, fashion & costume, architecture. A true & accurate guide to what Chinese society looked like and what they did pre 1800. Printed lithographic plates finely hand-coloured at the time. Covering all phases & aspects of Chinese life, culture & activities. Includes some punishments as well. The books being often issued without text in concertina, folio and normal book format are thus sold a numbered images

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