Memoirs of a Tattooist

by George Burchett

George Burchett was born in Brighton in 1872. He joined the Royal Navy at the age of thirteen after being expelled from school for tattooing his schoolmates. It was in the navy that he honed his skills for the art. He opened his first studio in London at the age of 28 and earned the title “King of Tattooist”. His tattoo designs were influenced by the art he saw during his travels around the world and especially that of Japanese tattooing. In the 1930′s he developed cosmetic tattooing as seen in the video above. Burchett passed away at the age of 81 while getting ready for work on Good Friday in 1953. An informal collection of his experiences and observations during his career as a tattooist was published in 1958 under the title ‘Memoirs of a Tattooist’.

256 pages, Paperback

Published December 7, 2021