After serving as a pupil of the engraver and printseller Henry Roberts in High Holborn London, Edward Rooker became both an actor, specialising in pantomime, and an engraver. In the latter capacity he was soon recognised for his fine architectural prints. During the years 1748-49 he worked on three London architectural engravings: Inigo Jones's proposed Palace of Whitehall, Wren's unexecuted plan for rebuilding the City and the Foundling Hospital. He was perhaps best known for his set of six London views, of which five (notably Blackfriars Bridge under Construction) were after drawings by Paul and Thomas Sandby. These were published in 1767-68 by Rooker himself and then again after his death by Joseph Boydell.
In 1776, the album of prints after Richard Wilson, Twelve Original Views in Italy, was published which included Edward Rooker's E33 The Circus of Caracalla. Among his close friends was the engraver William Byrne, with whom he at one time shared a house and who too made prints after Wilson. Edward Rooker trained his son, Michael 'Angelo' Rooker (1746-1801), who also executed a number of prints after Wilson.
