#George F. Cooledge & Brother

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Wood Engraving Wednesday

ALEXANDER ANDERSON

Thomas Bewick (1753-1828) is well-known for popularizing the wood engraving for book illustration in Great Britain and Alexander Anderson (1775-1870) is his American counterpart as one of the earliest of American wood engravers. He trained and worked as a physician and was self-taught as an engraver. By 1820 he committed himself entirely to illustrating books with wood engravings.

Shown here are wood engravings from the 1848 biography The Life of Benjamin Franklin by O. L. Holley, published in New York by educational book publisher George F. Cooledge & Brother. The engraved title page was engraved by Anderson from an illustration by American artist Tompkins Harrison Matteson (1813-1884). The remainder of the illustrations in the book were engraved by Anderson from illustrations by Anderson's student and frequent collaborator William Penn Morgan (active 1811-1872).

View another post with illustrations by Alexander Anderson.

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