Alexander Anderson (illustrator)

Self-portrait of Alexander Anderson at age 81

Dr Alexander Anderson (April 21, 1775 – January 17, 1870) was an American illustrator.^[1]

Biography

Anderson was born in New York City to Scottish parents.^[2] "At the age of twelve years he made his first attempts at engraving on copper, frequently using pennies rolled out, and on type-metal plates. He received no instruction, and his knowledge was acquired by watching jewelers and other workmen." He is one of the earliest American wood-engravers. He produced works for books, periodicals, and newspapers. Anderson is the author of the cartoon Ograbme, a spoof on the Embargo Act of 1807.

Anderson was also a contemporary of Thomas Bewick, and published his first work in Arnaud Bernaud's "The Looking Glass of the Mind" in 1794.

Anderson died in 1870, at the age of 94.

Notes

1. Alexander Anderson | People | Collection of Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
2.  Kelly, Howard A.; Burrage, Walter L., eds. (1920). "Anderson, Alexander". American Medical Biographies. Baltimore: The Norman, Remington Company.

References

• Oak Knoll Press, New Castle DE 19720 & American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, MA 01609
• Pomeroy, Jane R. (2005). Alexander Anderson, 1775-1870, Wood Engraver and Illustrator, an Annotated Bibliography. New Castle, DE and Worcester, MA: Oak Knoll Press and the American Antiquarian Society.
• Pomeroy, Jane R. (2014). Alexander Anderson's New York City Diary, 1793 TO 1799. New Castle, Delaware: Oak Knoll Press and American Antiquarian Society.

External links

• The works of Alexander Anderson at the NYPL Digital Gallery
• The Alexander Anderson Print Collection at the New-York Historical Society