 |
8a. Alexander
Anderson (1775-1870). Diarium commentarium vitae Alexander
Anderson. Autograph manuscript, 3 vols., 1793-1799 – Rare
Book & Manuscript Library
8b. John
Plumbe (1809-1857). Daguerreotype portrait of
Alexander Anderson. New York, ca.1846. Rare
Book & Manuscript
Library, Woodblocks, Related Material
8c. Alexander
Anderson (1775-1870). Wood engraving of garden-house scene,
signed in the block "AA" . 6.5 x 8 cm. Rare
Book & Manuscript Library, Woodblock No. 6
Alexander Anderson has long been considered
the father of wood engraving in America, being the first
in this country to adopt the technique developed in England
by Thomas Bewick. Wood engraving produces a finer image than
the standard woodcut by working on the denser end-grain section
of the wood. Anderson acknowledged his debt to Bewick in
1804 by creating an American edition of Bewick's A General
History of Quadrupeds (1790) with his own re-engraved blocks,
adding "some American animals not hitherto described."
Anderson's connections to Columbia are many.
He received an M.D. from Columbia's College of Physicians
and Surgeons in 1796, engraved Columbia's commencement ticket
in 1794, and a bookplate for the College Library. As noted
in his diary, he began sketching the design for the bookplate
on March 14, 1795, delivered the finished work to President
Johnson on March 25th, and was, after some effort on his
part, paid £2, 8s on May 7th.
Columbia's daguerreotype portrait of Anderson
is one of two likenesses "taken in duplicate" in New York
by photographer John Plumbe no later than 1847, when Plumbe
went bankrupt. Anderson continued to produce wood engravings
until at least 1868, two years before his death at the age
of 94. Also on display is an early wood engraving by Anderson,
depicting a summer, garden-house scene, and signed "AA" in
the lower left of the block. It was published in A Memorial
of Alexander Anderson, M.D., New York, 1872.
|
