Dr Alexander Anderson (April 21, 1775 – January 17, 1870) was an American

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complic ...

.Alexander Anderson , People , Collection of Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
/ref>

Biography

Anderson was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to Scottish parents. "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." Anderson was a contemporary of Thomas Bewick, and published his first work in Arnaud Bernaud's "The Looking Glass of the Mind" in 1794. However, he was urged by his parents to pursue a career in medicine. He apprenticed with Dr. William Smith at fourteen and received his license at twenty. He became the first doctor at what would become

Bellevue Hospital Bellevue Hospital (officially NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and formerly known as Bellevue Hospital Center) is a hospital in New York City and the oldest public hospital in the United States. One of the largest hospitals in the United States ...

, established to deal with an outbreak of

yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. ...

in New York City in 1795. When the epidemic ended, he sought an academic degree in medicine, "married, became a father, and opened a medical office"; however, he soon abandoned this office in favour of a shop "that sold children's books he personally engraved". He graduated from Columbia College in 1796 with an M.D. Another outbreak of yellow fever began in 1798, and Anderson returned to Bellevue as the resident physician. He resigned a few weeks later after his three-month-old son, brother, and father all died in the epidemic. His wife and mother died soon afterwards. Anderson then became an engraver and was termed "America's First Illustrator". 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 The Embargo Act of 1807 was a general trade embargo on all foreign nations that was enacted by the United States Congress. As a successor or replacement law for the 1806 Non-importation Act and passed as the Napoleonic Wars continued, it repr ...

. He confined himself to wood engraving from 1820, and was engraver for the American Tract society for several years. His work includes illustrations for Bewick's "Birds;" illustration for Webster's Speller, and forty engravings for an edition of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

. Anderson died in

on January 17, 1870, at the age of 94.

Notes

References

* Oak Knoll Press, New Castle DE 19720 & American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, MA 01609 * * * Smithsonian, March 2021, pp14-18. The Fever That Struck New York: The front lines of a terrible epidemic, through the eyes of a young doctor profoundly touched by tragedy, by Carolyn Eastman.

External links

*
The works of Alexander Anderson
at the NYPL Digital Gallery
The Alexander Anderson Print Collection
at the New-York Historical Society 1775 births 1870 deaths American engravers American illustrators American people of Scottish descent Artists from New York City {{US-illustrator-stub