Charles Kennedy Burt (8 November 1823 – 25 March 1892) was a Scottish-born American artist best known for his

line engraving Line engraving is a term for engraved images printed on paper to be used as prints or illustrations. The term is mainly used in connection with 18th- or 19th-century commercial illustrations for magazines and books or reproductions of paintings. ...

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

on the $5 Bill.

Life

Burt was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, Scotland, 8 November 1823 to Charles and Jessie (Kennedy) Burt. He showed a gift for drawing at a young age. At the age of 17 he won the student contest for best drawing of the Eddystone lighthouse, drawn from a verbal description: this work was apparently hanging in the halls of Edinburgh high school for many years. While still in Scotland, he was apprenticed to William Home Lizars. He emigrated to New York City in 1836, and went to work for Alexander L. Dick. Under his employ, Burt illustrated many books and engraved a number of portraits. Most of this work during this time is untraceable, as it was all published under Dick's name. It is widely assumed that an acclaimed engraving of Leonardo da Vinci's

Last Supper Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, ''The Last Supper (Leonardo), The Last Supper'' (1495-1498). Mural, tempera on gesso, pitch and mastic ...

was Burt's handiwork. As a member of the

American Art Union The American Art-Union (1839–1851) was a subscription-based organization whose goal was to enlighten and educate an American public to the nation's art, while providing a support system for the viewing and sales of art “executed by artists in ...

, Burt engraved several signed larger plates including: ''Sir Walter Raleigh Parting with his Wife'' (after

Emanuel Leutze Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze (May 24, 1816July 18, 1868) was a German-born American history painter, best known for his 1851 painting '' Washington Crossing the Delaware''. He is associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting. Biography Leutze w ...

, 1846); ''The Signing of the Death Warrant of Lady Jane Grey'' (after Daniel Huntington, 1848); ''Anne Page, Slender, and Shallow'' (after

Charles Robert Leslie Charles Robert Leslie (19 October 1794 – 5 May 1859) was an American genre painter. Biography Leslie was born in London to American parents. When he was five years of age he returned with them to the United States, where they settled in Phila ...

, 1850); ''Bargaining for a Horse'' (after

William Sidney Mount William Sidney Mount (November 26, 1807 – November 19, 1868) was a 19th-century American genre painter. Born in Setauket, New York in 1807, Mount spent much of his life in his hometown and the adjacent village of Stony Brook, New York, Stony Br ...

, 1851), and ''Marion Crossing the Pedee'' (after William Tylee Ranney, 1851). Burt is most remembered as one of the principal engravers for the U.S. Treasury Department. He engraved Lincoln's portrait for the $100

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Pl ...

in 1869. (This image remained on other large notes until 1928 when currency was reduced to the smaller size in use today: Lincoln's portrait remained on the $5

Federal Reserve Note Federal Reserve Notes are the currently issued banknotes of the United States dollar. The United States Bureau of Engraving and Printing produces the notes under the authority of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 and issues them to the Federal Re ...

until 2000). After 1850, Burt's focus was mainly on banknote engraving, which he was to do for over thirty years on behalf of the U.S. Treasury. He also engraved plates for postage stamps for Canada, Brazil, Italy, Russia and Chile, among others. Burt was married on 3 June 1844 in

Rockaway, New Jersey Rockaway is a borough in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 6,598, an increase of 160 (+2.5%) from the 2010 census count of 6,438, which in turn reflected a decl ...

, to Margaret, daughter of Thomas Sargeant. He lived most of his life in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

and died there on 25 March 1892, survived by his wife, one son and seven daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burt, Charles 1823 births 1892 deaths Scottish emigrants to the United States Scottish engravers 19th-century Scottish artists artists from Edinburgh 19th-century American artists American engravers Artists from Brooklyn