John Cheney (engraver)

Portrait of John Cheney

John Cheney (1801-1885) was an American engraver in Boston and Philadelphia in the 19th century.[1][2][3] Considered by historian Frederick Winthrop Faxon to be the country's leading portrait engraver,[4] Cheney was for a time employed exclusively by The Token annual gift book.[5] His work was featured in the 1828 volume, as well as every volume from 1830 through 1838.[4] He also travelled in Europe in the 1830s. His brothers were Ward Cheney and Seth Wells Cheney, who married the writer, Ednah Dow Littlehale Cheney.[6] Examples of Cheney's work are in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.[7] In 1833, he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Honorary Academician.

References

1. Boston Directory. 1848, 1852
2. Sally Pierce (1997), Early American Lithography, Boston, Mass: Boston Athenaeum, ISBN 0-934552-64-9, OCLC 37048588, OL 708373M, 0934552649
3. "John Cheney's Work." The New York Times, August 23, 1885
4. Faxon, Frederick Winthrop (1912). Literary Annuals and Gift Books: A Bibliography with a Descriptive Introduction. Boston, Massachusetts: The Boston Book Company. p. xxv. OCLC 1436167.
5. Cairns, William B. (1918). "Magazines, Annuals, and Gift-books, 1783–1850 § 18. The Token". In Trent, W. P.; Erskine, J.; Sherman, S. P.; Van Doren, C. (eds.). The Cambridge History Of English And American Literature. Vol. 16: Early National Literature, Part II, Later National Literature, Part I. Archived from the original on June 15, 2024. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
6. Ednah Dow Littlehale Cheney. Memoir of Seth W. Cheney, artist. Boston: Lee and Shepard, 1881
7. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Collections. Retrieved 2011-12-21

Further reading

• Sylvester Rosa Koehler. Catalogue of the engraved and lithographed work of John Cheney and Seth Wells Cheney. Boston: Lee and Shepard, 1891

External links

• WorldCat. Cheney, John 1801-1885
• Library of Congress. Everett cigarros puros superiores, 1856. Engraved by Cheney
• New York Public Library. Edward Everett. Engraved by Cheney after R.M Staigg
• New York Public Library. Fitz-Greene Halleck. Engraved by Cheney
• New York Public Library. W.E. Channing. Engraved by Cheney
• Smithsonian Works by Cheney