American Portrait Prints The American Antiquarian Society
contains a vast collection of American portrait prints dating
from the late seventeenth century to the late nineteenth
century. Most of the prints depicted prominent figures and were
created to be available to the public. Through these portraits,
one can identify successful and famous members of society,
including United States presidents and other government
officials from a time before there were photographs. Arranged
alphabetically by name, the portrait collection is maintained in
the Graphic Arts Department and contains roughly five thousand
images from newspapers, periodicals, books, letterheads, and
announcements. An additional one thousand images of sitters from
the city of Worcester can be found in the Worcester Portrait
Prints Collection. The production of portrait prints began in
Massachusetts and expanded to other American cities by the end
of the eighteenth century. These ranged from simple almanac cuts
to elegant mezzotints. The two most c