This print is the title page for the series Washington and the American Republic, which was published in New York in 1870. As a young man, Benson John Lossing dedicated himself to reading and studying history. He learned wood engraving and in 1848 developed the idea to write a narrative sketchbook of scenes and objects associated with the American Revolution. The success of the resulting work, Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution (1850–52), allowed Lossing to spend the rest of his career writing, illustrating, and editing more than forty publications on American history, including Washington and the American Republic.
