David Claypoole Johnston (25 March 1799 – 8 November 1865) was a 19th-century American cartoonist, printmaker, painter, and actor from

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. He was the first natively trained American to master all the various graphic arts processes of lithography, etching, metal plate engraving, and wood engraving.Tatham. 1987. Johnston was born in Philadelphia, the son of William Johnston and Charlotte Rowson, an actress who was sister-in-law of author actress and educator

Susanna Rowson Susanna Rowson, née Haswell (1762 – 2 March 1824) was an American novelist, poet, playwright, religious writer, stage actress, and educator, considered the first woman geographer and supporter of female education. She also wrote against s ...

. In 1815, Johnston had studied engraving as an apprentice of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

engraver Francis Kearney, and he himself became an engraver of original caricatures, which were too controversial for publishing. In 1821, he switched to a theatrical career, appearing for the first time at the

Walnut Street Theatre The Walnut Street Theatre, founded in 1809 at 825 Walnut Street, on the corner of S. 9th Street in the Washington Square West neighborhood of Philadelphia, is the oldest operating theatre in the United States. The venue is operated by the Walnut ...

on 10 March 1821, as Henry in ''

Speed the Plough ''Speed the Plough'' is a five-act comedy by Thomas Morton, first performed in 1798 at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden to great acclaim. It is mostly remembered today for the sake of the unseen character, Mrs Grundy. The play may have been in ...

''. He performed for five seasons with theatre companies in

and

. Afterward, he retired from the stage and set up an engraver's office in

. His most important early work was a series of etched and lithographed character portraits of well-known American and British actors. In the years between 1829 and 1849, he published nine numbers of his annual comic ''Scraps'', made of four plates, each containing nine or ten separate humorous sketches.

Image gallery

Image:1847 YankeeNotions byDCJohnston.png, From: ''Yankee Notions'' 1838 Image:1847 bitter YankeeNotions byDCJohnston.png, "Benoni Burdock was a bitter man." From: ''Yankee Notions'' 1838 Image:Exhibition of CabinetPictures byDClaypooleJohnston Harvard.jpeg, Exhibition of Cabinet Pictures Image:1828 RichardIII byDCJohnston AAS.png,

Richard III Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battl ...

, 1828 Image:1832 AntiMasonic Valdimor byDClaypooleJohnston LibraryOfCongress.jpg, "Anti-Masonic Convention in Valdimor," cover illustration of ''Corner-Stone March, as Performed by the Boston Brigade Band,'' 1832 Image:A_Young_Head_On_Old_Shoulders.jpg, A Young Head on Old Shoulders. From: "Little Joe Junk and the Fisherman's Daughter" by John Neal in ''

Brother Jonathan Brother Jonathan is the personification of New England. He was also used as an emblem of the U.S. in general, and can be an allegory of capitalism. His too-short pants, too-tight waistcoat and old-fashioned style reflect his taste for inexpensi ...

'', March 12, 1842 Image:1849 WomensFumigatoryRights Scraps byDCJohnston.png, Women's Fumigatory Rights. From: ''Scraps'', 1849 Image:At the Waterfall ca1850 watercolor byDClaypooleJohnston MMA.png, At the Waterfall, ca.1850 watercolor Image:LolaHasCome ca1852 byDClaypooleJohnston LibraryOfCongress.jpg,

Lola Lola may refer to: Places * Lolá, a or subdistrict of Panama * Lola Township, Cherokee County, Kansas, United States * Lola Prefecture, Guinea * Lola, Guinea, a town in Lola Prefecture * Lola Island, in the Solomon Islands People * Lola (fo ...

Has Come, ca.1852 File:House_That_Jeff_Built.png, "The House That Jeff Built", denunciation of

Jefferson Davis Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives as a ...

and slavery, 1863

References

External links

* WorldCat
Johnston, David Claypoole 1799–1865
* American Antiquarian Society

2003. * American Antiquarian Society
Flickr
Johnston images.

"David Claypool Johnston (1798-1865)" page in "Draw your own conclusions" exhibit. * American Antiquarian Society

by Johnston {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, David Claypoole American cartoonists American printmakers 19th-century American painters 19th-century American actors American wood engravers 1799 births 1865 deaths 19th century in Boston 19th-century American people Artists from Boston

Image gallery

References

Further reading

Works by Johnston

Works about Johnston

External links