The Battle of Lexington, April 19th. 1775. Plate I
PrintmakerEtched by
Amos Doolittle
(American, 1754 - 1832)
After a work byAfter a work by
Ralph Earl
(American, 1751 - 1801)
Date1775
MediumEngraving; printer's ink and watercolor on laid paper
DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (image height x width): 11 5/8 x 17 3/4in. (29.5 x 45.1cm)
ClassificationsGraphics
Credit LineGift of John C. Parsons
Object number1844.10.1
DescriptionRanks of British soldiers in uniform fire at a group of men who are running away and lying wounded on the ground. An officer on horseback directs the action. Frame buildings, including houses, a tavern, a bell tower, and a meeting house, a horse shed are in the background together with stone walls and trees.
Label TextAmos Doolittle's etching of The Battle of Lexington depicts the British troops firing on the colonial militia on April 19, 1775. This print is one of the most important contemporary views of the beginnings of the American Revolution. Doolittle traveled to Lexington and Concord from his home in New Haven, Connecticut, shortly after the battles in order to view the sites and obtain eyewitness accounts of the action.
NotesHistorical note: Amos Doolittle and Ralph Earl purportedly visited the battlefields and Lexington and Concord shortly after the events of April 15, 1775. Doolittle's four plates accurately depict the sites and of the battles and reflect the accounts of eyewitnesses interviewed by the two artists. Together with Paul Revere's print of the Boston Massacre, they are the most important early American prints depicting contemporary events. Such prints were extremely uncommon in the eighteenth century.Dimensions Note: Print is matted, framed and glazed. Platemark and the edges of the sheet are not visible. Image size was estimated through glass and may not be precise. Print should be remeasured when removed from frame.
Status
Not on view
