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[CORBUTT, C. (pseudonym R. PURCELL)]
Major General John Sullivan, A distinguished Officer in the Continental Army.
London: Published by Thomas Hart, Aug. 22, 1776. Mezzotint. State i/i. In good condition with the exception of being trimmed just outside plate mark on upper and side margins. Trimmed just within plate mark on lower margin. Image size: 12 11/16 x 9 7/8 inches. Sheet size: 13 7/8 x 9 13/16 inches.
A breathtaking impression of this extremely important print of General John Sullivan, the Patriot leader.
Public curiosity for prints of Revolutionary heroes was not limited to America but spread to the English and European print shops, where an inquisitive audience clamored for a glimpse of the key figures of the war. London publishers, using the names C. Shepard, Thomas Hart, and John Morris, issued a series of mezzotints of the officers of the American Revolution, one of which is this stunning print of John Sullivan, an influential Patriot leader.
Sullivan was a lawyer and delegate to the Continental Congress, and participated in the invasion of Canada. He participated at Bunker Hill and the siege of Boston, the Battle of Long Island (where he was taken prisoner) and, (having been exchanged), Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine and Germantown. He was greatly admired by George Washington who put him in charge of re-locating the Iroquois Indians. During the latter part of the century Sullivan became governor of New Hampshire and attended the Constitutional Convention in 1788, which ratified the Federal Constitution. This remarkable print is a wonderful early documentation of this period in America's history, it not only depicts this remarkable man, but it demonstrates a distinctly European view of the War of Independence.
Cresswell, The American Revolution in Drawings and Prints 194; George, Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires..in the British Museum 5337( this print is actually an earlier state than the image described by George. 5337 is in fact a copy of this print); Chaloner Smith, British Mezzotinto Portraits (Engraver not ascertained, Class III)12, i/ii.
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#3724 $2,400.00 
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© 2002-2005 Donald A. Heald
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