{{Short description|American artist (1754–1832)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2019}} {{Infobox artist | honorific_prefix = | name = Amos Doolittle | honorific_suffix = | image = Amos Doolittle lithograph.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Lithograph of Doolittle, following Ralph Earl's portrait | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1754|05|18}} | birth_place = Cheshire, Connecticut Colony, Kingdom of Great Britain | death_date = {{Death date and age|1832|01|30|1754|05|18}} | death_place = Cheshire, Connecticut, U.S. | resting_place = Grove Street Cemetery (New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.) | resting_place_coordinates = {{coord|41.31374|-72.92556}} | spouse = Sally (unknown–1797) and Phebe Tuttle (1797–1825) | field = Engraving | training = Self-taught | alma_mater = | movement = | works = | elected = | bgcolour = | module = }}
thumb '''Amos Doolittle''' (May 18, 1754 – January 30, 1832)<ref name=Beardsley>{{cite book |last=Beardsley |first=William A. |chapter=An Old New Haven Engraver and His Work: Amos Doolittle |title=Papers of the New Haven Colony Historical Society |date=1914 |volume=8 |location=New Haven |publisher=Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor |url=https://archive.org/details/newhavenoftwohun01dext}}</ref> was an American engraver and silversmith, known as "The Revere of Connecticut."<ref name="GSC">{{cite web |url=http://www.grovestreetcemetery.org/Grove_Street_Cemetery_Chronicle_of_Eminent_People.htm |title=A Chronicle of Eminent People buried in Grove Street Cemetery |website=Grove Street Cemetery |publisher=Friends of the Grove Street Cemetery |access-date=January 16, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100918035154/http://www.grovestreetcemetery.org/Grove_Street_Cemetery_Chronicle_of_Eminent_People.htm |archive-date=September 18, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> His engravings included portraits and maps, made in his New Haven, Connecticut studio. He became famous for his four engravings depicting the Battles of Lexington and Concord, which were based on his first-hand reconnaissance of the battlefield.
==Life and work== Born in Cheshire, Connecticut on May 18, 1754, Doolittle developed his skills in copper engraving through self-study and apprenticeship.<ref>Beardsley notes some learning from silversmith Eliakim Hitchcock of Cheshire.</ref> His first published work in the medium emerged during his enlistment in the New Haven company of the Governor's Guards in 1775. Under the leadership of Captain Benedict Arnold, the company arrived in Cambridge, Massachusetts ten days after the Battles of Lexington and Concord, marking the outset of the Revolutionary War.<ref name=Beardsley /> Upon arrival, Doolittle obtained leave to inspect the battle site, accompanied by Ralph Earl. Doolittle conducted interviews with colonial militants and local residents to establish the scene while Earl surveyed the site and made drawings.<ref name="Ryan">{{cite journal|last=Ryan |first=D. Michael |title=Doolittle Engraves April 19th for Posterity |journal=Concord Magazine |date=June–July 1999 |url=http://www.concordma.com/magazine/junjuly99/doolittle.html |access-date=April 14, 2014 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204211011/http://www.concordma.com/magazine/junjuly99/doolittle.html |archive-date=February 4, 2012 }}</ref> From these drawings, Doolittle made at least four engraved copper prints of the battle, which were advertised for sale in the December 1775 ''Connecticut Journal''.<ref name="Ryan" />
<ref>{{cite book|title=Eliakim Doolittle (1772–1850) and Timothy Olmsted (1759–1848): The Collected Works|series=Music of the New American Nation: Sacred Music from 1780 to 1820|editor1-first=Maxine|editor1-last=Fawcett-Yeske|editor2-first=Karl|editor2-last=Kroeger|editor2-link=Karl Kroeger|publisher=Routledge|year=2011|isbn=9781135623777|pages=xxi–xxiv|chapter=Introduction to this volume|volume=15}}</ref>
==Gallery== <gallery caption="Engravings of Battles of Lexington and Concord" mode=packed heights="110px"> File:Battle of Lexington Detail.jpg|''The Battle of Lexington'' File:British Army in Concord Detail.jpg|''The British entering Concord'' File:North Bridge Fight Detail.jpg|''The engagement at the North Bridge'' File:Percy's Rescue at Lexington Detail.jpg|''The British retreating from Lexington'' File:Political Cartoon on British Retreat From Concord.jpg|Political Cartoon on the British Retreat from Concord 1775 (possibly by Amos Doolittle) </gallery>
==References== {{reflist}}
==Further reading== *{{Cite book |last=O'Brien |first=Donald C. |title=Amos Doolittle: Engraver of the New Republic |year=2008 |publisher=Oak Knoll Press |isbn=9781584562061}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Amos Doolittle}} *{{cite Appletons|wstitle = Doolittle, Amos}} *[http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15324coll10/id/34677/rec/42 American paintings & historical prints from the Middendorf collection], an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Doolittle (no. 64, 68) *[http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~silversmiths/makers/silversmiths/24835.htm freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com] {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doolittle, Amos}} Category:American silversmiths Category:1754 births Category:1832 deaths Category:Burials at Grove Street Cemetery Category:People from colonial Connecticut Category:People from Cheshire, Connecticut Category:18th-century American engravers Category:Artists from Connecticut Category:Doolittle family Category:19th-century American engravers