Lot 293: Cotton MATHER (1663-1728), Peter PELHAM (1697 - 1751) artist and engraver.

Cotton MATHER (1663-1728), Peter PELHAM (1697 - 1751) artist and engraver. Cottonus Matherus, S. Theologiæ Doctor Regiæ Societatis Londonensis Socius, et Ecclesiae Bostonum Nov-Anglorum. [Boston, 1727.] The first American mezzotint. Peter Pelham was already regarded as an accomplished mezzotint engraver when he arrived in Boston in 1727, and was the form's first practitioner in America. Despite his reputation, Pelham enjoyed only modest success as a portrait painter and engraver, and also offered his services as an instructor in music, dance, needlework, drawing and painting in order to support his family. This, his first mezzotint produced in America, was based on a portrait he had painted of Mather soon after his arrival in America. Pelham's original painting is part of the collections at the American Antiquarian Society. Shadwell 17; Stauffer 2469. Mezzotint engraving, 13 7/8 x 10 1/8 in (354 x 256mm). (Marginal losses, some affecting text, infilled, mounted to a board, mild surface abrasions and soiling). Matted and framed.