"The Doolittle Engravings of the Battle of Lexington and Concord" Archival Prints

These are the highest quality reproductions available anywhere, printed on archival paper with archival-grade inks.

"They are exquisite and so well done. They appear to be so like the originals, not like some of the laser printer jobs or the photocopy high-end duplicates. I purchased a set for myself and when my grown children saw them they were impressed with the quality and I have gotten a set for each of them for Christmas. My daughter worked at the Minuteman park for a time and they had nothing available like this. Don't hesitate to purchase them. You will not be disappointed. Quality shows...." — Mary J.

"Extremely pleased with the prints! They are finely printed and detailed on high quality paper. The coloring on them makes the printing stand out. They arrived quickly and safely as well. Highly recommend to anyone wanting to purchase." — Robert O.

Fine art prints of the four engravings by Amos Doolittle depicting the momentous events during the Battle of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775 and are among the rarest American historical prints. They were created based on a visit to these sites and interviews just days after April 19. See the historical background at the bottom for more about the men who made these.

Our prints are based on a scan of the originals, not a later reproduction.

Plates:

• Plate I: The battle of Lexington, April 19th. 1775.
• Plate II: A view of the town of Concord
• Plate III: The engagement at the North Bridge in Concord
• Plate IV: A view of the south part of Lexington

As described by the New England Historical Society (link and more information below):

"The first print shows the Battle of Lexington, with Maj. Pitcairn at the head of the regular grenadiers. It also shows the party who first fired on the provincials at Lexington, part of the Provincial company of Lexington and the British regular companies on the road to Concord.

"The second Amos Doolittle print shows companies of the British regulars marching into town, then the regulars drawn up in order. It shows a detachment destroying the provincial stores as Col. Smith and Maj. Pitcairn view the Provincials mustering on an east hill in Concord.

"The third print depicts the engagement at North Bridge, including the detachment of British regulars who fired first on the provincials at the bridge. It also shows the provincials headed by Col. Robinson and Maj. Buttrick.

"Finally, the fourth print shows Col. Smith’s brigade retreating before the provincials and Earl Percy’s brigade meeting them. Included in the engraving are Earl Percy and Col. Smith, the flank guards of Percy’s brigade, the fieldpiece pointed at the Lexington meeting house and the burning of the houses in Lexington."

Size: 12" x 16" — Similar in size to the originals

About the paperweight and printing process: Printed on thick archival paper with archival inks.

Other designs featuring the Battle of Lexington: "Battle of Lexington 1775" Archival print and a smaller commercial print, from the original engraving by Hammatt Billings circa 1875. And we have a "1775 Battle of Lexington" sticker and magnet.

Source: From scans of the originals in the New York Public Library. We worked extensively to restore the colors and make other corrections and repairs.  

Historical background

From New England Historical Society:

Amos Doolittle Creates the First (and Only) Accurate Engravings of the Battles of Lexington and Concord

"He was a young silversmith, just 20 years old and starting out on his own in New Haven. He had a friend, Ralph Earl, an itinerant artist who went around Connecticut towns painting portraits.

"As war loomed, Amos Doolittle took the patriots’ side. Ralph Earl’s sympathies lay with the British.

"Together, patriot and loyalist would create the first and only accurate engravings of the Battles of Lexington and Concord. . . .

"In 1775, [Doolittle] enlisted in the New Haven company of the Governor’s Guards under Capt. Benedict Arnold. When news of the Battles of Lexington and Concord came to New Haven, the ever-ambitious Arnold marched his men to Cambridge, Mass.

"Ralph Earl came along, too, apparently for the ride. There’s no record of him enlisting in Arnold’s company, so he may have tagged along with the militia, drawn by the excitement of war. Or maybe he wanted to see his dad, a colonel in the Revolutionary Army.

"The New Haven men arrived in Cambridge 10 days after the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Amos Doolittle asked for leave, and got it, to inspect the battlefields. Perhaps camp life bored him, or perhaps he’d planned it all along.

"In Concord and Lexington, Amos Doolittle sought out eyewitnesses and minutemen who fought the battles. He asked them what happened, where and when, and then he told Earl what to draw. Doolittle even posed for Earl, sometimes holding a musket, to model participants like Col. Smith, Maj. Pitcairn, Earl Percy and Maj. Buttrick. . . .

"From Earl’s drawings and the eyewitness accounts he gathered, Amos Doolittle engraved four copper plates of the battle.

"He’d never published anything before, but he advertised the prints for sale in December 1775 in the Connecticut Journal. They circulated widely as pro-patriot propaganda, and then they disappeared into obscurity."

More resources:

• Amos Doolittle Creates the First (and Only) Accurate Engravings of the Battles of Lexington and Concord — And the source for the excerpts above
• Doolittle Engraves April 19th for Posterity
• News From Lexington: Contemporary Views of the Opening Battles of the American Revolution