Born in 1821 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Felix Darley "can well be considered America's first important illustrator." (Reed 17) He was self taught and highly prolific during a long career that included being a newspaper staff artist, illustrator for book publishers and for famous authors including Washington Irving, Henry Longfellow and James Fenimore Cooper, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe and Charles Dickens.

With illustrations for these writers, Felix Darley popularized such American icons as the Pilgrim, the Pioneer, the Minuteman and the Yankee Peddler. Western art collectors covet his illustrations depicting the settling of the West, the early life on the plains, the Indians, the white settlers, trappers, and hunters. ...