About Joseph Drayton

  • Biography

    Engraver and portrait painter, Joseph Drayton traveled widely as an official artist with the Wilkes Expedition, the first official maritime exploration sponsored by the United States government.

    Joseph Drayton began working as an engraver in Philadelphia as early as 1819 when his engraving of a Scottish landscape by Caroline Schetky was published in the Analectic Magazine. The following year, other engravings by Drayton appeared in the Analectic.

    He stayed in Philadelphia until about 1838, when he took on the assignment with the five-year "Wilkes United States Exploring Expedition". These travels resulted in him being one of the most widely-traveled artists of that era, going from the farthest points South and ...

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