Benson J. Lossing, historian, antiquarian, editor, and wood-engraver, is best known for beautifully engraved and amply illustrated works of popular American history, works intended to make the history of the United States more available and appealing to the average citizen. Lossing was an accomplished artist and engraver who complemented his illustrations with an informative yet familiar style of writing which invited the reader to become involved in the narrative.

Benson John Lossing was born in Beekman, a small town in southeastern New York a few miles from the New York-Connecticut border, in February 1813. His parents, John and Miriam Dorland Lossing, were struggling farmers, and young Lossing was orphaned by the age of twelve. After a year working as a farmhand, presumably in the care of relatives, he was apprenticed to a watchmaker in nearby Poughkeepsie in 1826. The only formal education he received was a few years' schooling in...