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|occupation = Engraver |
|occupation = Engraver |
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|years_active = |
|years_active = |
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|known_for = |
|known_for = Engraving, organ building |
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|notable_works = |
|notable_works = First engraved print of an historical event in [[Colonial history of the United States|Colonial America]], an overview of the [[Battle of Lake George]] |
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|signature = |
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'''Thomas Johnston''' ( |
'''Thomas Johnston''' (1708 – May 8, 1767){{efn|Some sources spell his last name without the T as "Johnson",<ref name=Heraldic/>{{sfn|Dunlap|Bayley|Goodspeed|1918|pp=311–312}} though the man himself signed his engravings as "Johnston" — for an example, see [[:File:Johnston's View of Yale College.jpeg]]. On at least one engraving, his early ''Plan of Boston in New England'', he also signed his name in the bottom right-hand corner as "Johnson".<ref>{{cite map |author = William Burgis|title=To His Excellency William Burnet, Esqr., this Plan of Boston in New England is humbly dedicated |trans-title = |map = |url= https://collections.leventhalmap.org/search/commonwealth:x633fb32n|date = 1869 | orig-year=First published in 1728 |scale = |series = |publisher = WIlliam Burgis |cartography = |page = |pages = |section = |sections = |inset = |edition = |location = |language = |format = |isbn = |id = |access-date = |archive-url = |archive-date =}}</ref> His various account books and his will refer to him with the "T" spelling.{{sfn|Hitchings|1985|pp=637,648}} }} was an American [[engraver]], [[Japanning|japanner]], and [[heraldic]] painter in [[History of Boston#Colonial era|Colonial Boston]]. Johnston engraved the first print of an historical event in the [[Colonial history of the United States|Colonial America]] and was also the first manufacturer of [[church organ]]s in the colonies. The pipe organ he built in 1758–1759 for Boston's [[Old North Church]]{{efn|Though commonly referred to as "Old North Church", the church's official name is Christ Church in the City of Boston. Sources refer to this church by the names of "Old North" and also as "Christ Church".<ref>{{cite web |title=Welcome to the Old North Church|url=https://www.oldnorth.com/ |publisher=[[Old North Church]] & Historic Site |access-date=February 22, 2023 |quote=Established in 1723 as Christ Church in the City of Boston, Old North Church ...}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Bolton |first1=Charles Knowles |title=Christ Church, Salem Street, Boston, 1723 : a guide |url=https://archive.org/stream/christchurchsale1961bolt/christchurchsale1961bolt_djvu.txt |publisher=[[Old North Church]] |access-date=February 22, 2023 |date=1923 |quote=Christ Church, now better known as "The Old North Church"}}</ref>}} was in use for over a hundred years until another organ replaced it in 1886. |
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== Pipe organ manufacturing == |
== Pipe organ manufacturing == |
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[[File:Old North church organ.jpg|thumb| |
[[File:Old North church organ.jpg|thumb|200px|The Old North Church organ, case restored in the 1990s to the 1759 Johnston version]] |
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Johnston's workshop was in his home's backyard.{{sfn|Williams|1915|p=177}} While he advertised his businesses as being organ making, engraving, and furniture merchant,<ref name=JapannedMaking>{{cite news |date= May 7, 1998 |title= Japanned Furniture: An 18th Century Faux Finish |url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50275004/ |newspaper= The News Journal |page= 48 |location= Wilmington, Delaware |via=[[Newspapers.com]] {{open access}} }}</ref> he also worked as a [[wikt:japanner|japanner]], painted coats of arms, and published books.{{sfn|Hitchings|1973|p=83}} He was an engraver of skill |
Johnston's workshop was in his home's backyard.{{sfn|Williams|1915|p=177}} While he advertised his businesses as being organ making, engraving, and furniture merchant,<ref name=JapannedMaking>{{cite news |date= May 7, 1998 |title= Japanned Furniture: An 18th Century Faux Finish |url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50275004/ |newspaper= The News Journal |page= 48 |location= Wilmington, Delaware |via=[[Newspapers.com]] {{open access}} }}</ref> he also worked as a [[wikt:japanner|japanner]], painted coats of arms, and published books.{{sfn|Hitchings|1973|p=83}} He was an engraver of skill and a [[heraldic]] painter whose works included views of Boston.{{sfn|Dunlap|Bayley|Goodspeed|1918|pp=311–312}}<ref name=BDG02071915>{{cite news | title= Boston Folks' Coat of Arms | date= February 7, 1915 | url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/57756196/| work= The Boston Daily Globe |location=Boston, Massachusetts|via=[[Newspapers.com]] {{open access}} }}</ref> His furniture skills included japanning, a technique of rendering "elaborate applied decorations"{{sfn|Hitchings|1973|p=83}} onto furniture. |
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Though at least one other person had created a singular organ in the colonies before him, Johnston is considered to have been the first Bostonian to build an organ{{sfn|Owen|1985|p=695}} and had the earliest church organ manufacturing business in [[Thirteen Colonies|Colonial America]].{{sfn|Owen|1979|p=23}} Boston's Old North Church's first organ was one imported by William Claggett in 1736.{{sfn|Ogasapian|2007|p=59}} In 1752 the church decided to buy a replacement organ from Johnston that they wanted to be as loud as the Boston [[Trinity Church (Boston)|Trinity Church]] organ.{{sfn|Williams|1915|p=177}} Johnston finishing constructing the organ in 1759.<ref name=OHS>{{cite web |url= https://pipeorgandatabase.org/OrganDetails.php?OrganID=41284 |title= The OHS Pipe Organ Database |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= 2016|website= OHS Database ID 41284 |publisher=The Organ Historical Society |access-date=January 14, 2018 }}</ref> This Johnston pipe |
Though at least one other person had created a singular organ in the colonies before him, Johnston is considered to have been the first Bostonian to build an organ{{sfn|Owen|1985|p=695}} and had the earliest church organ manufacturing business in [[Thirteen Colonies|Colonial America]].{{sfn|Owen|1979|p=23}} Boston's Old North Church's first organ was one imported by William Claggett in 1736.{{sfn|Ogasapian|2007|p=59}} In 1752, the church decided to buy a replacement organ from Johnston that they wanted to be as loud as the Boston [[Trinity Church (Boston)|Trinity Church]] organ.{{sfn|Williams|1915|p=177}} Johnston finishing constructing the organ in 1759.<ref name=OHS>{{cite web |url= https://pipeorgandatabase.org/OrganDetails.php?OrganID=41284 |title= The OHS Pipe Organ Database |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= 2016|website= OHS Database ID 41284 |publisher=The Organ Historical Society |access-date=January 14, 2018 }}</ref> This Johnston pipe organ was in regular use until the 1820s.{{sfn|Babcock|1947|p=140}} The present casing is the completely-restored case from the Johnston instrument.<ref name=OHS/> The organ's inner workings – the pipes, pedals, bellows and so on (though of Johnston's type) – are completely new and date to the complete renovation/restoration that was started in 1992.<ref name="Official North Church YouTube channel">{{cite web |last1=Dudas |first1=Libor |title=All About Old North Church's Organ |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8p-nWgZI5M |website=YouTube – Official [[Old North Church]] & Historic Site Channel |publisher=[[Old North Church]] & Historic Site |access-date=February 22, 2023 |date=November 5, 2021 |quote=[From 0:33–1:46...The history of the instrument] The casing that you see today is the original casing from the 1700s, completely restored ... The inside of the organ is new}}</ref> In 1754, Johnston built an organ for St. Peter's in Salem, Massachusetts.{{sfn|Ogasapian|2007|p=60}} Johnston is also known to have built organs for Boston's Deblois Concert Hall and for St. John's Church (in [[Portsmouth, New Hampshire|Portsmouth]], New Hampshire). Some of his organs originally installed in a first church or venue were then later re-used secondhand in other churches.{{sfn|Owen|1985|pp=712–713}} |
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After Johnston's death his estate included various items from his many businesses, among them an incomplete organ, numerous pictures, various paintings, artist supplies, and copper plates for engraving and printing.<ref name=Heraldic>{{cite journal |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=1865 |title=Herald Printer, No. 1 (Thomas Johnson) |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=NnIFAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA6 |
After Johnston's death, his estate included various items from his many businesses, among them an incomplete organ, numerous pictures, various paintings, artist supplies, and copper plates for engraving and printing.<ref name=Heraldic>{{cite journal |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=1865 |title=Herald Printer, No. 1 (Thomas Johnson) |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=NnIFAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA6 |journal=The Heraldic Journal |volume=1–4 |page= 6|access-date=February 21, 2023}}</ref>{{sfn|Hitchings|1973|pp=126–128}} In his will, he gave his wife Bathsheba the engraved copper plates for printing music for the psalms stating “I Thomas Johnston Give to my Wife Bathsheba Johnston all my psalm Tune plates together with the Press besides what her proportionable part of my Estate may be.”{{sfn|Hitchings|1973|p=111}} |
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== Engravings == |
== Engravings == |
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[[File:1890 Facsimile of the 1755 Thomas Johnston engraving of the Battle of Lake George,.jpg|thumb|''A prospective plan of the battle fought near Lake George on the 8th of September 1755'' |
[[File:1890 Facsimile of the 1755 Thomas Johnston engraving of the Battle of Lake George,.jpg|thumb|''A prospective plan of the battle fought near Lake George on the 8th of September 1755'' – 1890 facsimile of Johnston's 1755 original]] |
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[[File:Lk George battle.tif|thumb|A 1768 Jefferys engraving printed in London and based on the 1755 Johnston original |
[[File:Lk George battle.tif|thumb|A 1768 Jefferys engraving printed in London and based on the 1755 Johnston original]] |
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⚫ | Patricia E. Kane, writing in ''Colonial Massachusetts Silversmiths and Jewelers'', says that though "the identity of his master is not known"<ref name="Kane 1020">{{cite book |last1=Kane |first1=Patricia E. |editor1-last=Kane |editor1-first=Patricia E. |title=Colonial Massachusetts Silversmiths and Jewelers: A Biographical Dictionary Based on the Notes of Francis Hill Bigelow and John Marshall Phillips |date=1998 |publisher=[[Yale University Art Gallery]]/[[University Press of New England]], Hanover and London |isbn=0-89467-077-8 |pages=1020–1021 |chapter=Thomas Johnston (Appendix A, Craftsmen in Allied Trades) |quote=...this association opens the possibility that Johnston learned engraving from Burgis. ... Furthermore, the spiky style of the leafage on the cartouches associated with Burgis ... would become a hallmark of Johnston's engraving style, lending credence to a master-apprentice relationship between the two men.}}</ref> theorizes that Johnston may have been trained by the craftsman William Burgis. Kane's evidence for this is that the map of Boston published by Burgis in 1728 was engraved for Burgis by Johnston "just at the time that Johnston would have been finishing his apprenticeship".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kane |first1=Patricia E. |editor1-last=Kane |editor1-first=Patricia E. |title=Colonial Massachusetts Silversmiths and Jewelers: A Biographical Dictionary Based on the Notes of Francis Hill Bigelow and John Marshall Phillips |date=1998 |publisher=[[Yale University Art Gallery]]/[[University Press of New England]], Hanover and London |isbn=0-89467-077-8 |page=1006 |chapter=William Burgis (Appendix A, Craftsmen in Allied Trades) |quote=Burgis may have trained the engraver Thomas Johnston}}</ref> Johnston's earliest known engraving is that map of Boston, titled ''Plan of Boston in New England'', with its dedication to Massachusetts Governor [[William Burnet (colonial administrator)|William Burnet]], governor of the Massachusetts Colony from 1727–1729.{{sfn|Stauffer|1907|p=144}} Johnston's various engravings include prints of scenes, business cards for tradesmen, legal certificates, currency, and even noted music scores.{{sfn|Hitchings|1973|pp=83–84}} One of his apprentices was [[John Greenwood (artist)|John Greenwood]], whose varied artistic career included an early period assisting Johnston with painting and engraving.{{sfn|Hitchings|1973|p=85}} |
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⚫ | Johnston engraved the first known print of an historical event in the colonies,<ref>{{cite web |title=print: A Prospective View of the Battle fought near Lake George September 1755 |url=https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+1384 |publisher=Collections Database – Five Colleges and Historic Deerfield Museum Consortium |access-date=February 23, 2023 |quote=Samuel Blodget was a sutler ... who saw the battle (his version was printed a[sic] 1775 "Boston-Gazette") and drew the plan, which was originally engraved by Thomas Johnston (c.1708–1767) and printed in Boston on December 22, 1755, as the first American historical event drawn and engraving in America, and the first portrayal of the Indian method of fighting from ambush.}}</ref> an overview of the [[Battle of Lake George]]. The battle scene —''A prospective plan of the battle fought near Lake George on the 8th of September 1755'' – was originally drawn by Samuel Blodgett, a [[sutler]] who had witnessed the Battle.{{sfn|Green|1890|p=4}}{{sfn|Treasures of Americana|1969|p=15}} Johnston engraved Blodgett's sketch onto a copper plate with Boston printer Richard Draper printing it,{{sfn|Green|1890|p=4}} with the print then being sold by Blodgett in December 1755.{{sfn|Winsor|1887|p=586}} Johnston's engraving of the battle is divided into different sections. On the left an above view of marching soldiers, on the right the view of the soldiers' camp and of the battle itself. The engraving also pictures the [[Hudson River]], [[Fort William Henry]] and the New York town of [[Fort Edward (town), New York|Fort Edward]].{{sfn|Exhibition Catalogs|1908|p=46}} A pamphlet consisting of five pages describing the Battle plus a single page of advertisements accompanied this engraving.{{sfn|Green|1890|pp=4–5}} Johnston's print was reprinted in London by [[Thomas Jefferys]], being published six weeks later in February 1756,<ref>{{cite web |title=A prospective view of the battle fought near Lake George, on the 8th of Sepr. 1755 {{as written|bewt|een [sic]}} 2000 English with 250 Mohawks |url=https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2004670649/ |website=[[Library of Congress]], Prints & Photographs Online Catalog |year=1768 |access-date=February 22, 2023 |quote=An English impression after an impression published in Boston six weeks earlier. Samuel Blodget, an eye witness,[1768, after edition published 2 Feb.1756] ...}}</ref> along with an explanatory eight-page pamphlet.{{sfn|Green|1890|p=6}} |
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⚫ | Patricia E. Kane, writing in ''Colonial Massachusetts Silversmiths and Jewelers'', says that though "the identity of his master is not known"<ref name="Kane 1020">{{cite book |last1=Kane |first1=Patricia E. |editor1-last=Kane |editor1-first=Patricia E. |title=Colonial Massachusetts Silversmiths and Jewelers: A Biographical Dictionary Based on the Notes of Francis Hill Bigelow and John Marshall Phillips |date=1998 |publisher=[[Yale University Art Gallery]]/[[University Press of New England]], Hanover and London |isbn=0-89467-077-8 |pages= |
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⚫ | Many of Johnston's print engravings along with various images can be found in the [[Colonial Society of Massachusetts]]' publication ''Boston Prints and Printmakers 1670–1775'',{{sfn|Hitchings|1973|pp=86–115}} including his engraving of artist [[John Greenwood (artist)|John Greenwood]]'s [[Yale College]] view, ''Prospect of Yale College''.{{sfn|American printmaking|1975|p=59}} |
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⚫ | Johnston engraved the first known print of an historical event in the colonies,<ref>{{cite web |
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⚫ | Many of Johnston's print engravings along with various images can be found in the [[Colonial Society of Massachusetts]]' publication ''Boston Prints and Printmakers |
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== Personal life == |
== Personal life == |
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Johnston was born in 1708{{ |
Johnston was born in 1708{{efn|Ogasapian (2007) has Johnston's birth year as 1701.{{sfn|Ogasapian|2007|p=60}}}} in [[Boston, Massachusetts]].{{sfn|Stauffer|1907|p=144}} He became a member of the [[Brattle Street Church]] on June 5, 1726.{{sfn|Dunlap|Bayley|Goodspeed|1918|pp=311–312}} |
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Johnston's first wife was Rachel Thwing, they married on June 22, 1730. His second wife was Rachel's first cousin Bathsheba Thwing and that marriage took place 17 years later in 1747. Many of the sons developed careers based on skills adjacent to their father's various crafts and livelihoods.{{sfn|Hitchings|1973|pp=117–122}}{{sfn|Publications of the Colonial Society|1918|p=406}} Three of Johnston's sons by his first wife Rachel — Thomas Jr., William, and Benjamin —all became artists or craftspeople of varying kinds, their skills including japanning, portrait painting, organ-building, and engraving. |
Johnston's first wife was Rachel Thwing, they married on June 22, 1730. His second wife was Rachel's first cousin Bathsheba Thwing and that marriage took place 17 years later in 1747. Many of the sons developed careers based on skills adjacent to their father's various crafts and livelihoods.{{sfn|Hitchings|1973|pp=117–122}}{{sfn|Publications of the Colonial Society|1918|p=406}} Three of Johnston's sons by his first wife Rachel — Thomas Jr., William, and Benjamin —all became artists or craftspeople of varying kinds, their skills including japanning, portrait painting, organ-building, and engraving. Rachel, a daughter from Johnston's first marriage, married Daniel Rea Jr. in 1764. After Johnston's death, Rea purchased his father-in-law's business and ran it until the early 1800s. John and Samuel Johnston, two of Johnston's sons from his second marriage, worked as portrait painters.{{sfn|Hitchings|1973|p=121}} |
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== Death == |
== Death == |
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Johnston died (from what was called a fit of [[apoplexy]]) on May 8, 1767. |
Johnston died (from what was called a fit of [[apoplexy]]) on May 8, 1767.{{sfn|Green|1890|p=[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark:/13960/t6j10r15q&view=1up&seq=8 6]}} His grave is located in Boston's historic [[King's Chapel Burying Ground]].{{sfn|Beers|1905|p=572}} |
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==Notes== |
==Notes== |
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{{notelist}} |
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{{reflist|group=Note}} |
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== References == |
== References == |
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== Bibliography == |
== Bibliography == |
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*{{cite book|title=American printmaking before 1876 : fact, fiction, and fantasy : papers presented at a symposium held at the Library of Congress, June 12 and 13, 1972.|url=https://archive.org/details/americanprintmak0000unse/page/59/mode/2up?q=Blodget%27s|year=1975|publisher=Library of Congress|pages= |
*{{cite book|title=American printmaking before 1876 : fact, fiction, and fantasy : papers presented at a symposium held at the Library of Congress, June 12 and 13, 1972.|url=https://archive.org/details/americanprintmak0000unse/page/59/mode/2up?q=Blodget%27s|year=1975|publisher=Library of Congress|pages=59–60| isbn=9780844401683 |quote=Moreover, as in the case of other prints, Blodget’s work, which came complete with a five-page quarto pamphlet |ref = {{harvid|American printmaking|1975}} }} |
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*{{cite book|last=Babcock|first=Mary Kent Davey |title= Christ Church, Salem Street, Boston, the Old North Church of Paul Revere fame: historical sketches, Colonial period, |
*{{cite book|last=Babcock|first=Mary Kent Davey |title= Christ Church, Salem Street, Boston, the Old North Church of Paul Revere fame: historical sketches, Colonial period, 1723–1775 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015056738001;view=1up;seq=180|year=1947|publisher=T. Todd Co., printers}} |
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*{{cite book|last1=Dunlap|first1=William |last2= Bayley |first2= Frank William |last3= Goodspeed |first3= Charles Eliot |title= A History of the Rise and Progress of the Arts of Design in the United States |volume= 3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4cXpAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA296 |
*{{cite book|last1=Dunlap|first1=William |last2= Bayley |first2= Frank William |last3= Goodspeed |first3= Charles Eliot |title= A History of the Rise and Progress of the Arts of Design in the United States |volume= 3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4cXpAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA296|year=1918|publisher=[[Goodspeed Publishing|C.E. Goodspeed & Company]] |isbn=978-0-7222-4674-0 }} |
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* {{cite book|publisher= Grolier Club |title= Exhibition Catalogs, 1886–1909: 1908–1909 |date= 1908 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3n9PAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA46 |ref = {{harvid|Exhibition Catalogs|1908}} }} |
* {{cite book|publisher= Grolier Club |title= Exhibition Catalogs, 1886–1909: 1908–1909 |date= 1908 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3n9PAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA46 |ref = {{harvid|Exhibition Catalogs|1908}} }} |
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*{{cite book|title=Genealogical and Biographical Record of New London County, Connecticut |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wPsnAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA572|date=January 1, 1905|publisher=J.H. Beers & Company|ref={{harvid|Beers|1905}} }} |
*{{cite book|title=Genealogical and Biographical Record of New London County, Connecticut |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wPsnAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA572|date=January 1, 1905|publisher=J.H. Beers & Company|ref={{harvid|Beers|1905}} }} |
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*{{cite book|last=Green|first=Samuel A.|title=Blodget's plan of the battle on the shores of Lake George, 8 September, 1755|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark:/13960/t6j10r15q;view=1up;seq=3|year=1890|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]}} |
*{{cite book|last=Green|first=Samuel A.|title=Blodget's plan of the battle on the shores of Lake George, 8 September, 1755|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark:/13960/t6j10r15q;view=1up;seq=3|year=1890|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]}} |
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*{{cite book|last=Hitchings|first=Sinclair |title=Boston Prints and Printmasters 1670–1775|chapter=Thomas Johnston|url=https://www.colonialsociety.org/node/770#ch03|year=1973|publisher=[[University Press of Virginia]]}} |
*{{cite book|last=Hitchings|first=Sinclair |title=Boston Prints and Printmasters 1670–1775|chapter=Thomas Johnston|url=https://www.colonialsociety.org/node/770#ch03|year=1973|publisher=[[University Press of Virginia]]}} |
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* {{cite book|last=Hitchings|first=Sinclair |title=Volume 54: Music in Colonial Massachusetts |
* {{cite book|last=Hitchings|first=Sinclair |title=Volume 54: Music in Colonial Massachusetts 1630–1820, II: Music in Homes and in Churches|editor=Barbara Lambert|chapter=The Musical Pursuits of William Price and Thomas Johnston|url=https://www.colonialsociety.org/node/2037|year=1985|publisher=[[University Press of Virginia]]}} |
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*{{cite book|last=Owen|first=Barbara|title=The organ in New England: an account of its use and manufacture to the end of the nineteenth century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lZEIAQAAMAAJ |
*{{cite book|last=Owen|first=Barbara|title=The organ in New England: an account of its use and manufacture to the end of the nineteenth century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lZEIAQAAMAAJ&q=johnston|year=1979|publisher=Sunbury Press|isbn=978-0-915548-08-8}} |
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*{{cite book|last=Owen|first=Barbara |title=Volume 54: Music in Colonial Massachusetts 1630-1820, II: Music in Homes and in Churches|editor=Barbara Lambert|chapter=Eighteenth-Century Organs and Organ Building in New England |url=https://www.colonialsociety.org/node/2038|year=1985|publisher=[[University Press of Virginia]]}} |
*{{cite book|last=Owen|first=Barbara |title=Volume 54: Music in Colonial Massachusetts 1630-1820, II: Music in Homes and in Churches|editor=Barbara Lambert|chapter=Eighteenth-Century Organs and Organ Building in New England |url=https://www.colonialsociety.org/node/2038|year=1985|publisher=[[University Press of Virginia]]}} |
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*{{cite book|last=Ogasapian|first=John |title=Church Music in America, 1620–2000|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yu4r2nCJ1JkC&pg=PA59|year=2007|publisher=[[Mercer University Press]]|isbn=978-0-88146-026-1}} |
*{{cite book|last=Ogasapian|first=John |title=Church Music in America, 1620–2000|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yu4r2nCJ1JkC&pg=PA59|year=2007|publisher=[[Mercer University Press]]|isbn=978-0-88146-026-1}} |
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*{{cite book|title=Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts|url= https://archive.org/details/publicationscol18massgoog |page=[https://archive.org/details/publicationscol18massgoog/page/n513 406]|quote=Thomas Johnston (1708–1767) three of Johnston's children followed their father's profession.|year=1918|publisher=The Society |ref= {{harvid|Publications of the Colonial Society|1918}} }} |
*{{cite book|title=Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts|url= https://archive.org/details/publicationscol18massgoog |page=[https://archive.org/details/publicationscol18massgoog/page/n513 406]|quote=Thomas Johnston (1708–1767) three of Johnston's children followed their father's profession.|year=1918|publisher=The Society |ref= {{harvid|Publications of the Colonial Society|1918}} }} |
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*{{cite book|last=Stauffer|first=David McNeely|title= |
*{{cite book|last=Stauffer|first=David McNeely|title=American Engravers Upon Copper and Steel Part 1 Biographical Sketches Illustrated|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=79w-AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA144|year=1907|publisher=Grolier club of New York City}} |
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*{{cite book|title= Treasures of Americana from the Library of the New-York Historical Society: A Short Title List of Rare and Important Books, Broadsides, Maps and Manuscripts on Exhibition at the Society, January 24 – August 29, 1969|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FupXAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Thomas+Johnston%22+%22first+historical+print+engraved+in+America%22|year=1969|publisher=[[New York Historical Society]]|quote=This is the first historical print engraved in America. Blodget witnessed the battle and immediately afterwards drew the original plan from which Thomas Johnson made the line engraving. |ref = {{harvid|Treasures of Americana|1969}} }} |
*{{cite book|author=Staff|title= Treasures of Americana from the Library of the New-York Historical Society: A Short Title List of Rare and Important Books, Broadsides, Maps and Manuscripts on Exhibition at the Society, January 24 – August 29, 1969|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FupXAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Thomas+Johnston%22+%22first+historical+print+engraved+in+America%22|year=1969|publisher=[[New York Historical Society]]|quote=This is the first historical print engraved in America. Blodget witnessed the battle and immediately afterwards drew the original plan from which Thomas Johnson made the line engraving. |ref = {{harvid|Treasures of Americana|1969}} }} |
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*{{cite book|last=Williams|first=Cornelia Bartow|title=Ancestry of Lawrence Williams|url=https://archive.org/details/ancestrylawrenc00willgoog/page/n221/mode/2up|page=[https://archive.org/details/ancestrylawrenc00willgoog/page/n217 177]|year=1915|publisher=[[R.R. Donnelley and Sons Co. Calumet Plant|R.R. Donnelley and Sons Co.]]}} |
*{{cite book|last=Williams|first=Cornelia Bartow|title=Ancestry of Lawrence Williams|url=https://archive.org/details/ancestrylawrenc00willgoog/page/n221/mode/2up|page=[https://archive.org/details/ancestrylawrenc00willgoog/page/n217 177]|year=1915|publisher=[[R.R. Donnelley and Sons Co. Calumet Plant|R.R. Donnelley and Sons Co.]]}} |
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*{{cite book|editor-last=Winsor|editor-first=Justin |title=Narrative and Critical History of America: The English and French in North America, |
*{{cite book|editor-last=Winsor|editor-first=Justin |title=Narrative and Critical History of America: The English and French in North America, 1689–1763 Volume V - Part II |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kZzCpa_PvL0C&q=%22Thomas+Johnston%22+first+historical+print+engraved+in+America+printed+by+Richard+Draper&pg=PA586|year=1887|publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|Houghton, Mifflin]]}} |
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{{Commons category|Thomas Johnston}} |
{{Commons category|Thomas Johnston}} |
Latest revision as of 04:37, 13 January 2024
Thomas Johnston | |
---|---|
Born | 1708 |
Died | May 8, 1767 | (aged 58–59)
Nationality | American |
Occupation | Engraver |
Known for | Engraving, organ building |
Notable work | First engraved print of an historical event in Colonial America, an overview of the Battle of Lake George |
Thomas Johnston (1708 – May 8, 1767)[a] was an American engraver, japanner, and heraldic painter in Colonial Boston. Johnston engraved the first print of an historical event in the Colonial America and was also the first manufacturer of church organs in the colonies. The pipe organ he built in 1758–1759 for Boston's Old North Church[b] was in use for over a hundred years until another organ replaced it in 1886.
Pipe organ manufacturing
Johnston's workshop was in his home's backyard.[7] While he advertised his businesses as being organ making, engraving, and furniture merchant,[8] he also worked as a japanner, painted coats of arms, and published books.[9] He was an engraver of skill and a heraldic painter whose works included views of Boston.[2][10] His furniture skills included japanning, a technique of rendering "elaborate applied decorations"[9] onto furniture.
Though at least one other person had created a singular organ in the colonies before him, Johnston is considered to have been the first Bostonian to build an organ[11] and had the earliest church organ manufacturing business in Colonial America.[12] Boston's Old North Church's first organ was one imported by William Claggett in 1736.[13] In 1752, the church decided to buy a replacement organ from Johnston that they wanted to be as loud as the Boston Trinity Church organ.[7] Johnston finishing constructing the organ in 1759.[14] This Johnston pipe organ was in regular use until the 1820s.[15] The present casing is the completely-restored case from the Johnston instrument.[14] The organ's inner workings – the pipes, pedals, bellows and so on (though of Johnston's type) – are completely new and date to the complete renovation/restoration that was started in 1992.[16] In 1754, Johnston built an organ for St. Peter's in Salem, Massachusetts.[17] Johnston is also known to have built organs for Boston's Deblois Concert Hall and for St. John's Church (in Portsmouth, New Hampshire). Some of his organs originally installed in a first church or venue were then later re-used secondhand in other churches.[18]
After Johnston's death, his estate included various items from his many businesses, among them an incomplete organ, numerous pictures, various paintings, artist supplies, and copper plates for engraving and printing.[1][19] In his will, he gave his wife Bathsheba the engraved copper plates for printing music for the psalms stating “I Thomas Johnston Give to my Wife Bathsheba Johnston all my psalm Tune plates together with the Press besides what her proportionable part of my Estate may be.”[20]
Engravings
Patricia E. Kane, writing in Colonial Massachusetts Silversmiths and Jewelers, says that though "the identity of his master is not known"[21] theorizes that Johnston may have been trained by the craftsman William Burgis. Kane's evidence for this is that the map of Boston published by Burgis in 1728 was engraved for Burgis by Johnston "just at the time that Johnston would have been finishing his apprenticeship".[22] Johnston's earliest known engraving is that map of Boston, titled Plan of Boston in New England, with its dedication to Massachusetts Governor William Burnet, governor of the Massachusetts Colony from 1727–1729.[23] Johnston's various engravings include prints of scenes, business cards for tradesmen, legal certificates, currency, and even noted music scores.[24] One of his apprentices was John Greenwood, whose varied artistic career included an early period assisting Johnston with painting and engraving.[25]
Johnston engraved the first known print of an historical event in the colonies,[26] an overview of the Battle of Lake George. The battle scene —A prospective plan of the battle fought near Lake George on the 8th of September 1755 – was originally drawn by Samuel Blodgett, a sutler who had witnessed the Battle.[27][28] Johnston engraved Blodgett's sketch onto a copper plate with Boston printer Richard Draper printing it,[27] with the print then being sold by Blodgett in December 1755.[29] Johnston's engraving of the battle is divided into different sections. On the left an above view of marching soldiers, on the right the view of the soldiers' camp and of the battle itself. The engraving also pictures the Hudson River, Fort William Henry and the New York town of Fort Edward.[30] A pamphlet consisting of five pages describing the Battle plus a single page of advertisements accompanied this engraving.[31] Johnston's print was reprinted in London by Thomas Jefferys, being published six weeks later in February 1756,[32] along with an explanatory eight-page pamphlet.[33]
Many of Johnston's print engravings along with various images can be found in the Colonial Society of Massachusetts' publication Boston Prints and Printmakers 1670–1775,[34] including his engraving of artist John Greenwood's Yale College view, Prospect of Yale College.[35]
Personal life
Johnston was born in 1708[c] in Boston, Massachusetts.[23] He became a member of the Brattle Street Church on June 5, 1726.[2]
Johnston's first wife was Rachel Thwing, they married on June 22, 1730. His second wife was Rachel's first cousin Bathsheba Thwing and that marriage took place 17 years later in 1747. Many of the sons developed careers based on skills adjacent to their father's various crafts and livelihoods.[36][37] Three of Johnston's sons by his first wife Rachel — Thomas Jr., William, and Benjamin —all became artists or craftspeople of varying kinds, their skills including japanning, portrait painting, organ-building, and engraving. Rachel, a daughter from Johnston's first marriage, married Daniel Rea Jr. in 1764. After Johnston's death, Rea purchased his father-in-law's business and ran it until the early 1800s. John and Samuel Johnston, two of Johnston's sons from his second marriage, worked as portrait painters.[38]
Death
Johnston died (from what was called a fit of apoplexy) on May 8, 1767.[39] His grave is located in Boston's historic King's Chapel Burying Ground.[40]
Notes
- ^ Some sources spell his last name without the T as "Johnson",[1][2] though the man himself signed his engravings as "Johnston" — for an example, see File:Johnston's View of Yale College.jpeg. On at least one engraving, his early Plan of Boston in New England, he also signed his name in the bottom right-hand corner as "Johnson".[3] His various account books and his will refer to him with the "T" spelling.[4]
- ^ Though commonly referred to as "Old North Church", the church's official name is Christ Church in the City of Boston. Sources refer to this church by the names of "Old North" and also as "Christ Church".[5][6]
- ^ Ogasapian (2007) has Johnston's birth year as 1701.[17]
References
- ^ a b "Herald Printer, No. 1 (Thomas Johnson)". The Heraldic Journal. 1–4: 6. 1865. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
- ^ a b c Dunlap, Bayley & Goodspeed 1918, pp. 311–312.
- ^ William Burgis (1869) [First published in 1728]. To His Excellency William Burnet, Esqr., this Plan of Boston in New England is humbly dedicated (Map). WIlliam Burgis.
- ^ Hitchings 1985, pp. 637, 648.
- ^ "Welcome to the Old North Church". Old North Church & Historic Site. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
Established in 1723 as Christ Church in the City of Boston, Old North Church ...
- ^ Bolton, Charles Knowles (1923). "Christ Church, Salem Street, Boston, 1723 : a guide". Old North Church. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
Christ Church, now better known as "The Old North Church"
- ^ a b Williams 1915, p. 177.
- ^ "Japanned Furniture: An 18th Century Faux Finish". The News Journal. Wilmington, Delaware. May 7, 1998. p. 48 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ a b Hitchings 1973, p. 83.
- ^ "Boston Folks' Coat of Arms". The Boston Daily Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. February 7, 1915 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ Owen 1985, p. 695.
- ^ Owen 1979, p. 23.
- ^ Ogasapian 2007, p. 59.
- ^ a b "The OHS Pipe Organ Database". OHS Database ID 41284. The Organ Historical Society. 2016. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
- ^ Babcock 1947, p. 140.
- ^ Dudas, Libor (November 5, 2021). "All About Old North Church's Organ". YouTube – Official Old North Church & Historic Site Channel. Old North Church & Historic Site. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
[From 0:33–1:46...The history of the instrument] The casing that you see today is the original casing from the 1700s, completely restored ... The inside of the organ is new
- ^ a b Ogasapian 2007, p. 60.
- ^ Owen 1985, pp. 712–713.
- ^ Hitchings 1973, pp. 126–128.
- ^ Hitchings 1973, p. 111.
- ^ Kane, Patricia E. (1998). "Thomas Johnston (Appendix A, Craftsmen in Allied Trades)". In Kane, Patricia E. (ed.). Colonial Massachusetts Silversmiths and Jewelers: A Biographical Dictionary Based on the Notes of Francis Hill Bigelow and John Marshall Phillips. Yale University Art Gallery/University Press of New England, Hanover and London. pp. 1020–1021. ISBN 0-89467-077-8.
...this association opens the possibility that Johnston learned engraving from Burgis. ... Furthermore, the spiky style of the leafage on the cartouches associated with Burgis ... would become a hallmark of Johnston's engraving style, lending credence to a master-apprentice relationship between the two men.
- ^ Kane, Patricia E. (1998). "William Burgis (Appendix A, Craftsmen in Allied Trades)". In Kane, Patricia E. (ed.). Colonial Massachusetts Silversmiths and Jewelers: A Biographical Dictionary Based on the Notes of Francis Hill Bigelow and John Marshall Phillips. Yale University Art Gallery/University Press of New England, Hanover and London. p. 1006. ISBN 0-89467-077-8.
Burgis may have trained the engraver Thomas Johnston
- ^ a b Stauffer 1907, p. 144.
- ^ Hitchings 1973, pp. 83–84.
- ^ Hitchings 1973, p. 85.
- ^ "print: A Prospective View of the Battle fought near Lake George September 1755". Collections Database – Five Colleges and Historic Deerfield Museum Consortium. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
Samuel Blodget was a sutler ... who saw the battle (his version was printed a[sic] 1775 "Boston-Gazette") and drew the plan, which was originally engraved by Thomas Johnston (c.1708–1767) and printed in Boston on December 22, 1755, as the first American historical event drawn and engraving in America, and the first portrayal of the Indian method of fighting from ambush.
- ^ a b Green 1890, p. 4.
- ^ Treasures of Americana 1969, p. 15.
- ^ Winsor 1887, p. 586.
- ^ Exhibition Catalogs 1908, p. 46.
- ^ Green 1890, pp. 4–5.
- ^ "A prospective view of the battle fought near Lake George, on the 8th of Sepr. 1755 bewteen [sic] 2000 English with 250 Mohawks". Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Online Catalog. 1768. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
An English impression after an impression published in Boston six weeks earlier. Samuel Blodget, an eye witness,[1768, after edition published 2 Feb.1756] ...
- ^ Green 1890, p. 6.
- ^ Hitchings 1973, pp. 86–115.
- ^ American printmaking 1975, p. 59.
- ^ Hitchings 1973, pp. 117–122.
- ^ Publications of the Colonial Society 1918, p. 406.
- ^ Hitchings 1973, p. 121.
- ^ Green 1890, p. 6.
- ^ Beers 1905, p. 572.
Bibliography
- American printmaking before 1876 : fact, fiction, and fantasy : papers presented at a symposium held at the Library of Congress, June 12 and 13, 1972. Library of Congress. 1975. pp. 59–60. ISBN 9780844401683.
Moreover, as in the case of other prints, Blodget's work, which came complete with a five-page quarto pamphlet
- Babcock, Mary Kent Davey (1947). Christ Church, Salem Street, Boston, the Old North Church of Paul Revere fame: historical sketches, Colonial period, 1723–1775. T. Todd Co., printers.
- Dunlap, William; Bayley, Frank William; Goodspeed, Charles Eliot (1918). A History of the Rise and Progress of the Arts of Design in the United States. Vol. 3. C.E. Goodspeed & Company. ISBN 978-0-7222-4674-0.
- Exhibition Catalogs, 1886–1909: 1908–1909. Grolier Club. 1908.
- Genealogical and Biographical Record of New London County, Connecticut. J.H. Beers & Company. January 1, 1905.
- Green, Samuel A. (1890). Blodget's plan of the battle on the shores of Lake George, 8 September, 1755. Cambridge University Press.
- Hitchings, Sinclair (1973). "Thomas Johnston". Boston Prints and Printmasters 1670–1775. University Press of Virginia.
- Hitchings, Sinclair (1985). "The Musical Pursuits of William Price and Thomas Johnston". In Barbara Lambert (ed.). Volume 54: Music in Colonial Massachusetts 1630–1820, II: Music in Homes and in Churches. University Press of Virginia.
- Owen, Barbara (1979). The organ in New England: an account of its use and manufacture to the end of the nineteenth century. Sunbury Press. ISBN 978-0-915548-08-8.
- Owen, Barbara (1985). "Eighteenth-Century Organs and Organ Building in New England". In Barbara Lambert (ed.). Volume 54: Music in Colonial Massachusetts 1630-1820, II: Music in Homes and in Churches. University Press of Virginia.
- Ogasapian, John (2007). Church Music in America, 1620–2000. Mercer University Press. ISBN 978-0-88146-026-1.
- Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts. The Society. 1918. p. 406.
Thomas Johnston (1708–1767) three of Johnston's children followed their father's profession.
- Stauffer, David McNeely (1907). American Engravers Upon Copper and Steel Part 1 Biographical Sketches Illustrated. Grolier club of New York City.
- Staff (1969). Treasures of Americana from the Library of the New-York Historical Society: A Short Title List of Rare and Important Books, Broadsides, Maps and Manuscripts on Exhibition at the Society, January 24 – August 29, 1969. New York Historical Society.
This is the first historical print engraved in America. Blodget witnessed the battle and immediately afterwards drew the original plan from which Thomas Johnson made the line engraving.
- Williams, Cornelia Bartow (1915). Ancestry of Lawrence Williams. R.R. Donnelley and Sons Co. p. 177.
- Winsor, Justin, ed. (1887). Narrative and Critical History of America: The English and French in North America, 1689–1763 Volume V - Part II. Houghton, Mifflin.