Patent Office, Washington

Benson John Lossing was an American printmaker and illustrator active throughout the nineteenth century, known for his wood engravings and steel engravings that documented American historical subjects and landscapes. His prolific output included illustrations for books, periodicals, and historical narratives that shaped popular visual understanding of the early American republic. Working across multiple printmaking techniques, Lossing combined technical precision with a documentary impulse that made complex historical and geographical subjects accessible to a broad readership.