Scope and Content Note

The New York State Legislature Portrait Prints collection holds stipple engraved plates of prominent men who served in elected positions in state government in 1798. The plates came from a variety of sources, and have been arranged in four series to reflect provenance. The history of the engravings is told by R.W.G. Vail in his article "The First New York State Mug Book: Portraits of the Legislature of 1798" (in "The New-York Historical Society Quarterly," vol. 35, no. 1, January 1951).

The engravings are attributed by Vail to the firm of Albany silversmith and engraver Isaac Hutton. Lithographic reproductions of some of the New York State Legislature portrait prints may be found in the Portrait File (PR-052).