John Norman

Born in England and died in Boston. He was listed in an advertisement in the "Pennsylvania Journal" on May 11, 1774, [likely noting his first appearance in this country] as "John Norman, Architect and Landscape Engraver." In 1781 he moved to Boston. One of his first endeavors in Boston was to produce the engravings for an American edition of James Murray "Impartial History of the Present War in America." Norman is considered to be one of the great colonial engravers, engraving maps, views and portraits. Although his engraved work is considered to be crude or primitive by many, it is our belief that his style fit right in with some of the other engravers of the period, such as Paul Revere and Amos Doolittle. He is believed to have been the first engraver in America to produce a portrait of George Washington. Either father or brother of William Norman.