Engraver, portrait and miniature painter John Sartain was born in London in 1808. Left fatherless at the age of eight, Sartain was responsible for the support of his family. At age eleven, he took a job as assistant scene painter to an Italian pyrotechnician working at Charles Kemble’s Theater and at Vauxhall Gardens in London. In 1823, Sartain became an apprentice to engraver John Swaine, with whom he worked for seven years in heraldry and letter engraving. His work drew the attention of William Young Ottley, an art historian then writing a book on early Florence painters. Ottley commissioned Sartain to finish 14 plates for the book and to create 18 new ones. Sartain also learned to paint; he studied miniature painting with Henry Richter. Sartain married Swaine’s daughter Susannah in 1830 and moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where they had eight children, among them engravers Emily (1841-1927), Henry (1833-1895), and William (1843-1924). His first important commission was to engrave a portrait of Bishop White painted by Thomas Sully. He became active in engraving for various magazines including Gentleman’s Magazine, The Casket, and Godey’s Lady’s Magazine. Beginning 1841, Sartain produced a number of engravings for Graham’s Magazine, and in 1849, deciding to try his hand at publishing, he, along with William Sloanaker, purchased a magazine for $5,000.00. They changed the title to Sartain’s Union Magazine of Literature and Art. Among its noted contributors were Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Edgar Alan Poe. Meeting with financial failure, the magazine ceased publication in 1852, leaving Sartain with a debt that took him seven years to repay. Needing money, Sartain began work as a general engraver, engraving banknotes as well as many works by prominent painters. Besides engraving, Sartain took up art administration, working for 23 years as director of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where his most noted achievements were gallery arrangements and special exhibitions. He was also a member of the Artists’ Fund Society and served as vice president for the Philadelphia School of Design for Women, where his daughter Emily worked. In 1876, Sartain was chosen to head the art department for the Centennial Exposition. After finishing his autobiography, The Reminisces of a Very Old Man, Sartain died in Philadelphia in 1897. The book was published posthumously, two years later.