A Portrait of George Washington from an Original Drawing

This is not a Victorian penny dreadful at all, but an 1851 Boston publication documenting a portrait of George Washington. Charles Fox presents an engraved portrait of Washington as he appeared reviewing troops on Boston Common in 1776, originally drawn by artist Nathaniel Fullerton. The work comprises a preface, biographical account of Fullerton (a young Boston artist who died of consumption), and documentary evidence—a collection of testimonials from elderly Boston citizens attesting to the portrait's accuracy. Witnesses including former aldermen and prominent citizens like Jeremiah Boies and Jabez Ellis attest to having seen Washington during the Revolution and at his 1789 presidential visit to Boston, and confirm the likeness's faithfulness. The bulk of the publication consists of these first-person affidavits vouching for the portrait's correctness.