John Henry Bufford

Lithograph issued from Bufford's Print Publishing House, Boston, 1864

John Henry Bufford (1810-1870) was a lithographer in 19th-century Boston, Massachusetts.

Biography

Bufford trained "in the Pendleton shop in Boston from 1829 to 1831."^[1] According to one historian, Bufford's work as a lithographer represented "a mediocre sort of craftmanship at best. ...He had no very special skills as [an] original artist and gravitated to management."^[2]

In 1835 he moved to New York, where he "worked independently for five years while accepting commissions from George Endicott and Nathaniel Currier."^[1] Bufford returned to Boston in 1839, and became "chief artist" in the print shop owned by Benjamin W. Thayer (who had bought the Pendleton outfit)."^[2]

By 1844, the shop's name changed to J.H. Bufford & Co. (1844–1851)."^[2] By one assessment, "Bufford's firm produced lively, accomplished images in many forms, including sheet music, city views, marine views and landscapes, book illustrations, reproductions of paintings, commercial depictions of factories, and contemporary genre views; ... [and] lithographic portraits copied from daguerreotypes."^[3] Artists who worked for Bufford included Francis D'Avignon and Leopold Grozelier.^[3] Clients included music publisher William H. Oakes.

In the 1840s-1860s Bufford lived in Roxbury and worked on Washington Street:

• J.H. Bufford & Co. (1844–1851), 204-206 Washington St.^[4]
• J.H. Bufford (1851–c. 1852), 260 Washington St.^[5]
• Bufford's Lithographic & Publishing House, also known as Bufford's Print Publishing House, 313 Washington St. (c. 1857–1864)^[6]
• John H. Bufford (c. 1869), 490 Washington St.^[7]

After Bufford's death in 1870, his sons Frank G. Bufford and John Henry Bufford, Jr. continued the business.^[8] By 1879, "J.H. Bufford's Sons, Manufacturing Publishers of Novelties in Fine Arts" worked from offices at 141-147 Franklin Street, Boston; and in 1881–1882 expanded the enterprise as far as New York and Chicago.^[9]

References

Further reading

• David Tatham (April 1976). "Henry Bufford American lithographer" (PDF). Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society. 86 (1): 47–73. 

Images

• 
  Mastodon, 1852
• 
  Jamaica Pond, 1859
• 
  Masonic Temple, Boston, 1865 (designed by M.G. Wheelock)
• 
  Sheet music (Oscar Wilde)
• 
  "John H. Bufford. Practical Lithographer. Washington St., Boston"
• 
  Sheet music (Napoleon)
• 
  Lunsford Lane, c. 1863
• 
  Western life: the trapper, 19th century
• 
  Brigadier General Isaac Ingalls Stevens, 1861 (Washington State Historical Society)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to John H. Bufford.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to J. H. Bufford's Sons.

• Works by or about John Henry Bufford at Internet Archive
• James Otto Lewis. The North American aboriginal port-folio. NY: George Adlard, 1839. Illus. by Bufford.
• The history of Temple, N. H. By Henry Ames Blood. 1860. "The lithographs of estates...(with the exception of one) were done by John H. Bufford, (Lithographer, 313 Washington street, Boston,) from sketches by himself."
• Boston Public Library, Norman B. Leventhal Map Center, owns several maps printed by Bufford.
• University of Pennsylvania. Keffer Collection of Sheet Music. Material related to Bufford.
• New York Public Library. Items related to Bufford.
• Library of Congress. Prints & Photographs Division owns materiala related to Bufford.
• Boston Athenaeum owns numerous works by J.H. Bufford & Co. See library's catalog.
• American Antiquarian Society. Recent Acquisition: Patriotic Genre Print. Bufford, John H., 1810-1870. The Volunteer. '76 and '63. Boston: Bufford's Print Publishing House, 1863.
• Advertisement, 1873