Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library

Washington Crossing the Delaware
1832-1835
Humphrey Phelps, publisher; John Baker
USA: New York, New York
Etching on paper
overall: 18-1/4"h x 15-1/2"w
Gift of Dr. William L. and Mary B. Guyton Collection
86.61.191

Washington Crossing the Delaware etching; rectangular image of George Washington on horseback in uniform, his right arm extended to right with fieldglass; horse is rearing; rocky setting with soldiers marching upper left; six boats in distance, one boat just departing shore; reads beneath image "Entered according to Act of Congress by H. Phelps in the Office of the Clerk of Dist. Ct. of the U.S. for the Southern Dist. of N.Y."

Almost two decades before Emanuel Leutze painted his defining depiction of Washington crossing the ice-filled Delaware River on cargo boats and ferries with his men, American publisher Humphrey Phelps published his interpretation of Washington on horseback in a generic wintertime landscape, alone except for the far-off troops pictured at the lower right hand corner. Only the title printed beneath the image offered specific information about the pivotal event portrayed.