The De Vinne Press certifies that fifty copies of this book were printed on Dickinson antique hand-made paper, of which this is No. ____ BROWERE’S LIFE MASKS OF GREAT AMERICANS [Illustration: THOMAS JEFFERSON Age 82] BROWERE’S LIFE MASKS OF GREAT AMERICANS BY CHARLES HENRY HART [Illustration] PRINTED AT THE DE VINNE PRESS FOR DOUBLEDAY AND McCLURE COMPANY 1899 Copyright, 1897, 1898, by S. S. MCCLURE CO. Copyright, 1899, by DOUBLEDAY & MCCLURE CO. TO THE MEMORY OF JAMES P. SMITH MINIATURE PAINTER WHO FIRST DEVELOPED MY TASTE FOR ART I INSCRIBE THIS VOLUME AS A TOKEN OF GRATITUDE Proem_ “Great oaks from little acorns grow.” How big results may flow from small beginnings is typically illustrated by the possibilities of the present volume. It began with the bare knowledge that there was, once upon a time, a man by the name of Browere, who had some facility in making masks from the living face. This was the seed that was destined to expand into the present publication. To tell how this germ grew, would be to anticipate the recital in the following pages; but the lively interest shown by the wide public and by the narrow public, the people and the artistic circle, in the articles upon Browere’s Life Masks of Great Americans, contributed by the writer to “McClure’s Magazine,” has called for a more expanded history of the artist and his work, for which fortunately there is ample material. To the grandchildren of Browere, who have reverently preserved the works of their ingenious ancestor and generously placed them at my disposal for reproduction, are due the heartiest thanks; and in view of the possibility of the dispersal of the collection, it should be secured, _en bloc_, by the Government of the United States, and the most important of the life masks cast in imperishable bronze. CHARLES HENRY HART. Philadelphia, October 1, 1898. Contents_ PAGE Proem ix I The Plastic Art 1 II The Plastic Art in America 4 III John Henri Isaac Browere 12 IV The Captors of André 28 V Discovery of the Life Mask of Jefferson 36 VI Three Generations of Adamses 50