Nathaniel Hurd

Nathaniel Hurd is recognized as the first American engraver and a silversmith in Boston, Massachusetts, in the 18th century. He engraved "bookplates... heraldic devices, seals,... paper currency, and business cards" along with die engravers and engravers on copper.
File:1751 CourtHouse Boston byNathanielHurd.png|right|thumb|This elevation of Boston's Old State House was drawn by Thomas Dawes and engraved by Hurd, after the building was rebuilt after a 1747 fire.

Early life and family

Hurd's grandfather had come from England and settled in Charlestown. He died in 1749 at the age of 70.
File:Verso Massachusetts 4 shillings 6 pence 1778 urn-3 HBS.Baker.AC 1086060.jpeg|right|thumb|The pine tree on this 1778 Massachusetts currency was engraved by Hurd. The is the verso side of the bill, which was printed by Thomas Fleet. The recto was engraved and printed by Paul Revere and signed by Thomas Dawes. This bill was repaired by sewing with white thread
Hurd's father was Jacob Hurd, a leading Boston silversmith, whose works are in the collections of the Peabody Essex Museum, Cleveland Museum of Art, Strawbery Banke Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Jacob Hurd married a daughter of John Mason.

Career

An obituary from Amos Doolittle noted Hurd was the first to have engraved copper in the United States.
The lion rampant logo for Phillips Exeter Academy is taken from a bookplate Hurd designed for John Phillips in 1775.

Works

Later life and legacy

Hurd died on 17 Dec 1777 and is buried in the old Granary Burial Ground in Boston.
Examples of Hurd's work are in the collections of Harvard University; Yale University; Historic Deerfield; the Lexington Historical Society; and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.