Alfred Waud

Alfred Rudolph Waud (wōd) (October 2, 1828 – April 6, 1891) was an American artist and illustrator, born in London, England. He is most notable for the sketches he made as an artist correspondent during the American Civil War.

Alfred Waud was christened Alfred Robert Waud but used Rhudolph as a middle name whilst in America==He was the eldest son of Alfred Waud Snr.born London 1796,A.R.Waud,s Mother was Mary (nee) Fitz- John, born 1806 in Lougher, Nr. Swansea, South Wales,A.R.Waud,had four siblings,Mary Pricilla,born 1829,William born1831,Julia,born1834 and Josephine ,born 1840 the last two sisters were both spinsters,but Mary Pricilla married Augustus,Cory Scoles in London in 1862 A.R.W sailed from London aboard the sailing ship "Hendrik Hudson" in 1850 for New York USA His Brother William followed in 1855 aboard the sailing ship "Hermann"also for New York USA.A.R.W was naturalized as an American citizen on 10th January 1870 He married Mary Gertrude Jewell from New York circa the 1855 or 1856 period,they lived in Orange,New Jersey where they raised their Family.Early career== Before immigration, Alfred Waud had entered the Government School of Design at Somerset House, London, with the intention of becoming a marine painter. This did not come to fruition, but as a student, he also worked as a painter of theatrical scenery. He intended to pursue that work in the United States, when he immigrated in 1850, seeking employment with actor and playwright John Brougham. In the 1850s, he worked variously as an illustrator for a Boston periodical, the Carpet-Bag, and provided illustrations for books such as Hunter's Panoramic Guide from Niagara to Quebec (1857).

The period during the American Civil War was a time when all images in a publication had to be hand drawn and engraved by skilled artists. Photography existed but there was no way to transfer a photograph to a printing plate since this was well before the advent of the halftone process for printing photographs. Photographic equipment was too cumbersome and exposure times were too slow to be used on the battlefield. An artist such as Waud would do detailed sketches in the field, which were then rushed by courier back to the main office of the newspaper they were working for. There a staff of engravers would use the sketches to create engravings on blocks of boxwood. Since the blocks were about 4 inches across they would have to be composited together to make one large illustration. The wood engraving was then copied via the electrotype process which produced a metal printing plate for publication.

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