author
Samuel Chamberlain
1895–1975
Best known for turning architecture, travel, and everyday places into vivid books and images, this American artist-writer moved easily between printmaking, photography, and food writing. His work drew on years spent in the United States and Europe, giving his books a strong sense of place.
1 Audiobook
Lexington and Concord: A Camera Impression
by Samuel Chamberlain
About the author
Born in Iowa in 1895 and raised in Washington State, he studied first at the University of Washington and then architecture at MIT. World War I interrupted his studies, and he served as a volunteer ambulance driver in France with the American Field Service. That time in Europe shaped much of his later work.
He went on to build an unusually wide-ranging career as an etcher, photographer, illustrator, teacher, and author. Museums and archives describe him as especially drawn to architecture and landscape, and his books and images often focused on France, England, Italy, Spain, and New England. He also taught architecture and graphic arts, including work associated with MIT.
As a writer, he brought the same eye for detail to memoir, travel, and food. His autobiography, Etched in Sunlight: Fifty Years in the Graphic Arts, was published in 1968, and he also co-authored cookbooks with his wife, Narcissa Chamberlain. He died in Marblehead, Massachusetts, in 1975.