About

This site is a searchable database of images found in early issues of Scientific American, currently containing Volume 1 (published in 1845) through Volume 14 (1859) of the old series and Volume 1 (1859) through Volume 21 (1869) of the new series. Each entry contains all available data on the image, including content, engraver, the object's inventor, a summary of any accompanying articles and the issue in which it was published. When available, a link to the issue containing the specific image has also been provided (via HathiTrust).

The database and website were constructed by students from Worcester Polytechnic Institute as part of their Interactive Qualifying Project program under the supervision of Professors Steven Bullock and M. David Samson. This project was sponsored and requested by the American Antiquarian Society — "an independent research library founded in 1812 in Worcester, Massachusetts, [whose] collections document the life of America's people from the colonial era through the Civil War and Reconstruction." Special thanks are also given to Cornell University and its Making of America Project, which made nearly all issues of Scientific American from this time frame available online.

Originally produced 2010–2016. Migrated to a static archive in 2026 (read-only; the collection is complete).