Joseph Pennell (1857-1926) was an etcher, lithographer, illusrator, author and art critic. His first work was for Schribner's Monthly. Pennell's style was distinctive and his subjects unusual. He created vignettes of urban life with wonderful architectual details. His prints had many themes, including monuments, cities, factories and for one documentary series, the Panama Canal. Pennell printed many of his own lithographs and etchings, and he continuously experimented with techniques and materials. He won many medals and awards in the United States and in Europe, and is considered one of the great etching innovators of the time. Pennell's major influence was James McNeill Whistler and much of his style and etching technique reflects Whistler's. Pennell and his wife, Elizabeth Robins Pennell are perhaps best remembered for their important volumes on Whistler's Life and Letters (1908), and for their support of graphic art through Pennell's own books on the subject (such as The Illustration of Books, 1896), as well as through the Pennell fund at the Library of Congress.