Samuel Putnam Avery was born on March 17, 1822, in
New York City, where he studied wood and copper
engraving and was extensively employed by leading publishers. He married the artist-collector
Mary Ann Ogden in 1844 and began business as an art dealer in 1865. In 1867, Avery was appointed commissioner in charge of the American art department of the
Exposition Universelle in
Paris. He was among the founders, and for a long time a trustee of the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, and was a life member of several important scientific, artistic and educational associations. He founded the
Avery Architectural Library at
Columbia University in memory of his son
Henry Ogden Avery, an
architect of note who died in 1890. In 1900, he donated his collection of 17,775 etchings and lithographs to the
New York Public Library. Avery died at his home in New York City on August 11, 1904. ==References==