Brett, Alphonse

Alphonse Brett (1823 - August 18, 1889) was a French-American chromolithographer known for plates and cards, flower prints, building views, and book illustrations, among other work. Born in France, Brett began working in Philadelphia c. 1846, when he partnered with John C. Keffer and produced Christmas and Valentine's Day cards. In 1847, Brett created illuminated plates for T.W. Gwilt Mapleson's 'Pearls of American Poetry. His partnership with Keffer dissolved on February 24, 1857, but Brett continued operating his business from the same location until c. 1850. Brett moved his business to another part of Philadelphia in 1850, with advertisements appearing in the 'North American' and 'Philadelphia Inquirer' listing the various services he could provide, 'such as the drawing and printing of landscapes, views of buildings, architectural and ornamental design, portraits, music titles, maps and labels, executed either plain, or in the colored style of printing dominated Chromo-Lithograph, to perfect which he has procured himself all the latest improvements.' From around 1852 until February 1853, Brett partnered with Scotsman David Chillas in A. Brett and Co. in Philadelphia. Their partnership ended in a protracted court battle of a $1,000 debt that reached the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and ended with the auction of lithographic stones and other stock owned by the company. Despite this disaster, Brett continued to operate his business between 1854 and 1856 at 4 and 6 South Seventh Street in Philadelphia, until, at the end of 1856, his establishment burned, handing him a loss of over $7,000. Brett tried to reestablish his firm in Philadelphia yet again, but, in the end, moved his family and his business to New York City. While in New York City, Brett continued to encounter professional setbacks, including an incident in 1868 when he was arrested and accused of assisting the firm Fisk and Hatch of forging checks against the Central Bank of Brooklyn. The following year, he was charged, along with his business partner and other printers in New York, of printing counterfeit notes for the 'Haytian Government'. Brett's reputation and business suffered due to these scandals, and he field for bankruptcy in on March 6, 1870. Despite this, the lithographic firm founded by Brett in New York, renamed Brett Lithographing Co. in 1872, survived until 1958, when it was acquired by the United States Printing and Lithographing Company. Brett continued working at the firm until his death. While in Philadelphia, Brett married a French immigrant named Maria, with whom he had four children.