Cornelius Tiebout was born c.1770-1773 in New York. He became one of the most prolific American-born engravers in the early national period. He learned the art of engraving and began publishing in New York, and then from 1793-1796, went to London to refine his knowledge of the art. He lived and worked in Philadelphia from c. 1800-1825. From 1826 until his death in 1832, Tiebout worked in New Harmony, Indiana, producing the engraved illustrations for major works by natural scientists Thomas Say and Charles A. Lesueur.