Currier was taught this revolutionary new printing process at age 15, when he worked as an apprentice for the first successful American lithographers, William and John Pendleton. At age 21, Currier left Pendleton’s and moved to Philadelphia to work with M.E.D. Brown, a venture short-lived; in 1834, Currier moved to New York City to rejoin Pendleton and would soon purchase Pendleton’s business with another printer, Stodart.

The firm of Currier & Stodart handled commercial printing orders and music sheets. Once again the venture was short-lived and in 1835, Stodart and Currier dissolved their partnership. Currier, now on his own, went into business as ‘N. Currier, Lithographer’ locating his print shop at 1 Wall Street, New York.

Currier experimented with portraits, disaster scenes and memorial prints, including a tribute to President William Henry Harrison, who had died in office in 1841. In a time before media photography, these prints were a window to American life; a way for the public to ‘see’ the news. Currier’s earliest disaster print is believed to be "Ruins of the Planter’s Hotel, New Orleans", although it was another disaster which would launch Currier’s career to a national level.  

A souvenir print, ‘Awful Conflagration of the Steamboat Lexington’, commemorated a deadly fire on board the American steamship, a tragedy in which over 100 people perished. The print was published in the New York Sun and is acknowledged to be the first published newspaper illustration.

In 1852, Currier hired James Merritt Ives, brother-in-law of Nathaniel’s brother Charles. A native New Yorker, self-trained artist and professional bookkeeper, Ives modernized the bookkeeping methods, reorganized the filing system and employed his artistic skills to streamline the firm’s production methods. His efforts earned him a full partnership in 1857. All prints published from this period on carried the firm’s new name, Currier & Ives.

Self-proclaimed "Publishers of Cheap and Popular Pictures," Currier and Ives sold prints ranging from 20 cents to $6, depending on size and subject matter. Currier & Ives demonstrated a flair for understanding people’s interests and over the years their selection of prints included almost every topic. Whatever the theme - headline news, idyllic winter scenes, patriotic prints or horse racing, they were never produced as ‘limited’ editions. Consummate businessmen, Currier & Ives lithographed and sold whatever the market would bear.

Many of the prints showed the artists names and the addition of this identification increases interest and value today. Among the most prolific artists in the Currier & Ives stable were Francis Flora (Fanny) Palmer, Louis Maurer, A.F. (Arthur Fitzwilliam) Tait and Thomas Worth.

Although the company’s lithographic process produced a black-and-white image, most Currier & Ives prints were designed to be published in color. The colorization was achieved in assembly-line fashion, with several women, working for about a penny a print, brushing on watercolors which were based on a colored model.

 Both men were dedicated to the business and worked there until their deaths, Currier in 1887 and Ives in 1895. Without them, the firm lost its edge; in 1907, faced with competitive pressures from advancements in offset printing and photo engraving, the firm was closed.

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