Isaac Sprague (September 5, 1811 – 1895) was an American botanical and ornithological illustrator. He illustrated the works of botanists Asa Gray and John Torrey.
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Life
Sprague was born in Hingham, Massachusetts and apprenticed with his uncle as a carriage painter.
In 1840, a young Sprague met John James Audubon, who had admired Sprague's bird drawings. In 1843, Sprague served as an assistant to Audubon on an ornithological expedition up the Missouri River, taking measurements and making sketches. Sprague's pipit (Anthus spragueii), an uncommon and inconspicuous bird, was discovered on that expedition and named for Sprague. Some of Sprague's drawings were incorporated into Audubon's later publications, without credit. Sprague's diary of this expedition is in the Boston Athenaeum.
In 1845, Sprague met Asa Gray of Harvard College, and, over many years, Sprague illustrated several of Gray’s works, including the plates for the atlas (1857) to "Botany. Phanerogamia" in Charles Wilkes' United States Exploring Expedition During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842 (1845–1876). He also illustrated Asa Gray and John Torrey's various volumes of the U. S. War Department's Reports... (1855–1860), as well as works for George B. Emerson, George Goodale, and Alpheus Baker Hervey.