Printmaker and publisher Richard Magee was born in Ireland around 1818. At some point he immigrated to the United States, eventually setting in Pennsylvania. He established the Magee Printing House, a blank book manufactory, printing press, and publishing house in Philadelphia around 1846. He printed and published almanacs, stationary, pamphlets, and lithographs, often pertaining to local and national politics. This included patriotic portraits of military figures and scenes from the Civil War and the Mexican American War. 

Magee Printing House found monetary success during the Civil War and by 1876 had expanded and was renamed R. Magee & Son. It was noted for its elaborately illustrated guide to the Centenntial Exhibition of Philadelphia. The firm continued until the 1920s, ultimately under the same Magee Printing Co. Richard Magee doed around 1881, when his wife, Mary, was listed as a widow in Philadelphia city directories.