At the time of his birth Mulhouse was a free German republic associated with the Swiss Confederation, but was annexed by France 10 years later.

[1] Engelmann trained in Switzerland and France at La Rochelle and Bordeaux, and he studied painting and sketching in Jean-Baptiste Regnault's atelier in Paris.

In the summer of 1814 he travelled to Munich, Germany to study lithography, a German invention.

In 1837 he was granted an English patent for a process of chromolithography that provided consistently high-quality results.

Throughout his life, he produced large numbers of prints, including numerous plates for Baron Isidore Justin Séverin Taylor's celebrated collection of lithographs, "Voyages pittoresques et romantiques dans l’ancienne France".