Sign up to receive email notices of recent acquisitions.

Read Both Sides of This Bill. Grand Soldier’s Decoration…That Great Boston Panorama…Battle-Fields, Covering Over 5,000 Feet of Canvas…

Boston: S. Chism, Franklin Printing House, 134 Wash[ington Street], [ca. 1870]. Broadsheet, 20” x 6”. CONDITION: Good, loss at lower-right edge partly affecting imprint, old folds, about half a dozen horizontal tears and splits between 1–2” at left and right edges, additional minor losses at edges, foxed, manuscript calculations in pencil at top.

A rare broadsheet advertising a traveling panorama featuring nearly forty large-scale painted Civil War scenes, from the attack on Fort Sumter to the capture of Jefferson Davis and the assassination of President Lincoln. 

Organized by P. P. Warren shortly after the end of the war, the “Boston Panorama” show traveled to “nearly every city in New England,” including the five southern New Hampshire town halls listed here. The show included “5,000 [square] feet of canvas…nearly 600 feet in length.” Judging by these dimensions, it was likely a “moving panorama” consisting of numerous scenes painted on a continuous canvas that was mechanically unwound in front of an audience. Subjects included “forts, arsenals, shipping, exciting cavalry charges, terrific battle scenes, splendid naval engagements,” and “several truly magnificent views in southern cities.” The posted dates corresponded with decoration ceremonies for Union veterans.

The stated aim of the exhibition was to honor fallen Union soldiers. To discourage any unserious attendees, the text plainly states that “this is not a fun exhibition” and describes the clientele as predominantly “old and middle-aged men, with their families.” This apparently counted as evidence of the “high rank” of the exhibition, along with testimonials of two local ministers, whose praises are transcribed in full. Admission price is listed as 20 cents, along with instructions for local businesses to post the broadsheet in a “conspicuous place.” 

On the verso appears a full list of the thirty-nine painted scenes, with contents described, and chronologically arranged into three sections. The first section, titled “From the Bombardment of Sumpter [sic] to the Great Battle of Antietam” includes scenes from the early days of the war. The second section, “Antietam to the Great Seven Days’ Fight in the Wilderness,” features many of the conflict’s most famous battles, including Antietam, Gettysburg and Vicksburg. The final section, “From the Wilderness to the Capture of Jeff. Davis in Petticoats,” includes a scene of the Lincoln assassination, views of evacuated Confederate cities, and the capture of Jefferson Davis disguised in his wife’s overcoat (commonly caricatured as a petticoat). The final painting is a celebratory “grand finale” honoring Union soldiers. 

The paintings are collectively credited to “Barrett” of New York, the “Pierson Brothers” of Boston, and others. Additional information regarding this particular “Boston Panorama,” the artists who painted it, and organizer P. P. Warren is scarce. Nonetheless, the effort is representative of a broader wave of Civil War art that swept the nation, coinciding with the popularity of panoramic scenes during the nineteenth century. Moving panoramas were one of the most lucrative mediums—considering they could be “played” for audiences—and the relative ease of production spawned many such works of varying qualities. Less common were “cycloramas,” immersive 360-degree panoramas exhibited on the walls of purpose-built circular buildings. Civil War panoramic art was initially a Northern phenomenon honoring Union heroism, though the genre was also reworked in the service of the Lost Cause narrative. 

Scarce documentation of a Civil War panorama that once toured New England. 

Not in OCLC.

REFERENCES: “A Tale of Two Cycloramas” at National Park Service online. 

Item #10513

Sold

Add to Wish List