A stately engraving of Lincoln in which his head has been substituted for that of John C. Calhoun, the original subject of this engraving. Likely printed after his assassination, this portrait is a composite piece, with Lincoln’s head superimposed by New York printmaker William Pate “on the figure and background.....
An apparently unrecorded War of 1812 broadside, featuring a series of vignettes depicting American naval victories, evidently published in response to Oliver Hazard Perry’s victory on Lake Erie in September of 1813, an image of which takes pride of place at the top. Included here are twelve vignettes, ten of.....
This richly printed cigar advertisement was produced during the height of cigar production in Key West, a hub of the industry, by the New York lithographic firm of George Schlegel. A second-generation lithographer, Schlegel specialized in cigar box labels and advertising posters for the tobacco, liquor, and toiletry industries. The.....
A scarce view of the opulent “grand saloon” in the newest steamers of the Fall River Line, which connected New York City and Boston for nearly a century. Two enormous Corinthian columns support the elegant interior of the “world renowned steamers Bristol and Providence…making in connection with the Old Colony.....
A scarce and vivid chromolithograph depicting the Fort Pillow Massacre, and a highly unusual memorialization of Civil War racial violence. This lithograph dramatizes the Fort Pillow Massacre in Tennessee on April 12th, 1864, showing Union soldiers—all but two of them African American—being murdered in hand to hand combat or falling.....
A richly detailed and lively factory view, reflecting and idealizing the expansion of American industry in the second half of the nineteenth century. This pleasing chromolithograph, executed by leading New York lithographers Major & Knapp, depicts the extensive and variegated complex of a prominent starch manufacturer, situated on the shores.....
A rare tinted lithograph picturing an early stamp mill in one of the most prosperous gold-quartz mining districts in California, including an extensive text on the operation and evidently issued for promotional purposes. In October of 1850, George Knight’s discovery of gold-bearing quartz in California’s Grass Valley set off over.....
A captivating and very rare satire of the presidential campaign of 1844, employing the popular metaphor of “Up Salt River” to denote political peril or defeat. Whig nominee Henry Clay and his running mate Theodore Frelinghuysen, in their boat Tariff, lead the other candidates in the race up Salt River.....
An iconic satire of a gold-hunter, published at the height of the California Gold Rush. This scarce print depicts a prospective gold miner as an inappropriately well-dressed man in a knee-length coat, absurdly laden with mining tools, cookware, knives, and food as he walks overland to California along a body.....
A scarce tinted lithograph of a successful antebellum actress from Connecticut who went on to practice medicine, operate a boardinghouse, and lead a woman-run insurance company. This three-quarter-length portrait, after a daguerreotype by Southworth & Hawes, shows the actress “Miss Kimberly” seated in a wooden chair, her right arm leaning.....
A fascinating and delightful watercolor by an anonymous steamboat traveler on Lake Ontario depicting a blind musician on board who played the violin and the cello simultaneously, using both his hands and his feet. This vivid watercolor bears witness to both the unusual talent of the musician as well as.....
A scarce advertising lithograph depicting the Portland Star Match Factory in Portland, Maine, with much detail regarding the exterior operations. This interesting industrial view shows the factory building situated at the edge of Portland Harbor, enlivened by a busy surrounding scene. Railroad tracks, a Boston & Maine Rail Road locomotive.....
![Item #10052 Tripoli[:] Peace Concluded June 3. 1805. Tripoli blocaded [sic] July 21 1804 by Com...](https://jamesarsenault.cdn.bibliopolis.com/pictures/10052_1.jpg?width=320&height=427&fit=bounds&auto=webp&v=1772662384)
A vivid watercolor depiction of the U.S. Navy’s first bombardment of Tripoli in the summer of 1804, housed in a lovely custom frame incorporating an early molding and ornamental mat. In the foreground the American squadron commanded by Commodore Edward Preble bombards the city. In the right foreground is the USS.....
A rare and anonymously-produced political cartoon attacking Henry Clay’s duplicitous position on slavery, the issue that was at the fulcrum of so many political, moral, and legal conflicts in antebellum America. Clay, at the time a Senator from Kentucky and one of the country’s most popular politicians, grew infamous for.....
A charming original watercolor view of the home of Captain Winborn Adams Sanborn and its environs, by important New Hampshire artist and prominent Battle of Gettysburg historian John B. Bachelder. Taken from a somewhat elevated vantage point and overlooking Lake Winnipesaukee with the White Mountains and its foothills in the.....
A scarce allegorical print for the 1864 presidential campaign, showing Democratic running-mates George B. McClellan and George H. Pendleton lifting a battered Lady Liberty to her feet, and illustrating their conflicting visions for the end of the Civil War. Shedding a tear for the injured Nation, Lady Liberty is supported.....
![Item #9038 [Schoolgirl still life drawing of fruit compote.]. Louise Barbaroux, artist](https://jamesarsenault.cdn.bibliopolis.com/pictures/9038_1.jpg?width=320&height=427&fit=bounds&auto=webp&v=1716216427)
An unusual and very pleasing graphite drawing of a fruit compote, probably executed by a schoolgirl in Louisville, Kentucky, just a few years before the Civil War. Resting on a rectangular base, the scallop-rimmed compote in this drawing holds pears, peaches, what appears to be a small melon, and a......
![Item #3507 [Rosalind Gives Orlando Her Necklace]. Émile-Antoine Bayard](https://jamesarsenault.cdn.bibliopolis.com/pictures/3507_1.jpg?width=320&height=427&fit=bounds&auto=webp&v=1672695752)
The elegant, original illustration for the frontispiece to the International Shakespeare edition of As You Like It (London: Cassell & Co., 1887). The moment depicted here occurs in Act 1, Scene 2, when Rosalind gives her necklace to Orlando for his gallantry following his wrestling match with Charles, saying “Gentleman.....
A tour de force of American graphic design demonstrating the effects achievable with Ault & Wiborg inks—and showcasing American poster art at the turn of the century. This stunning compendium of color advertisements (effectively small scale poster designs) for the Ault & Wiborg Co., “manufacturers of lithographic & letter press.....
A scarce bird’s eye view of Bennington, Vermont by the prolific view-maker L. R. Burleigh, likely published around the time of the dedication ceremony for the Bennington Battle Monument, the tallest structure in Vermont. Based on Burleigh’s larger view of Bennington published in 1887, this view shows the town situated.....
A marvelous War of 1812 satire by Philadelphia printmaker and caricaturist William Charles, showing the defenders of Baltimore driving off a superior number of British soldiers near Fort McHenry. Three battling Baltimoreans appear on the left, one of whom has punctured the now bleeding behind of John Bull with a......
The scarce second state of this blackly optimistic broadside showing Jefferson Davis on the gallows, poised to swing through the “Secession Trap” door. Published early in the Civil War and evincing the North’s hope of a quick victory, the first state of this caricature was, according to Reilly, “probably issued.....
A campaign lithograph of a beardless Lincoln, published during his first run for the presidency in 1860. One of the most sought after Lincoln likenesses, this half-length portrait of the future President—after the Mathew Brady photograph known as the Cooper Union portrait—shows the young candidate in a black waistcoat, jacket.....
One of the earliest representations of the first seven African Americans to gain seats in Congress. On the far left is Hiram Rhodes Revels (1827–1901), the first African American to serve as a U.S. Senator. He was born a Freeman in North Carolina and went on to study theology at.....
A scarce and vivid lithograph illustrating the tensions surrounding the passage of the fugitive slave law. The Library of Congress provides an excellent description of this evocative print: “A satire on the antagonism between Northern abolitionists on the one hand, and Secretary of State Daniel Webster and other supporters of.....