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 on.....
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 rare lithograph honoring John Mitchell—here dubbed “The Miner’s Champion”—who served as the President of the United Mine Workers of America from 1898–1908, with vignettes of coal mining scenes, including depictions of child labor. This print consists of a central portrait of John Mitchell set against a background of.....
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.....
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.....
A scarce bird’s eye view of the north shore town of Beverly, Massachusetts, a seaside resort, residential, and manufacturing community. This view shows the town’s residences, manufacturing sites, railroads (the Boston & Maine R.R. and its Gloucester branch), churches, municipal buildings, and the city’s bustling harbor where numerous vessels are.....
![Item #6515 The Repeal, or the Funeral of Miss Ame[rican]=Stamp. After Benjamin Wilson](/pictures/thumb/6515_1.jpg?v=1615566664)
Important and scarce political cartoon lampooning the repeal of the Stamp Act under the administration of George Grenville, Prime Minister from 1763 to 1765. “One of the most famous and popular political satires commenting on the Stamp Act”. (Dolmetsch) Background As Prime Minster, George Grenville (1712-1770) was faced with restoring.....
A recently discovered, early self-portrait by “the father of American wood engraving” accompanied by another Anderson drawing representing George Washington’s skull (as the artist imagined it), evidently done prior to Washington’s death. The self portrait is quite possibly the earliest extant depiction of Anderson. These two drawings appear to date.....
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.....
A rare and delightful lithograph advertising a nineteenth century Italian weight-lifting champion and performer. Sali is shown here in a central portrait, with three medals pinned to his chest, one of which appears to be dated 1885. Below him are the various weights and clubs used in his act.....
An exceedingly rare pictorial broadside advertising Turner Brothers wines, syrups, and cordials. The broadside was drawn by John Ffooks, who depicts the manufacturing facilities of the Turner Brothers in New York City, Buffalo, and San Francisco in three separate insets. The latter depiction is especially interesting, as it sets.....
A scarce and very fine engraved view of Harvard, based on a painting by early American view and landscape painter Alvin Fisher. This evocative 1820s engraving depicts the campus from the south, showing the six halls that constituted the campus at the time: Massachusetts Hall, Harvard Hall, Stoughton Hall.....
A scarce letter-sheet showing the Gold Rush town of Springfield, California during its heyday. This is the first and only nineteenth century view of Springfield, California, as noted by Reps. The image depicts the “town square, flagpole in center surrounded by scattered dwellings; goats on low knoll in foreground” (Peters.....
One of the largest and most spectacular bird’s eye views of Boston ever published, with the built environment of the city rendered in meticulous detail. This magnificent view shows the city from an elevated imaginary vantage point in the east, looking toward the Charles River and Cambridge in the.....
John Hill’s 1855 view of Portland, Maine from Cape Elizabeth—perhaps the best known topographic view of the port city—showing in wonderful detail the flourishing conditions there before the Civil War and the Great Fire of 1866. The captivating quality of this view is achieved through its broad foreground area.....
A striking 1920s watercolor elevation for a music and arts building to be located at the intersection of Cahuenga Ave. and Highland Ave. in Hollywood, evidently designed to welcome visitors to the Hollywood Bowl. Situated in the plaza in front of this handsome Beaux-Arts edifice is a column surmounted.....
A delightful volume of trial drawings, many of them satirical, for an illustrated alphabet featuring a variety of humorous and imaginative characters complimenting Johnston’s limericks. The volume begins with two calligraphic frontispieces, one consisting of the phrase “The Envelope” graced by an angelic figure holding a brush and canvas (apparently.....
An exceptionally rare lithograph depicting The Battle of the Pearl River Forts, also known as the Battle of the Barrier Forts, in late 1856, at the beginning of the Second Opium War. The USS Portsmouth is shown in the center of the river exchanging fire with four forts visible at.....
A rare oil portrait after Charles Bird King depicting Mohongo, a young Osage woman who was effectively kidnapped to perform in a wild west show in Europe and then abandoned there. She is shown here with her child, who was born during this time. Mohongo, or Sacred Sun, was one.....
The first separate printing and first separate facsimile of Lincoln’s famed autobiographical sketch, originally composed in response to a request from his friend Jesse Fell, printed with a brief account by Fell of the circumstances under which it was written and extracts from a few of Lincoln’s speeches. Lincoln and.....
A broadside published a little over a decade after General George Washington’s death, featuring a fine emblematic engraving and text extolling Washington’s virtuous character. Consisting of a lively scene within a border adorned with swags, the engraving allegorizes Washington as a great rock in the sea, standing firm amid crashing.....
An impressive depiction of the ships of the U.S. Navy at the time of the Spanish-American War, a period when the U.S. emerged as a major naval power. When this print was created the U.S. Navy was transforming itself from a force of ironclads guarding the U.S. coast to.....
A dazzling advertising print for English Baking Powder and English Fruit Flavors produced by the Royal Chemical Company of New York. Employing English imagery for these nominally English products, this chromolithograph features a splendidly dressed court figure sounding a trumpet at a Royal banquet, possibly a Christmas feast, judging.....
A large and handsome bird’s eye view of the historic sea-side town of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. This richly detailed view depicts the city and the surrounding area, as seen from an imaginary elevated vantage point in the northwest looking southeast. In the foreground, various vessels are shown plying the.....