Newly acquired antique prints and maps or items of particular interest

A very rare pair of patriotic prints issued right at the beginning of the Civil War. The first battle of the war took place with the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter in 1861. The Southerners demanded the surrender of this fort in the mouth of the harbor at Charleston, S.C., but they were refused by the Union commander Major Anderson. The Confederates opened fire on the fort on April 12, 1861, continuing to hail canon balls on Fort Sumter for 34 hours straight. The besieged garrison proudly flew the American flag over the fort throughout, until Anderson was forced to surrender at 2:30 on the 13th. The Union forces evacuated, but Anderson saluted the flag as it was lowered and carried it with him as he left. It was later hoisted to the mast of their ship as they returned defeated, but unbowed to the North.

This attack on the United States and its flag caused a swell of patriotic fervor in the North. Henry Ward Beecher gave a famous talk glorifying "The National Flag," in which he stated that "The stars upon it were to the pining nations like the bright morning stars of God, and the stripes upon it were beams of morning light." This image was taken up by Frederic Edwin Church, who painted a small oil entitled "Our Banner in the Sky." In that oil, the American flag was formed by a field of stars in the evening sky, the colors of the sunset forming the stripes, and a tree trunk forming an apparent staff for the celestial banner. Nature itself demonstrates it partiality to the American flag. This painting was soon turned into a chromolithograph by Goupil & Co.

As copyright laws tended to be ignored, and as "flag mania" was raging, publisher William Schaus had artist William Bauly modify Church's image somewhat in order to make his own chromolithograph, entitled "Our Heaven Born Banner." The print is accompanied the text of Joseph Rodman Drake's poem, "The American Flag," which describes the stars and stripes formed in the sky. In this print, a Zouave sentry looks out towards the celestial banner dawning over the hills, near which is seen Fort Sumter lying before Charleston. The sentry's rifle and bayonet form the flag's staff.

As a companion to this print, Schaus published "Fate of the Rebel Flag," which vilifies the Confederate flag in a similar manner to the glorification of the Union flag in his other print. A ship, representing the Confederacy, is shown sinking into a watery grave, consumed by a raging inferno which forms the flag of the secessionists. A streak of lightening is shown hitting the ship, indicating that the conflagration and inevitable doom for the Confederacy are the work of the Devine Will. The pair, $3,800

Emanuel Leutze. "Washington Crossing the Delaware." New York: Goupil & Co., 1853. 22 1/2 x 38 1/2. Steel engraving by Paul Girardet. Minor foxing stains in the sky around Washington's head. Overall, very good condition. Large margins.

One of the most famous pictorial images produced of the American Revolution. This scene depicts Washington and his men crossing the Delaware River on Christmas night 1776. In November of 1776, Washington was forced to abandon New York City and retreated down in to New Jersey. He crossed the Delaware on December 11, to cover the capital at Philadelphia. The British troops under Cornwallis did not attempt to follow and went into winter quarters. Washington saw his opportunity to attack, and on Christmas night, crossed the river and landed nine miles north of Trenton. He surprised the Hessian troops stationed in Trenton and captured them easily. Washington returned back into Pennsylvania, with his prisoners, and later returned to Trenton on December 30, and 31, to occupy the town. Even though this is a very stirring and patriotic image, there are a number of historical inaccuracies. The boat is the wrong size and shape; the flag shown was not in use until six months later; and Washington himself would most likely have been thrown overboard on that stormy night. Even with these embellishments this print is a testament to the spirit of the occasion.

This print is after a painting, executed in 1851, by Emanuel Leutze. Born in Germany in 1816, Leutze is known mainly as a historical and portrait painter. He and his family emigrated to the United States and settled in Philadelphia, where he studied painting under John Rubens Smith. In 1840 Leutze traveled back to Germany to study under Lessing. He lived in Germany for twenty years before returning to America in 1859 to paint "Westward the Course of the Empire", an allegorical-historical mural for the House of Representatives in Washington D.C. For the remainder of his life Leutze spent his time between New York and Washington, dying in the former city in 1868. Today, he is best remembered as the painter of this famous image. $7,600

William M. Harnett. "The Old Violin." Cincinnati: F. Tuchfarber and Co., 1887. 34 1/2 x 23 1/2. Chromolithograph. Small spots with loss of surface; expertly conserved. Mounted to backing as issued. Overall, very good condition. Framed with original period frame.

This wonderful print is considered to be a shining example of the art of chromolithography. This print is after the oil painting by William M. Harnett, who exhibited his painting at the Cincinnati Industrial Exposition in 1886, where it became an immediate sensation. What impressed everyone who saw the canvas was its three dimensional realism. Many people thought that the newspaper clipping was real, and it is said that someone reached out to see if they could take the fiddle down from the wall. When Tuchfarber, a highly regarded Cincinnati printmaker, saw the painting, he was so overwhelmed that he immediately bought it. His purpose in this acquisition was be able to produce a chromolithographic copy of Harnett's painting. Tuchfarber of course wanted to sell these prints, but just as importantly, they were used to serve as examples of the superior quality of the chromolithographic work his firm could produce.

There are several slight variations in different editions of this print. Early impressions carry the name of one of Tuchfarber's lithographic artists "Gus Ilg:An.," which can be found on the newspaper clipping. This name was later removed, and most of the impressions found today do not have this name. Another interesting aspect is Tuchfarber's arrangement of the musical notes. He purposely changed the notes on the chromolithograph to determine if any future prints were produced after the original painting or from his chromolithograph.

The artist of this work, William M. Harnett, was born in Philadelphia in 1848, where until the age of 27 he engraved silver. During this period Harnett studied drawing at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art and at the National Academy of Design in New York. He began oil painting in 1875 due to the scarcity of work as a silver engraver, though why Harnett decided on a life as a still life painter is unknown. His work in oil can be divided into two periods, the first beginning in Philadelphia from 1876 and 1880 and the second in New York from 1886 and 1892. In between these two periods Harnett studied in Europe, where he was greatly influenced by the seventeen century Dutch painters. In New York he produced his finest works, all of which are compositions of objects hanging on a painted door. This style of painting was called trompe l'oeil still life and is often considered the high point in nineteenth century realism. Overall, a wonderful example of chromolithography at its best, and a rare impression of an important American painting. $6,400

"Awful Conflagration of the Steam Boat LEXINGTON In Long Island Sound on Monday Eveg. Jany. 13th 1840, by which melancholy occurrence; over 100 PERSONS PERISHED." Drawn by W.K. Hewitt. New York: N. Currier, Jan. 1840. Version 2, State V. Broadside: full sheet 17 7/8 x 13 1/2; image 8 3/8 x 12 1/8. Some repaired tears and rubbing to text area. Very good condition for separately issued broadside. C:328. Ref: Brust & Shadwell, "The Many Versions and States of The Awful Conflagration of the Steam Boat Lexington," Imprint, Vol. 15, No. 2.

On January 13, 1840, the passenger steamer Lexington on its way from New York to Stonington, Connecticut, burned in Long Island sound. There were only four survivors from among the 150 passengers and crew members. This spectacular catastrophe was disastrous for many, but proved a boon for a young New York lithographer named Nathaniel Currier. The news of this tragedy reached New York two days later, and the next day the New York Sun came out with a broadside about the disaster which included a lithographed image of the disaster. The sensation caused by the burning of the Lexington continued for weeks, spurred on by the repeated reissued of updated versions of this broadside. One week after the first publication, a new, more accurate lithographed image appeared on the broadside, this one attributed to artist W.K. Hewitt and lithographed by Nathaniel Currier. With its correct nighttime imagery, giving it a much more dramatic appearance, this broadside kept interest in the tragedy alive. In the days before photography and television, the combination of fast reportage and a dramatic lithographed image made this Sun Extra a big success. The popularity of the broadside inspired Nathaniel Currier to take over its publication after the Sun stopped its involvement, and he issued another three versions thereafter. This is the second version, with Currier the publisher responsible for both text and image. According to Harry T. Peters, the popularity of his Lexington lithograph is what firmly established Nathaniel Currier as a financial and popular success, and allowed him to build his firm (later Currier & Ives) into the dominant American printmaking company. $3,800

In 1585, Sir Walter Raleigh sent out an expedition under the command of Sir Richard Grenville to found a colony, which Queen Elizabeth allowed to be named "Virginia" in her honor. The chief scientist in the expedition was Thomas Hariot who was instructed to study the Indian culture and the natural resources of the region. Hariot was accompanied by John White as surveyor and artist. The colonists settled on Roanoke Island in Pamlico Sound, where they built a fort. Grenville went back to England for supplies, leaving 107 men under the command of Ralph Lane. Relationships with the Indians deteriorated, and this combined with dwindling supplies led the colonists to return to England with Sir Francis Drake, who happened to call by after a raid in the West Indies. Ironically, a resupply ship turned up almost immediately thereafter, followed within two weeks by Grenville with more ships and supplies. Finding the colonists gone, Grenville left fifteen men to retain English possession of the region.

Raleigh did not give up with this failure, but put together a second expedition to settle further north on the Chesapeake. In 1587 these colonists, now under the command of John White, landed at Roanoke Island to look for the men left by Grenville the year before. No trace of these men was found, and the new colonists were unable to proceed north to the Chesapeake because of the refusal to do so by the master of the fleet, Simon Fernandes, who was more interested in hunting for the Spanish treasure ships. White spent only about a month at Roanoke before he was persuaded to head back to England to obtain more supplies. Through a series of misadventures, White was unable to return to Roanoke until 1590. When he finally arrived back in America, White discovered that the colonists were missing. The only clue left by the colonists was the word "CROATOAN" carved into a post, but White was unable to proceed to that island to look for them. Thus the fate of this "lost colony" has never been learned.

In 1588, Thomas Hariot issued A breife and true report of the new found land of Virginia, which was an account of the attempt to found the colony. Two years later, Theodor De Bry published this monumental volume which added to Hariot's account engravings based on John White's drawings. This work is the first account with images of a European colonization of North America and the images provide a unique and remarkable view of Native American culture in the mid-Atlantic region at the time of the first contacts between the Indians and Europeans. It was the first volume of De Bry's series Grand Voyages, which included accounts of sixteenth century exploration of the New World.

The text and views are thus of central importance in the documenting of American history, as is the map which accompanies the volume. The map is based on John White's rendering, updated with information from subsequent explorations by De Bry. It focuses on the Carolina region, extending north to the mouth of the Chesapeake and it is one of the foundation maps of the period of discovery in North America. Based on first-hand experience, Cummings says of this map that it was "the first printed map of this degree of detail and accuracy for any part of the present area of the United States," providing an excellent general picture of the Outer Banks and Pamlico Sound. The map was also the first to name the Chesapeake Bay, called "Chesepiooc Sinus," which is crudely shown as a large bay north of the Virginia colony. The map is as decorative as it is important. A large fleet of ships cruises the ocean off the banks, while some Indian canoes are depicted in the Sound. A few small Indian figures, based on other White drawings, are shown on the shore. A measuring compass, scale of miles, title cartouche, Royal coat-of-arms, windrose, and sea monster complete the decorative features.

Altogether an excellent example of a fundamental account of the early beginnings of the exploration and settlement of North America. Click to see other images of: front cover, back cover, Adam & Eve, Indian dance, Indian village. $70,000

George Caleb Bingham. "Stump Speaking." New York: Goupil & Co., 1856. 22 x 30. Engraving by Gautier. With a dedication to the "Friends of American Art , by the Publishers Goupil & Co." Very good condition. Wide margins with some surface wear from old matting. One word in dedication worn. Professionally conserved. Image and overall condition is very good. Ref.: McDermott, p. 437, #9.

George Caleb Bingham is one of the greatest American genre painters of the middle of the nineteenth century. In his large canvases he showed daily life from American heartland. A number of these were made into prints, of which this is one of the most desirable and rare. The image is an icon of American art and politics. A group of voters (all men, the only enfranchised citizens at the time) gather beneath an oak tree on a Missouri farm to listen to the candidates present their positions and qualifications. The speaker leans forward for emphasis, while an imposing, opposing candidate sits behind listening and another makes notes on a pad. This latter individual is thought to be Bingham himself, who was involved in politics for a number of years. Though based on actual events witnessed by Bingham, the scene is general and iconographic. The mix of ages and social classes thoughtfully considering the candidates is an ideal image of American democracy. $6,200

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