The largest Confederate prisoner of war camp constructed to house captured Union troops, Andersonville held 45,000 troops over the course of its 14 month existence. Conditions within the camp were horrific and 13,000 Union prisoners died from disease, exposure, and food shortages. This 1865 print shows Union prisoners cramped into a rectangular stockade. Armed Confederate sentries look down upon the men from the wall. In the lower left a wagon of meat is taken into the camp to feed the prisoners. In the lower right, a mounted Confederate officer leads a Union prisoner to be punished at the prison’s stocks. This is Captain Henry Wirz, the commander of the camp, who was tried and executed for war crimes at the end of the Civil War. Although the facility was constructed to house a maximum of 10,000 prisoners, a caption below the illustration claims that in June, July, and August of 1864, the number of prisoners had swelled to 33,000. This print, from 1865, was created during a moment of Northern fascination with the arrest, trial, and execution of the camp’s commander, Henry Wirz. Images of Andersonville remained popular in the North after the war, exhibited in homes as both remembrances of the war’s horrors and alleged examples of widespread Southern cruelty. These prints, by safeguarding the memories of the prison, helped to secure the camp’s designation as a National Historic Site, but also amplified sectional hostilities throughout the years of Reconstruction.
Thomas S. Sinclair, the publisher of this print, was a Scottish immigrant to Philadelphia who worked in the lithographic shop of John Collins, before taking it over the next year. His firm was profitable into the 1880s, producing maps, city views, certificates, book illustrations, political cartoons, sheet music covers, and fashion advertisements.
This illustration of Andersonville was based on a sketch by John Burns Walker, a Union private from a Pennsylvania regiment who had been imprisoned there. His sketches were transferred to lithograph by Bavarian-born artist Anton Hohenstein, who changed his name to Anthony Hochstein sometime during the 1860s.
The largest Confederate prisoner of war camp constructed to house captured Union troops, Andersonville held 45,000 troops over the course of its 14 month existence. Conditions within the camp were horrific and 13,000 Union prisoners died from disease, exposure, and food shortages. This 1864 print shows Union prisoners cramped into a rectangular stockade. Armed Confederate sentries look down upon the men from the wall. At the upper left and right corners, fortifications ensure that no prisoners would attempt to escape. Behind the upper right fort, a grouping of buildings are marked as the headquarters for Captain Henry Wirz, the commander of the camp, who was tried and executed for war crimes at the end of the Civil War. Although the facility was constructed to house a maximum of 10,000 prisoners, a caption below the illustration claims that in June, July, and August of 1864, the number of prisoners had swelled to 33,000. In the lower left, a horse-drawn wagon carries dead bodies of Union soldiers out of the camp, 12,877 in total. Images of Andersonville remained popular in the North after the war, exhibited in homes as both remembrances of the war’s horrors and alleged examples of widespread Southern cruelty. These prints, by safeguarding the memories of the prison, helped to secure the camp’s designation as a National Historic Site, but also amplified sectional hostilities throughout the years of Reconstruction.
Thomas S. Sinclair, the publisher of this print, was a Scottish immigrant to Philadelphia who worked in the lithographic shop of John Collins, before taking it over the next year. His firm was profitable into the 1880s, producing maps, city views, certificates, book illustrations, political cartoons, sheet music covers, and fashion advertisements.
This illustration of Andersonville was based on a sketch by John Burns Walker, a Union private from a Pennsylvania regiment who had been imprisoned there. His sketches were transferred to lithograph by Bavarian-born artist Anton Hohenstein, who changed his name to Anthony Hochstein sometime during the 1860s.
The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11-15, 1865, as part of a Union attempt to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond. Ambrose Burnside became the commander of the Army of the Potomac after McClellan’s removal by Abraham Lincoln in November 1862. As the Union general approached Fredericksburg, Lee entrenched his army among the heights behind the town. On December 12, the Federal forces crossed the Rappahannock River and began a series of frontal assaults against the Confederate positions. The attacks were futile and the Union forces suffered heavy casualties, forcing Burnside to call off the offensive on the 15th, and lead a retreat back across the river.
This print depicts the regiments commanded by General Nathan Kimball as they endure heavy fire in an attempt to seize the high ground of Marye's Heights. Kimball was severely wounded in the offensive and his brigade suffered a casualty level of 25 percent. There is an explanation key below the image.
Peter S. Duval, a French-born lithographer, was hired by Cephas G. Childs in 1831 to work for the firm of Childs & Inman in Philadelphia. Duval later formed a partnership with George Lehman, and Lehman & Duval took over the business of Childs & Inman in 1835. From 1839 to 1843, Duval was part of the lithography and publishing house, Huddy & Duval. He established his own lithography firm in 1843, and was joined by his son, Stephen Orr Duval, in 1858.
Private John G. Keyser was an artist from Bridgeton, New Jersey. He made sketches during the Civil War, particularly of Regiment 24, which were then turned into prints.
When Congress authorized a 500,000 man army to put down the Southern insurrection, Northern men enthusiastically responded to its call for volunteers. Northern men enlisted for a variety of causes: to seek adventure, to prove their manhood, to fulfil a duty to state or country, because of their religious beliefs, or because their friends, family, and community-members had volunteered. As an added incentive to enlist, Congress authorized a bounty system, which offered additional cash payments to men who volunteered. While the Confederacy also attempted to establish a bounty system, the extremely low value of Confederate currency made it much less of an incentive to Southern volunteers. The federal government paid a bounty of $100 to those who enlisted for three years in July of 1861, and after the Enrollment Act of 1863, this increased to $300 for three-year recruits and $400 for those who enlisted for five years. $100 during the war had the same buying power as about $2,700 today, which provided enough incentive for soldiers to enlist. Even with the bounty, however, pay in the Union Army was still usually less than average yearly incomes. This often placed hardship on families back home, whose primary financial support was off at war. As the war dragged on into 1863, however, patriotism and bounties were not enough to recruit the necessary manpower to wage war, and Congress passed the controversial Enrollment Act, which authorized a military draft.
This print depicts three Union volunteers, two soldiers and one sailor, gesturing upwards toward an enormous American flag. This wartime, patriotic image was surely created to attract more potential volunteers to the Union cause. It was designed by James Fuller Queen, a pioneering chromolithographer active in Philadelphia, who served in a Civil War militia between 1862 and 1863. It was printed by P.S. Duval & Son. Peter S. Duval, a French-born lithographer, was hired by Cephas G. Childs in 1831 to work for the firm of Childs & Inman in Philadelphia. Duval formed a partnership with George Lehman, and Lehman & Duval took over the business of Childs & Inman in 1835. From 1839 to 1843, Duval was part of the lithography and publishing house, Huddy & Duval. He established his own lithography firm in 1843, and was joined by his son, Stephen Orr Duval, in 1858.
As the Civil War dragged into 1864, many Republicans worried that the unpopularity of the conflict would cause Lincoln to lose his bid for reelection. Those in the North tired with the war hoped that his opponent and former general, Democratic candidate, George McClellan, would attempt to broker a peace with the Confederacy. These peace Democrats were referred to as Copperheads by Republicans, who believed they resembled venomous serpents. In this print, an elderly man is approached by a Copperhead who has forcefully handed him a Democratic ticket. The man reads the ballot once before flinging it out of his hand, accusing the Copperhead to be worse than “the rebel who sent his bullet through my dead son’s heart.” In this anti-Democrat image, the ideal of patriotism and the cause of fighting for the Union are shown to outweigh desires for peace.
Joseph H. Harley, the artist of the print, was a New York-based engraver. During the 1880s, he was employed by D. Appleton and Company in their publication of Picturesque America. For this volume, Harley crafted engravings based on the works of many prominent American landscape painters of the nineteenth century.
The CSS David was the first of about 20 torpedo boats produced by the Confederate Navy during the Civil War. Although its design resembles a modern submarine, it was a strictly a surface vessel. It still had an advantage, however, in that it sat only a foot out of the water. Self-propelled torpedoes were not employed in naval warfare until around 1880, and the David instead used a spar torpedo, an explosive extended on a long pole, to sink Union ships. On the night of October 5, 1863, the boat was used to attack the formidable Union ironclad, the USS New Ironsides, which was engaged in the blockade of Charleston. This print depicts the moment the torpedo detonated against the hull of the Union ship. Lieutenant William T. Glassell, aboard the David, simultaneously fires off a shotgun in the direction of the New Ironsides. One Union sailor was killed in the attack, but the New Ironsides ultimately survived the assault.
William H. Rease, born in Pennsylvania in 1818, was the pre-eminent lithographer of advertising prints in Philadelphia in the 1840s and 1850s. Although he often collaborated with other Philadelphia printers, by 1850, he had his own business, where he produced lithographs of landscapes, portraits, factory scenes, stores, and architectural drawings. During a partnership with Francis Schell, between 1853 and 1855, he began printing certificates, maps, and maritime charts as well. Between 1856 and 1861, he partnered with Henry W. Scattergood, expanding his services to map mounting. His pro-Union prints became very profitable during the Civil War. He died in Bristol, PA, in 1893.
This 1836 print was created in response to President Andrew Jackson’s attempt to claim monetary compensation for French spoliations dating to the Napoleonic Wars. During the Napoleonic Wars (1803 to 1815), France, ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, and their allies, engaged in a series of major conflicts as an extension of the French Revolution. The main target of these conflicts was Great Britain and their allies, but American merchant ships were often damaged by the French Navy. Negotiations to ratify these marine losses began during the war, but rather than helping, they are partially to blame for starting the War of 1812. Dealings with France regarding this issue were at a stalemate, but early in his first term Jackson proposed the Franco-American Treaty of 1831, calling for France to pay twenty five million francs to the United States to cover the spoliation claims from American merchants. Following this, France led by King Louis Phillippe paid European claims, but ignored those of the United States. This angered Jackson, and he threatened military intervention if France did not pay. The threats frustrated France, but they agreed to pay only if Jackson apologized. When he refused, payment was again taken off the table. In 1836, Jackson finally conceded, and with the help of Great Britain, negotiated to receive the payments. In this print, Jackson is depicted as shirtless and barefoot with his fists raised, ready to fight King Louis Phillippe. King Louis is royally attired, but his crown is slipping from his head, symbolizing the breakdown in France’s decision not to pay the money to the United States. Neptune, god of the Sea, with his trident stands behind Jackson, giving him advice. He suggests using the “bully breaker” “Old Iron Sides,” depicted in the water behind Jackson. Behind King Louis are a group of frogs labeled "Corps de Legislateurs" who are complaining about the Americans in French, saying that all the United States wants is money and that the King should not back down.
The lithographer of this print is James Akin (1773-1846). Akin was born in Charleston, South Carolina circa 1773. He worked as an engraver, lithographer, print publisher, portraitist, painter, cartoonist/caricaturist, druggist and restaurant owner in Philadelphia between 1794 and 1846. While primarily based in Philadelphia, he did work briefly as an engraver in Salem and Newburyport, Massachusetts between about 1804 and 1807. In addition to producing prints, Akin manufactured bookplates, trade cards, book illustrations, and transfer prints for ceramic pieces. His last name has appeared in Philadelphia city directories and advertisements as Aikin, Aitken, and Aiken. Akin’s business moved often during his career, but he produced most of his lithographs including “Settling the French Question” at his 18 Prune Street establishment. His wife Ophelia, also an engraver, continued to operate as an engraver at the Prune Street location following his death on July 16, 1846.
This hand-colored print is a full-length portrait of General George Washington in military uniform. He is kneeling on one knee on a small, fringed rug on grass, inside his campaign tent. His hand rests on a Bible, which is on a small table beside him, along with a battlefield map, inkstand, and his hat. His folding camp stool is behind him. Next to him on the rug is a sword and a telescope. Perhaps he is praying for victory prior to an American Revolutionary War battle or as legend has it, he was praying for souls of men lost at Valley Forge. This print is typical of the commemoration or adoration prints of the first president, highlighting Washington’s faith and moral fortitude. The camp stool, tent, sword, and telescope depicted are all objects owned by the museum.
This print was produced by Amos Doolittle; E.B. Kellogg and E.C. Kellogg; and Kelloggs & Thayer. An earlier version of this print was produced by Kelloggs and Thayer 1846-1847. Amos Doolittle (1754-1832) was an American engraver who was trained as a jeweler and silversmith. He lived in Connecticut and was especially well known for his four engravings of the battles of Lexington and Concord. He also engraved Biblical scenes, bookplates and portraits. Edmund Burke Kellogg (1809-1872) and Elijah Chapman Kellogg (1811-1881) were brothers of the founder of the Kellogg lithography firm, Daniel Wright Kellogg (1807-1874). After D.W. Kellogg moved west, his two brothers took over the family lithography firm in 1840 and changed the name to E.B. & E.C. Kellogg. The younger two of the four Kellogg brothers, they were responsible for the continued success of the family firm. These two brothers were also involved in the eventual partnerships between the company and Horace Thayer in 1845 or 1846, John Chenevard Comstock (1818-1862) in 1848 and William Henry Bulkeley (1840-1902) in 1867.
General Ulysses S. Grant, was born Hiram Ulysses Grant at Point Pleasant, Ohio, in 1822. After attending West Point, he gained distinction fighting as a captain in the Mexican-American War. When the fighting ended, he was assigned to isolated frontier posts, where his heavy drinking interfered with his duties, leading him to resign in 1854. At the outbreak of the Civil War six years later, he immediately enlisted in the Union Army, and was promoted to brigadier general in July of 1861. In July of 1863, he captured Vicksburg, an event often seen as a turning point in the war, and was given command of all Union armies in March of 1864. Brutal engagements with Confederate forces at the battles of Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor decimated Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, and the Virginian surrendered his battered force to Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. After the war, Grant’s fame carried him to the White House, and he served two terms of Presidency, from 1869 to 1877.
This 1884 print by Christian Inger shows Grant, surrounded by his generals at a council of war in Massaponax, Virginia, shortly his promotion to general-in-chief. The men sit on church pews removed from the nearby Baptist church. Grants sits at the base of two trees, easily recognizable by the characteristic cloud of cigar smoke rising above him. The other generals are identified by a list on the bottom margin of the print, and include Sherman, Hancock, and Meade. Behind the men, Union soldiers care for the officers’ horses, and rows of cannons are displayed in the far background, ready for transport.
This print was based on a photograph by Timothy H. O’Sullivan (1840-1882), who managed to capture the composition from the second floor of the nearby Massaponax Baptist Church. His image was printed by Scottish-born photograph Alexander Gardner (1821-1882).
The creator of the print, Christian Inger (1814-c.1895), was born in Germany and immigrated to America in 1854. He settled in Philadelphia, where he was employed by P.S. Duval from the mid-1850s to the mid-1860s. Between the 1850s and 1870s, Inger also created lithographs for the prominent firms of Herline & Hensel and Thomas Sinclair. In 1859, he also established his own firm with his son, Egmont. Inger’s work included portraits, facsimiles of paintings, Revolutionary War and Civil War scenes, and birds-eye views of Philadelphia and the 1876 Centennial Exposition.
Canted-corner rectangular flat tray with flared sides, slightly higher at short ends, edged by applied reeding at inside of rim; no foot. Engraved "DH" in flecked script at center of well. Underside struck once "CARREL" in raised roman letters in a rectangle. Part of snuffers and tray, DL*383487-DL*383488.
On May 22, 1856, during the Bleeding Kansas crisis, Massachusetts Republican Senator Charles Sumner delivered a speech to Congress in which he denounced the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 and demanded that Kansas be admitted to the Union as a free state. In his oration, he verbally attacked the pro-slavery South Carolina Senator, Andrew Butler, and called into question the man’s code of Southern chivalry, accusing him of taking slavery as his mistress. Two days later, Preston Brooks, a South Carolina Congressman and also Butler’s cousin, nearly beat Sumner to death on the Senate floor with a cane. Responses to the attack in the North and the South further polarized the people of the nation, leading it further down the path to war.
In the print, Brooks uses a bloody cane to strike the Massachusetts Senator, who has fallen out of his chair and lies on the ground below the Southerner, bleeding from gashes on his forehead. He holds in his right hand a quill he had been using to write on a document containing the word, “Kansas.” Behind the struggle, other Congressmen look on, appearing either disgusted or delighted. In the back left, Brooks’ fellow South Carolinian Representative, Laurence M. Keitt, prevents a bystander from interrupting.
The illustration is signed in the lower left hand corner by John L. Magee. Born in New York around 1820, Magee was initially employed by the lithographic firms of James Baillie and Nathaniel Currier. He started his own business in New York in 1850, but moved to Philadelphia sometime shortly after 1852. He was known for his political cartoons, which he produced until the 1860s.
This post-war print depicts an allegorical vision of change that could accompany Reconstruction. At the left, Union soldiers are shown beating swords and weapons into farming implements. On the right, a general holds a pickaxe and stands next to a cannon that has been converted into a mill. American-British philanthropist George Peabody, stands at the center of the print, in front of an American flag held aloft by an eagle. He holds open a book that reads, “2,000,000 for Education,” referring to the Peabody Education Fund, which he established to raise the standard of education in the South for those of all races. Beneath him are gathered a group of young white children. One girl looks at a group of four freed slaves, holding a poster that says, “Come Uncle / Learn to Be a Citizen.” In the background, a crowd of 300,000 mechanics, farmers, and laborers carry tools that they will use to facilitate the “Reconstruction of the Union.” On the right, a sailor prepares to sink a barrel labeled, “Extremes,” into the sea. This idealized vision of Reconstruction is one led by the North, which will feature educational and economic development throughout the country, but will be absent of any radicalism. While women's charities had long funded children's orphanages and schooling, George Peabody is considered the "Father of Modern Philanthropy" and his generosity inspired other wealthy individuals to gifting and developing lasting charitable trusts for social causes, particularly in the field of education.
The artist of this print was Augustus Tholey, a German immigrant born in Alsace-Loraine. He moved to Philadelphia in 1848, where he worked as a painter, pastel artist, engraver, and lithographer. It was published by John Smith, who was active in Philadelphia between 1860 and 1870. Besides publishing prints by Tholey and Anton Hohenstein, Smith was also an accomplished gilder, painter, and looking glass and frame manufacturer.
Besides freeing all slaves held in areas of the United States under rebellion, the Emancipation Proclamation also allowed for black men to enlist in the United States Army. Around 190,000 African-Americans fought for the Union and made up one tenth of the entire Federal Army. Their successes in battle dispelled existing arguments that black men could not be trusted to bear arms. Despite this, they were only paid half as much a white soldiers, were often assigned menial tasks, and provided inferior clothing and medical care. The U.S.C.T. suffered an extremely high casualty rate, and 40,000 perished by the war’s end.
This print, published by the Supervisory Committee for Recruiting Colored Regiments, served as a recruitment poster for the U.S.C.T. In the illustration, 18 African American soldiers look out at potential black volunteers, calling upon them to join the fight in liberating those who remained enslaved. A black drummer boy plays in the lower right. The soldiers’ white commanding officer stands on the left, since black men could not become commissioned officers until the final months of the war. The men are stationed near Philadelphia at Camp Penn, the largest camp that exclusively trained U.S. Colored Troops. This image was based on a photograph taken in Philadelphia, in February 1864, of either Company C or G of the U.S.C.T.’s 25th Regiment.
Peter S. Duval, a French-born lithographer, was hired by Cephas G. Childs in 1831 to work for the firm of Childs & Inman in Philadelphia. Duval formed a partnership with George Lehman, and Lehman & Duval took over the business of Childs & Inman in 1835. From 1839 to 1843, Duval was part of the lithography and publishing house, Huddy & Duval. He established his own lithography firm in 1843, and was joined by his son, Stephen Orr Duval, in 1858.
At the outbreak of the Civil War, Robert E. Lee had famously rejected the command of the Federal forces recruited to defend D.C. He instead opted for the rank of general in the Confederate Army, claiming that he could never fight against his fellow Virginians. After graduating second in his class from West Point in 1829, Lee served in the United States Army for 32 years. He saw action during the Mexican-American War and later returned to West Point to serve as its superintendent. There he emphasized equestrian instruction, training future cavalry generals, including Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart and Union General Philip Sheridan. On October 17, 1859, U.S. Marines commanded by Lee – then a colonel – confronted John Brown at Harper’s Ferry, killing many of his raider and arresting the radical abolitionist.
Although he lost his first engagement during the Civil War, Lee eventually proved his worth by repulsing George McClellan’s campaign towards Richmond during the Seven Days Battle. He then launched two failed invasions of the North, which were defeated at Antietam in 1862 and Gettysburg in 1863. In 1864, the new general-in-chief of the Union Armies, Ulysses S. Grant, ultimately gained the upper hand over the Confederacy after a brutal war of attrition. Surrounded by Grant’s armies, Lee finally surrendered his battered Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865.
After the war, Lee was transformed into a legend. He became the personification of the Lost Cause, an interpretation of the war in which Confederate soldiers were remembered as heroic figures, fighting to preserve their way of life, eventually overpower by superior Northern resources and manpower. The myth of the Lost Cause remained popular throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, obscuring the actual history of the Civil War and the roles of slavery and race in the South. As the legend of Lee grew, so did the desire for printed portraits of the man. Printing had suffered during the war, and most of the post-war Lee prints were produced in the North, for both Northern and Southern audiences. In this 1867 lithograph from Philadelphia, the general poses in his military uniform, juxtaposed with the portrait’s lavishly-decorated civilian setting. He stands in front of a marble column, his left hand holding his sword and his right resting on a large map. The work bears a striking resemblance to several earlier paintings and sculptures of George Washington. Lee’s pose and the setting of the print hearken back to the earlier “Grand Manner” style of American portraiture, meant to further express the dignified status of the sitter. A facsimile of Lee’s signature has been included in the lower margin of the print.
This lithograph was delineated by Anton Hohenstein, who was born in Bavaria in 1824. He immigrated to Philadelphia in 1850 and changed his name to Anthony Hochstein sometime during the 1860s. It was printed by George Spohny, a French-born lithographer, who worked under other Philadelphia printers, including Joseph Hoover and Jacob Haehnlen, and became known for his lithographs of historical events. This print was published by Thomas Kelly, a successful Irish-born lithographer who had learned the craft in Philadelphia from his father. He moved to New York, where he established a print and frame dealership and continued to publish picturesque scenes of American life. He is possibly the same Thomas Kelly who printed Catholic Bibles and prayer-books in New York, winning an award for these at the 1876 Centennial Exposition.
After Lincoln’s assassination, printmakers faced a sudden demand from the Northern public for illustrations of the man that many perceived to be the savior of their nation. Prints often made reference to the Emancipation Proclamation, fostering an emerging image of Lincoln as a steadfast supporter of human freedom. This commemorative print of Lincoln reading the Proclamation before his Cabinet shares many similarities with a variety of other popular wartime and postwar prints depicting the same event. On July 22, 1863, Lincoln first revealed his plans to issue the Proclamation to his Cabinet. They were hesitant at first, but ultimately gave them his support, provided that he wait to announce it until after a Union victory. Five days after the Union Army repelled the Southern invasion of Maryland at Antietam, his Cabinet met again to revise the initial draft of the Proclamation. It was issued on January 1, 1863, and freed all slaves living in areas of the nation under rebellion. This freedom ultimately relied on a Northern military victory and the Proclamation did not affect the millions of slaves living in the Border States that had not seceded. It did, however, recognize the abolition of American slavery as a stated objective of the war and allowed Africa-American men to serve as soldiers in the Union Army.
Little is known about the work’s artist, D. Wust, or its printer, the firm of Miechel & Plumly. Beneath the illustration, a caption reads, “Annual Greeting of the Carriers to the Patrons of ‘The Press’ / For January 1st, 1866.” It was therefore likely published in late 1865 by John W. Forney, the founder of the Philadelphia Press, for distribution to subscribers sometime around New Year’s Day.
Scissor-type snuffers on three ball feet. Opposed, broken C-scroll handles with equal-size oval finger loops are joined by a bullseye pivot; spear-point lower blade has an attached clipped-corner rectangular box engraved "DH" in flecked script on top, while upper blade has a conforming vertical tab that fits inside box. Struck once inside box "CARREL" in raised roman letters in a rectangle. Part of snuffers and tray, DL*383487-DL*383488.
This print contains illustrations of the Union Volunteer Refreshment Saloon and the Cooper Shop Volunteer Refreshment Saloon. Located on a railroad hub linking the North and the South, the saloons were staffed by volunteers and provided relief for Union troops to soldiers on their way to or returning from battlefields in the South. Its services included warm meals, temporary housing, medical services, and washing facilities. Over the course of the war, these saloons assisted more than one million Union military personnel. In the central image of the print, formations of troops march down the road, cheered on by a crowd of civilians. Lines of soldiers wait to enter the Union Volunteer Refreshment Saloon, while another regiment of troops in the street wait to board a Philadelphia, Wilmington, & Baltimore railroad car, bound for the battlefront. The images to the left and right of the central one depict the facility’s washing and cooking departments. In a lower image, men and women volunteers prepare long tables covered in dishes and food. In the lower left image, a group of Zouaves wait in line outside the storefront of William Cooper, who converted his place of business into a refreshment saloon during the war years. A flag outside of the building reads, “Union Now and Forever / Death to Traitors.” The lower right illustration shows the interior of the Cooper saloon. A large American flag is draped across the ceiling and, underneath, long tables are set with dishes. The names of members of the Volunteer Refreshment Committee are listed in the margin below the illustration.
The Philadelphia saloons received support from the United States Sanitary Commission, a relief agency approved by the War Department on June 18, 1861 to provide assistance to sick, wounded, and travelling Union soldiers. Although the leaders of the Commission were men, the agency depended on thousands of women, who collected donations, volunteered as nurses in hospitals, and offered assistance at rest stations and refreshment saloons. They also sponsored Sanitary Fairs in Northern cities, raising millions of dollars used to send food, clothing, and medicine to Union soldiers.
The print was created by James Fuller Queen, a pioneering chromolithographer active in Philadelphia, who served in a Civil War militia between 1862 and 1863. Its printer, Thomas S. Sinclair, was a Scottish immigrant to Philadelphia who worked in the lithographic shop of John Collins, before taking over the business the next year. His firm was profitable into the 1880s, producing maps, city views, certificates, book illustrations, political cartoons, sheet music covers, and fashion advertisements. The scene of the saloons was published by Job T. Williams, the Steward of the Volunteer Refreshment Committee.
This black and white tinted print depicts the seventh of eight scenes based on George Cruikshank's The Bottle. The series shows the progressive degeneration of a family due to the evils of drinking. This print depicts an interior scene of a crowd gathered around the body of a dead woman. The weapon, a broken bottle, lies on the floor at her feet. The husband stands next the fireplace and is being seized by a policeman. Another policeman consoles the crying daughter. The son, also crying, stands next to the fireplace.
This series of prints is by the English artist George Cruikshank (1792-1878). Cruikshank’s father, Isaac Cruikshank, was an artist who specialized in song sheets and caricatures and trained George and his brother Robert Cruikshank in these arts. George started as a caricaturist for magazines and children’s books. His most famous works included The Bottle and The Drunkard’s Children, designed and etched by Cruikshank to show the wickedness of alcohol. Cruikshank's father and brother were both alcoholics and he himself drank heavily until he took a vow of abstinence in 1847. These prints were originally published by David Bogue, who published most of Cruikshank’s other works in the 1850s. David Bogue, (1807–1856) was born in Scotland and moved to London in 1836. Bogue began working in Charles Tilt's bookshop as a publisher and bookseller in 1836 and became Tilt's partner in 1840. Bogue bought the shop in 1843. He was the principle publisher of Cruikshank’s short-lived periodicals, brief illustrated stories, and the Comic Almanack 1835-53. David Bogue published The Bottle series in 1847. Bogue suffered from heart disease and died in 1856 at the age of 48.
This print was produced by the lithographer George Gebbie. Gebbie immigrated to the United States from Scotland in 1862. He settled in Philadelphia and became a fine art printer and publisher. He died in 1892.
I. A Happy Home in Danger From the Bottle. This black and white tinted print depicts the first of eight scenes based on George Cruikshank's The Bottle. The series shows the progressive degeneration of a family due to the evils of drinking. This print depicts an interior scene of a man, a woman, and three children. The man and woman are seated at a table, where he is pouring a drink for her. They are surrounded by comfortable, middle-class furnishings that include a fireplace with a stove insert, pictures on the wall, and a tall case clock. A cat and a kitten play by the fire near the two younger children.
This series of prints is by the English artist George Cruikshank (1792-1878). Cruikshank’s father, Isaac Cruikshank, was an artist who specialized in song sheets and caricatures and trained George and his brother Robert Cruikshank in these arts. George started as a caricaturist for magazines and children’s books. His most famous works included The Bottle and The Drunkard’s Children, designed and etched by Cruikshank to show the wickedness of alcohol. Cruikshank's father and brother were both alcoholics and he himself drank heavily until he took a vow of abstinence in 1847. These prints were originally published by David Bogue, who published most of Cruikshank’s other works in the 1850s. David Bogue, (1807–1856) was born in Scotland and moved to London in 1836. Bogue began working in Charles Tilt's bookshop as a publisher and bookseller in 1836 and became Tilt's partner in 1840. Bogue bought the shop in 1843. He was the principle publisher of Cruikshank’s short-lived periodicals, brief illustrated stories, and the Comic Almanack 1835-53. David Bogue published The Bottle series in 1847. Bogue suffered from heart disease and died in 1856 at the age of 48.
This print was produced by the lithographer George Gebbie. Gebbie immigrated to the United States from Scotland in 1862. He settled in Philadelphia and became a fine art printer and publisher. He died in 1892.
This black and white tinted print depicts the third of eight scenes based on George Cruikshank's The Bottle. The series shows the progressive degeneration of a family due to the evils of drinking. This print depicts an interior scene of a family whose furnishings are being removed by a sheriff and two men for failure to pay debts. The father and mother are seated near the fireplace, consoling themselves with drink. The three children linger nearby.
This series of prints is by the English artist George Cruikshank (1792-1878). Cruikshank’s father, Isaac Cruikshank, was an artist who specialized in song sheets and caricatures and trained George and his brother Robert Cruikshank in these arts. George started as a caricaturist for magazines and children’s books. His most famous works included The Bottle and The Drunkard’s Children, designed and etched by Cruikshank to show the wickedness of alcohol. Cruikshank's father and brother were both alcoholics and he himself drank heavily until he took a vow of abstinence in 1847. These prints were originally published by David Bogue, who published most of Cruikshank’s other works in the 1850s. David Bogue, (1807–1856) was born in Scotland and moved to London in 1836. Bogue began working in Charles Tilt's bookshop as a publisher and bookseller in 1836 and became Tilt's partner in 1840. Bogue bought the shop in 1843. He was the principle publisher of Cruikshank’s short-lived periodicals, brief illustrated stories, and the Comic Almanack 1835-53. David Bogue published The Bottle series in 1847. Bogue suffered from heart disease and died in 1856 at the age of 48.
This print was produced by the lithographer George Gebbie. Gebbie immigrated to the United States from Scotland in 1862. He settled in Philadelphia and became a fine art printer and publisher. He died in 1892.