Jay T. Last Collection of American Civil War and Military Prints

Finding aid prepared by Danielle Kramer and Krystle Satrum.

Rare Books Department

The Huntington Library

1151 Oxford Road

San Marino, California 91108

Phone: 626-405-3473

Email: lastcollection@huntington.org

URL: http://www.huntington.org

Descriptive Summary

Title: Jay T. Last Collection of American Civil War and Military Prints and Posters

Dates: 1835-1920

Bulk dates: 1861-1895

Collection Number: priJLC_MIL

Creator: Last, Jay T.

Extent: 332 items

Repository: The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens

The Huntington Library

1151 Oxford Road

San Marino, California 91108

Phone: 626-405-3473

Email: lastcollection@huntington.org

URL: http://www.huntington.org

Abstract: The Jay T. Last Collection of American Civil War and Military Prints and Posters consists of over 330 printed works, mostly lithographs. Intaglio and relief prints are also included. The majority of the collection, approximately 250 prints, depict or relate to the American Civil War. Collection dates range from 1835-1920 with the bulk of materials spanning 1861-1895. The military prints form part of the Jay T. Last Collection of Lithographic and Social History and provide rich resources especially for the study of nineteenth and early twentieth century American printing history, visual culture, and social history.

Language: English.

Note:

Finding aid last updated on April 5, 2013.

Administration Information

Access

The collection is open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, please visit the Huntington's website: www.huntington.org.

Publication Rights

In order to quote from, publish, or reproduce any of the visual materials, researchers must obtain formal permission from the office of the Library Director. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Huntington as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.

Preferred Citation

[Item title, Call number]. Military Prints, Jay T. Last Collection, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Provenance

This collection forms part of the Jay T. Last Collection of Lithographic and Social History, which was donated to the Huntington Library by Jay T. Last in 2005 as a gift in progress. The bulk of the Military Prints were transferred to the Huntington Library in 2010; additional items were received and cataloged in 2012-2013.

Two items described in this finding aid (MIL_0000004 and MIL_0000005) are of uncertain provenance and were previously included as part of the Huntington Library Historical Print Collection; they were merged with the Last Collection in 2012.

Background

The Jay T. Last Collection is an unparalleled archive of printed paper artifacts that documents American lithographic history. The collection began in the early 1970s when physicist and Silicon Valley pioneer Jay Last moved to Southern California and started collecting citrus box labels he found at local flea markets and rummage sales. As his collection grew, Last realized that these labels conveyed important information about commercial printing, graphic design, and social history, and he expanded his collection to include other forms of American visual culture. Today this collection contains more than 140,000 lithographic prints, posters, and ephemera of mostly 19th and early 20th century American origin and represents works by more than five hundred lithographic companies.

Scope and Content

The Jay T. Last Collection of American Civil War and Military Prints and Posters contains over 330 printed works, mostly lithographs as well as some intaglio and relief prints. The collection is divided into two series: American Civil War and Other Military. Each of these series is divided into four subseries: General Prints, Battle Scenes, Portraits, and Certificates & Registers. Within the General Prints subseries there are depictions of camps, hospitals, monuments, prisons, refreshment saloons, recruitment posters, news accounts and maps. The Battle Scenes subseries includes depictions of battles, including a set of commemorative battle scenes printed by Chicago lithographers Kurz & Allison from the American Civil War. The Portrait subseries includes portraits of military and political leaders. There are a few group portraits, but the majority are individual portraits. Notable holdings in the American Civil War series are the portraits printed by Cincinnati lithographers Ehrgott & Forbriger and by the Chicago lithographers Kurz & Allison. The Certificates & Registers subseries consists of discharge certificates, blank certificates, lists of officers, registers of companies or units, memorial records and association membership lists. The bulk of materials spans the years 1861-1895 with commemorative prints and military certificates dating to the 1920s.

Some prints included in this finding aid have not yet been fully cataloged and are lacking complete artist, printer, publisher, and date information; these prints are identified at the item-level by the note "(In Process)."

Alternative Form of Materials Available

Visit the Huntington Digital Library Jay T. Last Collection (http://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/p16003coll4) to view digitized items from this collection.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in the following two series:

Series I. Civil War

Series II. Other Military

Individual items within series are arranged numerically by call number and described in the following format:

Artist (when known). Title of print. Printer/Publisher (when known), Date of issuance.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog. For additional subject terms and specific geographic locations see individual item records in the Huntington Digital Library.

Genre

Allegorical prints.

Board games.

Broadsides.

Certificates.

Cityscape prints.

Commemorative prints.

Engravings.

Group portrait prints.

Intaglio prints.

Landscape prints.

Letterpress works.

Lithographs.

Maps.

Periodical illustrations.

Political cartoons.

Portrait prints.

War posters.

Wood engravings.

Woodcuts.

Subjects

United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865.

Printer, Publisher, Artist Index

The following is a complete list of printers, publishers, and artists represented in the collection.

A. Brett & Co.

A. Hoen & Co.

Bachelder, John B. (John Badger), 1825-1894

Bachmann, John, fl. 1849-1885

Baker & Godwin

Baker, Joseph E., ca. 1837-1914

Baum, C. (delineator)

Bien, Julius, 1826-1909

Bingham & Dodd

Boell & Magee

Boell, William

Boetticher, Otto, b. ca. 1816

Bohn, Casimir

Bross & Co.

Brown, B. S. (publisher)

Caldwell & Co.

Calhoun Printing Company

Calvert Lithographing Co. (Detroit, Mich.)

C. Frank King Lith.

Chapin, John R., 1827-1907

Childs, J. (John)

Clay, Cosack & Co.

Craig, Finley & Co.

Crow, Thomas & Eno

Currier & Ives

Dainty, John (publisher)

Davis, W. W. H. (William Watts Hart), 1820-1910

De La Matyr, E. B. (publisher)

Donovan, John (delineator)

Doolittle, H. S. (publisher)

E. Sachse & Co.

E. W. Smith & Co.

Ehrgott, Forbriger & Co.

F. A. Wenderoth & Co.

Fabronius, Dominique C.

Feusier & Turberg

Feusier, Augustus (lithographer)

Fisher, Robert J. (artist, publisher)

Fox, Stanley (lithographer, publisher)

Fuchs, F.

Gay, James D.

Gibson & Co. (Cincinnati, Ohio)

Gibson, John

Goff & Bro.

Goupil & Cie

Harper & Brothers

Herline & Hensel

J.H. Bufford’s Lith.

J.H. Bufford’s Sons Lith.

Joel, Joseph A., d. 1906

Johnson, Chauncey A. (artist)

Julius Bien & Co.

Keppler, Joseph Ferdinand, 1838-1894

Keystone Publishing Co.

Kimmel & Forster

King & Baird

King, C. Frank

Knickerbocker, Charles E.

Kramer, L. (lithographer)

Kurz & Allison

Lewis & Goodwin

Lipman, L. (Louis)

Louis Prang & Co.

Lyons, W. (publisher)

M.H. Traubel & Co.

Magee, John L.

Magnus, Charles

Mathews, Alfred Edward, 1831-1874

Matson & Co.

Mayer & Stetfield

Mayer, Merkel & Ottmann

McCallum, J. (delineator, publisher)

McElroy (delineator)

McLean, A. (lithographer)

Middleton, Strobridge & Co.

Milmore, Martin, 1844-1883

The Monumental Bronze Co.

Newman, F. (sketch artist)

Ordway, Alfred (sketch artist)

Queen, James, 1824-ca. 1877

P.S. Duval & Son

Pettibone Bros. Mfg. Co.

Porter, George W. (artist, publisher)

Puck

Rosenthal, L. N. (Louis N.)

Rosenthal, Max, 1833-1918

Sarony, Major & Knapp Lith.

Sartain, William, 1843-1924

Schrader, Theodor, 1812-1897 (lithographer)

Schroeder & Sanders

Schroeder, H. (lithographer)

Smith, Benjamin Franklin, Jr. (lithographer, publisher)

Smith, William, printseller

Stetfield, Charles (lithographer)

Strong, Thomas W.

T. Sinclair’s Lith.

Thomas & Eno

Thulstrup, Thure de, 1848-1930

Trochsler, Albert

W. Endicott & Co.

Walter, C. (artist)

Welcker, T. (lithographer)

Werner Company

Williams, Job T. (publisher)

Woods, Oliver Evans (publisher)

Wynkoop, Hallenbeck & Thomas

Collection Contents

Civil War Prints 1861-1920

Physical Description: Approximately 265 prints

Scope and Content

This series contains all prints relating to the American Civil War. It is split into four sub-series: General Prints, Battle Scenes, Portraits and Certificates & Registers.

General Prints, 1861-1899, and undated

Physical Description: 82 items

General Prints

Item Number

Artist. Title. Printer/Publisher, date.

MIL_0000005

Panorama of the Seat of War. Matson & Co., ca. 1861.