Civil War-Era Pictorial envelopes and song sheets
Collection
0370-MDHC
This collection consists of twenty-four Civil War-Era envelopes and four song sheets, depicting nine different locations in Baltimore, Maryland. The views consist of: the Washington Monument, Fort McHenry, Belger Barracks, Camp Chesebrough, Fort Federal Hill, Lafayette Barracks, Fort Marshall, the Battery at Stewart's Place, and U.S.A. General Hospital at McKim's Mansion. They are decorated with full lithographic and stencil color or metallic inks. They are both colored and monochrome. Three of the envelopes are signed by Charles Magnus, a publisher of patriotic envelopes during the Civil War.
This collection is open for research.
Photocopies of original materials may be provided for a fee and at the discretion of the curator. Please see our Duplication of Materials policy for more information. Queries regarding publication rights and copyright status of materials within this collection should be directed to the appropriate curator.
28 Items
The Civil War-Era Pictorial envelopes and song sheets, which covers the period of 1861 to 1865, consists of envelopes and song sheets that depict different locations in Baltimore, Maryland, during the Civil War. The song sheets include lithographs paired with patriotic songs. Three of the envelopes were signed by Charles Magnus. The envelopes in the collection are extremely similar, and it is possible Magnus published all of them, however, other publishers may have copied Magnus's style.
Charles Magnus was famous print publisher, map dealer, and book seller from New York City during the mid-nineteenth century. He is best known for his city views and Civil War related material, publishing about 700 patriotic envelopes during the Civil War. Magnus used allegorical figures, battle scenes, political cartoons, portraits, and state emblems on these patriotic envelopes. He was born in Germany in 1826, but moved to New York City in 1848 and lived there until his death in 1900. Several other institutions around the country hold collections of Magnus's patriotic envelopes. See related material for more information.
The Civil War-Era Pictorial Envelopes is organized as two series.
The University of Maryland purchased the Civil War-Era Pictorial envelopes from manuscripts dealer William Reese in October 2012. The four song sheets were purchased from Michael J. Osborne Books in 2014.
The envelopes arrived in a large envelope with no original order. They were arranged, alphabetically by geographic location, in mylar sleeves and filed in an acid-free photo box. Envelopes with images of the same location are ordered numerically by the number located on the envelope. The song sheets were put in mylar sleeves and filed alphabetically by location.
Part of the Special Collections and University Archives