1850s Historical Memorabilia

This prisoner of war bone wall panel has a central roundel depicting Charles I and four of his closest advisors, William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, George Villers, Duke of Buckingham...

"The Declaration of Independence and Portraits of the Presidents" Engraving by Illman & Sons, Late 1850s Presented is an impressive ...

Irving, Washington. Life of George Washington. New York: G.P. Putnam & Co.,1855-1859. 5 vols. set. Rebound in quarter tan calf leather and cloth with gilt and bilnd embossed stamps, titles, and tooling to boards and spine. Housed in a matching custom archival slipcase. Presented is a beautiful five-volume set of Washington Irving’s Life of Washington. Originally published in 1855 (Volumes I-III), 1857 (Volume IV) and 1859 (Volume V), this set contains both first and second editions. In order from Volume I to Volume V, these books were printed in 1856, 1855, 1856, 1857, and 1859. All volumes have been beautiful rebound in quarter tan calf leather and cloth, with blind embossed tooling and stamps to spines and front boards, raised bands and gilt embossed titles to spines, and a brown embossed facsimile signature of Washington to all front boards. All five volumes are housed together in a custom archival lined cloth slipcase with ribbon. Washington Irving's biography covers Washington’s military career, presidency, and his personal life. Using The Writings of George Washington and George Washington’s personal letters housed at the State Department, Irving was able to recreate Washington’s life after two years of extensive research. Unlike other Washington biographers of the time, like Mason Locke Weems and Chief Justice John Marshall, Irving wrote of Washington in a narrative style and painted a picture of a relatable figure to celebrate, rather than the mythical and infallible founding father. His contemporaries, like historians George Bancroft and William Prescott...

La Mort du Chevalier Bayard A Silver and Quartz Paperweight The Famous "Sans Peur et Sans Reproche" Bayard Knight wounded, laying down and watched by an Angel Dedicated " Le Duc de C...

This small thirty-three star parade flag is printed on coarse cotton and is good condition considering the age. Newly framed. The flag measurements are 9 inches wide x 5.75 inches tall. The frame measures 12 inches x 15 inches. A great piece of American history. The thirty third star was added for the state of Oregon, which was admitted to the United States of America on February 14th, 1859. This flag was official from 1859-1861, and was thus still the flag flying over Ft. Sumter when it was fired upon on April 12th, 1861, marking the beginning of the Civil War. Because the 34th state, Kansas, had already acquired statehood on January 29th, 1861, flag makers knew that the 34 star flag would soon become official. According to flag experts, it is for this reason that 33 star flags were not produced in great quantity for the war, which would last until 1865, and the 33 can be considered to be more of a pre-Civil war flag...

Charles Mottram, British (1807-1876) Engraving of New York Harbor, marked "Proof" in lower left margin, printed by McQueen, circa 1855.

19th century hand carved armorial shield We are proud to offer a wonderful example of a 19th century hand carved pine family armorial shield. Engraved...

Fanny’s Box We are proud to offer a unique 19th century hand carved horn snuff box by repute owned by Francesca "Fanny" Cerrito (11 May 1817 – 6 May 1909) Fanny was an Italian balle...

1853 Washington crossing the Delaware engraving by Paul Girardet, after Emanuel Leutze, in period gilt frame This finely executed e...

Irving, Washington. Life of George Washington. New York: G.P. Putnam, 1857-1864. Five-volume set. First and early editions. Bound in full leather. Housed in custom slipcase. Presented is a beautiful five-volume set of Washington Irving’s Life of Washington. Originally published in 1855 (volumes I-III), 1857 (volume IV) and 1859 (volume V), this set includes early editions of each volume and a first edition of volume IV. In order from Volume I to Volume V, these books were printed in 1860, 1859, 1860, 1857, and 1864. All have later matching bindings with full leather and gilt embossed decorative spines. The endpages are beautifully marbled with matching edging. All five volumes are housed together in a custom archival slipcase. Washington Irving (1783-1859) was an American short story writer, biographer, and diplomat. Most famous for his short stories Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Irving was also hailed as a great early American historical writer. Irving was the youngest of eight children and found he had a love of writing, often writing essays for his brother’s newspaper, The Morning Chronicle. In his spare time, Irving would study law and passed the bar exam in 1806 despite never attending college. However, in 1819, he decided to try and make a living solely on his writing and soon published his first major work The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, a collection of short stories that demonstrated his unique style and fabulous wit. Spending many years writing abroad in Europe, Irving soon served as the Secretary to the U.S. legation in London from 1829-1832 and then Minister to Spain from 1842-1846. Upon his return to the United States, Irving dedicated the rest of his life to writing. Irving wrote his biography of George Washington in his New York estate, “Sunnyside,” near the Hudson River. Irving was not the first to write a biography on the Father of Hi Country. Chief Justice John Marshall and Mason Lock Weems (who invented the cherry tree myth) wrote biographies of Washington previously, but Irving’s was adamant that his version would sell. This biography covers Washington’s military career, presidency, and his personal life. Using The Writings of George Washington and his personal letters housed in the State Department, Irving was able to recreate Washington’s life after two years of research. Unlike other biographers of the time, Irving wrote of Washington in a narrative style and painted a picture of a relatable figure to celebrate rather than the mythical and infallible founding father. Other historians of the time, such as George Bancroft and William Prescott...

"New Map of that Portion of North America, exhibiting the United States and Territories, The Canadas, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Mexico, also Central America, and the West India...

Presented is a scarce American wall map of the United States and Mexico issued by Ensign, Bridgman, and Fanning in 1857. As the title suggests, the map covers all of the United State...