1870s Historical Memorabilia

Rare 19th Century Bank Check Drawn on the "National Whaling Bank" of New London, Connecticut, written on 23 December and deposited and cancelled on 5 January 1872. The check is adorn...

Harvard Fraternal Medallion - Delta Kappa Epsilon DKE 1877 Robert P. Hastings Silver Medallion by the Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity to Robert P. Hastings Harvard College 1873-1877 The Hastings College of Law was founded by Serranus Clinton Hastings, a man of diverse and magnificent accomplishments. Schoolmaster, lawyer, legislator, member of Congress, Chief Justice...

Original Italian carriage from around 1870-80. Four-wheeled carriage equipped with a large foldable canvas bellows, with a two-seat seat for passengers and fitted with a higher seat ...

Presented is an original Ulysses S. Grant signed Presidential Appointment, dating to February 28, 1871. Signed during the first term of Grant's presidency, the document appoints "Robert W. Healy" to the role of "Marshal of the United States in and for the Southern District of Alabama." The appointment is countersigned by "Hamilton Fish" as Secretary of State. The document is partially printed in formal script, and completed by hand in black ink. The document reads in full: “Ulysses S. Grant, President of the United States of America. To all who shall see these presents greeting: Know ye, That reposing special trust and confidence in the Integrity, Ability, and Diligence of Robert W. Healy, I have Nominated, and, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, DO APPOINT HIM Marshal of the United States in & for the Southern District of Alabama; and do authorize & empower him to execute and fulfill the duties of that Office according to Law. And to hold and hold the said Office, with all the powers, privileges, and emoluments to the same of right appertaining, unto him, the said Robert W. Healy, for the term of four years from the day of the date hereof, subject to the conditions prescribed by law. In Testimony Whereof, I have caused these Letters to be made Patent, and the Seat of the United States to be hereunto affixed. Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, the Twenty eighth...

Presented here is an 1876 engraving of John B. Bachelder and James Walker’s Gettysburg. The Repulse of Longstreet’s Assault. The engraved scene depicts the decisive battle on the final day of the Battle of Gettysburg. Researched by the photographer and topographer John B. Bachelder and painted by James Walker, the original painting was created in 1870. This detailed engraving was done by H. B. Hall Jr. and published by James Drummond Ball. Otherwise called Pickett’s Charge, the battle occurred on July 3, 1863. Pickett’s corp commander, Lieutenant General James Longstreet was placed in charge of the attack despite his hesitations. Longstreet’s central role led to the title of the work, Repulse of Longstreet’s Assault. In an attempt to gain control of an important supply route, nine Confederate brigades charged across three-quarters of a mile of open ground against cannon fire to take Cemetery Ridge from the defending Union Army. Despite their overwhelming numbers, the Confederate forces were repelled with considerable casualties marking not only a decisive victory for the Union, but also the beginning of the slow defeat of Lee’s Army. The furthest the charging forces advanced before being repulsed would forever be known as the “High Water Mark of the Confederacy.” The Confederate army never recovered from the losses at Gettysburg and it effectively ended Lee’s campaign into Pennsylvania. The engraving gives the perspective from the Union rear, one that encompasses most of the battlefield, from Big Round Top on the left to the northern reaches of Cemetery Ridge on the right. The Confederate lines at Seminary Ridge are in the far distance, partially obscured by bursting shells. The image centers on the main Confederate assault, in the vicinity of what today are known as "The Copse" and "The Bloody Angle." The composition has elemen...

These bronze figures show Edward, Prince of Wales, standing in a nonchalant pose with one leg crossed over the other, a cigar in his left hand, his hat at his feet and a shotgun slung over his right arm. The elegant Princess of Wales is depicted skating, with feathers in her hat, and wearing a fur-trimmed coat and muff as the wind catches her three-quarter length skirt. Each stamped Elkington & Co Founders and G 1870. English, dated 1870. Provenance: Prince Victor of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Count Gleichen. Prince Victor of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Count Gleichen, was the son of Prince Ernst of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and Princess Feodore of Leiningen, half-sister to Queen Victoria. He ran away from school to England in 1848 and was sponsored to enter the Royal Navy by Queen Victoria. In 1854 he attained the rank of Lieutenant after serving as mate on the flagship Cumberland, where his future brother-in-law was captain and his future father-in-law was admiral. In 1866 he retired from the navy and trained with the British sculptor William Theed. As a sculptor, he carried out several portrait commissions for Queen Victoria including a statuette of Prince Alfred, her second son, and another of Prince Albert Victor...

Each of these oak Glastonbury chairs has a pointed back and a fixed rectangular seat. The shaped arms and X-frame legs are attached with protruding pegs, giving the impression of a c...

Presented is Warren Holt and Charles Drayton Gibbes' 1873 “Map of California and Nevada.” This map is considered to be one of the finest large-scale ...

Yellow oil cloth cowboy slicker with slit back outside pockets and brass buttons. Corduroy collar, no makers mark but there were only 3 makers. Period: Last quarter of the 19th cent...

Parton, James. Life of Andrew Jackson. Boston: James R. Osgood and Company, 1876. Three volume set, later printing. Rebound in ¼ calf and matching blue cloth boards with gilt titles, stamps, and raised bands to spine. With matching archival blue cloth slip case with ribbon and inlaid portrait of Jackson on the cover. Presented is an 1876 printing of James Parton’s three volume biography of President Andrew Jackson. First published in 1859-60 by Mason Brothers of New York, this is a later printing by Boston-based James R. Osgood and Company. James Parton's biography of the life of Andrew Jackson is one of the most important and best accounts on the early American president. In fact, Bunn and Williams call this work "the first serious biography of the [Jackson]" (Bunn). Parton’s biography appeared in print amid the escalating political crisis of 1860, providing readers and pundits with a historical lens through which to view current events. Born in England and raised primarily in the United States, James Parton (1822-1891) was among the leading biographers of the mid-nineteenth century. His Life of Horace Greeley (1855) and Life and Times of Aaron Burr (1857) garnered widespread acclaim, and he would later publish books on Benjamin Butler...

Pre-reservation Cheyenne dress. Hand-sewn, pieced together; blue trade cloth, ribbon-like edging, cowry shell cape on both sides. This piece without any restoration. Hard to find thi...

Audsley, George Ashdown and James, Lord Bowes ‘The Keramic Art of Japan’, Liverpool and London, Henry Sotheran, 1875. 2 volumes, first edition hardback folio including 41 coloured an...

Faceted Beads; Arapaho/Sioux dress on brain-tanned buffalo. Simple four color design; was probably the first dress made after quilling. Stars on dress, and...

This nineteenth-century engraving shows a liberty pole being raised in a town square in 1776, while a sign bearing the face of King George III is removed in the background. The rioto...

Presented here is an 1876 engraving of John B. Bachelder and James Walker’s Gettysburg. Repulse of Longstreet’s Assault together with two ornately decorated Union Officer swords...

Presented is a rare Centennial patriotic flag banner, dating to 1876. The flag’s rich blue canton is spectacular, with 81 five-pointed, rayed stars printed in white and arranged to read “1776” and “1876.” The flag’s design is completed with thirteen alternating red and white stripes. The fly is a two-piece, machine sewn construction. The hoist to this large wool flag has five brass rings, original to 1876. In the lead up to the nation’s Centennial in 1876, flag makers and individuals looked to the past for designs to produce as part of the country’s many celebrations. Popular interpretation of the stars and stripes undoubtedly reached its climax of variety and originality at the time of our Nation’s first Centennial. Since no design restrictions were placed on flagmaker’s imaginations and no strict distinctions were drawn between official and unofficial star counts, it is no surprise that, on the occasion of the Centennial, creativity in flag design was not the exception, but the rule. The cantons from this period presented an array of geometric abstractions. Great star patterns, referred to as the “starry flower of Liberty” by Oliver Wendell Holmes, that were popular from 1818...

Antique American Flag with 10-pointed stars that spell “1776 – 1876”, Made for the 100-Year Anniversary Of American Independence,one of the most graphic of all early examples. Man...

34 STARS IN A WHIMSICAL RENDITION OF THE GREAT STAR PATTERN, ON A CIVIL WAR PERIOD FLAG WITH A CORNFLOWER BLUE CANTON, UPDATED TO 39 STARS IN 1876 34 star American national flag with additional stars added and one of the most stunning graphic designs I have ever seen in early flag-making. The original pattern was comprised of a circle of 5 large stars, and triangular arms made of smaller stars. These are noticeable pointy and bent like the arms of a starfish. Made of cotton, the stars are hand-sewn and double-appliquéd to a fantastic, cornflower blue canton, a color common to Civil War uniforms...