Graphics Collection Number: 106
Extent: 1 box, 23 items.
Content: Hand-colored lithographic prints.
Access: The collection is open for research.
Processed: 1997 by Iris Snyder.
Max Rosenthal became a partner with his older brother Louis in a printing business, and they were soon joined by Morris and Simon. Louis never lithographed, he was a publisher and printer, and Morris and Simon branched into other parts of the business. Max became well known as a lithographer and, after his retirement in 1884, devoted his attention to teaching, mezzotint engraving, and oil painting. With his son Albert Rosenthal, also an artist, Max produced over five hundred portrait prints of famous American political and military figures. Original drawings for his work are held by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
The Rosenthals produced both hand-colored lithographs and chromolithographs. They produced some of the earliest chromolithographs in the United States including Charles W. Webber's Hunter-Naturalist, published in 1851, and a number of large views of Philadelphia architecture. A number of these Philadelphia prints were based on watercolors and sketches by Max Rosenthal. They produced book illustrations on Philadelphia views, caricatures of famous people, and works for the federal government.
The views of Civil War encampments found in this collection are a part of a large number of Civil War works done by the company. Over one hundred and fifty views of specific battles and encampments were made from pencil drawings and hand-colored after printing. Although not signed, they are thought to have been done by Max Rosenthal, who had a pass giving him access to every camp of the Army of the Potomac. Many of these were done in a similar format: the drawings are three or four inches by eight inches and have gold frame-lines. They may have been produced on commission for direct sale to the soldiers and their families.
Each print measures approximately 11 by 15 inches. Because there is some paper loss at the edges of some prints, the measurements are inexact. The prints are in fair to poor condition with staining and small tears. The Library's collection of these prints appears to have been obtained from several sources and was not brought together by a known collector.
F1 Camp Andrews, 128th Regt..., 1862 F2 Camp Boas, 127th Regt. P. V., 1862 F3 Camp Brightwood ..., n.d. F4 Camp Brightwood, Winter Quarters of the 7th Massachusetts Vols., n.d. F5 Camp Chase, 12th Regt. R. I. Vols., 1862 F6 Camp Chase, 147th Regt., N.Y.S.V., 1862 F7 Camp Chase, Va 11th Regt, N. H. Vols., 1862 F8 Camp Fornet, 22d Regt. New Jersey Volunts., 1862 F9 Camp Hathaway, 141st Regt N.Y.S.V., 1863 F10 Camp Knox, 11th Regt. Me vols., 1861 F11 Camp Morris, 15th Regt. New Jersey Vols., 1862 F12 Camp of the 131st Regt. Pa Vols., 1862 F13 Camp Palmer, 1st Regiment Mich Cavalry, 1861 F14 Camp Pomroy, 111th Regiment, New York, 1863 F15 Camp Seward, 22nd Regt. Me V, 1862 F16 Camp Seward, 27th Regt. Me Vs, n.d. F17 Camp Seward, 170th N Y V, 1862 F18 Camp Vermont, Va. 4th Dele Infy, 1863 F19 Camp Worcester, 34th Mass. Vols., 1862 F20 Camp 19th Regt. Connecticut Vols., 1862 F21 Camp 84th Pa V ..., n.d. F22 Fort Alexander, 18th Regt. Me Vols., 1862 F23 Fort Pennsylvania Head Quarters of the 113th Regt. N.Y.S.V., 1862
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