THE FLOWER OF LIBERTY

(CHROMOLITHOGRAPHY) FURBISH, Julia THE FLOWER OF LIBERTY.

Cincinnati: White, Corbin, Bouve & Co., 1869. 4to. Publishers salmon cloth, all edges gilt. 131 pages, 50 chromolithographic plates. Second edition.

Scarce item with only one copy in the book auction records for the past thirty-five years.  Originally published in 1868.  During the Civil War, Julia Furbish, of Portland, Maine, painted a series of watercolors of national emblems, taking her inspiration from the various manifestations of the stars and stripes that appeared during the war.  At the war's end, she undertook to publish the present work, an anthology of patriotic verse by many of the nation's leading poets, accompanied by fifty chromolithographic illustrations based on her watercolors printed by the N.E. Lithographic Steam Printing Company.  They are all painted in red, white and blue and most incorporate imagery based on the American flag, the national eagle and other symbols.  The book as a whole is a delightful visual treat.  Some staining to upper margin of first seven pages -- not affecting text or illustrations.  Extremities of spine and tips show some wear, else very good.

 

SOLD