The Civil War to be Re-fought Online (courtesy of the Rosenbach)
- by Michael Stillman
The first shots in the Civil War 150 will be fired this month.
By Michael Stillman
On November 6, 1860, American voters went to the polls. Their choices assured the most important changes in American history would soon take place. They selected as their president a former one-term congressman from Illinois named Abraham Lincoln over the long-time highly influential senator Stephen Douglas, who had defeated Lincoln in the Illinois senate election just two years earlier, John Breckenridge, the sitting vice-president, and John Bell, a former senator, Secretary of War, and Speaker of the House. The election results were divided north versus south, and soon the nation would be too. The South would not abide Lincoln being president.
One hundred and fifty years later, and light years in terms of technological advancement, the Civil War will be relived, though this time, thankfully, from the comfort of your home. The Rosenbach Museum and Library will be hosting an ever-changing online exhibition of that terrible conflict, just as it progressed, only 150 years later. No one will be killed or wounded this time, families will not be split, men will not be maimed, no one will be placed in ghastly prison camps again. However, you will have a chance to relive the tension, excitement, and horrors of that critical period in America's life as it evolved. Documents and other material from the Rosenbach's extensive collection of Civil War-era material will be posted to their site on the day they were created… plus 150 years.
What will emerge over the next five years are letters from leaders during the conflict, including Lincoln, Grant and Lee, along with letters from ordinary soldiers held in the Rosenbach collections. You will find other material pertaining to the debate that set off this uncivil conflict, slavery vs. abolition. There are newspapers that revealed events in the struggle as they unfolded, which will appear on the day of publication plus 150 years. Photographs and books will also be displayed, along with something new - new musical compositions created by jazz pianist Dave Burrell as a tribute to the times.
Through July of next year, the focus will be on the early days of the war, the events leading up to its beginning and the first days of the conflict. Among the items to be seen will be the papers of Elmer Elsworth, the first soldier killed in the war; Robert E. Lee's letter of resignation from the Union Army, sent to General Winfield Scott; and Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard's report on the first Battle of Manassas.
Civil War 150, the title of the exhibitions being prepared by the Rosenbach, will run until the war is "over," which in this case will be April of 2015. What will the Rosenbach offer after that date? We don't know. Perhaps a Reconstruction of their website.
DOYLE, July 23: STOKES, I. N. PHELPS. The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498-1909. New York: Robert H. Dodd, 1915-28. Estimate: $3,000-5,000
DOYLE, July 23: [AUTOGRAPH - US PRESIDENT]FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT. A signed photograph of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Estimate $500-800
DOYLE, July 23: [ARION PRESS]. ABBOTT, EDWIN A. Flatland. A Romance of Many Dimensions. San Francisco, 1980. Estimate $2,000-3,000.
DOYLE, July 23: TOLSTOY, LYOF N. and NATHAN HASKELL DOLE, translator. Anna Karénina ... in eight parts. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., [1886]. Estimate: $400-600
DOYLE, July 23: ROWLING, J.K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. London: Bloomsbury, 2000. Estimate $1,200-1,800
Freeman’s | Hindman Western Manuscripts and Miniatures July 8, 2025
Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. FRANCESCO PETRARCH (b. Arezzo, 20 July 1304; d. Arqua Petrarca, 19 July 1374). $20,000-30,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF THE MASTER OF THE VITAE IMPERATORUM (active Milan, 1431-1459). $15,000-20,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF ATTAVANTE DEGLI ATTAVANTI (GABRIELLO DI VANTE) (active Florence, c. 1452-c. 1520/25). $15,000-20,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. FOLLOWER OF HERMAN SCHEERE (active London, c. 1405-1425). $15,000-20,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. An exceptionally rare, illuminated music leaf from a Mozarabic Antiphonal with sister leaves mostly in museum collections. $11,500-14,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. Exceptional leaf from a prestigious Antiphonary by a leading illuminator of the late Duecento. $11,500-14,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF THE MASTER OF MS REID 33 and SELWERD ABBEY SCRIPTORIUM (AGNES MARTINI?) (active The Netherlands, Groningen, c. 1468-1510). $10,000-15,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. Previously unknown illumination from one of the most renowned Gothic Choir Book sets of the Middle Ages. $6,000-8,000.
Sotheby’s Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern Now through July 10, 2025
Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Book of Hours by the Masters of Otto van Moerdrecht, Use of Sarum, in Latin, Southern Netherlands (Bruges), c.1450. £20,000 to £30,000.
Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Albert Einstein. Autograph letter signed, to Attilio Palatino, on his research into General Relativity, 12 May 1929. £12,000 to £18,000.
Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: John Gould. The Birds of Europe, [1832-] 1837, 5 volumes, contemporary half morocco, subscriber’s copy. £40,000 to £60,000.
Sotheby’s Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern Now through July 10, 2025
Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Ian Fleming. A collection of James Bond first editions, 8 volumes in all. £8,000 to £12,000.
Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue. £50,000 to £70,000.
Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: J.R.R. Tolkien. Autograph letter signed, to Amy Ronald, on Pauline Baynes's map of Middle Earth, 1970. £7,000 to £10,000.