Books and Manuscripts

Philadelphia: I(gnaz). Kohler, 1855. First Kohler edition in English. Engraved broadside with hand-coloring. Engraved by H(ugh). Sebald after T. Nesle. 17 1/4 x 24 1/2 in. (438 x 622 mm). Creasing and scattered short closed tears along edges; light foxing in margins; creasing from contemporary folds, 4 in. closed tear, along top left corner fold. Bidwell 25; Earnest 48 (German-language edition)

"The American eagle, a portrait of Washington, and the figure of Liberty occupy the pediment of the frame. The state seals run along the frieze at the top and along the bottom edge. Franklin and Jefferson stand at either side, and a reproduction of Trumbull's Declaration is set within a cartouche at the bottom, symbols of peace and prosperity to the left, the implements of war to the right." (John Bidwell, American History in Image and Text, 1989).

Ignaz Kohler (1827-1901) was a popular publisher and bookseller in Philadelphia's German community in the second half of the19th century, and during his more than 40-plus years in the publishing industry (active 1851-97) he worked at more than five addresses across the city. He published another version of this print, in German, also in 1855.

Rare in either language.