Books and Manuscripts

Phila(delphia): J(oseph). Hoover, 1881. Chromolithographic print, 21 7/8 x 29 7/8 in. (556 x 759 mm). Laid down on heavy paper; expertly restored, with extensive in-painting around all edges, as well as bottom title and imprint. In frame, 24 1/2 x 32 5/8 in. (622 x 829 mm).

A rare chromolithograph commemorating prominent African American men representative of the advancement of African American civil rights. Depicted at center are bust length portraits of the first two African American Senators in the United States, Blanche Kelso Bruce (1841-1898), at left, and Hiram Rhodes Revels (ca. 1827-1901), at right, both of Mississippi, flanking famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), at center. They are surrounded by vignette scenes illustrating African American life before and after the Civil War, and each corner depicts African American legislators, including John R. Lynch of Mississippi (1847-1939), top left, Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina (1832-1887), top right, Robert Smalls of South Carolina (1839-1915), bottom left, and Charles E. Nash of Louisiana (1844-1913), bottom right. Depicted within a banner of stars and stripes are portraits of Presidents Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885), and James Garfield (1831-1881), and at bottom is a portrait of abolitionist John Brown (1800-1859).

We can locate only five institutional copies of this print, at the Library of Congress, Princeton University, The Library Company of Philadelphia, Western Reserve Historical Society, and Yale University. Auction records trace only eight copies (including the Princeton copy above) ever being sold.