American Historical Ephemera & Early Photography Online

[LINCOLNIANA]. Archive of correspondence, photographs, ledgers, mockups, and other ephemera related to Frederick Hill Meserve, preeminent collector of Lincoln and Civil War photography.

An archive comprised of more than 500 items collected by Frederick Hill Meserve, including more than 250 letters written to and from Meserve, consisting of correspondence exchanged with museum and university professionals, publishers and private individuals. -- 13 ledgers identified to Meserve containing a combination of accounting information and copies of his correspondence. -- 2 land deeds from Meserve to Seth Milliken. -- 75+ publications relative to Lincoln, collecting, Quill Club of New York, and other organizations. -- Multiple partial mockups/proofs of Meserve's Photographs of Abraham Lincoln (approx. 10), all lacking tipped-in photographs, but including notes, many of which appear to be written in Meserve's hand. Includes "Final Proof Sheets of Meserve Historical Index, published 1915" as annotated on paper wrapper. -- Approx. 9 mockups in varying sizes of a book entitled This is Abraham Lincoln by Meserve, one copy inscribed in pencil on the cover, "A suggestion for the book if I had been asked to do it." Signed "F.H. Meserve, 1942." Each with tipped in illustrations and accompanying descriptions. -- More than 100 photographs, including prints made from the original negatives and copy prints of Lincoln, his contemporaries, political events, other politicians and 19th-early 20th century personalities. Some are inscribed on verso by Meserve. -- Political Debates between Hon. Abraham Lincoln and Hon. Stephen A. Douglas...Columbus: Follett, Foster and Company, 1860. Lacking covers. -- 20th century copy album inscribed on cover, "The Lincoln Conspiracy from Col. A.A. Rand's album, pages 2069-2100." Interior notation indicates that the album was compiled and photographed by Floyd F. Rinhart, January 1971, from the original Col. A.A. Rand album. Plentifully illustrated with photographic reproductions throughout. -- And more.

Frederick Hill Meserve (1865-1962), the first great collector of historical photographs, began building his collection in 1897 with the intention of illustrating the diary his father kept during the Civil War. He acquired 10,000 of Mathew Brady's original negatives in 1902, which included multiple portraits of Lincoln. Over the next sixty years, Meserve continued to collect portraits of Lincoln and his contemporaries. He eventually amassed approximately 200,000 images of Lincoln, including some previously unknown photos. In 1911, Meserve privately printed a book entitled Photographs of Abraham Lincoln. In 1917, four sets of a twenty-eight-volume work, Historical Photographs, were produced; and two more sets were made in 1944. Carl Sandburg assisted Meserve in the publication of The Photographs of Abraham Lincoln (1941).

Through his work as a collector, Meserve preserved thousands of photographs of 19th century public figures. Realizing the importance of the collection, he generously made it available both to professional historians and history enthusiasts. In 2015, the Meserve-Kunhardt Collection was acquired by the Yale Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, New Haven, Connecticut.

An extensive collection worthy of additional research.