The Fathers and Saviors of Our Country: A Presidential Sale

5 patriotic postal covers with wood-engraved vignettes, each 3 1/4 x 6 in. (Light edge toning).

In these satirical “champion prize fight” covers by J. H. Tingley, President Abraham Lincoln and General Winfield Scott square off against Confederate President Jefferson Davis and General P. G. T. Beauregard, observed by a mix of onlookers. The scenes reflect early Union confidence—a belief that the conflict would be brief and decisively won—as Lincoln handily overpowers Davis in the imagined bout.