Currier & Ives “The Battle of the Wilderness Va. May 5th & 6th. 1864”

Currier & Ives.  “The Battle of the Wilderness Va. May 5^th & 6^th. 1864.” 

Currier & Ives, ca. 1864.  Small folio.  8 x 12 1/2.  Lithograph.  Partial original hand color.  Large margins.  C:436.  A/A

From 1834 to 1907 the firm of Nathaniel Currier, and then Currier and Ives, provided for the American people a pictorial history of their country’s growth from an agricultural society to an industrialized one.  The firm produced two types of prints–”rush” stock prints quickly made to provide information about newsworthy events, and “stock” prints depicting every conceivable subject relating to American life, such as city views, sports, games, home life, religion, entertainment, and so forth.  These print had a profound effect on popular culture, both reflecting and influencing the tastes, attitudes and perception of the world held by many Americans.  Most “rush” prints, like this one, were issued in small folio size, which was easy to produce in a hurry.