Jay T. Last Collection of Military Prints and Ephemera: Finding Aid
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http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8df6thn Online items available Jay T. Last Collection of Military Prints and Ephemera: Finding Aid Finding aid prepared by Charla DelaCuadra. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Prints and Ephemera The Huntington Library 1151 Oxford Road San Marino, California 91108 Phone: (626) 405-2191 Email: [email protected] URL: http://www.huntington.org © 2016 The Huntington Library. All rights reserved. Jay T. Last Collection of Military priJLC_MIL 1 Prints and Ephemera: Finding Aid Overview of the Collection Title: Jay T. Last Collection of Military Prints and Ephemera Dates (inclusive): 1785-1966 Bulk dates: 1860-1900 Collection Number: priJLC_MIL Collector: Last, Jay T. Extent: approximately 4,900 items Repository: The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Prints and Ephemera 1151 Oxford Road San Marino, California 91108 Phone: (626) 405-2191 Email: [email protected] URL: http://www.huntington.org Abstract: The Jay T. Last Collection of Military Prints and Ephemera contains approximately 4,900 printed items from 1785 to 1966, with the majority of material dating from 1860 to 1900. The collection consists of prints depicting primarily American battle scenes, forts, camps, prisons, and military officers; advertising ephemera with military-related images, more than 3,000 Civil War-era patriotic envelopes, and over 100 Civil War-era song sheets. Language: English. Note: Finding aid last updated on February 13, 2017. Access Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services. Publication Rights In order to quote from, publish, or reproduce any of the visual materials, researchers must obtain formal permission from the office of the Library Director. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Huntington as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained. Preferred Citation [Item title, Call number]. Jay T. Last Collection of Military Prints and Ephemera, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California. Provenance This collection forms part of the Jay T. Last Collection of Graphic Arts and Social History, which was donated to the Huntington Library by Jay T. Last in 2005 as a gift in progress. The bulk of the Military Prints and Ephemera was transferred to the Library between 2010 and 2013. Background The Jay T. Last Collection is an unparalleled archive of printed paper artifacts that documents American lithographic, social, and business history. The collection began in the early 1970s when physicist and Silicon Valley pioneer Jay Last moved to Southern California and started collecting citrus box labels he found at local flea markets and rummage sales. As his collection grew, Last realized that these labels conveyed important information about commercial printing, graphic design, and social history, and he expanded his collection to include other forms of American visual culture. Today this collection contains more than 200,000 lithographic prints, posters, and ephemera of mostly nineteenth- and early twentieth- century American origin and represents works by more than five hundred lithographic companies. Scope and Content The Jay T. Last Collection of Military Prints and Ephemera contains approximately 4,900 printed items from 1785 to 1966, with the majority of material dating from 1860 to 1900. The collection consists of prints depicting primarily American battle scenes, forts, camps, prisons, and military officers; advertising ephemera with military-related images, more than 3,000 Civil War-era patriotic envelopes, and over 100 Civil War-era song sheets. Materials are arranged in two series: small-size items (11 x 14 inches or less) and large-size items (bigger than 11 x 14 inches). Small-size items measuring less than 8 x 10 inches are described broadly at the series level; large-size items and small-size items between 8 x 10 inches and 11 x 14 inches are fully inventoried, and all printers, artists, and publishers are indexed by name. The collection has nearly 400 large-size items comprised mainly of lithographic and engraved prints Jay T. Last Collection of Military priJLC_MIL 2 Prints and Ephemera: Finding Aid including printed illustrations of battlefields, certificates and contracts, and portraits of major military and political figures during wartime. Small-size items in the collection number almost 4,500 items and are comprised mainly of patriotic envelopes (also known as patriotic covers) from the American Civil War. Other stationery such as postcards and printed billheads and letterheads (with and without manuscript text) are found in this series, as well as advertising ephemera with military-related illustrations. The collection mainly includes prints and ephemera related to the American Civil War, both contemporaneous and commemorative in nature. The American Revolutionary War, the Mexican-American War, and the Spanish-American War are also represented. The images are primarily documentary or patriotic in nature and provide information about the American military, as well as the evolution of advertising strategies employed by businesses during periods of conflict in the 19th and early 20th centuries. As graphic materials, the items offer evidence of printmaking techniques and trends, as well as information about the artists, engravers, lithographers, printers, and publishers involved in the creative process. Alternative Form of Materials Available Visit the Huntington Digital Library: Jay T. Last Collection to view digitized items from this collection. Related materials in the Huntington Library • Envelopes Issued During the War of the Rebellion 1861-1865 collected by John P. Nicholson. (call #95458) • Broadside Songs and Ballads of the Rebellion 1861-1865 collected by John P. Nicholson. (call #100053) Both of the above are part of the John Page Nicholson Papers and Civil War Collection, a large group of manuscripts, rare books, and prints and ephemera related to the American Civil War. The Huntington Library Historical Prints Collection contains two related items (priHHC_MIL_0000004; priHHC_MIL_0000005) that are listed in the "Related Materials" section at the beginning of Series II, Subseries A in this finding aid. Arrangement The collection is arranged in the following series and subseries: Series I. Military Prints and Ephemera (small size) Subseries A. American Civil War (small size) Subseries B. Other Military (small size) Series II. Military Prints and Ephemera (large size) Subseries A. American Civil War (large size) Subseries B. Other Military (large size) Items are arranged numerically by call number and described in the following format: Title of print. Date Artist(s) (when known). Printer(s). Publisher(s) Indexing Terms The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Huntington Library's Online Catalog. Genres Billheads. Business cards. Certificates. Chromolithographs. Contracts. Ephemera. Ephemera -- United States -- 19th century. Ephemera -- United States -- 20th century. Engravings. Handbills. Intaglio prints. Leaflets (printed works). Letterheads. Lithographs. Maps. Jay T. Last Collection of Military priJLC_MIL 3 Prints and Ephemera: Finding Aid Newspapers. Patriotic envelopes. Pictorial envelopes. Political cartoons. Portrait prints. Postcards. Printed ephemera. Promotional materials. Registers. Relief prints. Stationery. Tickets. Trade cards. Views. Subjects Admirals -- United States -- Pictorial works. African American men -- Pictorial works. African Americans -- Pictorial works. Andersonville Prison -- Pictorial works. Artillery -- Pictorial works. Battlefields -- Pictorial works. Battles -- Pictorial works. Bombardment -- Pictorial works. Cannons -- Pictorial works. Cavalry -- Pictorial works. Columbia (Symbolic character) -- Pictorial works. Confederate States of America. Confederate States of America. Army -- Prisons -- Pictorial works. Correctional institutions -- Pictorial works. Davis, Jefferson, 1808-1889 -- Pictorial works. Eagles -- Pictorial works. Families -- Pictorial works. Farragut, David Glasgow, 1801-1870 -- Pictorial works. Flags -- Pictorial works. Fortification -- Pictorial works. Generals -- Confederate States of America -- Pictorial works. Generals -- Pictorial works. Generals -- United States -- Pictorial works. Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885 -- Pictorial works. Horses -- Pictorial works. Hospitals -- Pictorial works. Indians of North America -- Pictorial works. Jackson, Andrew, 1767-1845 -- Pictorial works. Jackson, Stonewall, 1824-1863 -- Pictorial works. Lee, Robert E. (Robert Edward), 1807-1870 -- Pictorial works. Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 -- Pictorial works. Maps -- Pictorial works. McClellan, George Brinton, 1826-1885 -- Pictorial works. Jay T. Last Collection of Military priJLC_MIL 4 Prints and Ephemera: Finding Aid Mexican War, 1846-1848 -- Pictorial works. Military camps -- Pictorial works. Military hospitals -- Pictorial works. Military prisons -- Pictorial works. Military service, Voluntary. Monuments -- Pictorial works. Naval battles -- Pictorial works. Parades -- Pictorial works. Politicians -- Pictorial works. Presidents -- Confederate States of America -- Pictorial works. Presidents -- United States -- Pictorial works. Prisoners of war -- United States. Sailors -- Pictorial works. Scott, Winfield, 1786-1866 -- Pictorial works.