Mar 31, 2011 - Sale 2241

Sale 2241 - Lot 109

Price Realized: $ 540
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 300 - $ 400
(CIVIL WAR--CONFEDERATE.) [Volck, Adalbert.] Confederate War Etchings. 29 lithographs, various sizes, on heavier 13 3/4 x 10 1/4 inch mounts as issued, with printed contents leaf; toning and edge wear on a few mounts, particularly the contents sheet and the first print. [Np, circa 1892]
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Additional Details

Adalbert J. Volck (1828-1912) was a German-American dentist in Baltimore with strong sympathies to the Confederate cause. In about 1863, he published a set of 30 anti-Union etchings under the pseudonym Blada. Distribution was likely limited to other sympathizers in the north, and few copies have survived--not surprising, considering the inflammatory content. His work became more widely known when reissued in the 1880s.
Volck's work includes sharply satirical depictions of Lincoln and the abolitionist cause, alternating with sentimental depictions of the heroic Confederate troops and their families. Several images depict the clashes in Baltimore. Neely's Confederate Image, page 53, states that a lithograph edition in a slightly smaller format than the originals was issued circa 1892, which seems to match the present set. Provenance: Dudley Olcott (1838-1919), an Albany, NY banker and Civil War veteran; then by descent to the consignor.