(HISTORY) [Milton Bradley Co] Art Sacrificed to the Public

Sale 2486 - Lot 298

Price Realized: $ 1,062

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 300 - $ 400

(HISTORY.) [Milton Bradley & Co.] Art Sacrificed to the Public! The Historiscope! A Complete Panorama of America! Illustrated broadside in red ink, 15 1/2 x 10 1/2 inches; folds, moderate foxing and soiling, two closed tears; not examined out of frame. Springfield, MA: Samuel Bowles & Company, [1868]

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The young toy manufacturer Milton Bradley began manufacturing miniature panorama scrolls for children circa 1866. The Myriopticon, a Civil War panorama, is probably the best known today (see lot 247). It was issued with mock advertising broadsides, scripts, and tickets so the children could pretend to be showmen. See Burns and Greene, "The Toys of War," in the New York Times, 27 February 2014. This was apparently the broadside issued with the Historiscope panorama. The content is clearly satirical and does not advertise an actual event. In particular, the broadside promises an "historical lecture given at each performance by Prof. Easelpallett," announces "reserved seats sold one year in advance," and urges that "boys with tin whistles are requested to deposit them in the safe." While several examples of the Historiscope panorama are known to survive (Swann sold one in our 14 April 2015 sale), this is the only example we have traced of the accompanying broadside.