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Abraham Lincoln collection
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Held at: University of Delaware Library Special Collections [Contact Us]181 South College Avenue, Newark, DE 19717-5267
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the University of Delaware Library Special Collections. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
The Lincoln Club of Delaware was founded in 1929 as an informal gathering of Lincoln admirers who met yearly for a dinner program celebrating the anniversary of Lincoln's birthday. In 1938, Lincoln Club founding member Frank G. Tallman gave his extensive collection of over 2,000 items related to Lincoln to the public library, and a committee of the Lincoln Club was formed to catalog and care for the collection. Tallman's collection included books, pamphlets, photographs, art, artifacts, and historical documents. The Lincoln Club cared for the Tallman collection at the Wilmington Institute Free Library where it was housed until 1972. In that year, the Club donated the collection to the University of Delaware and relocated the collection to the University's Goodstay Center in Wilmington. In 1998, the collection was transferred to the University of Delaware campus for better security and improved access for research and exhibitions.
Grier, Albert O.H. and Harold Brayman.A History of the Lincoln Club of Delaware. [Wilmington?]: Lincoln Club of Delaware, 1970.
The Abraham Lincoln collection comprises a variety of Lincolniana collected and assembled by the Lincoln Club of Delaware. The collection includes Civil War era newspapers, art work, sheet music, and realia connected to the life and presidency of Abraham Lincoln. The core of the collection was assembled by Frank G. Tallman, a founding member of the Lincoln Club and private collector of Lincolniana. A significant series in the collection includes extensive correspondence documenting his collecting activities.
The Abraham Lincoln collection was a gift of the Lincoln Club of Delaware to the University of Delaware in 1972. Initially begun by Frank G. Tallman, the collection of correspondence, newspapers, artwork and photographs, and ephemera and realia related to Abraham Lincoln was supplemented by gifts from J. Stuart Groves and other members of the Club.
There are five series in the collection, arranged by type of material: I. Frank G. Tallman correspondence, II. Civil War era newspapers, III. Graphic Images, IV. Ephemera, and V. Realia.
Series I., Frank G. Tallman correspondence, documents his activities as a collector of Lincolniana. In addition to correspondence with booksellers, the series contains letters documenting the provenance and authenticity of specific items in the collection, such as the collection's copy of the Emancipation Proclamation, the Swiggert letters, the Thomas Worth original caricature, and the Ford Theater bill from the night Lincoln was assassinated. The series also contains a substantial number of pieces of correspondence with Lincoln bibliographer, Joseph Benjamin Oakleaf.
Series II. contains over seventy-five issues of Civil War era newspapers, mostly from Philadelphia and New York. The collection of newspapers includes a nearly complete run of
The Philadelphia Inquirer from April 13 through June 14, 1865, covering the period of Lincoln's assassination and funeral, as well as the end of the War and the trial of the assassination conspirators.Series III., Graphic images, contains artwork and photographs, including photographic portraits of Lincoln by Alexander Gardner and Alexander Hessler (printed nearly a century later by Yousuf Karsh), Currier and Ives prints of the assassination, death, and funeral of Lincoln, a cast bronze bust of Lincoln, prints of engravings and etchings of Lincoln, and an original pen-and-ink caricature of Lincoln by Thomas Worth. There are also nine photographs of the Lincoln conspirators and their execution taken by Alexander Gardner.
Series IV., Ephemera, includes facsimiles of Lincoln documents, sheet music, articles, publications, and other Lincoln-related miscellany. Sheet music related to Lincoln includes "President Lincoln's Funeral March," "Our American Cousin Polka," and "Our Brutus," a song published in New Orleans in 1868 in praise of John Wilkes Booth.
Series V., Realia, includes a Lincoln Badge worn during the presidential campaign of 1860, a piece of the bandage placed on Lincoln when he was shot and a small bow from the hat he was wearing that night, the Ford Theater playbill from the night of the assassination, and a reward poster for the capture of Booth and his accomplices.
The collection is arranged in five series, housed for appropriate storage in one record carton (Box 1), three manuscript boxes (Boxes 2, 3, and 12) and eight oversize boxes (Boxes 4-11, 13), as well as four items housed in map case oversize drawers. The finding aid indicates storage locations, as well as items permanently on exhibition in the Lincoln Case of the Special Collections Exhibition Gallery.
- Boxes 1-3, 12: Shelved in SPEC VAULT MSS
- Boxes 4-6, 13: Shelved in SPEC VAULT MSS oversize boxes (24 inches)
- Boxes 7-8: SPEC VAULT MSS oversize boxes (18 inches)
- Box 9: Shelved in SPEC VAULT MSS oversize boxes (20 inches)
- Boxes 10-11: Shelved in SPEC VAULT MSS oversize boxes (32 inches)
- F29, F31, F36, and F51: Shelved in SPEC MSS oversize mapcases
Digital copies of the photographs of Lincoln conspirators taken by Alexander Gardner in Subseries III.B. are available through the University of Delaware Library's Digital Collections website at Artstor Commons.
If you wish to use the links to the digital objects presented in the Contents List, you MUST allow pop-ups from http://www.sscommons.org Follow your browser's instructions on how to unblock pop-up windows from a specific website.
Gift of the Lincoln Club of Delaware, 1972.
Processed by Kevin J. Burke, June 2005. Encoded by Lora J. Davis, November 2010.
People
- Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865
- Tallman, Frank G. (Frank Gifford), 1860-1938
- Gardner, Alexander, 1821-1882
Organization
- Lincoln Club of Delaware
- United States. President (1861-1865 : Lincoln)
- Philadelphia Inquirer (Firm)
- Currier & Ives
Subject
Occupation
- Publisher
- University of Delaware Library Special Collections
- Finding Aid Author
- University of Delaware Library, Special Collections
- Finding Aid Date
- 2010 November 30
- Access Restrictions
-
The collection is open for research.
If you wish to use the links to the digital objects presented in the Contents List, you MUST allow pop-ups from http://www.sscommons.org Follow your browser's instructions on how to unblock pop-up windows from a specific website.
- Use Restrictions
-
Use of materials from this collection beyond the exceptions provided for in the Fair Use and Educational Use clauses of the U.S. Copyright Law may violate federal law. Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. Please contact Special Collections Department, University of Delaware Library, https://library.udel.edu/static/purl.php?askspec
Collection Inventory
Correspondence relating to Tallman's private activities as a collector of Lincolniana, including a substantial correspondence with Lincoln bibliographer, Joseph Benjamin Oakleaf. General correspondence is arranged chronologically. Other correspondence is arranged according to specific acquisitions. All folders in this series are found in Box 1.
Also includes copies of the following books: Sandburg, Carl.
Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years . New York: Harcourt, Brace & Company, 1927; Temple, Wayne C. "The Taste Is In My Mouth a Little…": Lincoln's Victuals and Potables . Mahomet, Ill.: Mayhaven Publishing, 2004; and Hamilton, Charles and Lloyd Ostendorf. Lincoln in Photographs: An Album of Every Known Pose . Dayton, Ohio: Morningside House, Inc., 1985 (Inscribed to Alberta Skillman by Tom Clark).All newspapers are original unless otherwise noted. Illustrations are wood engravings. The material is arranged alphabetically by newspaper title.
John Brown's execution.
Mourning rules. Lincoln's assassination.
Report on the Mexican war.
Illustrated; contains page 260 only. Lincoln's assassination
Illustrated. Lincoln's funeral
Article by Henry Ward Beecher "Politics and the Pulpit."
Physical LocationRemoved to: SPEC MSS oversize mapcases
"A Defense of General Putnam" by Daniel Webster.
Physical LocationRemoved to: SPEC MSS oversize mapcases
Mourning rules. Booth reported in Pennsylvania.
Mourning rules.
Physical Description2 copies
Mourning rules; no. 10, 456.
Physical Description2 copies
Illustrated; mourning rules; no. 10, 459.
Physical Description2 copies and 1 facsimile
No. 10459.
Removed to: SPEC MSS oversize mapcases
Mourning rules. Lincoln's funeral.
Re-taking of Fort Sumter.
Mourning rules.
Mourning rules.
Mourning rules.
Mourning rules.
Field of operations on the Potomac; Lincoln's message to Congress recommending the gradual abolition of slavery as a means to end the war. Illustrated.
52 issues
Illustrated.
Illustrated; mourning rules.
Illustrated; mourning rules.
Mourning rules.
Mourning rules.
Mourning rules.
Illustrated.
Illustrated.
Illustrated.
Illustrated.
Illustrated.
Illustrated.
Illustrated.
Illustrated.
Illustrated.
Illustrated.
Illustrated.
Illustrated.
Illustrated.
Illustrated.
Message of President James K. Polk.
Note on verso: "In Commemoration of the One Hundredth Anniversary Celebration of the Birth of Abraham Lincoln / February 12th, 1909 / Modelled from the only untouched negative in the United States / Taken 1864 / Made by Sherwin & Cotton / Eastwood Tile Works / Hanley Straffordshire" (From Frank G. Tallman - No.16)
Physical DescriptionTile: 230 x 155 mm and frame: 323 x 246 mm
"Entered according to Act of Congress AD 1865, by Currier & Ives, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Southern District of N.Y. - Published by Currier & Ives, 152 Nassau St. New York." (Verso of the frame: book plate of John Stuart Groves (Wilmington, DE) penciled in: "gift of" and dated June 1939 - No. 19)
Physical DescriptionFramed colored lithograph; in frame: 450 x 350 mm
"Entered according to Act of Congress AD 1865, by Currier & Ives, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Southern District of N.Y. - Pubd by Currier & Ives, 152 Nassau St. N.Y." Names of identified: Mr. Chase C.J., Sec. McCulloch, Atty. General, Genl. Halleck, Chas. Summer, Secy. Stanton, Secy. Wells, Robt. Lincoln, Surgeon Genl., President Lincoln, Mrs Lincoln & Tad, and Miss Harris. Verso: No. 18.
Physical DescriptionFramed colored lithograph; in frame: 448 x 358 mm
"Entered according to Act of Congress AD 1865, by Currier & Ives, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Southern District of N.Y. - Published by Currier & Ives, 152 Nassau St. New York." "Published by Currier & Ives - 152 Nassau St., New York." (Verso of the frame: book plate of John Stuart Groves (Wilmington, DE) penciled in: "gift of" and dated June 1939 - No. 20)
Physical DescriptionFramed lithograph; in frame: 466 x 365 mm
Advertisement for an issue of
McClure's which featured Lincoln. Illustration by Corwin-Knapp-Linson (1895). Coloritype Company, New York. Physical DescriptionMatted and framed poster; in frame: 588 x 423 mm
Back of frame: No. 33.
Physical DescriptionFramed ink on paper silhouette; in frame: 220 x 195 mm
Two photographs of Lincoln printed by Karsh from negatives by Hessler. Hessler's "beardless campaign" photographs were originally taken on June 3, 1860, shortly after Lincoln's nomination for president. The negatives by Hessler were lost for many years. On the verso is a printed explanation of the material and the note: "This edition is limited to one thousand sets of which this print No. 85-A and 85-B."
Physical DescriptionTwo framed photographs; in frames: each 542 x 444 mm
On the bottom is a tag for The Armor Bronze Corporation and a plate for Frank Tallman - DuPont, as well as the designation No. 35.
Physical DescriptionCast bronze bust, circa 325 x 160 mm
Inscription in bronze: "This nation under God, shall have a new birth of freedom." On bottom: No. 38 and tag: Bradley Hubbard Mfg. Co., Meriden, Conn.
Physical DescriptionTwo bronze bookends; each: circa 205 x 150 mm
On the bottom of each bust is a tag for Armor Bronze Co., Taunton, Massachusetts, "Armor Bronze Goods of Merit, U.S.A."
Physical Description190 x 90 mm
From the original picture painted at the White House in 1864 - Painted by F. B. Carpenter - Engraved by A. H. Ritchie.
Physical DescriptionFramed engraving; in frame: 1110 x 870 mm
Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1866 by William Sartain, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the U. S. for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Published by Bradley & Co. - 66 N. Fourth St. Philadelphia. Engraved by William Sartain. Painted by S. B. Waugh.
Physical DescriptionFramed engraving; in frame: 875 x 715 mm
Etching is signed and numbered #40. The verso includes a pocket with information about the etching and Nuyttens.
Physical DescriptionFramed etching; in frame: 640 x 487 mm
Includes a certificate of authenticity in which Kaplan states that this is a "photographic print . . . using original photographic negative of my daguerreotype of Abraham Lincoln."
Physical DescriptionBlack and white photograph; 300 x 265 mm
This war weary portrait of Lincoln was taken by Alexander Gardner on the day Lee surrendered at Appomattox, just four days before his assassination at Ford Theatre on April 14, 1865. Lincoln is holding a pencil, reportedly given to him by his son Tad for sharpening. The negative to the image was set aside and forgotten, until it was copyrighted and printed in 1894.
Includes typed information regarding the provenance of the photograph on stationery of Dr. John H. Mullin/ Medical Arts Building/ Wilmington, Delaware.
Physical DescriptionPhotograph: 353 x 272 mm (image: 315 x 245 mm)
Cleveland, Ohio: The Howard-Gorie-Webb Co., Lithographers/Offset printers.
Physical DescriptionOne sheet: 282 x 215 mm
Selected Civil War photographs from the Prints and Photographs Division / Library of Congress National Digital Library Program.
Physical DescriptionPoster: 985 x 680 mm
Physical LocationRemoved to: SPEC MSS oversize mapcases
Includes folder and descriptive text but lacks images. For 1963 Morrell original calendar series.
Physical DescriptionFolder: 368 x 288 mm
Original pen and ink on paper: 226 x 153 mm
Dessine et lith. par Draner / Imp. Lemercier, r. de Seine 57 Paris / Dusacq et Cie, 14 Bt. Poissonniere, Paris.
Physical DescriptionPlate (PL 33): 442 x 313 mm / image: 293 x 200 mm
Dess. et lith. par Draner / Imp. Lemercier, r. de Seine 57 Paris.
Physical DescriptionPlate (PL 108): 447 x 315 / image: 288 x 203 mm
From original photograph taken on the morning the funeral train left Washington for the trip to Springfield. Standing honor guard at the front of the car is Myron W. Lamson, enlisted mechanic in the service of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and assistant foreman at the shops where the car was built./Includes transcript of document by William H. Lamson, son of Myron Lamson, describing the photograph.
Physical DescriptionCopy photograph made from an original photograph (164 x 114 mm), with typed (carbon) document.
2 items
"J. Q. A. Tresize, successor to A. C. Townsend, photographer, Enterprize Gallery, Springfield, Ill. / Negatives preserved." With postage stamp.
"J. Q. A. Tresize, successor to A.C. Townsend, photographer, Enterprize Gallery, Springfield, Ill. / Negatives preserved."
With note: "These pictures belonged to Dr. Burlian (?). Dee gave them to me. J.R. Froer (?)"
Fall City Printing & Lithographing Co. Thomas Lincoln, father of Abraham Lincoln, did the carpenter work on the Lincoln Heritage House, circa 1805, located in Elizabethtown, Kentucky.
Physical DescriptionLithographic print [Plate NO. III, Print No. 1787] from image by James L. Puckett.
Articles, information cards, and bulletins regarding the invention and Patent No. 6469 accompany the photograph.
Located in Rochester, NY, the monument was a tribute to Civil War soldiers and to President Abraham Lincoln. It was unveiled on Memorial Day 1892.
Physical Description3 items
Photographs were identified by referencing Stefan Lorant's
Lincoln, his life in photographs , unless otherwise noted Physical DescriptionNine photographs mounted on boards (Lincoln Collection No. 77 1-9)
Image: 209 x 125 mm
The four condemned: Mrs. Surratt, Lewis Payne [Paine], David Herold, George Atzerodt.
Physical DescriptionImage: 205 x 125 mm
Image: 235 x 185 mm
Image: 235 x 175 mm
Identified by
Harper's Weekly , July 22, 1865. Physical DescriptionImage: 204 x 125 mm
From left to right: Gen. T. M. Harris; Major Gen. David Hunter, the presiding officer; Gen. A. V. Kautz; Gen. James A. Elkin; Gen. Lew Wallace; and Hon. A. J. Bingham, asst. to the Judge advocate.
Physical DescriptionImage: 205 x 130 mm
Image: 145 x 120 mm
Identified as suspect Hartman Richter (cousin of Atzerodt) using Mark Katz's
Witness of an Era: the life and photographs of Alexander Gardner . Physical DescriptionImage: 175 x 137 mm
Identified as two images of the execution of Captain Henry Wirz (commandant of Andersonville Prison, Georgia) on November 10, 1865, using Mark Katz's
Witness of an Era . Physical DescriptionTwo photographs on one mount
Image: 210 x 120 mm
Image: 204 x 125 mm
This framed copy, titled "An Historic Document Abraham Lincoln's Saloon License," is a photocopy of a 1908 facsimile of the saloon license for the country store owned by Lincoln and John Berry in New Salem, Illinois, in 1833.
Washington, D.C.: The National Archives, 1950. (Facsimile No. 16)
Physical DescriptionSheets in folder (495 x 315 mm)
Second edition of a broadside printed, signed and dated (4/7/35) by Frederic W. Goudy. Less than 100 copies were printed for a meeting of the Typophiles.
Physical DescriptionOne sheet (595 x 445 mm)
Detroit: Berry Brothers, Ltd, Varnish Manufacturers, 1905.
Physical DescriptionOne sheet (304 x 240 mm)
Donnelley DEEPTONE® Offset Facsimile. R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company, The Lakeside Press, undated.
Physical DescriptionTwo sheets (240 x 190 mm each)
Facsimile. Fort Wayne, Indiana: The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company, [1966].
Physical DescriptionOne sheet (320 x 140 mm) with a small envelope embossed: "Harry L. Pope, Insurance Estates, New Bedford."
Two copies of four versions of the address.
Physical DescriptionTwo sheets (each: 362 x 160 mm)
Chicago, Ill.: History House, Inc., 1974. Includes text of the Gettysburg address, narrative about Lincoln and the address, and historical civil war map/chart.
Physical DescriptionPortfolio with folded map and printed envelope (385 x 290 mm)
Note on sheet music: Gift of J. Stuart Groves 5 Jl 39.
"This poem was written at the time when it was proposed to bury its illustrious subject in the ocean, so that no trace of his resting place could be found by those who might wish to honor his remains." Song in praise of John Wilkes Booth.
Note on sheet music: Gift of J. Stuart Groves 5 JL 39.
Dedication "to Miss L.A. Gillett, Saline, Mich." Inside cover text explains that Abraham Lincoln requested this song at the January 1865 anniversary of the United States Christian Commission held at Washington.
Contains Durham's article.
Schwartz was the author of
Journal of the American Medical Association article on Lincoln and Marfan syndrome. Includes an offprint of the article, a copy of Durham's article corrected by Schwartz, and genealogies of families related to Lincoln's line.Correspondence with magazine and journal editors and others related to research for and publication of Durham's article.
Various autograph and typescript drafts of Durham's article.
Includes articles, offprints, photocopies of newspaper articles, notes and correspondence related to Durham's research. Includes copies of the obituary for Tad Lincoln (
Daily State Journal , 1851 July 17), an account of Robert T. Lincoln's death ( Illinois State Journal , 1926 July 27), Schwartz's "Abraham Lincoln and the Marfan Syndrome" ( JAMA , vol. 187: 7, 1964 February 15) and two copies of Schwartz's "Abraham Lincoln and Aortic Insufficiency" ( California Medicine , vol. 116, pp. 82-84, 1972 May), as well as an offprint of Willard Montgomery's "Resuscitation of President Lincoln" ( JAMA , 1961 April 8, pp. 76-78) and other material.Includes correspondence, photocopies from books, and typed notes. Includes copies of abstracts or articles on Marfan's Syndrome, copies of Abe's Eyes" by Charles Snyder (
Arch. Ophthal. Vol. 75, 1966 February), "Lincoln-Marfan Debate," letter to editor by Willard Montgomery ( JAMA , vol. 218, no. 13, 1971 April 22) and "Dr. Charles Henry Ray" by Emmet F. Pearson ( JAMA , vol. 228, no.4, 1974 April 22).Includes clipping from unidentified source on post-Civil War United States, newspaper clippings, and the following articles: "Second Thoughts on Mary Todd Lincoln" by Irving Stone (
Saturday Review , 1974 February 9), "The Legacy of Lincoln" ( Union League of Philadelphia Bulletin , 1956 October), "Four Friends Drop in on Lincoln" by Joseph Brinton ( Friends Journal 1965 May 15), "The Strange Odyssey of Lincoln's Clothes" by Douglas C. Spavin ( Ambassador 1968), and a copy of Proceedings of the Centennial Anniversary of the Formation of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Delaware , (1906).Includes invitations to dinners (1957-1969), an invitation to the opening of the Lincoln Room, (1941), two copies of
Lincoln Club of Delaware by O. H. Grier and Harold Brayman (1970), and a dinner program (1976).Includes a Lincoln Museum National Park Service pamphlet, and envelopes of material for the following exhibitions: "Early Lincoln Occupations," "William Tallman House," and "Lincoln Collection Wilmington Public Library."
Includes a Bicentennial Collection pamphlet, a copy of the pamphlet,
Roads to Peace written by Beardsley Ruml (1946), and a typed sheet titled "Coincidence?" comparing Presidents Lincoln and Kennedy.Includes 1923 letter written by Walter M. Lenhart describing the badge and its history, as well as information about Lincoln and his campaign, plus correspondence between Norman Rood and Frank Tallman. Gift of Norman Rood.
Physical Description100 mm diameter circle (with 26 x 20 mm photograph in center)
"A very rare relic, a piece of the bandage placed on Lincoln when he was shot. Willed to Christian C. Sanderson by Mr. John Rose, who was present at the assassination of Lincoln." (No. 22)
Physical Descriptioncirca 20 x 4 mm
"This bow was taken from the inside of the hat worn by Lincoln on the night he was shot in Ford's Theatre." (No. 21)
Physical Descriptioncirca 40 x 20 mm
Poster for Ford's Theatre presentation of Tom Taylor's comedy, "Our American Cousin."
Physical Description465 x 133 mm (paper backed with linen)
Reward poster for Booth and accomplices. Includes descriptions of John Wilkes Booth, John H. Surrat, and David C. Harold.
Physical Description435 x 335 mm (adhered to board)