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2011 marks the 150th Year Anniversary of the start of the American Civil War

This is a double sided Currier & Ives Lithograph Print of "Battle of Coal Harbor" and "Battle of Spottsylvania". This great Book Art Print was reproduced in 1968 from a hand-colored lithograph by Currier & Ives. Measures approximately 9 by 12 inches with image size approximately 7 by 9.5 inches. Print is in very good condition and would look great framed.

Nathaniel Currier (1813-1888) and James Merritt Ives (1824-1895) were partners in the firm of Currier and Ives, the most important 19th-century lithographic company in America. Lithography had begun in America in the 1820s. It was quicker and less expensive than engraving, hence the remarkable success of the firm of Currier and Ives. Soon after setting up business they produced extensive folios, usually based on paintings. Their prints were widely sold across the nation. Currier retired in 1888, Ives a few years later; but the firm was carried on by their sons and flourished until 1907.

Nathaniel Currier, born in Roxbury, Mass., was apprenticed in his teens to a Boston lithographic firm. In New York City on December 16, 1835 there was a spectacular fire which differed from all previous fires in one respect. Four days after the fire, while it was still a topic of conversation, a view of the ruins was being offered to the public. Nathaniel Currier, then twenty two years old, had published his first print. The interest of the public in this news picture aroused Currier to the possibilities of the publishing business.

He established his own lithography business in New York City in 1835. Thereafter there was hardly an event of any importance which was not commemorated by one of his prints. He provided pictorial records of fires, ship disasters, Civil War engagements, death-bed scenes of famous persons, the spread of the railroads, the coming of steam, political battles, horse races, the Bloomer costume, the campaign for woman suffrage and many other newsworthy events. The lithographer James Ives, born in New York City, entered into partnership with Currier in 1857.