"Frank Leslie's Illustrated History of the Civil War. Most Important Events of the Conflict Between the States graphically pictured. Stirring Battle Scenes and Grand Naval Engagements, drawn by special artists on the spot. Portraits of Principal Participants, Military and Civil; Famous Forts; Pathetic Episodes, Etc., Etc. the whole forming An Authentic Pictorial History of the War", by such well-known artists as Becker, Crane, Beard, Schell, Lumley, Forbes, and Others. With an introduction by Joseph B. Carr, Major-General.

Published by Mrs. Frank Leslie, New York, copyright 1895 by the publisher. Reuse of the original wood plates created by Frank Leslie during the Civil War (1860-1865). After Frank Leslie's death in 1880, His widow, Miriam, inherited the plates and took over the publishing business.

Hard boards, original publisher's cloth with gold lettering on spine [wear and damages: see photos] leather spine and corners, tabloid or large folio size: 11.1/2" x 16"; floral decorated endpapers [creased at the hinges, damages and repairs], the first blank page and the half-title page are foxed; 512 pages [a few small stains, very good], Index of plates upfront, 400++ plates [most of them are full page and double page]; good / very good condition.

Illustrations made by Leslie and his artists on the battlefield during the American Civil War are well regarded for their historical value. He was commissioner to the Paris Exhibition of 1867 and received a prize there for his artistic services.

Frank Leslie (1821-1880) was an English-born American engraver, illustrator, and publisher of family periodicals. In 1852 working for Gleason's Pictorial in Boston, he discovered he could accelerate the engraving process significantly by dividing a drawing into many small blocks and distributing the work among many engravers. A job on a large-format wood engraving which might have taken a month for a single wood engraver to complete, could be completed in a day by 30 engravers.

In 1853, he arrived in New York City to engrave woodcuts for P. T. Barnum's short-lived Illustrated News. After its failure, he began publishing the first of his many illustrated journalistic ventures, Frank Leslie's Ladies' Gazette of Fashion and Fancy Needlework, with good woodcuts by Leslie & Hooper, a partnership which dissolved in 1854. The New York Journal soon followed, with Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper (1855) (called Leslie's Weekly), The Boy's and Girl's Weekly, The Budget of Fun, and many others. Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, which included news as well as fiction, survived until 1922.

Frank Leslie accepted his last illustration (by Georgina A. Davis) in January 1880 and died the same month, his debts amounted to $300,000, and his will was contested by creditors. His widow, Miriam Leslie (1836-1914), took the business in hand and put it on a paying basis, even going so far as to having her name legally changed to Frank Leslie in June 1881. She later effected a reorganization of the business, and became its president. The circulation of the Popular Monthly increased by 200,000 in four months under her management. In 1902 she sold out all her publishing interests. She made Carrie Chapman Catt a residuary legatee of her estate, to support enfranchising women. The activist established the Leslie Woman Suffrage Commission for this purpose.

Rates vary per country, we will adjust shipping costs with the invoice.

Note:
Country restrictions may apply, the lesser expansive Priority shipping may not be available to all countries.

US: Media (c 2-4 days) -------- $22.50
Canada: Priority (c 2-6 weeks) -- $82.50
World: Priority (c 2-7 weeks) --- $134.50