Harold Holzer collection of Lincolniana
Call Number
Date
Creator
Extent
Language of Materials
Abstract
Approximately 36 prints of Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and Mary Anna Randolph Custis Lee assembled by Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer.
Biographical / Historical
Harold Holzer (born 1949), longtime administrator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and later director of Hunter College's Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute, purchased his first piece of Lincolniana when barely out of his teens. At twenty-two he began focusing on collecting engravings and lithographs of Lincoln. Originally he sought evocative imagery with which to decorate his home, but the materials inspired a lifelong scholarly inquiry that has resulted in over forty books on Lincoln and the Civil War. (See www.haroldholzer.com.)
Arrangement
The Harold Holzer Collection of Lincolniana is organized in five series:
- Series I.
- Ephemera relating to Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee, circa 1862-1889, undated
- Series II.
- Engravings of Lincoln from the campaign period, 1860
- Series III.
- Memorial prints of Lincoln, 1870s-1900
- Series IV.
- Prints issued after Lincoln's death, 1866-1898, undated
- Series V.
- Prints of Lincoln from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, 1899-1939, undated
This material was offered, but went unsold, in Swann Auction Galleries sale 2486, "Printed & Manuscript Americana Featuring the Holzer Collection of Lincolniana," on September 27, 2018. Series I corresponds to Swann lot 40; Series II to lot 95; Series III to lots 133 and 144; Series IV to lot 145; and Series V to lot 148. For details, see the auction catalog.
Scope and Contents
Aside from a few portraits of Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and Mary Anna Randolph Custis Lee, this collection is focused on imagery of Abraham Lincoln (including two of his Springfield, Illinois home) created during his lifetime (e.g., the campaign period, 1860), in response to his death, and later in the 19th- and through the mid-20th century.
Subjects
Genres
People
Access Restrictions
Open to qualified researchers by appointment only.
Use Restrictions
Permission to reproduce any Department of Prints, Photographs and Architectural Collections holdings through publication must be obtained from: Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 270. Fax: (212) 579-8794.
Preferred Citation
This item should be cited as the "Harold Holzer Collection of Lincolniana, PR 402, Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections, The New-York Historical Society."
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Harold Holzer, 2018 (accession no. PPAC.2018.067).
About this Guide
Processing Information
Archivist Joseph Ditta arranged and described this collection in August 2019.