The Ballad of Abraham Lincoln.
Cincinnati: Peter G Thomson, (1884 in The Uncle Sam Series/1870); string bound, bright, ornately decorated chromolithographed paper covers, front and back, with probably house artist picture of Abe splitting rails in bare feet; 5 pages of text and blank back cover verso, plus 4 leaves of plates single-sided, (numbered as 3 through 8 pp); no ads on back, 7.75x11.3" Toploader large.
A beautifully presented Lincoln poem, with the four original illustrations by Eytinge from the 1870 Field, Osgood edition. As the poem was intended for children, it focuses on Lincoln's growth to manhood through hard work and moral strength and skips quickly over the facts of his death to a eulogy. The illustrations show Lincoln splitting rails (in boots this time), steering the flat-boat to New Orleans, taking the oath of office, and surrounded by free, formerly enslaved, Blacks. The Baldwin Library electronic copy is held by many libraries: (https://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00053435/00001/thumbs) Any copy of the original c 1884 booklet is scarce.
Thomson published valentines, games, and toys in the late 1870s and 1880's, a popular publisher who was bought out by McLoughlin in the late 1880s. Solomon Eytinge Jr illustrated many famous authors and was best known for his illustrations for publishers Field, Osgood & Co. of Boston publication of Dickens' works.
CONDITION: Good Plus; faint 19c inked gift inscription on front top margin, lightly toned, extrems rubbed, paper is clean but not smooth, all in all a nice appearance but the spine is rubbed through in two center spots, thus grade. Item #22706
Price: $375.00