Battles of the Civil War: The Complete Kurz & Allison Prints, 1861-1865 - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 051729351X ISBN 13: 9780517293515

Publisher: Fairfax Press, 1979

Synopsis

In this spectacular book are 36 battle scenes of the Civil War that convey a depth of feeling and perspective that no camera could ever capture. The reproduction and compilation of these superb chromolithographs are an amazing achievement in the history of art and publishing.

The story of this book begins with an artist named Louis Kurz. He left his native Salzburg, Austria, in 1848, and eventually settled in Chicago. No one knows when he met the lanky young politician Abraham Lincoln, but Kurz's biographer reports they became close friends. One of Kurz's earliest lithographs was 'Mr. Lincoln, Residence, and Horse.'

When the Civil War erupted, it was natural that President Lincoln ask his friend Kurz to visit the scenes of action and make an historical record of what he saw. From the sketches he made, which were the first to be released after the Civil War, Kurz later reproduced 36 as chromolithographs.

The original prints were done in as many as ten inks, each requiring a 22 x 28-inch Bavarian stone weighing about 200 pounds. Each stone was etched with acid, and then the prints were consecutively pulled in register. The result was a set of superb chromolithographs which have become collectors' items, for most of the stones have been lost. In fact, reproduction of the entire set of 36 prints cannot be found intact anywhere except between the covers of this bound volume.

The volume contains two forewords, one written by Robert E. Lee IV and the second by U.S. Grant 3rd.

About this edition

• Publisher: Fairfax Press
• Publication date: 1979
• ISBN 10: 051729351X
• ISBN 13: 9780517293515
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 7
• Editor: Karen Phillips
• Illustrator: Louis Kurz, Alexander Allison