[Political Type Specimens].

Democratic Meetings! . . . [caption title].

[Catskill, N. Y.? n. p., ca. 1869]. Broadside (15.5 x 12.25 inches), printed in a variety of wood type faces. Some light soiling and wear; in very good condition. Item #22378

An attractive piece of American display type and a nearly perfect snare for the Americana dealer who might well snatch eagerly at this broadside out scouting in the wilds, taking a flyer of the item in the hopes of having uncovered a piece of Southern Reconstruction-era political paper from Florida. Indeed, given the clues in the text that the “electors of the following places will be addressed by,” in Jacksonville on Lime Street—because Jacksonville, Florida would seem to be the only American city to boast a Lime Street—but. But! In the crapulous morning light of cataloging that follows hard on the giddy intoxication of scouting, one takes a closer look at the item in hand; and, in paying closer attention to the textual evidence, one thing leaps out: Locations? And in doing a little deeper digging, the cataloger is forced to ask himself: Why would a Reconstruction-era Florida rally include five stalwarts of the Democratic party from the state of New York—including the top-billed General George Beach (appointed in July, 1867 as a Brigadier General in the National Guard), a man who hailed from Greene County? Thus prompted, a dutiful trudge through the Gazetteers at last suggests the historical existence of a hamlet named Limestreet nestled under the administrative wing of Athens, Greene County, New York; this, taken with the existence of a Jacksonville in the Finger Lakes area of Tompkins County suggests plausible venues suited to these erstwhile peripatetic Solons of the Empire State The dates given here (Friday evening, Oct. 29 and Saturday evening, Oct. 30) accord with 1869, as does the typographic design. (One also asks, nearly almost as an aside: was the eclecticism of typographic design in 19th century broadsides a function in part of material constraints such as the limits of a supply in wood types for any given small-town job printer?).

Price: $350.00