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Magnus, Charles

 Person

Biographical Note

Charles Magnus was born in 1826 and emigrated from Elberfeld, Germany to the United States around 1848. Magnus worked in New York from 1850 to 1899 as a publisher, artist, and map dealer, among other print-related occupations. He utilized lithography and hand-coloring in his work. During the American Civil War, he published approximately 700 pictorial envelopes. Civil War envelopes began appearing before the war due to increasing sectional tensions and were published until shortly before the cessation of hostilities. Commonly depicted scenes on Magnus's envelopes include battlefields, American eagles, and the star-spangled banner. Charles Magnus died in 1900.

External source: Charles Magnus Collection, Col. 123, The Winterthur Library, The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera, Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, Winterthur, Deleware, http://library.winterthur.org:8001/lib/item?id=chamo:26699.

Found in 2 Collections and/or Records:

Birds Eye View of Alexandria, Va.

 Collection — Object 1
Identifier: Map-0144
Abstract

Color image of Alexandria, Virginia, with key that identifies locations of interest.

Dates: 1864

Civil War Pictorial Envelope

 Collection
Identifier: Ms-2008-088
Abstract

The collection contains an American Civil War period envelope with lithograph of Union soldiers on horseback fending off Confederate soldiers on foot. It was published by Charles Magnus of New York.

Dates: c.1861-1865

Additional filters:

Subject
Civil War 1
Local/Regional History and Appalachian South 1
Maps (documents) 1
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 1
Virginia -- Maps 1