Confederate imprint
Encyclopedia
A Confederate imprint is a book, pamphlet, broadside
, periodical or sheet music
printed in the Confederate States of America
in a location which, at the time, was under Confederate and not Union
control. Confederate imprints are important as sources of the history of the Civil War and many institutional libraries have formed large collections of these works. A number of checklists and bibliographies of them have been published, one of which catalogs 9,457 imprints.
, the South manufactured relatively few books, but imported them heavily from Northern cities such as New York, Boston, and Philadelphia. In 1860, there were only four major book publishers in the South, although there were numerous small job printers. Of even greater concern was the fact that the South manufactured little of its own paper and ink. After Secession, these were no longer available from the North, and the South began to expand its own printing and manufacture of paper and ink. Shortages of these supplies, however, were chronic and often severe.
Broadside
A broadside is the side of a ship; the battery of cannon on one side of a warship; or their simultaneous fire in naval warfare.-Age of Sail:...
, periodical or sheet music
Sheet music
Sheet music is a hand-written or printed form of music notation that uses modern musical symbols; like its analogs—books, pamphlets, etc.—the medium of sheet music typically is paper , although the access to musical notation in recent years includes also presentation on computer screens...
printed in the Confederate States of America
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
in a location which, at the time, was under Confederate and not Union
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
control. Confederate imprints are important as sources of the history of the Civil War and many institutional libraries have formed large collections of these works. A number of checklists and bibliographies of them have been published, one of which catalogs 9,457 imprints.
Printing in the South
Prior to SecessionOrigins of the American Civil War
The main explanation for the origins of the American Civil War is slavery, especially Southern anger at the attempts by Northern antislavery political forces to block the expansion of slavery into the western territories...
, the South manufactured relatively few books, but imported them heavily from Northern cities such as New York, Boston, and Philadelphia. In 1860, there were only four major book publishers in the South, although there were numerous small job printers. Of even greater concern was the fact that the South manufactured little of its own paper and ink. After Secession, these were no longer available from the North, and the South began to expand its own printing and manufacture of paper and ink. Shortages of these supplies, however, were chronic and often severe.
Important collections
The following institutions have significant collections of Confederate imprints:- Boston Athenaeum Largest collection of Confederate Imprints
- Library of CongressLibrary of CongressThe Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
- Rice UniversityRice UniversityWilliam Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...
- Marshall UniversityMarshall UniversityMarshall University is a coeducational public research university in Huntington, West Virginia, United States founded in 1837, and named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States....
- Virginia Historical SocietyVirginia Historical SocietyThe Virginia Historical Society , founded in 1831 as the Virginia Historical and Philosophical Society and headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, is a major repository, research, and teaching center for Virginia history...
- Duke University Library SystemDuke University Library SystemDuke University Libraries is the library system of Duke University, serving the university's students and faculty. The Libraries collectively hold some 6 million volumes....
- Museum of the ConfederacyMuseum of the ConfederacyThe Museum of the Confederacy is located in Richmond, Virginia. The museum includes the former White House of the Confederacy and maintains a comprehensive collection of artifacts, manuscripts, Confederate imprints , and photographs from the Confederate States of America and the American Civil War...
- South Carolina Historical SocietySouth Carolina Historical SocietyThe South Carolina Historical Society is a private, non-profit organization founded in 1855 to preserve South Carolina's rich historical legacy...
- University of GeorgiaUniversity of GeorgiaThe University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...
Bibliographies of Confederate imprints
- Crandall, Marjorie Lyle. Confederate Imprints: A Checklist Based Principally on the Collection of the Boston Athenaeum. Boston: The Boston Atheneaum, 1955.
- Harwell, Richard. Confederate belles-lettres, a bibliography and a finding list of the fiction, poetry, drama, songsters, and miscellaneous literature published in the Confederate States of America. Hattiesburg, Miss.: The Book Farm, 1941.
- Harwell, Richard. Cornerstones of Confederate Collecting. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press for the Bibliographical Society of the University of Virginia, 1953.
- Harwell, Richard. More Confederate Imprints. Richmond: Virginia State Library, 1957.
- Harwell, Richard. In Tall Cotton: The 200 Most Important Confederate Books. Austin: Jenkins Pub. Co., 1978.
- Harwell, Richard. Confederate Imprints. Wendell, N.C.: Broadfoot's Bookmark, 1982.
- Parrish, T. Michael and Robert M. Willingham, Jr. Confederate Imprints: A Bibliography of Southern Publications from Secession to Surrender. Austin, TX : Jenkins Publishing Co. & Katonah, NY: Gary A Foster, n.d.
- Rudolph, E. L. Confederate Broadside Verse: A Bibliography and Finding List of Confederate broadside ballads and songs. New Braunfels, Texas: Book Farm, 1950.
See also
- Confederate paper currencyConfederate States of America dollarThe Confederate States of America dollar was first issued into circulation in April 1861, when the Confederacy was only two months old, and on the eve of the outbreak of the Civil War....
- Confederate postage stampsPostage stamps and postal history of the Confederate StatesThe postage stamps and postal system of the Confederate States of America carried the mail of the Confederacy for a brief period in American history. Early in 1861 when South Carolina territory no longer considered itself part of the Union and demanded that the U.S. Army abandon Fort Sumter, plans...