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Lot Essay
Rare 1860 campaign banner for Lincoln's first Presidential race
Flown, paraded, or hung for all to see, these banners were the bold emblems of mid-19th century politics. Ironically, the exact same pattern of eagle and shield on this banner was also used by the Southern Democrat candidates of 1860: John C. Breckinridge and Joseph Lane.
This Republican version is so rare that an example could not be found for Threads of History: Americana recorded on Cloth 1775 to the Present (1979), which is still the essential reference on the subject. According to The Rail Splitter (vol. 2, no. 31, 1997, p.12) the present banner is only the third extant example known. See Threads of History no. 313 for the Breckinridge-Lane version. The pattern was also used for the Grant and Colfax campaign in 1868.
Flown, paraded, or hung for all to see, these banners were the bold emblems of mid-19th century politics. Ironically, the exact same pattern of eagle and shield on this banner was also used by the Southern Democrat candidates of 1860: John C. Breckinridge and Joseph Lane.
This Republican version is so rare that an example could not be found for Threads of History: Americana recorded on Cloth 1775 to the Present (1979), which is still the essential reference on the subject. According to The Rail Splitter (vol. 2, no. 31, 1997, p.12) the present banner is only the third extant example known. See Threads of History no. 313 for the Breckinridge-Lane version. The pattern was also used for the Grant and Colfax campaign in 1868.