{"id":6453,"date":"2017-05-05T16:07:32","date_gmt":"2017-05-05T20:07:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=6453"},"modified":"2017-05-05T16:07:32","modified_gmt":"2017-05-05T20:07:32","slug":"charles-magnus-patriotic-civil-war-propaganda-printmaker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=6453","title":{"rendered":"Charles Magnus, Patriotic Civil War Propaganda Printmaker"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post was written by Leanne Fortney, who began working with us in March as a Graduate Student Assistant within Research Services. Her main responsibilities are safeguarding\u00a0our materials and assisting patrons with their research needs.\u00a0She is a mother of two working on her MA in Art History with an\u00a0interest in U.S. modern art between World War I and World War II.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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Northern Virginia Civil War images, #C0150 folder 2<\/a>, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.<\/p><\/div>\n

In the United States, the Civil War created such a great demand for patriotic propaganda. Printmakers, such as Charles Magnus<\/a>, produced over a thousand illustrations within the course of the war. This entire\u00a0Northern Virginia Civil War images collection<\/a> consists of nearly 200 images on various historical subjects in a variety of formats, including wood engravings, steel engravings, lithographs, chromolithographs, maps, and manuscripts from three periodicals: The Illustrated London News, Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, and Harper’s Weekly. Most of the images depict battles and maps of the Civil War. The maps include the cities of Arlington and Alexandria and the counties of Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William. Columbia Pike, Chain Bridge, Long Bridge, the Little River Turnpike, Centreville and Manassas all existed at the time of the Civil War and all of them are represented or referenced in these images.<\/p>\n

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Northern Virginia Civil War images, #C0150 folder 2<\/a>, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.<\/p><\/div>\n

Magnus\u2019s Civil War illustrations depicted scenes of civil war camps, battles, and portraits of military officials, but he\u00a0specialized primarily in decorative patriotic stationary such as cards and envelopes. Although pictorial images comprise the majority of the collection, there are also numerous maps, most of which were produced by lithography. A number were produced for military purposes and employed by both the North and South alike. Maps made during the Civil War were often exceedingly accurate; their usefulness carried on into the twentieth century. Magnus’s\u00a0lithograph\u00a0series entitled, “Bird\u2019s Eye View of Alexandria, Va”, are illustrated on well-preserved envelopes that are no larger than 3 inches by 5 inches and\u00a0include a few that are hand colored!\u00a0In 1798, German inventor, Alois Senefelder<\/a>, created an innovated and revolutionary printmaking process that is now known as lithography. Lithography allows for artists to produce an unlimited set of images. This enabled Magnus to keep up with the high demands for his patriotic illustrations.<\/p>\n

Illustrations like these have been created and used by the public to highlight news events, political satire, coverage of wars, marriages, and even celebrity (like Kings, Queens, Popes, etc.) outings. The practice of creating woodblock prints<\/a> has been around since at least 220 C.E. with the Han Dynasty. Eventually, through the use of removable type and the invention of the printing press, artists were able to distribute their images over an even larger population.<\/p>\n

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Northern Virginia Civil War images, #C0150 folder 2<\/a>, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Northern Virginia Civil War images, #C0150 folder 2<\/a>, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.<\/p><\/div>\n

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To search the collections\u00a0held at Special Collections Research Center, go to our website<\/a>\u00a0and browse the finding aids by subject or title. You may also e-mail\u00a0us at speccoll@gmu.edu<\/a> or call 703-993-2220 if you would like to\u00a0schedule an appointment, request materials, or if you have questions. Appointments are not necessary to request and view collections.<\/p>\n

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This post was written by Leanne Fortney, who began working with us in March as a Graduate Student Assistant within Research Services. Her main responsibilities are safeguarding\u00a0our materials and assisting patrons with their research needs.\u00a0She is a mother of two working on her MA in Art History with an\u00a0interest in U.S. modern art between World […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[194,5,121,339,299],"tags":[477,437,472,473,248,273,421,474,249,108,190,476,475],"class_list":["post-6453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fairfax-history","category-scrc-interest","category-scrc-picks","category-virginia-2","category-virginiana","tag-18th-century","tag-19th-century","tag-alexandria","tag-charles-magnus","tag-civil-war","tag-fairfax","tag-history","tag-lithographs","tag-maps","tag-military","tag-northern-virginia","tag-printmaking","tag-woodblock-prints"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8Ep5i-1G5","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7961,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=7961","url_meta":{"origin":6453,"position":0},"title":"New and Updated Finding Aids","author":"Amanda Menjivar","date":"September 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The SCRC Processing Team has been hard at work processing and re-processing collections, which means we have some brand spankin' new and updated finding aids! Find out more below! The Randolph H. Lytton Historical Virginia collection This collection was processed by Processing Student Assistant Bill Keeler. \"Fairfax County was originally\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fairfax History"","block_context":{"text":"Fairfax History","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=194"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/mvpostcard.jpg?fit=1200%2C814&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/mvpostcard.jpg?fit=1200%2C814&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/mvpostcard.jpg?fit=1200%2C814&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/mvpostcard.jpg?fit=1200%2C814&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/mvpostcard.jpg?fit=1200%2C814&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7783,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=7783","url_meta":{"origin":6453,"position":1},"title":"Adventures in Processing – The Randolph H. 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We have successfully digitized and added 121 images\u00a0 and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "recently processed"","block_context":{"text":"recently processed","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=162"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/mars_cwdocsproject.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7671,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=7671","url_meta":{"origin":6453,"position":3},"title":"My Journey to Civil War-Era Virginia","author":"Amanda Menjivar","date":"June 21, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"This post was written by Bill Keeler, Processing Student Assistant. Bill is studying History with a focus in American History at George Mason University. After finishing the Stephen S. Fuller papers, I have begun processing a new collection donated by George Mason University\u2019s own Randolph H. Lytton. The collection is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fairfax History"","block_context":{"text":"Fairfax History","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=194"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/pic.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/pic.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/pic.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/pic.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/pic.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8761,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=8761","url_meta":{"origin":6453,"position":4},"title":"Digitization Highlights – The Randolph H. Lytton Historical Virginia Collection","author":"Amanda Menjivar","date":"August 29, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"This blog post was written by Bill Keeler, Student Assistant in charge of digitizing the Randolph H. Lytton Historical Virginia collection. Bill has a Bachelor of Arts in History with a focus in American History from George Mason University. He will be continuing his education at Simmons University with the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Digital Collections"","block_context":{"text":"Digital Collections","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=557"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Letter-5.jpg?fit=759%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Letter-5.jpg?fit=759%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Letter-5.jpg?fit=759%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Letter-5.jpg?fit=759%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11547,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=11547","url_meta":{"origin":6453,"position":5},"title":"New & Updated Finding Aids – July 2025","author":"Meghan Glasbrenner","date":"July 1, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Happy Summer! Campus may be quieter, but your SCRC processing team continues to keep busy (and cool) working on another group of new and updated finding aids. As usual, all of the following collections are available for use in the Special Collections Research Center and the finding aids are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New Finding Aids"","block_context":{"text":"New Finding Aids","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=710"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/C0275_collage-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/C0275_collage-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/C0275_collage-2.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/C0275_collage-2.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/C0275_collage-2.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6453"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6453\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6463,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6453\/revisions\/6463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}