Description
[Rebus. Polopticomorama.] “The Polopticomorama or battle pictures of Little Round Top [July 2, 1863] turn up the workmanship unparalleled the battle of the ironclads is wonderful of course but time[s] afternoon and Night, every day this week.” An extraordinary contemporaneous American Civil War palm-card rebus announcement for Clapp, Stanley & Co.’s POLOPTICOMORAMA OF THE WAR, [1863]. Horizontal image 2 ¾ in x 3 ½ in. The name of Charles E. Berry is written in pencil at the bottom of the rebus. Originally printed on diaphanous paper, this very rare surviving ephemeral announcement, of a theatrical re-enactment of recent battles while the American Civil War still raged, has been cleaned, flattened and backed with mulberry paper. Matted.
Clapp, Stanley & Co.’s POLOPTICOMORAMA OF THE WAR aimed to bring the Civil War to life by using a moving panorama painted on canvas and moved in front of a stationary audience. A hugely popular experience, the re-enactments described on this rebus, like the Battle of the Ironclads, were entirely new and immersed the viewing audience in the event. These moving panoramas presaged the yet-to-be-invented motion picture camera, which would capture and enable visual recreation of live action events.
Dr Douglas Bly Civil War Era Artificial Leg with a Universal Ankle Joint 1862
RICHMOND 1865 Vicksburg Fort Donelson GENERAL U.S. GRANT “I WILL FIGHT IT OUT ON THIS LINE.”
Libby Prison Carte de Visite Photograph circa 1863
Five American Civil War Letters 1862 – 1864
