Rare Original Edwin Forbes Civil War Copper Plate Etching

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$195.00

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Rare Original Edwin Forbes Civil War Copper Plate Etching "Coming into the lines" Plate 32, measures 17.5" X12.5". "An old Campaigner". Edwin Forbes is one of the most important names in Civil War art and arguably the finest Illustrator of the 19th century. At the beginning of the Civil War, Forbes joined the Army of the Potomac and became the leading artist for Frank Leslies Illustrated Newspaper. Forbes would travel with the army and sketch battlefield scenes and vignettes of camp life. The sketches were sent back to New York where copperplate etchings were painstakingly made from Forbes detailed drawings. His artwork in Leslies became the way most people experienced the Civil War during the conflict. This rare large-sized etching was part of a series of 40 retrospectives images introduced at the Centennial Exposition of 1876. This series was awarded a medal of excellence at the Exposition. General William T. Sherman purchased the proofs for the US government and are now housed at the War Department in Washington. Less than 200 sets of these superb large size etchings were ever made.