Snapshots of the Past

Columbia the morning after the fire – Vintage Print

Columbia the morning after the fire, [1865 February 18] — historic drawing
Columbia the morning after the fire, [1865 February 18]. Historic drawing from the The South collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

This rare historic drawing captures Columbia the morning after the fire in remarkable detail. It comes from the collections of the Library of Congress, scanned from the original and carefully restored.

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Columbia the morning after the fire

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Columbia, South Carolina, the morning after the city burned is the subject here, and the sheet shows cotton bales smoldering in the foreground while the skyline of public buildings is labeled above: the Asylum, the Treasury Building, the Market House, and the New State House. Columbia's center was badly damaged on the night of February 17, 1865, as Union troops under William T. Sherman occupied the city, and the causes of the fire remain disputed. William Waud, a British-born artist who sketched for *Harper's Weekly*, made the drawing on the spot, and it appeared in the magazine's April 1, 1865 issue. The Circle, the park the drawing names in its lower corner, was a landmark of the capital's center.

Created / published[1865 February 18]
Medium1 drawing on orange paper : pencil, Chinese white, and black ink wash ; 15.7 x 51.2 cm. (sheet).
GenreTexas
SubjectsSigned on verso: William Waud. Title inscribed upper left. Inscribed above image, from left to right: Asylum; Treasury Building; Market House; New State House. Inscribed lower right: Cotton burning in foreground; Park in Columbia called the Circle. Published in: Harper's Weekly, April 1, 1865, pp. 200-201. Gift, J.P. Morgan, 1919 (DLC/PP-1919:R1.2). Reference print available in the Civil War Drawings file -- 1864. Forms part of: Civil War drawing collection. Exhibited in: The American Civil War Field Notes : Sketches from Cairo to Richmond" at the O'Kane Gallery
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan5,000 × 4,025 px · prints to 17 × 13 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-223755

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