The McAllister Graphics Collection of prints, ephemera, and scrapbooks reflect the collecting efforts of Philadelphia antiquarian John A. McAllister (1822-1896) during the Civil War. The Civil War graphics include prints and photographs of camps, forts and battlefields; political cartoons; portraiture; certificates; architectural and engineering plans; textiles and ephemera. A large segment of the prints are lithographic views of camps and battle scenes, with over 100 printed by the Philadelphia printer L.N. Rosenthal and New York firm Currier & Ives as well as a small number printed on textiles by Boston Chemical Printing Company. Also significant is the Civil War ephemera, which includes envelopes, stationery, and paper novelties such as toy soldiers. The Civil War Envelope and Stationery collections contain over 7,000 items illustrated with patriotic designs and slogans. Several envelopes by prolific publishers King & Baird and Charles Magnus are included in this collection. A smaller ephemera collection is the Civil War paper soldiers. The paper toys, a small number published by McLoughlin Bros. and G. Heerbrandt, depict soldiers from over a dozen different New York regiments. Three scrapbooks of Civil War envelopes and portrait prints and photographs of prominent military and political figures also comprise collection.
