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New Items on Display at Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum
By Samuel P. Wheeler | June 1, 2010
It was the best-selling novel of the 19th Century. Published in 1852, more than 300,000 copies of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin were sold in the United States. As the decade progressed and tension over slavery intensified, sales of the book continued to climb. By 1862, more than two million copies were in circulation. The novel also sold well overseas. During the first year of publication, more than 200,000 copies were sold in England. The book was also translated into at least twenty different languages.
According to a story in this morning’s Decatur Tribune, several rare copies of Uncle Tom’s Cabin–including first edition copies printed in foreign languages–will be among the new items on display at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield.
The temporary exhibit will be located just outside the theatre where the “Ghosts of the Library” presentation takes place.
In addition to the copies of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a number of other items will be be featured in the temporary exhibit:
- Copy of Civil War photographer Alexander Gardner’s Photographic Sketch Book of War showing a photograph of the McLean House at Appomattox
- Cartes-de-viste images of two escaped slaves: Wilson Chinn and “Gordon”
- 1704 map of the “newly discovered” North American continent
- 1818 map of Illinois, printed just before statehood
- 1854 map of Illinois
- 1768 broadside printed in Switzerland that shows bison roaming free in the “Illinois Country”
For more information on the temporary exhibit or the museum, visit the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum’s website.
Topics: Museums, Slavery, Upcoming Events | No Comments »