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Comic Valentines
Comic Valentines. [Probably New York, 1861-1865].
Although there are greeting cards today that incorporate satire and
humor in an affectionate message, it is difficult to understand how any
woman could send one of these to a soldier.
The one depicted here bears the line "pity that your uniform did not make you bolder." It is one of a group of twenty-nine comic valentines, all dating from the era of the Civil War.
Purchased from Robert Rubin of Brookline, Massachusetts. Anonymous Fund
#1.
-Georgia B. Barnhill, Andrew B. Mellon Curator of Graphic Arts
"One day I am visited by a collector of ordination sermons; the next, by
a collector of 4th of July orations; then comes a collector of geography;
another wants religious newspapers; another wants every book printed in
New York before 1700. I accommodate myself to all; for I want every thing
and collect every thing, and I have more zeal than the whole of them: and
in this way I am kept very busy."
~Christopher Columbus Baldwin
3rd Librarian of AAS
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