As I'm sure you are aware by now, I really love when objects accrue added resonance over the course of time as result of all sorts of chance factors. This is a Civil War era envelope--one of thousands of designs printed in the north during the war, representing a new industry born of a change in postal rates and met by newly invented envelope-folding machines. To me (in addition to this great image of Lady Liberty leaning on her Union shield), what makes this compelling is the charring to the lower left corner, suggesting both that this envelope made it through the fire once but not without a scar, and feeling as if speaking to the current moment when our union is as precarious as it has been since. I can't not rescue things like this and usher them forward.
5 1/2" x 3 1/8" and apart from the charred corner and a little staining on reverse, in very good condition.
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