[Original Framed Lithograph and Mirror]: Boston & Charleston Steamers. South Carolina. 1160 Tons, Captain Rodney Baxter. Massachusetts. 1160 Tons, Captain F.A. Sampson

Boston: L. Prang & Co, 1860. Very Good. An unusual pre-Civil War point of sale broadside and mirror in the original wooden frame. The frame measures 16¼" x 23½", with interior gold painted dividers into four compartments, each glazed. The large bottom compartment displays a color lithograph of the steamer *Massachusetts* surmounted by a mirror, and flanked by letterpress broadsides describing the Boston & Charleston Steamship line's two ships (on the left) and a list of ports and rates (on the right). Modest rubbing to the frame, very good. The color lithograph was printed by the Prussian born lithographer Louis Prang soon after he bought out his partner and went into business by himself in Boston in 1860. Printed underneath the *Massachusetts* (still using some sails) are the names of the firm's two captains: Rodney Baxter and F. A. Sampson. Baxter, a pioneer sea captain from Cape Cod captained the firm's other steamer, the *South Carolina*, running from Boston to South Carolina. The *Massachusetts* was built at the same time, but was not successful, and eventually put out of commission. The fare from Boston to Charleston is listed at $18.00: the two upper broadsides record over 10 other cities which were connected to the port by rail in North Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, and Florida, presumably by train from Charleston: "These Steamships leave each port every nine days." Also included on the line is New Orleans, at a cost of $42.25.

A remarkably well-preserved piece of nautical Americana from just before the outbreak of the Civil War.