Jonathan Mann collection of materials related to Abraham Lincoln

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Jonathan Mann collection of materials related to Abraham Lincoln

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Collection Data

Description: Jonathan Mann (1961-2023) was a scholar of Abraham Lincoln, publisher, and collector of 19th century political Americana. The Jonathan Mann collection of materials related to Abraham Lincoln, dating from the 1600s to 2020 (bulk dates from the 1840s to 2020), holds items related directly to Lincoln himself (including documents written by him), Lincoln's family members, major politicians and cultural figures of the era, prior and subsequent American presidents, the American Civil War and its legacy, and 19th century America broadly. The collection also contains Mann's own subject files, which offer insight into his collecting practices. It contains thousands of items including letters, ephemera, newspapers, broadsides, political cartoons, photographs, artifacts, artwork, small imprints, journals, and books.
Names: Mann, Jonathan, 1961-2023 (Creator); Mann, Jonathan, 1961-2023
Dates / Origin: Date Created: 1600 - 2020
Library locations: Manuscripts and Archives Division; Shelf locator: MssCol 188257
Topics: Bell, John, 1796-1869; Booth, Edwin, 1833-1893; Booth, John Wilkes, 1838-1865; Brady, Mathew B., approximately 1823-1896; Breckinridge, John C. (John Cabell), 1821-1875; Chase, Salmon P. (Salmon Portland), 1808-1873; Douglas, Stephen A. (Stephen Arnold), 1813-1861; Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885; Johnson, Andrew, 1808-1875; Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865; Lincoln, Mary Todd, 1818-1882; Lincoln, Robert Todd, 1843-1926; McClellan, George B. (George Brinton), 1826-1885; Stanton, Edwin M. (Edwin McMasters), 1814-1869; Welles, Gideon, 1802-1878; Lincoln family; Wide Awakes; collectors; Politicians; Presidents -- United States; Presidents; United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865; United States -- Politics and culture -- 19th century; United States -- Politics and government -- 1861-1865; United States -- Social aspects -- 19th century
Genres: Broadsides; Ephemera; Manuscripts; Newsletters; Newspapers; Photographs; Political cartoons; Songsters
Notes: Biographical/historical: Jonathan Mann was a scholar of Abraham Lincoln, collector of 19th century political Americana, publisher, and documentary filmmaker. Mann was born on October 10, 1961 in San Francisco, California. His passion for history began at a young age when his father showed him a collection of 20th century campaign buttons. After graduating from Cate School in Carpinteria, Mann attended Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, earning a bachelor's degree in history. He wrote his thesis about Nazi saboteurs on Long Island; Mann's experience tracking down and interviewing the last surviving saboteur further fueled his passion for collecting and documenting history. Mann then moved to New York City and received a master's degree in business ethics from New York University. He worked for L. F. Rothschild, Unterberg, Towbin, during which time he began collecting materials related to Abraham Lincoln, a personal inspiration to Mann. He taught himself collecting and archival practices, and became a respected authority on Lincoln and his era. Mann lived in Manhattan, where he displayed items from his collection in his loft, including books, artifacts, posters, broadsides, photographs, letters, and ephemera. Mann acquired items primarily from auctions, other collectors, and booksellers. In 1995, Mann and Donald Ackerman founded The Rail Splitter, a journal for Lincoln collectors that reports on the discovery of new items and auction prices; Mann served as the journal's publisher. The Rail Splitter exists today as a website that incorporates book reviews and feature articles alongside marketplace listings. In his capacity as a collector and historian, Mann participated in a few notable exhibitions. In 2009, the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth, he organized Abraham Lincoln in New York, an exhibition at Federal Hall that featured items from his collection. Mann was also involved in a 1995 exhibition of John D. Lattimer's collection of Lincolniana in New York City, and an exhibition coinciding with the reopening of the General Grant National Memorial in 1997. Additionally, Mann co-authored the book That's the Ticket! A Century of American Political Ballots, published in 2012. Mann produced, directed, or wrote several documentary films. His documentary shorts Do Not Duplicate (2012) and Half Sour (2015) examined New York City life, while The Oratorio (2020) featured filmmaker Martin Scorsese discussing Italian opera and his childhood church. Mann also co-produced and co-directed Forever Endeavor (released in 2024 after his death), a film exploring the concept of legacy. Mann died on August 15, 2023, from injuries sustained from a physical assault on New York City's Manhattan Bridge.; Content: The Jonathan Mann collection of materials related to Abraham Lincoln encompasses the vast and varied collection amassed over decades by self-taught historian and publisher Jonathan Mann. Dating from the 1600s to 2020 (bulk dates 1840s to 2020), the collection contains thousands of items. While many materials relate directly to Lincoln himself, the collection broadly covers Lincoln's political era and mid-19th century America. Lincoln's family, his political contemporaries, his cabinet members, prior and subsequent presidents, Union and Confederate soldiers, major 19th century American figures, and others with connections to Lincoln feature in the collection. A significant number of materials concern the 1860 and 1864 presidential elections, the Civil War, and Lincoln's assassination. Mann's collection contains letters and manuscripts, including several written by Lincoln; ephemera; newspapers and magazines; broadsides and posters; political cartoons; photographs, including daguerreotypes, tintypes, and cartes de visite; artifacts and artwork; circulars and pamphlets; journals; small imprints; and books. Mann's own subject files are also present, offering insight into his collecting and publishing practices. Mann provided printed descriptions for hundreds of items, primarily the letters and manuscripts. These descriptions are kept in the collection with their corresponding items. They typically feature information about relevant individuals or events and, in the case of letters, full or partial transcriptions. Sellers's descriptions from catalogs and printouts from websites occasionally accompany items as well. Be advised that some materials in the collection contain racist language and imagery, including an assemblage of 19th century and early 20th century ephemera featuring racial caricatures of Black people in Series I.
Physical Description: Extent: 47.76 linear feet (111 boxes, 13 oversize folders). 13 moving image recordings
Type of Resource: Text
Identifiers: MSS Unit ID: 188257; Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): 129b9210-9b4e-013f-28d9-0242ac110003