1899 – Plantation Sketches | First Edition, American South & post-Slave Culture Art

Plantation Sketches by J Campbell Phillips is a rare, 1899 portfolio of artwork depicting scenes associated with plantation and farm life in the American South. Many of the illustrations show slaves and slave children in their day-to-day life in a “comic style” presentation. The is merely a collection of plates rather than written descriptions, nevertheless, this work is a highly desirable and considerably valuable piece of Reconstruction Era art depicting African American and black Americans in the post-war South.

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Plantation Sketches
• Author(s): J. Campbell Phillips
• Illustrator(s): J. Campbell Phillips
• Publisher: New York, R.H. Russell
• Edition: 1899. First edition.
• Binding: Hardcover
• Format: Folio, single volume
• Size:  12 in x 15 in (30 cm x 38 cm)
  • oblong
• Collation: [2], 29 plates
• Contents Include:
  • Illustrated scenes depicting plantation life in the American South
  • Comic style character studies and social encounters
  • Large-format plates presenting Southern regional subjects

Condition:

Very Good. Binding secure with mild edge wear from age. Text block firm and complete with all 29 plates present. Pages clean with typical light age toning.

Why Collect This?

• Large folio illustrated Southern Americana work
• 29 comic style plates by illustrator J. Campbell Phillips

Item Number: #50161