The American Historical Ephemera & Early Photography Department at Freemans's brings to market exceptional artifacts, manuscripts, early photography, and more, illuminating the military, political, social, and cultural history of the United States from the Colonial Period into the 20th century.

The department handles a wide range of physical objects, textiles, manuscripts, print material, and early photography, from vernacular portraiture to rare images capturing seminal events in US history. Our Early American History auctions feature historically important pieces that tell a story: from ephemeral items like broadsides and flyers, to more durable relics like medals and campaign textiles, to diaries and archives that convey the depth and breadth of the American experience. Building upon the nationally-recognized excellence of Cowan's Auctions in Americana and historic photography and combining that legacy with the national reach of Freeman's, the department maintains its positions as a market leader in offering historic Americana.

Early American History Auctions

In recent years, our team has had the distinct honor of offering some of the category’s finest collections, achieving record-setting prices and setting the standard for how multi-faceted yet carefully curated collections can be most effectively brought to market.

Those collections include Property of N. Flayderman & Company; the Civil War Collection of James C. Frasca; Property from the James Milgram, M.D., Collection of Broadsides, Ephemeral Americana, and Historical Documents; and the Steve Turner Collection of African Americana.

Significant highlights include two daguerreotypes of miner William J. Jewell (1818-1885) in the California gold fields in July 1852 ($60,480); an Antebellum daguerreotype taken in Georgia, believed to be the earliest known image of enslaved African Americans with cotton ($324,500); an archive of materials mostly related to abolitionist George H. Hoyt's work as an attorney for John Brown ($43,750); and the earliest and rarest of the Lincoln Assassination Reward broadsides entitled $30,000 Reward. Description of John Wilkes Booth!, printed ca 16 April 1865 ($31,250).