Charles Magnus


Charles Magnus was a printing entrepreneur, whose business was based in New York, NY. Magnus is known for his color lithographs of city views, song sheets, maps and patriotic illustrations for stationery and covers during the American Civil War.

Early history

Charles Magnus was born Julian Carl Magnus in Elberfeldt, Germany in 1826. His early career in Germany included sales for a silk firm. His family emigrated to New York City in the late 1840s presumably as a result of their opposition to Emperor Frederick William IV. He and his brother Carl Emil founded the weekly German-language newspaper "Deutsche Schnellposte," which was later sold. He married Christina Koerner, a native of Munich, Germany, in 1854. They had at least four children.

Lithographic Work

After "Schnellposte" was sold, Magnus entered the publishing business as a mapmaker.
Bird's-eye views of North American cities, issued in large folio sizes, became popular in the mid-nineteenth century. Publishers, such as Charles Magnus, recognized a market for smaller octavo sized views, issued both as prints for framing and as illustrations on stationery. He employed lithographic transfers from engraved plates. Some were hand-colored.
Magnus best-known and most extensive work is in the illustration of Civil War patriotic covers. His covers are among the most popular among collectors because of their print quality, "achieved by the utilization of steel, copper, and stone engraved plates and the old-world workmanship applied in hand or stencil coloring processes"
Magnus was not an original designer. He adapted designs from a variety of published items, including bank notes, and rarely needed to credit an artist. For every design, he created many variations.