The digitized content of the Lincoln Prints and Ephemera collection consists of 14 political cartoons featuring Abraham Lincoln, members of Lincoln’s administration, and Union Army command. These political cartoons are depicted in a variety of formats, most notably prints and envelopes.

The Lincoln Prints and Ephemera collection includes several hundred depictions of Abraham Lincoln and various people, places, and topics related to his life and legacy. The materials within this collection were created by a variety of artists spanning from 1854 to present day and were combined into a single artificial collection by Illinois History and Lincoln Collections staff. The items from Lincoln Prints and Ephemera represented within the Digital Collections are a subset of the larger physical collection.

The digitized content contains political cartoons depicting Abraham Lincoln and other political and military figures who would have been in Lincoln’s inner circle. These political cartoons depict Lincoln, his cabinet, his political rivals, and members of Union Army command, set primarily in the context of the ongoing Civil War and Lincoln’s 1864 bid for re-election.

The Illinois History and Lincoln Collections unit at the University of Illinois Library manages the physical items of the Lincoln Prints and Ephemera Collection MS 1045. The collection was partially digitized in 2025. For more information, contact an archivist at ihlc@library.illinois.edu.