The Rose of Washington is a multi-colored Civil War patriotic designed by Charles Magnus. It is his arguably his best-known work. The colorful and elaborate rose is printed in blue on one side and bronze on the other. The Rose of Washington cover features a foldout rose enclosure with numerous scenes and monuments of Washington, D.C.

For collectors of Civil War patriotic covers, the exquisite hand-colored designs of Charles Magnus exemplify the convergence of political discourse and the U.S. Mail. The Charles Magnus Company was one of the era’s more prolific publishers of illustrated stationery. The company offered a broad spectrum of printed materials including personal and professional letterheads, maps, playing cards, and games. As citizens became more and more interested in adding nationalistic sentiments to their outgoing mail, Magnus and his competitors added a new item to their inventory: patriotic covers.
 
The covers of the Charles Magnus Company are some of the most beautiful and sought-after by collectors. The company used pre-cut stencils and a skillful hand-coloring technique to create its one-of-a-kind patriotic covers. Magnus was also known of it’s ‘rose’ series of covers, with elaborate foldouts.
 
The Rose of Washington is Magnus’ best-known work. The multi-colored Civil War patriotic cover stirs national pride with depictions of scenes and monuments in Washington, D.C. The colorful and elaborate rose folds out and is printed in blue on one side and bronze on the other.
 
Magnus designed a veritable rose ‘bouquet’ of Civil War patriotic covers. His work also includes the Union Rose/East and West. He designed this patriotic cover specifically for the North Western Sanitary Show in Chicago. Like the Rose of Washington, the Union Rose features iconic American scenes and monuments, including the building of the Fair. A bold use of bronze gives this rose special appeal.