FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 13, 2011

PHOTOGRAPH AVAILABLE

CONTACT:  Brenda French at 603-856-0607 or Donna-Belle Garvin at 603-856-0642

ABBOT-DOWNING: COACH AND WAGON MAKERS TO THE WORLD

CONCORD, NH-"Not until the Model-T did any vehicle of American manufacture acquire so great a reputation as that of the Concord coach.  It is best remembered today for its role in stagecoach operations west of the Mississippi; yet the Concord coach did yeoman's service on stage and mail lines everywhere in the United States, in South Africa, South America, and Australia.  Moreover, it was only one model of more than forty types of carriages and wagons manufactured by the Abbot-Downing Company of Concord, New Hampshire, originators of the distinctive Concord coach design."

A newly released publication by the New Hampshire Historical Society, featuring this colorful, world-famous Granite State product, opens with these words by Harry N. Scheiber, professor of history and law at the University of California at Berkeley since 1980.  Although interest in the Abbot-Downing Company and the vehicles it manufactured extends around the world, little has been available in print in recent years to inform readers about the firm and its products.  In publishing Abbot-Downing: Coach and Wagon Makers to the World, the Historical Societyaims to fill this gap and to ensure that a richly illustrated overview of the subject is available to anyone who is curious about the Concord coach, including those whose interest has been sparked by encountering one of the approximately 80 examples on view today in museums and historic sites around the country.  

Since 1957 the New Hampshire Historical Society has had its own Concord coach, built around 1852, on public display.  The Society has also served since the 1930s as the main repository for the surviving business records of the Abbot-Downing Company, including a large collection of glass negatives showing the tremendous variety of vehicles the company produced.  The Society's new publication offers two well-documented essays based on these resources-one tracing the evolution of the company and its production from 1813 to 1928, and the other analyzing the art and science of coach decoration through the work of John Burgum, one of the company's chief ornamental painters.  Also included is the first-ever attempt to record in print the surviving Concord coaches that have been identified to date.  Each coach is listed two ways, by serial number and by location.

In addition to Prof. Scheiber, those contributing to the publication's content include: Merri Ferrell, who served for 20 years as curator of the carriage collection at the Long Island Museum of American Art, History, and Carriages; Christopher Augerson, formerly conservator of paint and gilding at the Chateau of Versailles Coach Museum; and William Copeley, who during his many years as librarian at the New Hampshire Historical Society has developed extensive research files concerning extant Concord coaches. 

The new publication doubles as a special issue of the Society's journal Historical New Hampshire.  It is available either for purchase through the New Hampshire Historical Society store or for free as a member benefit.  The price of an individual copy is $9.95 plus shipping and handling.  To order a copy or to subscribe to Historical New Hampshire by becoming a Society member, call 603-856-0625, email store@nhhistory.org, or visit online at nhhistory.org.

Abbot-Downing: Coach and Wagon Makers to the World is sponsored in part by Margaret and Sut Marshall, Barbara and Jay Rosenfield, Johnny Prescott and Son Oil Company, and Capital Offset Company, Inc.

The New Hampshire Historical Society has published Historical New Hampshire since 1944.  Each issue contains a variety of articles about the past, as well as reviews of recent books of state and local interest.

Founded in 1823, the New Hampshire Historical Society is the independent nonprofit that saves, preserves, and shares New Hampshire history.  The Society serves thousands of children and adults each year through its museum, library, educational programs, publications, and outreach programs.  To learn more about the Society's programs and services, visit nhhistory.org or call 603-228-6688.

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