[Photograph Album. Civil War.] Collection of 120 Cartes de Visite Depicting Civil War Military and Political Figures, plus Lincoln Conspirators, Actors, and Other 19th-Century Notables. Most of the cards originated in the U.S. and date from the 1860s. Of these, 33 bear photographers’ marks. There is one Brady card, eight by E.A. Anthony (two from Brady negatives), and several by J. Gurney and Son and Charles D. Fredericks in New York, Warren in Boston, and R.W. Addis in Washington. A dozen or so cards were issued in London circa 1870-1880s.
The album includes 32 Union and 35 Confederate military men, mostly generals. Almost all are depicted in uniform, although a few Confederates are depicted in pre-war Union uniforms, and a handful of images depict famous Civil War fighters in civilian attire. There are also a dozen Union and a half-dozen Confederate politicians or statesmen, including Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Jefferson Davis, and Judah Benjamin. There are several CDVs related to Lincoln’s assassination including images of John Wilkes Booth, conspirator Samuel Arnold, a composite of seven conspirators, and Lincoln’s empty chair at Ford’s Theatre. Famous women include Bell Boyd, the Confederate spy; abolitionist and women’s rights activist, Anna Dickinson; several notable actors including Maggie Mitchell; and Queen Emma of Hawaii. Other celebrities depicted include Capt. Paul Boynton, the aquatic stuntman; Edwin Booth, the actor; and Edward P. Weston, the long-distance walker.
The cards are all housed in a period photograph album of 15 leaves, each with four windows on the recto and verso; with the boards covered in padded leather and closed with a metal clasp. The album is in fair condition only. The leather over the spine has perished and the boards are worn. Several leaves are completely detached, and others are in danger of becoming so, owing to the fragility of the linen tabs on which they are mounted. The CDVs themselves are mostly in very good condition, with any significant faults noted on the ledger below (after the images). Most of the subjects of the photographs are identified in the album in pencil, and many bear manuscript identifications on the cards themselves. The latter are all supplied neatly, evidently by contemporaries, although none appear to have been signed by the subjects of the photographs. The album has been in the possession of a New England family for many years. On the front cover is a small sticker of Sotheby’s New York, who offered it for sale at an unknown date.
Price for the 120 CDVs in period album: $2,500
The album includes 32 Union and 35 Confederate military men, mostly generals. Almost all are depicted in uniform, although a few Confederates are depicted in pre-war Union uniforms, and a handful of images depict famous Civil War fighters in civilian attire. There are also a dozen Union and a half-dozen Confederate politicians or statesmen, including Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Jefferson Davis, and Judah Benjamin. There are several CDVs related to Lincoln’s assassination including images of John Wilkes Booth, conspirator Samuel Arnold, a composite of seven conspirators, and Lincoln’s empty chair at Ford’s Theatre. Famous women include Bell Boyd, the Confederate spy; abolitionist and women’s rights activist, Anna Dickinson; several notable actors including Maggie Mitchell; and Queen Emma of Hawaii. Other celebrities depicted include Capt. Paul Boynton, the aquatic stuntman; Edwin Booth, the actor; and Edward P. Weston, the long-distance walker.
The cards are all housed in a period photograph album of 15 leaves, each with four windows on the recto and verso; with the boards covered in padded leather and closed with a metal clasp. The album is in fair condition only. The leather over the spine has perished and the boards are worn. Several leaves are completely detached, and others are in danger of becoming so, owing to the fragility of the linen tabs on which they are mounted. The CDVs themselves are mostly in very good condition, with any significant faults noted on the ledger below (after the images). Most of the subjects of the photographs are identified in the album in pencil, and many bear manuscript identifications on the cards themselves. The latter are all supplied neatly, evidently by contemporaries, although none appear to have been signed by the subjects of the photographs. The album has been in the possession of a New England family for many years. On the front cover is a small sticker of Sotheby’s New York, who offered it for sale at an unknown date.
Price for the 120 CDVs in period album: $2,500
To order, please email us directly. Terms as stated below.
Leaf 1 recto
Leaf 1 verso
Leaf 2 recto
Leaf 2 verso
Leaf 3 recto
Leaf 3 verso
Leaf 4 recto
Leaf 4 verso
Leaf 5 recto
Leaf 5 verso
Leaf 6 recto
Leaf 6 verso
Leaf 7 recto
Leaf 7 verso
Leaf 8 recto
Leaf 8 verso
Leaf 9 recto
Leaf 10 recto
Leaf 10 verso
Leaf 11 recto
Leaf 11 verso
Leaf 12 recto
Leaf 12 verso
Leaf 13 recto
Leaf 13 verso
Leaf 14 recto
Leaf 14 verso
Leaf 15 recto
Leaf 15 verso
Terms of Sale: All items are offered subject to prior sale. All items are guaranteed to be as described in our listings and to your complete satisfaction. Returns are accepted for any reason whatsoever within ten (10) days of delivery with prior notification (please email or phone for instructions). For new customers, payment is expected at the time of ordering. Unless other arrangements are made, a PayPal invoice will be sent and may be paid with any major credit card. Established customers and dealers known to us may be invoiced and are invited to pay by check. Shipping is additional and will be billed at cost. North Carolina residents must pay sales tax.
Dealer discount available. Institutions billed according to their needs.
