Interesting Collection of Santa Barbara Photographs 25
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William Reese Company Rare Books, Americana, Literature & Pictorial Americana 409 Temple Street, New Haven, Connecticut 06511 203 / 789 · 8081 fax: 203 / 865 · 7653 e-mail: [email protected] web: www.reeseco.com Bulletin 29: Photographica A Superb Daguerreotype of Commodore Matthew Perry 1. [Perry, Matthew C.]: [Beckers, Alexander]: [Piard, Victor]: [HALF-PLATE DAGUERREOTYPE OF COMMODORE MATTHEW CALBRAITH PERRY]. New York. [1855 or 1856]. 5¼ x 4 inches. In the original case. Some spotting to plate. Hinge on case broken, clasps intact. Light wear. Very good. A previously unrecorded image of Commodore Matthew Perry (1794–1858), made in New York in the months following his triumphant return from his seminal voy- age to Japan. In 1852, Perry was appointed head of a naval expedition charged with inducing the Japanese government to establish diplomatic relations with the United States. The mission was a success, with the most important result of the voyage being Japan opened to the West for the first time in history and ushered into the modern era. The present portrait can be dated to 1855–56 based on the date of Perry’s return to the United States, in January 1855, and the years that Beckers & Piard oper- ated their studio at 264 Broadway. A variant, more conventional portrait from this same sitting, previously unattributed, exists in three identical half-plates, one in the National Portrait Gallery, one in the New-York Historical Society, and one sold at Swann Galleries in New York in 1988. In addition, there are two other half- plate studies, both known in a single copy. The portrait offered here is perhaps the most candid of all the extant daguerreotypes of Perry, revealing a more animate and human sitter. His great diplomatic mission and years at sea behind him, he died in 1858, two years after this daguerreotype was made, at the age of sixty-four. A wonderful image of this remarkable American. $45,000. Unique Collection of Large Albumen Photographs by George Barnard 2. Barnard, George: [ARCHIVE OF FOURTEEN MOUNTED ALBUMEN PHOTOGRAPHS BY OR ATTRIBUTED TO THE GREAT CIVIL WAR PHOTOGRAPHER, GEORGE BARNARD, INCLUDING THREE IMAGES NOT PUBLISHED IN HIS PhotograPhic Views of sherman’s camPaign]. [1864–1866]. Fourteen mounted albumen photographs. Images approximately 10¾ x 14¼ inches, on non-uniform card mounts, approximately 16¾ x 21¾ inches (three with printed captions, ten with manuscript captions in pencil, one uncaptioned). Soiling and dampstaining, principally to the mounts; some fading to the images. Set of fourteen distinct images from one of the two greatest photographic monuments to the Civil War and “a landmark in the history of photog- raphy” (Keith F. Davis). George N. Barnard’s album and Alexander Gardner’s Photographic Sketchbook of the Civil War (1866) are the two seminal photographic works of the Civil War. Between them, they con- tain some of the most famous images of the War’s destruction. The images by Barnard are of locations that fig- ured prominently in the campaign, recording the trail of destruction left across the Confederacy by Gen. Wil- liam T. Sherman’s army from 1864 to 1865 during his famous march from Nashville to the sea. The images run chronologically, starting with Nash- ville and including Mission Ridge, Chattanooga, Resaca, Etawah Bridge, New Hope Church, Kenesaw Moun- tain, Peach Tree Creek, Atlanta, Savannah, Columbia, Charleston, and Fort Sumter. “The album was the most ambitious project of Barnard’s career, and has long been recognized as a landmark in the history of pho- tography”—Davis (p. 170). $17,500. With Original Photographs of Redwood Lumbering 3. [California]: Cherry, Edgar: REDWOOD AND LUMBERING IN CALIFORNIA FORESTS. San Francisco. 1884. [2], 107 pp. plus twenty-four albumen print photographs, each on an individual thin card mount within a purple printed border, twenty-one with purple printed titles, the other three with no printed title. One photograph with an additional pencil note identifying one of the loggers as “Billy Russel.” Quarto. Original blue cloth, title stamped in gilt on front board, neatly rebacked with original spine laid down. Neat repairs to corners and edges of binding. Very clean internally, the images very clean and crisp, and the text quite clean as well. Overall, a very good copy. In a cloth clamshell case, leather label. Displaying astonishing photographs whose pub- lication surely unsettled an eastern audience unprepared for the room-size circular saw blades, strange “donkey engines,” and endlessly long logging trains used to harvest the giants. This volume, published to promote the use of “superior” redwood, was illustrated with photo- graphs to prove, where engravings might appear to exaggerate, the enor- mous growth of the red- wood. $13,500. The Dedication Copy 4. [Francis, Charles Spencer]: SPORT AMONG THE ROCKIES. THE RECORD OF A FISHING AND HUNTING TRIP IN NORTH-WESTERN MONTANA. By the Scribe. Troy, N.Y. 1889. [10],134pp., printed in double columns, plus forty-eight mounted original photographs. Antique-style three-quarter calf and cloth, with the moiré original cloth, spine gilt, t.e.g. A few leaves with slight marginal paper loss neatly repaired, not affecting text. Very good, with the photographs in near fine condition. Only fifteen copies of this wonder- ful book were made, for private distribution by the author. The remarkable photographs, which are by the author himself, repre- sent a vivid and important photo- graphic record of Montana at the time. Included are photographs of towns, ranches, Indian agen- cies, Indians, portraits, landscapes, camp scenes, and other fine views. The text is comprised of twenty- five letters written by Francis for the Troy Times, of which he was the owner, describing a hunting trip to Montana in August and September of 1888. This copy is the dedication copy, inscribed by the author on the front fly leaf: “To my manly little son, John M. Francis, Jr. Charles d. Francis, Troy, Aug. 15, 1889.” The printed dedication leaf, immediately after the title, reads: “To my Son, John M. Francis, Jr., whose love for hunting and fishing and fondness for outdoor sport, as well as his manly, generous, disposition, will, I trust, make him my companion on similar excursions in search of game and fish, this volume is affectionately dedicated by The Author.” A great Montana rarity, and one of the finest 19th-century photographically illustrated books of the West. $35,000. Important Cuban Book Illustrated with Original Mounted Photographs 5. Gelpi y Ferro, Gil: ALBUM HISTORICO FOTOGRAFICO DE LA GUERRA DE CUBA DESDE SU PRINCIPIO HASTA EL REINADO DE AMADEO I. Havana. 1872. 413pp. plus folding map and twenty-four mounted albumen photographs, each 7 x 10 inches. Folio. Original printed wrappers bound into half leather and cloth, spine gilt. Extremities rubbed, front hinge starting. Lower corner of front cover and half title torn away, repaired with tissue. Minor foxing. Very good. Illustrated work on the Ten Years’ War, the bloody civil war between Spanish loyalists and rebels fighting for Cuba’s independence, with twenty- four photographs by Varela y Suarez, comprised of images of notable citizens and views of Cuba. This is a history pro- duced by the loyalist forces, dominated by the large planta- tion owners. The ten large albumen views, each with a printed caption on the mount, show various buildings and panoramas of Havana during the Ten Years’ War (1868–78), the first of three civil wars of the late 19th century. Of note is the striking image of the “Vista de la Calle del Comercio Despues Del Incendio,” show- ing the devastation brought on by this conflict. Describing the war up to 1872, this book includes views of the Teatro de Tacon y Del Louvre, the impressive Morro Castle, and a handsome composite photo- graph of the various officers of the First Volunteers of Havana. The photographer, Leopoldo Varela y Suarez, was one of a small group of foreign and Cuban photographers to photograph and publish images of this war. $7500. An American Photographic Album of the Visit of the Prince of Wales, 1860 6. Gurney, Jeremiah: THE ROYAL ALBUM A SERIES OF PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN FROM LIFE OF H.R.H. THE PRINCE OF WALES AND SUITE AT THE REVERE HOUSE BOSTON ON THE 19th OCTOBER 1860 THE DAY BEFORE THEIR DEPARTURE FROM AMERICA by J. Gurney & Son Photographic Artists.... [New York. 1860]. Titlepage, dedication leaf, plus eleven original albumen photographic portraits, 5¾ x 7½ inches, mounted on heavy cardstock. Quarto. Original morocco, stamped in blind with the gilt seal of the Prince of Wales on the front cover, a.e.g., with original brass clasps. Portion of top clasp lacking, front joint cracked but holding, some darkening and crackling at binding extremities. Internally very clean, all images excellent. A very rare American photographic book, created to commemorate the visit of Edward, Prince of Wales to the United States in 1860. The future King Edward VII visited the northeastern United States, including Boston, New York, and Wash- ington. The photographs, made by the New York firm of J. Gurney & Son, are portraits of the high- ranking members of the Prince’s suite; this copy was presented to one of those depicted, the Duke of Newcastle. $4000. Portrait of a Yale Man 7. [Hadley, James]: [HALF-PLATE DAGUERREOTYPE OF YALE PROFESSOR JAMES HADLEY]. [New York? nd, ca. 1850]. Oval daguerreotype, 4½ x 3½ inches, in an attractive contemporary stamped gutta-percha frame, gilt, lined in red velvet. A few light spots. Near fine. A handsome daguerreotype of Yale professor James Hadley (1821–72). Hadley was born in Fairfield, New York and graduated from Yale in 1842. He was a philologist and pro- fessor of Greek there from 1851 to 1872.