Description:

Doubleday Abner 1819 - 1893 A handsome Major General A. Doubleday Carte de Visite

Carte de Visite of Major General A. Doubleday, 2.25 " x 3.5", mounted on a card backing to a size of 4" x 6.5". Verso logo stamped with the Publisher's Photographic history, and name of John C. Taylor, Sole Owner and Publisher, Hartford CT. Small pin hole along top edge, else Near fine.


A beautifully preserved Carte De Visite of Major General A. Doubleday. The Carte de Visite was slow to gain widespread use until 1859, when Disdéri published Emperor Naoleon III's photos in this format. This made the format an overnight success. The new invention was so popular it was known as "cardomania" and it spread throughout Europe and then quickly to America and the rest of the world.

Each photograph was the size of a visiting card, and such photograph cards were traded among friends and visitors. Albums for the collection and display of cards became a common fixture in Victorian parlors. The immense popularity of these card photographs led to the publication and collection of photographs of prominent persons.

A highly collectible, near fine example of a Major General A. Doubleday Carte De Visite.

An extensive description verso indicates that this photograph comes from the John C. Taylor (Hartford, CT) "The War for the Union. - Photographic History, 1861 - 1865" series. According to Taylor, a most vocal and enterprising salesman, this print of Lee was printed about 25 years after the close of the war but by using one of 6000+ negatives "of original photographs taken during the war of the Rebellion." Taylor explains that, because there is a finite number of war period negatives, and considering the difficulty of pulling contemporary prints from old and chemically changing negatives, his price of 25 cents per card is more than justified. In very fine condition with expected minor wear at corners. Pencil inscribed with past lot number along top verso.

Like Confederate counterpart Robert E. Lee, Abner Doubleday (1819-1893) came from a family with an established war record; his ancestors served in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. Unlike Lee, who graduated very high in his class at West Point, Doubleday finished 24 th in a class of 56 cadets in 1842. Doubleday saw action in the Mexican War (1846-7) and Seminole Wars (1856-1858). He was second-in-command under Major Robert Anderson at Fort Sumter, the federal stronghold in Charleston Harbor. Doubleday purportedly lit the canon that returned Confederate fire on April 12, 1861. Like his commander Robert Anderson, Abner Doubleday was promoted following the valiant but futile Union defense of the fort.

During the remainder of the Civil War, Doubleday participated in many crucial battles, including Antietam, where one officer described him as "remarkably cool at the very front of battle." Doubleday exploited this military sangfroid when he led approximately 9,500 Union soldiers against 16,000 Confederates during a five-hour attack near Cemetery Hill at the Battle of Gettysburg. Doubleday can also claim the following famous connections: he accompanied Lincoln to the battlefield where the president later delivered his famous Gettysburg Address; he successfully applied for a cable car patent in San Francisco; and he commanded an all-black army regiment out of Texas. Later in his life, Doubleday became increasingly involved in the Theosophical Society, among whose members was inventor Thomas A. Edison.

John C. Taylor was a Civil War veteran who served as a former commander of Post No. 50, Grand Army of the Republic. In 1907, he told author Francis Trevelyan Miller, who was compiling a book about Civil War photography, how he had amassed the collection of war period negatives: "I found the seven thousand negatives in New York stored in an old garret. Anthony, the creditor, had drawn prints from some of them and I purchased all that were in his possession. I also made a deal with him to allow me to use the prints exclusively. General Albert Ordway of the Loyal Legion became acquainted with the conditions and, with Colonel Rand of Boston, he purchased the negatives from Anthony who had a clear title through court procedure. I met these gentlemen and contracted to continue my arrangement with them for the exclusive use of the prints. I finally purchased the Brady negatives from General Ordway and Colonel Rand with the intention of bringing them before the eyes of all the old soldiers so that they might see that the lens had forever perpetuated their struggle for the Union."

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June 14, 2017 10:30 AM EDT
Wilton, CT, US

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