Description
Album of carte de visite portraits of political and public figures, probably from the 1860s, most published by E. Anthony
or E. and H.T. Anthony, 501 Broadway, New York, from photographic negatives by Mathew B. Brady's studio, Brady's National
Portrait Gallery.
Background
Nineteenth-century American photographer, best known for his portraits and documentation of the American Civil War. Mathew
Brady came to New York as a young man of sixteen, worked as a jewelry case designer, and on the side studied photography with
various teachers, one of whom was the photography pioneer, Samuel F. B. Morse. He eventually established studios in New York
in 1844, and in Washington, D.C. in 1849, and began earning awards for his daguerreotype portraits, and later, his ambrotypes
and albumen prints. His studios did a brisk business in producing carte de visite portraits for soldiers about to go to the
front, as the Civil War broke out in 1861. Brady set out to document the war, and organized a staff of travelling photographers,
including Alexander and James Gardner, T. H. O'Sullivan, T. C. Roche, S. C. Chester, and David Knox, whom he sent out into
the field to record the people, places, and battles of the war. Despite his great achievments and prominent place in the history
of photography, Brady died alone and impoverished on Jan. 15, 1896.
Extent
1 album (39 photographic prints on carte de visite mounts) : albumen, c 17 x 13 cm (album)
Bound in 19th-century bevelled dark brown pebble-grain leather covers, panelled in blind; gilt spine panels, and gold-stamped
spine title "Album" in gothic letters; two large ornamental brass clasps (half of the lower clasp missing); all edges gilt;
textured white decorated endpapers.
Spec. Coll. copy: in beige cloth clamshell box, with box label "Brady Portrait Album."
Restrictions
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UC Regents. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the
creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright
owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Availability
Open for research. STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact UCLA Library
Special Collections for paging information.