Images(5)

Civil War Cartes-de-Visite

PhotographerPhotographed by Beers & Mansfield (American, active 1856 - 1867)

PhotographerPhotographed by Unknown

Date1861-1870

MediumPhotography; albumen prints on paper on cartes-de-visite mounts and tintypes on lacquered iron. All on cardboard album pages covered with paper with lithographed designs in colored inks, bound together in an album with leather-covered boards with metal clasps, cloth spine, and printed endpapers.

DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (image height x width): 3 3/16 x 1 15/16in. (8.1 x 4.9cm) or smaller Sheet (height x width): 5 5/8 x 8 3/8in. (14.3 x 21.3cm) Other (album height x width x depth): 6 x 8 3/4 x 2 1/2in. (15.2 x 22.2 x 6.4cm)

ClassificationsGraphics

Credit LineGift of Mary Matthieu Clark

Object number2002.116.1-.90

DescriptionAlbum containing 88 small studio portrait photographs, mostly of Civil War soldiers. Soldiers include William Seymour Cooper, Hiram D. Gaylord, Charles A. Reynolds, Edward E. Rowe, Francis Sheldon, and George Waterhouse. Most are wearing military uniforms and are posed in front of painted studio backdrops. Other portraits include John Wilkes Booth, Ambrose Burnside, William A. Buckingham, Andrew Johnson, and Abraham Lincoln. Most portraits are juxtaposed with photographic reproductions of prints and drawings of women, including allegorical, mythological, and historical figures. Two women are shown playing the harp. One is portrayed as a sculptor and one as a painter. One appears to be the Virgin Mary.

NotesSubject Note: William Seymour Cooper served with the 1st Connecticut Volunteers. Other soldiers in the album served with other units, several of them with the 2nd Connecticut Heavy Artillery.

Subject Note: Some inscriptions identifying the subjects of the photographs may not be accurate. Although the names of famous people such as Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, and William A. Buckingham all accompany the correct portraits, Lincoln's name is misspelled. Some soldiers' names are apparently misspelled or otherwise inaccurate. Some do not appear in Record of Service of Connecticut Men in the Army and Navy of the United States During the War of the Rebellion (Hartford, 1889), or they appear with different initials, or they are associated with a different town. (Finlay 10/31/2002)

Status

Not on view