Saturday, December 29, 2018

Wednesday, November 14, 2018

Portrait of American Stage Actor Joseph Jefferson Dressed as Old Rip Van Winkle Taken by Napoleon Sarony (1869)


Portrait of American stage actor Joseph Jefferson dressed as old Rip Van Winkle by Napoleon Sarony, 1869. From an edition of the book Rip Van Winkle A Legend of the Kaatskill Mountains by Washington Irving published in 1871.

Source: Rijksmuseum.

Monday, October 29, 2018

Daguerreotype Portrait of 11-Year-Old Elihu Vedder Dressed As a Schoolboy (1847)


Daguerreotype portrait of 11-year-old Elihu Vedder dressed as a schoolboy, c. 1847. He would go on to be a noted American symbolist painter, book illustrator, and poet.

Source: Archives of American Art.

Monday, October 1, 2018

Portrait of Members of the London Branch Civil War Veterans Probably Taken in London, England (1910′s)


Portrait of members of the London Branch Civil War Veterans probably taken in London, England, c. 1910′s. From the book Souvenir of Abraham Lincoln published in 1920.

Monday, September 24, 2018

Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Wednesday, August 22, 2018

Saturday, August 18, 2018

Portrait of Colour Sergeant J. Mullins Posing With a Cased Photograph and Sword While Serving With the Royal Marine Artillery (1858)


Portrait of Colour Sergeant J. Mullins posing with a cased photograph and sword while serving with the Royal Marine Artillery, 1858. From an issue of Black and White Budget published in 1900.

Saturday, August 11, 2018

“Lady Exhibitors at the Crystal Palace Cat Show” (1901)


“Lady exhibitors at the Crystal Palace Cat Show.” Photograph taken by Russell and Sons at the Crystal Palace in London, England, c. 1901. From an issue of Black and White Budget.

Wednesday, August 8, 2018

Friday, August 3, 2018

Wednesday, July 25, 2018

Photograph Said to Be Taken During a Slave Auction in the Cheapside Area of Lexington, Kentucky (1862)


Photograph said to be taken during a slave auction in the Cheapside area of Lexington, Kentucky, c. 1861-1862. The man standing on a platform in the center waving his arms looks as though he is an auctioneer. The bovine in the left background might suggest that the photo actually depicts a livestock auction, although Cheapside was the location of a slave market in the period. Originally published in the book Slavery Times in Kentucky by John Winston Coleman.

Source: New York Public Library.
More information.

Monday, July 2, 2018

A Group Playing a Game of Faro in the Orient Saloon in Bisbee, Arizona (1900)


A group playing a game of faro in the Orient Saloon in Bisbee, Arizona, c. 1900. By photographer C. S. Fly. The men are identified as: "Left to right - Tony Downs (standing with derby) part owner; Doyle, a concert hall singer at corner of table, sitting, with derby; back of him standing is Dutch Kid; Sleepy Dick, the porter, to right with light felt; Charlie Bassett, with soft felt hat in rear next to wall; dealer is Johnny Murphy, and Smiley Lewis in silk hat."

Source: National Archives and Records Administration.

Thursday, May 17, 2018

Union Soldiers and Civilians Posing in an Encampment and On the Ruins of the Morris Island Lighthouse Near Charleston, South Carolina, During the American Civil War (1863)


Union soldiers and civilians posing in an encampment and on the ruins of the Morris Island Lighthouse near Charleston, South Carolina, during the American Civil War in July or August 1863. Some of the men on the pile of rubble are possibly watching distant exchanges of artillery fire by Union and Confederate forces in Charleston Harbor. By photographers Haas and Peale.

Source: Library of Congress.

Friday, May 11, 2018