Lot 92YOUNGER, THOMAS COLEMAN (“COLE”). Photograph Signed and Inscribed, “Yours truly / Cole Younger,” in pencil, bust portrait, showing the outlaw partly in shadow. Signed on the mount above and below the image. Approximately 2 1/2x1 3/4 inches (image), approximately 5x3 inches overall; photograph trimmed into an oval shape and mounted to a larger sheet; elaborately matted and framed. Np, nd
Estimate $5,000-7,500
A rare signed photograph showing the middle-aged ex-outlaw after his release from prison in 1901.
Lot 40HOWE, JULIA WARD. Photograph dated and Signed, bust portrait by J.E. Purdy, showing the abolitionist and poet looking wistful. Inscribed in the margin below the image. Additionally signed by the photographer at lower right, in pencil. Photographer’s blind stamp and imprint, lower left and bottom. Approximately 5 1/2x4 inches (image), approximately 10x8 inches overall; framed. Np, February 1904
Estimate $800-1,200
Howe (1819-1910) composed the “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” and was an influential suffragette and peace activist.
Lot 83WILDE, OSCAR. Photograph Signed, cabinet card half-length portrait by Alfred Ellis, showing the poet in a typical pose, with a flower in his lapel and holding a cigarette. Signed in the image at bottom left with a flourish extending to mount. Photographer’s full imprint on verso. Approximately 5 1/2x4 inches (image), approximately 6 1/2x4 1/4 inches overall; minor fading to image, minor scattered soiling, even toning to mount, bold signature. Np, nd
Estimate $4,000-6,000
Lot 17 (CIVIL WAR.) SCOTT, WINFIELD. Photograph Signed and Inscribed, “This card is respectfully / inscribed to / Miss Van Horn-- / the friend of my family, / by her friend-- Winfield Scott / 1862,” carte-de-visite portrait by Charles D. Fredricks, showing the elderly General seated in uniform and grasping his sword. Inscribed on the verso. Photographer’s full imprint on verso. Approximately 3 1/2x2 1/4 inches (image), approximately 4x2 1/2 inches overall. Np, 1862 Estimate $1,000-1,500
Scott (1786-1866) served in the War of 1812, commanded the Southern theater during the Mexican War, was promoted to Lieutenant General in 1855--the first officer to attain that rank since George Washington--named General-in-Chief of the Union army at the start of the Civil War, and devised the “Anaconda Plan” to defeat Confederate forces.
Lot 60PICASSO, PABLO. Photograph Postcard dated and Signed, “Picasso,” showing a close up of the master holding a sculpture of a bird by its stone base. Inscribed in the image at bottom left. Approximately 4x5 3/4 inches; 3 pin-holes along top edge, bold signature. Np, 25 [April 19]58
Estimate $2,000-3,000
The image is a still from Visit to Picasso, a film by Paul Haesaerts.
Lot 50LINCOLN, ABRAHAM. Photograph Signed, “A. Lincoln,” as President, carte-de-visite portrait by Gardner, showing the President seated, legs crossed, his left arm leaning on a book and holding a newspaper, his right hand holding his eyeglasses. Signed on the mount below the image. Photographer’s imprint on verso. Approximately 3x2 1/4 inches (image), approximately 3 1/2x2 1/2 inches; corners and top edge of mount slightly trimmed, discoloration from prior matting, minor scattered soiling. Np, nd
Estimate $40,000-60,000
This image was taken early on August 9, 1863--a Sunday--a time selected so as to avoid the unwanted attention of the curious. It is one of four images taken in the same instant, as Gardner employed a four-lens camera that allowed him to send each of the four parts of the negative to a different assistant in order to maximize production. As quoted in Hamilton-Ostendorf on the same page as a reproduction of the present image, John Hay made a note in his diary about the sitting: “I went down with the President to have his picture taken at Gardner’s. He was in very good spirits.” Charles Hamilton and Lloyd Ostendorf, Lincoln in Photographs, 1963, p. 130, No. O-70.
Lot 48LAST PORTRAIT OF LEE LEE, ROBERT E. Photograph Signed, “R.E. Lee,” carte-de-visite vignetted bust portrait by Boude & Miley, showing the General in civilian attire. Signed in the image at bottom center. Photographer’s imprint on the mount at bottom. Approximately 3 3/4x2 1/4 inches (image), approximately 4 1/4x2 1/2 inches; slight fading to image. Np, nd
Estimate $4,000-6,000
On January 10, 1870, Lee sent to a woman in Louisiana a signed carte-de-visite with the same slightly faded image as the present one, noting that “[i]t is the last that has been taken & is the only kind I have. I wish I had a better.” Roy Meredith, The Face of Robert E. Lee, 1981, p. 100.
Lot 36HO CHI MINH. Photograph Postcard Signed and Inscribed, “Au Dr. Adolf Leichtle / HoChiMinh,” bust portrait of him looking into camera. Signed in blank margin at bottom. Approximately 5 1/4x3 1/4 overall. Np, nd
Estimate $700-1,000
Lot 30GORKI, MAXIM. Photograph Inscribed and Signed, “M. Gorki,” in Russian, bust portrait showing the austere author and activist in heavy coat with short hair. Inscribed on the mount below the image. Approximately 7x5 inches (image), approximately 10x8 inches overall; minor scattered soiling to mount, remnants of prior mounting verso. Np, nd
Estimate $1,500-2,500
“To Viktor Vasilyevich Muizhel, at the beginning of our great collaboration with heartfelt wishes for its well-deserved success.” Muizhel (1880-1924) was a fellow author whose name has not withstood the passage of time as well as Gorki’s.
Lot 15THE FIRST UNION OFFICER KILLED IN THE LINE OF DUTY (CIVIL WAR.) ELLSWORTH, ELMER EPHRAIM. Photograph Signed, “Elmer E. Ellsworth,” carte-de-visite full-length standing portrait by Brady, showing the Civil War hero in civilian attire. Signed below the image on the album mount into which the photograph has been inserted. Photographer’s imprint in image, lower left. Approximately 3 1/4x2 inches (image), approximately 6 1/4x3 3/4 inches overall; minor scattered soiling to mount; matted and framed with a commemorative envelope and an unsigned carte-de-visite showing a bust portrait of Ellsworth in uniform. Np, nd
Estimate $4,000-6,000
Ellsworth (1837-1861) recruited and led a Zouave regiment for the Civil War drawing upon New York's volunteer firemen (the “Fire Zouaves”). He became the first notable casualty of the War when he was shot and killed after removing the Confederate banner from a building in Alexandria, VA. This image was taken in New York only weeks before his death. Dorothy Meserve Kunhardt and Philip B. Kunhardt, Jr., Mathew Brady and His World, 1977, p. 203.
Lot 24EARHART, AMELIA. Photograph signed, showing the smiling aviator in short sleeves standing before an airplane engine whose propeller bears a Hamilton Standard logo. Signed in the image at bottom center. Approximately 10x8 inches; mounted to a sheet trimmed to size. Np, nd
Estimate $1,000-2,000
Lot 51AAMONG MOST REPRODUCED IMAGE (LINCOLN ASSASSINATION.) BOOTH, JOHN WILKES. Photograph Signed and Inscribed, “Yours affectionately / J. Wilkes Boo[th],” carte-de-visite portrait [by Silsbee, Case and Company, or Case and Getchell], showing the actor-assassin seated with a walking stick. Inscribed in the image at top. Photograph mounted on a card mount bearing imprint of S.T. Blessing in New Orleans on verso. Approximately 3 1/4x2 1/4 inches (image), approximately 4x2 1/2 inches overall; inscription truncated at top and right edge affecting the “th” of signature, some scattered soiling. Np, [1862-65]
Estimate $10,000-15,000
The present image is among the most reproduced and pirated of all Booth images. Copies of this and similar images have been found on mounts bearing an imprint of any of a number of studios, including Bradley and Rulofson in San Francisco and Mathew Brady's in Washington, DC. Tintype copies were made from photographs taken in the same session as the present image, and engravings based upon the same poses were issued after the Lincoln assassination by J.H. Bufford of Boston. Gutman and Gutman, John Wilkes Booth Himself, No. 21.
NEXT MONTH, FEBRUARY 11, TO BE EXACT—AT SWANN’S AUCTION HOUSE IN NYC, an interesting auction of signed historical photographs will take place. I have included some selected images for your perusal, images of famous and infamous individuals. While I am not a collector of autographs, you have to admit, there will always be interest in knowing that a famous person’s hand actually touched and signed something. Especially if you have a personal hero, like Abraham Lincoln or Amelia Earhart—what price is too high?
All of the 90+ photographs in this February 11 auction can be viewed (and bid on) online here.
For more information contact: Marco Tomaschette at: mtomaschette@swanngalleries.com
All images © Swann Auction Galleries
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