Beschreibung:

A collection of approx. 170 beautifully hand-colored Civil War magic lantern slides made from paper photographs and stereoviews originally produced by popular Civil War-era photographers including Mathew Brady, Alexander Gardner Timothy O’Sullivan, A.J. Russell, and George Barnard The majority of glass slides measure 3.25 x 4 in. Most lack a paper border and are not covered with a protective glass sleeve, and only a select few have handwritten or paper labels, including: a handwritten label identifying the photographer as George Barnard; a printed label with only H. Mc legible, which almost certainly refers to the T.H. McAllister – Keller Co., Inc., a lantern slide manufacturer active in New York City during the 1890s and known for producing glass slides, many hand-tinted. Also included is a small group of black and white slides, most featuring images of a GAR reunion and parade. One of the black and white slides has a printed label from Theodore J. Harbach / Manufacturer of Philadelphia. The collection is comprised of images of the leading military and political personalities of the war, post-battle shots capturing the dead in the field, broken earthworks, occupied forts, and bombed buildings, plus views of supply wagons, Union and Confederate camp scenes, hospitals, and prisons. Several shots of the Navy as well as Union and Confederate Ironclads on the James River are also included. The group features images from both the Eastern and Western Theaters, with the vast majority taken from military and naval operations in the East. Some highlights include: The Marshall House, Alexandria, VA, where the Union suffered its first loss with Col. Elmer Ellsworth (Pywell) Lincoln with McClellan after the Battle of Antietam (Gardner) Gen. “Fighting” Joe Hooker in front of Hospital (Brady) Father Thomas Mooney leading Sunday Mass, 69th NY Infantry Regiment (Brady) The Michigan Black Hats Union Train derailed near Manassas, VA The Confederate engine, General The locomotive Fred Leach after being hit by small arms and cannon balls USS Shawsheen USS Atlanta Ironclad patrolling the James River (Brady Organization) USS Lehigh Monitor probably on the James River (Brady Organization) The “Bean Pole” Bridge over the Potomac Creek (Russell) Gen. U.S. Grant and Staff at Cold Harbor (Brady) Gen. U.S. Grant with his horse, Cincinnati Libby Prison Field Where Gen. Reynolds Fell, Gettysburg, July 1863 (O'Sullivan) Additional views of dead Union and Confederate Soldiers Ruins of Charleston, SC A few days after the burning of Richmond, VA Victory Parade marching to Washington, D.C. (Barnard) Gen. R.E. Lee and Staff on Richmond Porch (Brady) This group was discovered in Philadelphia in 1963, and has been in the hands of the current owner since then. There has been some speculation that this could be a portion of the magic lantern slide collection that once belonged to Mathew Brady’s nephew and employee, Levin Handy, but there is a lack of provenance to support that assertion. While certain details in the slides suggest that they could have been produced by someone who knew Brady well (i.e. the Marshall House shot, in which Brady can be seen in the lower right corner wearing a yellow duster, which he typically wore), the absence of Brady’s War for the Union paper labels combined with the fact that the work of a variety of photographers, including those outside of Brady’s organization, such as A.J. Russell, are included in the collection suggests otherwise. Based on the paper labels that are present from New York and Philadelphia and the fact that this collection was found in Philadelphia, it is more likely that the glass slides were produced by a manufacturer and highly talented colorist in one of those two cities. Regardless, the collection features some of the finest examples of hand-tinted 19th-Century Civil War photography that Cowan’s has had the opportunity to offer. Condition: A small portion of the slides are cracked, mostly along the edges or c