Mrs. Nicholas Longworth; (Nee Alice Roosevelt)
Washington DC: Clinedinst, 1905. Presumed First Edition, First printing thus. Ephemera. One sheet of stiff card stock with photo of Mrs. Longworth and a smaller one of the White House pasted onto it. Maximum length is approximately 12.5 inches. Maximum width is approximately 8 inches. Roosevelt image is approximately 10.25 inches by 7.5 inches. White House image is approximately 3.5 inches by 2 inches. Condition is iffy with edge chips, and scratches and tears, including one slightly impacting her right cheek. This may have been taken from a magazine and pasted onto this cardboard. Alice Lee Roosevelt Longworth (February 12, 1884 – February 20, 1980) was a prominent socialite. She was the eldest child of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. Alice led an unconventional life. Her marriage to Representative Nicholas Longworth III, the 38th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, was shaky, and her only child Paulina was allegedly a result of her affair with Senator William Edgar Borah. When her father took office following the assassination of President William McKinley, Jr. Alice became a celebrity and fashion icon at age 17, and at her social debut in 1902 she wore a gown of what was to become known as "Alice blue". Alice was known as a rule-breaker in an era when women were under great pressure to conform. The American public noticed many of her exploits. She smoked cigarettes in public, rode in cars with men, stayed out late partying, kept a pet snake named Emily Spinach in the White House, and was seen placing bets with a bookie. This photograph of Alice Roosevelt (when she was Mrs. Nicholas Longworth) was likely taken at the Washington, D.C. studio of Barnett M. Clinedinst (b. about 1838, Woodstock, Va.; died 1904, Washington, DC) and Barnett M. Clinedinst, Jr. The Clinedinsts also had a studio in Baltimore, from 1880 to 1883 at various locations on Lexington Street, and then from 1885 to at least 1891 at various addresses on N. Charles Street. Born approximately 1838 in Woodstock, Virginia to prosperous carriage-builder John Clinedinst, Barnett Clinedinst Sr. began his married life as an artist. He turned to photography, and after the Civil War, built up a prosperous studio in Staunton, Virginia. In 1880, he had settled with his wife, Caroline McFee, and their children, in Baltimore, and opened a studio there. In 1883, he purchased David A. Woodward’s Monumental Art Studio. Barnett M. Clinedinst, Sr. invented the viewfinder and the mirror-and-prism "reflex" arrangement for which the single-lens reflex camera is named. His son, Barnett M. Clinedinst, Jr., followed him into the business. They opened a studio in Washington, D.C. that brought even greater success. Clinedinst Jr. photographed innumerable notables in government, the military, and society, including Theodore Roosevelt, President Taft, and President Wilson. He became the official White House photographer for three administrations. Newspapers called him Washington’s “court photographer.” An early advocate for the use of electric lighting in the studio, his photos were published in newspapers throughout the country. It is therefore assumed that Clinedinst, Jr. took this particular image. Condition: Fair.
Keywords: Alice Roosevelt, Nicholas Longworth, Theodore Roosevelt, White House, Clinedinst Photograph, Fashion Photography, Pictorial Work, Portrait Photography
[Book #73154]
Price: $50.00