Photograph believed to be of Burton Raynor Ross, in a Civil War era uniform with long musket.
Washington, DC: John Goldin & Co., 1861. Probably one of a multiple original, with very few surviving. Photograph. Format is approximately 2.25 inches by 4 inches, with the image slightly smaller than the backing. Worn and chipped along the edges. Minor loss to top left corner of image, most of the wear/loss is to the backing. On the back, in pencil is the notation. Very young, July 18th about 16 years. This would place the date around 1861. Colonel Burton R. Ross, (1845-1913) was a military instructor of the High School Cadet Regiment for 26 years . Col. Ross was for many years connected with the District of Columbia National Guard. He was at one time Lieutenant Colonel of the First Regiment. John Goldin & Company were noted Washington D.C. photographers during the Civil War period. This carte de visite was described on the back as 'Vignette Specialite". The back clearly states that additional copies can be made from the plate if desired. Affixed to the back is an Internal Revenue 2 cent stamp that says at the bottom "Plying cards'. This stamp appears to have been hand canceled with an "X" in ink. The Scott Catalog lists 103 major stamp types for this series. It appears to be a copy of the one designated as R11b, 2 Cent Playing Cards Perforated and is on a carte de visite (CdV). The carte de visite, abbreviated CdV, was a type of small photograph which was patented in Paris by photographer André Adolphe Eugène Disdéri in 1854, although first used by Louis Dodero. Each photograph was the size of a visiting card, and such photograph cards were commonly traded among friends and visitors in the 1860s. Albums for the collection and display of cards became a common fixture in Victorian parlors. In August 1862, while the American Civil War was being waged, the United States (Union) government began taxing a variety of goods, services and legal dealings. To confirm that taxes were paid a 'revenue stamp' was purchased and appropriately affixed to the taxable item, which would in turn pay the tax duty involved. The Commissioner of Internal Revenue took bids for the printing and production of the first U.S. revenue stamps in an effort to raise revenue for the great costs of the war. The Department of Internal Revenue awarded Butler & Carpenter of Philadelphia the printing contract who were paid $19,080 to produce one hundred and six printing plates, including the rolls, dies and all material necessary to maintain stamp production. Butler & Carpenter soon began producing the first revenue stamps which were issued for use beginning Oct. 1, 1862. The new stamps were printed in several colors and depicted a portrait of George Washington on all thirty denominations from one-cent to $200. The engraved image of Washington was modeled after a painting by Gilbert Stuart.[7] The first issues were printed on hard brittle paper and later printed on soft woven paper of varying thicknesses. Colors were generally dull for stamps printed before 1868. The stamps were issued in sheets perforated with 12 gauge perforations or 'imperforate', i.e. solid sheets with no perforations.[5] Washington remained the only figure on the dozens of varieties issued up until 1874.[ The new revenue stamps were used to pay tax on proprietary items such as playing cards, patent medicines and luxuries, and for various legal documents, stocks, transactions and various legal services. The cancellation of these stamps were usually done in pen and ink, while hand stamped cancellations were seldomly used and subsequently are more rare. The playing card stamp was often used for the photograph tax. Various tax duties were only served by certain revenue stamps as some duties were only found on lower or higher denomination revenue stamps as the case may be. For example, revenue stamps with a designation for Playing cards occur only on denominations of 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 cents, [per Wikipedia article]. Condition: Fair.
Keywords: Burton Raynor Ross, Photograph, CdV, Carte de Visite, Civil War, Soldier, Internal Revenue, Revenue Stamp, Playing Cards Tax Stamp
[Book #83166]
Price: $250.00