Even More Confederate Faces
Orange, VA: Moss Publications, 1983. First Edition [stated], presumed first printing. Hardcover. The format is approximately 8.75 inches by 11.25 inches. 224 pages. Decorative front cover. Cover has some wear and soiling. Inscribed by the author on he fep. The inscription reads For Irvin Rider with the compliments of the author William A. Turner 7-6.84. Previous owner's bookplate inside the front cover. This work expands on William A. Albaugh's "Confederate Faces" and "More Confederate Faces" . Foreword by Stephen . Sylvia. The contents include Confederate Photography, Militia, Artillery, Navy, Cavalry, Infantry, and Appendix [An alphabetical listing of known photographers of Confederates]. The American Civil War was the most photographed conflict of the 19th century. Images were widely copied and distributed to the public via newspapers, prints, and carte de visite. Roughly 70% of the war's documentary photography was taken by a stereo camera,[4] which produced 3-dimensional images that could be viewed on a stereoscope. The American Civil War (1861–1865) was the fifth war in history to be photographed, the first four being the Mexican–American War (1846–1848), the Crimean War (1853–1856), Indian Rebellion of 1857 and the Second Italian War of Independence (1859). In the first months of the war, southern "artists" actively documented in the field through their images. In fact, a Southerner took the first photographs of the war inside Fort Sumter. However, as a consequence of the war and rampant inflation most were soon out of business. Unfortunately, as war photographs were long regarded with extreme disfavor in the South after the rebellion, most were disposed of. Fortunately, this was not the case for the many cherished family portraits of Confederate servicemen who lived and died during the war. These remarkable photographs are among the last known record of who they were and what they looked like. The most renowned Southern photographer was George Smith Cook (1819–1902). In 1842 Cook began working with the "new art" of the daguerreotype, settling in Charleston, South Carolina. Cook's status as one of the South's most famous photographers was due in part to his visit to Fort Sumter on Feb. 8, 1861, which resulted in the first mass marketing of cartes-de-visite, a photograph of the fort's commander, Maj. Robert Anderson. A successful portrait business that survived the war, and the systematic documentation of Union shelling of Charleston and in particular, Fort Sumter added to Cook's fame. Then, on September 8, 1863, he and business partner James Osborn photographed the inside of Fort Sumter, and as luck would have it, also captured the developing naval action in the harbor, Federal ironclads firing on Fort Moultrie. The historic images depict three ironclad monitors and U.S.S. New Ironsides firing on Fort Moultrie in defense of monitor U.S.S. Weehawken, grounded off Cummings Point. In 1858, James M. Osborn (1811–1868), a 47 year old daguerreian living in Charleston, S.C., joined forces with 22 year old Charleston native, Frederick Eugene Durbec (1836–1894). Both were soon to become among the war's first photographers. By 1860, from their state-of-the-art, high-volume studio, they had reached a national audience with their advertised "largest and most varied assortment of stereoscopic instruments and pictures ever offered in this country." By then, both had joined the Lafayette Artillery, Durbec having risen to the rank of colonel. It was also at this time that O&D produced documentary photographs of the city and its vicinity, including their singularly historic, antebellum scenes of plantations and slave life. Following the Federal surrender of Fort Sumter on April 14, 1861, Osborn would visit the fort and its surrounds on at least two occasions, taking at least 43 stereo images of the battle's aftermath, in what is the largest known group of Confederate images of the war, and which is considered the most comprehensive photographic record of a Civil War engagement ever made. In September 1863, in response to Gen. Thomas Jordan's desire to document what "Southern troops could endure", Osborn and fellow artist George S. Cook volunteered to photograph the interior of Fort Sumter, which had been shelled by Union batteries into a shapeless mass. Little did the enterprising partners know that one result of this visit would be the first combat photograph s in history. Jay Dearborn Edwards (1831–1900), by age 17, he began his photographic career, operating a daguerreian studio. In 1851, he moved to New Orleans. The new art of wet-plate photography enabled Edwards to distribute his stereoscopic views images throughout New Orleans. Edwards undertook one of the earliest wartime photo expeditions by venturing into the field in April 1861. He followed Confederate units from New Orleans to Pensacola, Fl., as they mobilized against Fort Pickens. Edwards advertised 39 views at "$1 per copy." Two were reproduced as woodcuts in Harper's Weekly in June, though Edwards received no credit. Andrew David Lytle (1858–1917) produced a remarkable photograph of the 1st Indiana H.A. is just one of many made in Baton Rouge during its occupation by Union forces. Lytle developed a lucrative photographic relationship with the U.S. Army and Navy. Condition: Good.
Keywords: Civil War, Photography, Portraits, Soldiers, Artillery, Militia, Naval Personnel, Infantry, Cavalry, Combat, Military Operations
[Book #91831]
Price: $225.00