The Gallery of Illustrious Americans… - Engraved by D’Avignon - photo 1
The Gallery of Illustrious Americans… - Engraved by D’Avignon - photo 2

The Gallery of Illustrious Americans… - Engraved by D’Avignon

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$ 20 160
Auction dateClassic
26.05.2022 10:00UTC -04:00
Auctioneer
CHRISTIE'S
Event location
USA, New York
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ID 752970
Lot 220 | The Gallery of Illustrious Americans… - Engraved by D’Avignon
The Gallery of Illustrious Americans… - Engraved by D’AvignonM.B. Brady, F. d'Avignon, C. Edwards Lester, 1850BRADY, Mathew B. (1822-1896) and LESTER, Charles Edwards (1815-1890). The Gallery of Illustrious Americans… - Engraved by D’Avignon. New York: M.B. Brady, F. d'Avignon, C. Edwards Lester, 1850.A very early and rare American photography book, the young photographer Mathew Brady's attempt at a National Gallery. It includes portraits of John James Audubon, President Zachary Taylor, Daniel Webster, John C. Calhoun, Henry Clay, John Fremont, et al., from daguerreotypes by Brady, the most important American portrait photographer of the 19th century. The series is made up of twelve portraits, all but one from Brady's daguerreotypes, accompanied by biographical descriptions. It was intended as a celebration of the United States during the first half of the 19th century through the "noble deeds" of its most famous citizens. "In this Gallery, therefore, will be grouped together those American citizens, who ... have rendered the most signal services to the Nation, since the death of the Father of the Republic. As there is nothing sectional in the scope of this work, it will be comprehensive in its spirit; and it is hoped that it may ... bind the Union still more firmly together" (from the prefatory "Salutation"). The Gallery had its roots in 1845 when "Brady, the commercial photographer, became Brady the historian, who used a camera as Bancroft did his pen. It was in this year that Brady began work on the tremendous project of preserving for posterity the pictures of all distinguished Americans, which he planned to publish in a massive volume" (Horan). This first series of the Gallery was extremely well reviewed, but not financially viable. Sabin claims that the work was completed in 1856 but there are no extant copies of a second part, and it appears to be a bibliographic ghost (Sabin 26415). See Horan, Matthew Brady: Historian with a Camera, 1955; Taft, Photography and the American Scene, 2008. Folio (547 x 380mm). First series, all published. Letterpress presentation leaf. Twelve lithographic portraits, mounted on India paper, by d'Avignon, eleven after daguerreotypes by Brady and one after a painting by S. Gambardella, most with embossed stamps in lower margins (some foxmarks and an occasional stain, mostly marginal). Contemporary half red morocco and marbled boards, spine gilt, gilt morocco cover label (rebacked with original spine laid down, upper cover with old varnish partially peeled, edges worn).
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