Visual Materials

Beecher family portrait (ambrotype)

Description: An ambrotype of ten members of the Beecher family in a group portrait originally taken by Mathew Brady in New York, in March 1859. This ambrotype was copied by photographer George M. Howe from one of the original salted paper prints. The image is in the bottom half of a leather case and has a gold mat with the stamp of G. M. Howe of Portland and Upton, Maine. Lyman Beecher is seated at center, flanked by his four daughters (from left to right, Isabella, Catharine, Mary, and Harriet). Behind them stand five of the seven brothers (from left to right, Thomas, William, Edward, Charles, and Henry Ward - George died in 1843, and James was in Hong Kong serving as a missionary). This was the last time they came together before Lyman died in 1863. The portrait was reproduced in several photographic formats over the years, including the print in Box 4.
Type: Visual Materials(Opens in new tab)
Date: approximately 1860
Call number: photCL 688
Provenance: Purchased for the Huntington from Luxury Catalogs Inc. - 19th Century Rare Book & Photograph Shop by the Library Collectors' Council, March 19, 2022.

Beecher family photograph collection

Visual Materials

A collection of five photographs of various Beecher family members in five different photographic formats: ambrotype, albumen print, carte-de-visite, cabinet photograph, and a hand-colored salted paper print. A portrait of Lyman Beecher produced by Mathew Brady in 1856 is a combination of watercolor, ink, and pencil added to the surface of a salted paper print. There are two variants of a Beecher family group portrait taken in 1859 depicting Lyman Beecher and nine of his adult children; one is a large albumen print and the other an ambrotype. Also included are an autographed cabinet photograph of an older Harriet Beecher Stowe; and a hand-colored Augustus Morand print based on a miniature of a young Eunice White (Bullard) Beecher, author and wife of Henry Ward Beecher. This carte-de-visite portrait is within a Bullard family album containing 45 additional cartes-de-visite and cabinet photographs. Only a few portraits in the album are identified, including some cousins of Eunice Bullard.

photCL 688

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Lyman Beecher portrait

Visual Materials

A half-length seated portrait of Lyman Beecher by photographer Mathew Brady. A combination of watercolor, ink, and pencil has been added to the surface of the salted paper print. "Brady's Gallery, 205 & 359 Broadway, New York" is stamped in the red velvet case lining.

photCL 688

Image not available

Bullard family album with portrait of Eunice White (Bullard) Beecher

Visual Materials

An album featuring a hand-colored albumen print based on a miniature of a young Eunice White (Bullard) Beecher, author and wife of Henry Ward Beecher. The print by photographer Augustus Morand was made approximately 1860s and is on a carte-de-visite mount. Handwriting on the back reads: "Mrs. Henry Ward Beecher, taken from a miniature when she was 18 years old." The Bullard family album contains 45 additional cartes-de-visite and cabinet photographs dating from approximately 1860s to 1880s. Most people are unidentified, though three identified people were cousins of Eunice: Clara G. Bullard, daughter of William Reed Bullard; and two children, Florence May Wyman and Arthur Wyman, whose parents were Charles F. Wyman and Helen Knight (Bullard) Wyman. Visible imprints identify photographic studios in Boston, New York, Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio.

photCL 688

Image not available

Beecher family portrait (large albumen print)

Visual Materials

A large format print (10 x 12 1/2 in.), with some retouching, of the 1859 Beecher family portrait, produced approximately 1880 by I. C. Pardee, Brooklyn, New York. The mount has Pardee's imprint and ink handwriting identifying the sitters and (incorrectly) dating the photograph 1852.

photCL 688

Image not available

Harriet Beecher Stowe portrait

Visual Materials

A cabinet photograph of an older Harriet Beecher Stowe, showing her in profile, taken approximately 1880s by photographer George H. Hastings, Boston, Massachusetts. Signed by Stowe on the lower front mount, below the image.

photCL 688

Image not available

Beecher Family photograph album

Visual Materials

An album of 45 carte-de-visite photographs dating from the 1850s-1870s, containing portraits of the Beecher family of New England, as well as abolitionists Lucretia Mott, Robert Collyer and unidentified men, women and children. Subjects include: Charles Beecher (1815-1900), page 3, and Lyman Beecher (1775-1863), page 29, the brother and father, respectively, of noted author and abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe (who does not appear). Two portraits of anti-slavery and women's rights activist Lucretia Mott (1793-1880) are on pages 19 and 20, one a familiar seated view and another more unusual view of her sitting behind a table with her hand on an open book. A portrait of a young Robert Collyer (1823-1912), the clergyman and abolitionist, appears on page 37, with his name written in ink on the mount (the only photograph that appears to have writing on it). The album itself has no writing except for some flower sketches; identifications have been made largely through research, and there may be other Beecher family or friends represented. Other views include three portraits of men in military uniforms, and two portraits of a little girl with a doll.

photCL 175

Beecher family portrait (ambrotype)

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Beecher family photograph collection

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