Visual Materials
Musical band of 12 members posed outside, with instruments
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Collection of cased photographs and related images
Visual Materials
A collection of chiefly 19th-century cased photographs representing some of the earliest photography formats: daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, and tintypes. These early photographs, made on glass or metal plates, were typically placed in small, hinged wooden cases, often covered with leather and lined in velvet, with a brass mat and piece of protective glass placed over the image. The collection contains 72 daguerreotypes and 46 ambrotypes (approximately 1840s-1860s), and 58 early tintypes (approximately mid-1850-1900s). Some items in the collection are not in cases or are in frames.The Huntington Library assembled these 185 items into a collection from various sources over a period of many years, and some related formats were added: a miniature tintype album with 22 portraits; two opalotypes; two miniature paintings; and six photographic prints placed in cases or frames; and one stereoscopic daguerreotype in a fold-out viewing case. Also in the collection are two modern daguerreotypes, made in 1992 and 2003 by photographer Robert Shlaer, and three ambrotypes made in 2012 by Barret Oliver, of the mausoleum of Henry E. Huntington and his wife, Arabella Huntington, on the grounds of the Huntington Library in San Marino, California. Most cased items were cleaned and housed in individual, custom-sized boxes by the Conservation Department in the late 1980s. The majority of photographs are studio portraits of men, women, and children, made approximately 1840s-1865 (daguerreotypes and ambrotypes), or approximately mid-1850s-1900s (tintypes). Many are pioneers of the American West, or ancestors of families who came West, and others are unidentified or of unknown provenance. Notable portraits are: Edgar Allan Poe; Jane Thoreau (aunt of Henry David Thoreau); John B. Colton (Jayhawker of 1849); a postmortem view of a young daughter of B.D. Wilson; Theodore D. Judah; a whole plate ambrotype of a group of San Francisco businessmen; and a Civil War drummer boy and his mother. There are a few reproduction images of Abraham Lincoln, including two circular images that were campaign badges. Also in the collection are several outdoor scenes: California Gold Rush miners posed with tools at work sites; the First Baptist Church, San Francisco, 1849; a street scene in the frontier town of Orleans, California; and the locomotive "Sam Cruse," named for an executive of the Memphis & Charleston Railroad. Photographers are largely uncredited, though three have the imprint of Robert H. Vance, San Francisco, and date from 1853-1856. A whole plate daguerreotype of Lyman Beecher is by Southworth & Hawes of Boston, Massachusetts, approximately 1850.Most of the images are undated, which is common with cased photographs. If a date can be determined from writing or other material with the image, or by the image content, that date is given. When dates cannot be determined from any other source, estimated dates have been given based on dates of major usage of daguerreotypes (1840s-1850s) and ambrotypes (1855-1865). Tintypes were produced mid-1850s to early-20th century, though tintypes in this collection are estimated to date no later than 1900s.
photDAG
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Modern ambrotypes and daguerreotypes
Visual Materials
A group of five daguerreotypes and ambrotypes made by artists born in the mid-20th century. Two daguerreotypes by Robert Shlaer (b. 1943) depict a New Mexico landscape, 1992, and a group portrait of 201 Huntington Library employees posed in the institution's Japanese Garden, 2003. Barret Oliver (b. 1973) made three ambrotypes in 2012 of the mausoleum of Henry E. Huntington and Arabella Huntington on the grounds of the Huntington Library.
Series 3
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Portraits
Visual Materials
This series contains 155 studio portraits and a miniature portrait album of individuals alone or in groups. There are two variant postmortem views of Margaret Hereford Wilson, a daughter of B. D. Wilson, as a little girl. All are original photographs unless otherwise noted, such as a few reproduction photographs of Abraham Lincoln. When dates cannot be determined from any other source, estimated dates have been given based on dates of major usage: daguerreotypes (1840s-1850s); ambrotypes (1855-1865); and tintypes (use began mid-1850s and continued into early 20th century, though tintypes in this collection are estimated to date no later than 1900s.)
Series 1
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Sewall, Mary, 1820-1901. 1 letter to Ellen Sewall Osgood, A.L.S. (4p.), 1841, Dec. 12, Watertown, N.Y
Manuscripts
The collection contains correspondence and manuscripts. The correspondence and manuscripts are arranged together alphabetically. The correspondence covers the years of 1790-1876, with the majority between 1831 and 1876. The majority of the correspondence is to or from Ellen Sewall Osgood. The collection also contains a scrapbook kept by several members of the Thoreau family. There is a rock labeled opal that was sent to Ellen Sewall Osgood by John Thoreau. The last item is a three-ring binder. It contains photocopies of typed transcriptions of the letters and manuscripts in the collection. There are also five ambrotypes of a man, woman, and three children-two girls and one boy. These ambrotypes were transferred over to Photo Archives on Sept. 23, 2002; call numbers photDAG 149-153.
HM 64924
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Davenport, George L. Three-ring binder containing typed transcriptions of: "Henry D. Thoreau, 1839-1840" by Elizabeth Osgood Davenport and Louise Osgood Koopman; 72 original letters and other writings; a table of contents for the Thoreau scrapbook; sermon given by Rev. Barzillai Frost at John Thoreau's funeral; contents of John Thoreau's mineral specimen box; list of Thoreau books belonging to Ellen Sewall Osgood; genealogical data; older family letters by Ward family members and Sewall family members; and Prudence Ward's short story of the "Little Field Mouse."
Manuscripts
The collection contains correspondence and manuscripts. The correspondence and manuscripts are arranged together alphabetically. The correspondence covers the years of 1790-1876, with the majority between 1831 and 1876. The majority of the correspondence is to or from Ellen Sewall Osgood. The collection also contains a scrapbook kept by several members of the Thoreau family. There is a rock labeled opal that was sent to Ellen Sewall Osgood by John Thoreau. The last item is a three-ring binder. It contains photocopies of typed transcriptions of the letters and manuscripts in the collection. There are also five ambrotypes of a man, woman, and three children-two girls and one boy. These ambrotypes were transferred over to Photo Archives on Sept. 23, 2002; call numbers photDAG 149-153.
HM 64969
