Author of Valentine’s manuals – “almost [a] necessity among New-Yorkers” – The New York Times, 1869
(VALENTINE, DAVID T.) Mathew Brady Studio. David T. Valentine
New York and Washington: Brady Studio, c. late 1850s
Salted paper print, 18 x 13 ½ in. Lovely contrast and tones.
This is a fine salt print portrait of celebrated New Yorker David T. Valentine.
Valentine wears a patterned vest and rests his hand on a volume, perhaps his own work. A prominent New Yorker, he wrote several volumes on the history and government of New York City, the most well known being the Manual of the Corporation of the City of New York. This series, published from 1841 to 1867, assembled historical, topographic, cartographic, and social information as well as illustrations. They were marvelous compendiums of information on the greatest American city, its government, social organizations, buildings, economic institutions, infrastructure and daily life. Valentine, who served as clerk of the Common Council of the City of New York, published the Manuals annually, and they quickly became essential for navigating the burgeoning city. The New York Times calling them “almost [a] necessity among New-Yorkers” in 1869.
While this photograph does not bear the Brady imprint, the subject has been identified in other credited Brady images from the same sitting.
$7,500