Large Format Camera from Mathew Brady’s Studio. New York, c. 1850s

A major relic of photographic history, this camera was owned by Mathew Brady during his years as the leading figure in American photography. Brady was the preeminent American portrait photographer of his day. He gained his greatest fame with his studio’s documentation of the events and figures of the Civil War. This camera’s association with Brady and his studio, which produced hundreds of iconic portraits and thousands of Civil War photographs, makes it an important historical artifact.

$250,000

Ambrotype Portrait of John D. Rockefeller. Cleveland, Ohio: Wiliam C. North, c. 1857-1858

This famous portrait of John D. Rockefeller at age 18 is the earliest known photograph of the greatest titan of American business and industry.

$150,000

Photograph inscribed and signed by Albert Einstein. [Berlin], 1927

Albert Einstein on the Jewish people: “we Jews are not a chosen people, but one that has been strained and steeled by millennia of pressure.” On this dramatic portrait of Einstein at age 48, made at the height of his fame, the scientist writes:

$110,000

Portrait of Charles Darwin, signed by Darwin and by Cameron. Cameron, [1868]

THE ICONIC PORTRAIT OF CHARLES DARWIN, boldly signed by Charles Darwin and by Julia Margaret Cameron.

$52,000

Ulysses S. Grant. Washington, 1865

Albumen print (6 1⁄2 x 4 1⁄4 in.), cabinet card mount. Some minor wear to bottom edge. Fine condition. .

$52,000

Collection of Photographs of Abraham Lincoln’s Cabinet: a “Team of Rivals”. New York and Washington: Brady Studio, c. 1860

This is a splendid collection of Brady Imperial portraits of Lincoln’s most important cabinet members, the famed “Team of Rivals.”

Four photographs as a collection: $45,000

Original Brady Photograph Maquette “President and Cabinet.”. Washington: Brady, 1864

$42,000

Magnificent Beecher Family Photograph Collection. Various places, 1850s-1880s

The collection: $42,000

Dog Woman – Cheyenne (plate no. 668, Vol. 19). Curtis, c. 1930

This stunning glass photograph, Dog Woman – Cheyenne (plate no. 668), was prepared for the printing of Curtis’s The North American Indian. The glass interpositive is a rare survival used for publication of Curtis’s monumental work.

$35,000

A Superb Collection of Photographs of Italy. Italy: Alinari, 1867

Magnificent photographs from masters of the genre. Fratelli Alinari, founded in Florence in 1852, is the world’s oldest photography firm. The three Alinari brothers pioneered the use of the camera for reproducing artwork and architecture from the great Italian galleries for public consumption. They are also known for their advocacy of the photographic portrait and for their photographs of Italian buildings and monuments.

$34,200