Commodore Matthew C. Perry, three-quarter length portrait, in uniform, his left hand resting on his sword. New York: Mathew Brady Studio, c. 1854-58

This is the splendid Perry Family hand-colored Imperial print of Mathew Brady’s portrait of Commodore Perry. Brady coined the term “imperial’ for his large photographic portraits intended to rival mezzotints and lithographs in size.

$12,000

A collection of all six portraits of the last surviving veterans of the American Revolution. Hartford: Moore, 1864

These is a complete collection of original carte de visite photographs of all six Revolutionary War veterans still surviving in 1864: William Hutchings (aged 100), Samuel Downing (aged 102), Daniel Waldo (aged 102), Adam Link (aged 102), Alexander Millener (aka Muroney) (aged 104), and Lemuel Cook (aged 105). A seventh man, James Barham, was believed to be alive but could not be located for the series.

$12,000

Daguerreotype portrait of John Romeyn Brodhead. London: Mayall, 1848

A splendid half-plate daguerreotype of Herman Melville’s advisor and agent John Brodhead. John Romeyn Brodhead (1814-1873) was a historian and a member of the American diplomatic corps. Best remembered for his services as Herman Melville’s agent in London, Brodhead had known Melville and his family since their youth.

$11,000

Cornelius Vanderbilt, vignetted standing portrait. [New York: Mathew Brady Studio, 1860s.]

Founder of the Vanderbilt business dynasty, Cornelius Vanderbilt made his fortune first in steamships and shipping and then in railroads. His career spanned the birth of the steamship and the development of the great American railroad networks. He was “the oldest and perhaps the greatest of the nineteenth-century railroad barons” (ANB). Grand Central Station and Vanderbilt University stand as testaments to his influence and wealth.

$9,500

David T. Valentine. New York and Washington: Brady Studio, c. late 1850s

This is a delightful Brady Imperial salt print portrait of one of the fascinating political and literary characters of mid-nineteenth-century New York, David T. Valentine.

$9,500

Stumbling Bear, Kiowa Chief. Fort Sill, Indian Territory, c. 1869-74

Photographer Will Soule arrived at Fort Sill in Indian Territory in late 1869 or early 1870. Fort Sill was then a military headquarters and agency for several Indian tribes, including the Kiowa.  Before returning to Boston in 1874, Soule made an important series of Native American portraits, including this charismatic image of Chief Stumbling Bear.

$9,500

Official NASA photograph of the Apollo 11 crew (1969), signed by Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin, Jr. NASA, May, 1969

Signed and inscribed by the crew of Apollo 11, the first manned mission to land on the moon:  Neil Armstrong (commander), Buzz Aldrin (lunar module pilot), and Michael Collins (command module pilot), with an added inscription by Armstrong. This official NASA photograph shows the three astronauts in their flight gear with a picture of the moon as their background.

The early photographic prints with the red numbers, such as the present example, are much more desirable than the more commonly available lithographic prints of the same poses.

$7,500

Henry A. Wise. New York and Washington: Brady Studio, c. late 1850s

This is a dramatic full-length standing salt print portrait of Gov. Henry A. Wise by Mathew Brady.

$7,500

Fabulous Albumen Photograph depicting Richardson and his great-grandson as they appeared in the Statue of Liberty Parade in New York. New York: Benjamin Richardson, c. 1886

Benjamin Richardson, the great collector of patriotic Americana, owned and rode in George Washington’s carriage in the Statue of Liberty dedication paradise in New York in 1886.

$3,500

Portrait of Artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. Mexico City, 1952, printed 2017

$3,500