GARDNER'S PHOTOGRAPHIC SKETCH BOOK OF THE WAR — ORIGINAL ALBUMEN PRINT: “Battery No. 4, Near Yorktown, Virginia" — Plate No. 14

GARDNER'S PHOTOGRAPHIC SKETCH BOOK OF THE WAR — ORIGINAL ALBUMEN PRINT: “Battery No. 4, Near Yorktown, Virginia

Hover to zoom

Image 1 Image 2 Image 3

$950.00

Quantity Available: 1

Item Code: 1320-14

Shipping: Determined by Method & Location of buyer

To Order:
Call 717-334-0347,
Fax 717-334-5016, or E-mail

A rare and compelling original albumen photograph documenting one of the most dramatic episodes of the Peninsula Campaign — the Union siege of Yorktown, Virginia, in the spring of 1862. The image depicts the formidable Federal mortar battery emplacement, with ten massive 13-inch mortars, each weighing 20,000 pounds, dug into the earthworks outside Yorktown. A lone soldier stands guard outside the earthen bunker at the mortar battery, conveying the immense scale of the Union siege works in stark and powerful contrast.

This photograph is Plate No. 14 from Volume I of Gardner's Photographic Sketch Book of the War, one of the most celebrated and sought-after photographic publications of the 19th century. The negative was made by the team of Wood & Gibson — James F. Gibson being one of Gardner's most trusted field photographers — with the positive printed by Alexander Gardner at his Washington gallery. The Siege of Yorktown marked one of the earliest sustained uses of photography to document active military engineering and artillery operations in American history.

The mount bears the complete original printed imprint: "Negative by Wood & Gibson / Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1865, by A. Gardner, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Columbia / Positive by A. Gardner, 511 7th St., Washington / Battery No. 4, Near Yorktown, VA. / May, 1862 / Published by Philp & Solomons, Washington." All text fully intact — the hallmark of an unaltered, untrimmed original example.

Presented in an archival double mat and housed in a handsome period-style burl walnut finish hardwood frame with UV-protective acrylic glazing.

Negative by: Wood & Gibson

Positive by: Alexander Gardner

Series: Gardner's Photographic Sketch Book of the War, Vol. I, No. 14

Subject: Federal mortar Battery No. 4, ten 13-inch mortars, Siege of Yorktown Location & Date: Near Yorktown, Virginia, May 1862

Publisher: Philip & Solomons, Washington, D.C.

Copyright: Entered 1865, District Court of the District of Columbia

Medium: Original albumen print on period paper mount Framed dimensions: 18 x 16.5 inches

Condition: Good; age-consistent toning

Archival framing: UV-protective plexiglass, acid-free matting       [ss] [ph:L]

Extra shipping charge may be required.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THIS ITEM, AS WITH ALL OTHER ITEMS AVAILABLE ON OUR WEB SITE,

MAY BE PURCHASED THROUGH OUR LAYAWAY PROGRAM.

CLICK HERE FOR OUR POLICIES AND TERMS.

THANK YOU!

Inquire »

Inquire About GARDNER'S PHOTOGRAPHIC SKETCH BOOK OF THE WAR — ORIGINAL ALBUMEN PRINT: “Battery No. 4, Near Yorktown, Virginia" — Plate No. 14

should be empty