Civil War Cartes de Visite
Selected Images from the Library of Congress
The albumen photographs presented below are examples taken from an album of prominent Americans made during Civil War. The album is thought to have been assembled by John Hay (1838-1905), a personal secretary to Abraham Lincoln during the years 1861 to 1865.
The thumbnail images link to higher resolution images at the Library where the contents of the album are presented in its entirety. The digital facsimiles and formatting for the world wide web were prepared by the Library as part of the American Memory Project. The Library's presentation of the album includes a brief essay on the history of cartes de visites and the origins of the Hay album as well as an index of photographers and sitters represented in the album.
In time we hope to present a searchable database based on the album compiled by Andrew Robb, Conservator of Photographs at the Library . Of the many conceivable queries, this database would allow dating cards by back-printing.
Click the thumbnails for a higher resolution image
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Sitter: Beauregard, G. T. (Gustave Toutant), 1818-1893
Photographer: Rees & Co. Photographic Artists
Reproduction Number: LC-MSS-44297-33-131 (b&w negative)
Collection: James Wadsworth Family Papers
Repository: Library of Congress Manuscript Division, Washington, D.C. 20540
View: Back of carte | This album page
Retrieve: Larger reference image (JPEG - 157K) | Highest resolution image (TIFF - 14919K) |
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Sitter: Burnside, Ambrose Everett, 1824-1881
Photographer: Brady National Photographic Art Gallery (Washington, D.C.)
Reproduction Number: LC-MSS-44297-33-028 (b&w negative)
Collection: James Wadsworth Family Papers
Repository: Library of Congress Manuscript Division, Washington, D.C. 20540
View: Back of carte | This album page
Retrieve: Larger reference image (JPEG - 156K) | Highest resolution image (TIFF - 14224K) |
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Sitter: Custer, George Armstrong, 1839-1876
Photographer: Brady National Photographic Art Gallery (Washington, D.C.)
Reproduction Number: LC-MSS-44297-33-179 (b&w negative)
Collection: James Wadsworth Family Papers
Repository: Library of Congress Manuscript Division, Washington, D.C. 20540
View: Back of carte | This album page
Retrieve: Larger reference image (JPEG - 167K) | Highest resolution image (TIFF - 17888K) |
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Sitter: Davis, Jefferson, 1808-1889
Photographer: Brady National Photographic Art Gallery (Washington, D.C.)
Reproduction Number: LC-MSS-44297-33-129 (b&w negative)
Collection: James Wadsworth Family Papers
Repository: Library of Congress Manuscript Division, Washington, D.C. 20540
View: Back of carte | This album page
Retrieve: Larger reference image (JPEG - 150K) | Highest resolution image (TIFF - 13865K) |
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Sitter: Lee, Robert E. (Robert Edward), 1807-1870
Photographer: Vannerson, Julian (b. 1827)
Reproduction Number: LC-MSS-44297-33-132 (b&w negative)
Collection: James Wadsworth Family Papers
Repository: Library of Congress Manuscript Division, Washington, D.C. 20540
View: Back of carte | This album page
Retrieve: Larger reference image (JPEG - 170K) | Highest resolution image (TIFF - 17019K) |
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Sitter: Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865
Photographer: Brady, Mathew B. (1823 (ca.)-1896)
Reproduction Number: LC-MSS-44297-33-001 (b&w negative)
Collection: James Wadsworth Family Papers
Repository: Library of Congress Manuscript Division, Washington, D.C. 20540
View: Back of carte | This album page
Retrieve: Larger reference image (JPEG - 163K) | Highest resolution image (TIFF - 15365K) |
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Sitter: McClellan, George Brinton, 1826-1885
Photographer: Gutekunst, Frederick (1831-1917)
Reproduction Number: LC-MSS-44297-33-141 (b&w negative)
Collection: James Wadsworth Family Papers
Repository: Library of Congress Manuscript Division, Washington, D.C. 20540
View: Back of carte | This album page
Retrieve: Larger reference image (JPEG - 154K) | Highest resolution image (TIFF - 13960K) |
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Sitter: Sherman, William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891
Photographer: Gardner, Alexander (1821-1882)
Reproduction Number: LC-MSS-44297-33-135 (b&w negative)
Collection: James Wadsworth Family Papers
Repository: Library of Congress Manuscript Division, Washington, D.C. 20540
View: Back of carte | This album page
Retrieve: Larger reference image (JPEG - 150K) | Highest resolution image (TIFF - 13894K) |
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