Shotwells Antiques Information Articles

A FEW NOTES ON 19th CENTURY PHOTOGRAPHS

The CARTE DE VISITE (CDV) was a type of small photograph (patented in France in 1854) and became extremely popular during the American Civil War. It was usually an albumen photograph (or sometimes an engraving) mounted on a thicker paper card measuring about 2 1/2 × 4 inches. Albums for the collection and display of these images became a common fixture in 19th century homes.

First introduced in London in 1863, the CABINET CARD is a photographic print mounted on heavy card stock. A traditional cabinet card consists of a 4 x 5 1/2 inch photo mounted on 4 1/4 x 6 1/2 inch card stock. This allowed for an extra 1/2 to 1 inch of space at the bottom where the name of the photographer or studio was typcially printed. Cabinet cards are rarely found dating after 1906, but continued to be produced on a much lesser scale into the early 1920s.

Early STEREOVIEW PHOTOGRAPHS were taken by using a camera with two lenses (about 2 1/2 inches apart) which provided two separate (and slightly different) images. When viewed through a stereoscope with prismatic lenses the two pictures blend into one producing a three dimensional image. In 1859, Oliver Wendell Holmes developed a compact, hand-held stereoscopic viewer and Joseph L. Bates of Boston improved and manufactured them. Stereoviews became quite common in the United States during the Civil War era and remained very popular throughout the 19th century. Major publishers, as well as local photographers produced massive numbers of images for public consumption. The last stereoviews were produced about 1930.

PLEASE NOTE: CDVs and other images presented on our website may be enlarged to show detail. See notes above for more precise measurements.

RECOMMENDED REFERENCES:

Collector's Guide to Early Photographs by O. Henry Mace

Stereo Views: An Illustrated History and Price Guide by John Waldsmith

A FEW NOTES ON 19th CENTURY NEWSPAPERS

NEWSPAPERS published before 1880 (including the Civil War era) generally remain in good condition as the newsprint (paper) had high cotton and linen (rag) content. Most newspapers from the 1600's through 1880 have survived the "ravages of time" in much better condition than later issues. After about 1880 newsprint was manufactured from wood pulp which deteriorates rather quickly.

CONCERNING WOODCUT ENGRAVINGS: Woodcut engraving (which was first developed in the 18th century and still used by very skilled craftsman during the American Civil War) is a technique using hard, end-grained wood that is then worked with a burin (or graver). An engraving burin consists of a rounded, mushroom shaped handle and a tempered steel shaft, coming from the handle at an angle, and ending with a very sharp cutting face.

The circulation of the beautifully illustrated Harper's Weekly newspaper reached over 100,000 in the 1860s, bringing numerous examples of artwork by Winslow Homer, Thomas Nast, A. R. Waud and many others to the public. Printed woodcut engravings of Civil War officers, soldiers, battles, camp scenes and much more, made the details of that conflict vivid to Americans everywhere.

We GRADE ANTIQUE NEWSPAPERS in the following manner: Fair - has very serious flaws. Good - has numerous flaws but still very collectible. Very Good - relatively few flaws but not perfect. Excellent - near perfect. NOTE: All newspapers are shipped in an acid free "poly" sleeve.

For an excellent source of information concerning Civil War issues of HARPER'S WEEKLY

we recommend visiting "THE CIVIL WAR" at http://www.sonofthesouth.net/

To learn more about the American Civil War and Civil War collecting please visit the CIVIL WAR RELATED WEB SITES on our LINKS page.