Mathew Brady photographs, 1863-1886

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Summary

Creator:
Brady, Mathew B., approximately 1823-1896
Abstract:
Mathew Brady was a white American photographer known for his photography of battles and soldiers during the American Civil War. Collection includes 16 photographs of General Ulysses S. Grant taken either by Brady or by his assistants. There are four individual portraits (1864, 1866, and ca. 1883); and eleven group pictures: four at Cold Harbor, Va. (1864), six at City Point, Va. (1864-1865, two are duplicates), and one at Lookout Mountain, Tenn. (1863).
Extent:
1.0 Linear Foot
Language:
Materials in English.
Research Center:
Archive of Documentary Arts
Collection ID:
RL.13166

Background

Scope and content:

Collection includes 16 photographs of General Ulysses S. Grant taken either by Brady or by his assistants. There are four individual portraits (1864, 1866, and circa 1883); and eleven group pictures: four at Cold Harbor, Virginia (1864), six at City Point, Virginia (1864-1865, two are duplicates), and one at Lookout Mountain, Tennessee (1863). All these photographic prints save one are albumen prints, and may or may not be contemporary with the time when the negatives were made. The Lookout Mountain print is an emulsion-paper print made with a process that does not date earlier than the 1880s. Brady's name does not appear on these photographs.

Biographical / historical:

Mathew Brady (1823-1896) was a white American photographer who opened his first portrait studio in New York City in 1844. He became most well known for his photographs of the American Civil War. Brady hired a team of photographers and staff to follow the war's frontlines, documenting battlefields, camps, and individuals such as soldiers and generals.

Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as commanding general, Grant led the Union Army to victory in the American Civil War. Grant was born in Ohio and graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1843.

More information and sources about Brady: https://congressionalcemetery.org/blog/mathew-brady-the-father-of-photojournalism/ https://americanart.si.edu/artist/mathew-b-brady-6668

Acquisition information:
Some of the Mathew Brady Photographs were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a gift in 1985. Image 11 was received in 1955. Other images lack accession record information and their provenance is unknown.
Processing information:

Processed by RL Staff. Items originally cataloged individually; as of 2025 they have been merged into a single catalog record with a collection guide.

Accessions described in this collection guide: 1955 and 1985 Aug. 29. Other accessions unknown.

Arrangement:

Arranged numerically by assigned number.

Physical facet:
16 photographs
Rules or conventions:
Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Materials (Graphics)

Contents

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Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the Rubenstein Library's Citations, Permissions, and Copyright guide.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Mathew Brady photographs, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

Permalink:
https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/m1gt8x