Fantastic Collection of 5 CDV Albums

Included in this lot:

1) Quaker Family CDV Album, 9.25” x 6”, with ownership signature of Isaac & Lydia Stephens to blank front end page. Embossed leather cover with gilt highlights and two functional decorative brass clasps. Index page has not been filled in. Fifty gilt-edged pages contain space for 100 CDVs, of which 78 are full, most with names in graphite below. The majority of portraits represent members of the Stephens, Middleton, and Reeves families. Some CDVs to note: Quaker founder George Fox; Quaker leader and abolitionist James Mott; abolitionist and women’s rights activist Lucretia Mott; Province of Pennsylvania founder William Penn; abolitionist Isaac Hopper; and Quaker minister Elias Hicks. Album is intact and in very good condition with wear at edges and corners, and some toning and foxing to pages.

2) CDV Album, 5.5” x 6.5”, with very rare intricate brass clasps which have George Washington’s bust presented on either side. Contains 20+ CDVs, mostly picturing well-dressed young adults. Spine appears to have previous repair, soiling to pages but intact, although separating from binding. Photographs in varying conditions, with some spotting, soiling, and/or toning issues variously present throughout collection.

3) CDV Album, 5.25” x 7”, containing 25+ photographs which include mostly CDVs, some tintypes, and a few albumen CDV prints of illustrations. Many are credited to New York and Connecticut photographers, some with verso ink inscriptions and identifications, and at least one with a green 3-cent revenue stamp affixed on verso. Of note is one CDV that features an interesting group of four women and one young man in formal attire, posed curiously with the young man kneeling and facing one of the women instead of the camera, credited to Churchill & Denison, Albany, NY. Album remains intact, including clasps, with wear at edges and spines. Photographs have some spotting and soiling variously present throughout collection.

4) CDV and Cabinet Card Album of the Riddle Family of Wheeling, West Virginia, 6” x 8”, with ownership signature of “Eliza J. Leasure / 1880”. Embossed leather with gilt highlights and brass clasp. Pages contain 30 cabinet cards and CDVs, and one loose 7” x 5” print. One of the CDVs is of a young man in what appears to be a U.S. Military Academy cadet uniform. The Register of Graduates lists four Riddles, three of whom did not complete their studies, and the fourth is more recent (Cullum No. from 20th century). Heitman lists five Riddles, four from 1812-1814 and one from Civil War volunteer service (all from Pennsylvania). The uniform could be from a military academy or state militia that adopted a uniform similar to West Point’s. Most of the photographer IDs on the images are from Wheeling, WV; one is from Bellaire, OH; and two are from Steubenville, OH. Among the people identified: Elizabeth Jane Riddle; Aunt Jennie Riddle; Jimmie Allen; Ellick Riddle; Mr. John Coulson; Aunt Alizer Lazer Chaney; Aunt Alta Frazer and Roy Frazer; Emily Riddle (identified as "Dad's sister"); Olive Austin Little Leasure; and Minnie Riddle Furbay. Many of the men are not identified. Album is very well-loved and worn, with the last few pages detached and the center section not far behind. Pages have soiling and tears.

5) Civil War-Era CDV Album, 8.25” x 6”. Blank front end paper, which has become separated, is inscribed in graphite, “Mother – from Staughton / Aug 17th/67”. Gilt-edged pages contain space for 100 photos, of which 90 are full. Index page with identification of many of the civilian portraits, most with the surname "Lynd". Most portraits made by photographers in Cincinnati or the Chicago area. More notable images include: Union Lt. Col. Charles M. Hammond, 100th, Illinois Infantry; a young Union private identified on verso as William Jones; a chromolithographed carte of Old Abe the Wisconsin War Eagle; seven cartes of European leaders including Napoleon III, a composite of "Prussian Generals", a composite of "Famous Men of the Times"; a carte of a Burmese man named Moung Thanbyah, apparently signed by him and sold to benefit his Christian education and fund his spreading of the Gospel to Burma; and a portrait of a woman by the noted African-American photographer J.P. Ball, Cincinnati.

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This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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