Auction details
8:00 AM PT - Feb 16th, 2008
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Photographs
Albumen Photograph of Abolitionist John Brown c. 1860, Large Format, Albumen Photograph of the Famous Abolitionist John Brown, Who Was Convicted of Treason Against the United States in 1859, Choice Very Fine. This excellent, period photograph measures 7.5" x 6.5" and is mounted on its original Card Mount. Beneath the image is a printed legend that reads: "Original Photograph Presented to Allan Pinkerton By John Brown 1858 - John Brown of Ossawatomie - His Soul Goes Marching On." The photo depicts a strong and somewhat somber looking Brown, wearing a suit and full beard. John Brown and Allan Pinkerton, the famous detective, shared strong abolitionist convictions and became good friends in the years before the Raid on the Arsenal at Harper's Ferry. We are told that this photo was distributed by Pinkerton's wife (with the blessing of the great detective) following the execution of John Brown, even though Allan Pinkerton was engaged in the service of the US Government as Chief of the Secret Service Division of the War Department. The photo itself, as well as the card mount, are in very good condition with no tears, chipping, repairs or physical damage of any kind. There is a bit of fading to the albumen photograph and age toning to the card mount. This is a simply stunning, very rare and historically important, large format albumen photograph of the revolutionary Abolitionist John Brown, and a fantastic addition to any Black History or Civil War Era collection. In 1843 a young Allan Pinkerton and his brother, established a cooper shop in Dundee, Illinois. A fierce believer in the right to freedom, Pinkerton supported the Abolitionist movement. In fact, he established his home and cooper shop as a busy, important station on the Underground Railroad, a secret network of people who clothed, fed, housed, and transported slaves escaping to Canada. Early Dundee residents regularly saw black workers at the Pinkerton's cooper shop. Pinkerton gave work to the penniless, homeless slaves, and let them stay there until they continued on the Underground Railroad to become free in Canada. The Pinkertons' home is one of the more well documented stations on the Underground Railroad. In the mid 1840's a bit of serendipity resulted in Pinkerton discovering evidence of a counterfeiting ring and contributing to the arrest of the counterfeiters. He received local and national notoriety after he solved a second counterfeiting case. Although Pinkerton continued his cooper business in Dundee, giving work and shelter to escaped slaves, he was appointed a deputy sheriff in 1846. Nonetheless, Pinkerton kept up his abolitionist activities, even knowing that he could have been arrested at any moment, as it was illegal in Illinois to harbor escaped slaves. In 1850 Pinkerton opened his own Detective Agency in Chicago. He named his first business Pinkerton's North Western Police Agency and a few years later changed its name to Pinkerton's National Detective Agency. Their trademark was the wide-open eye. Their slogan "We Never Sleep" gave notice that one couldn't escape from the Pinkertons. He continued to offer escaping slaves shelter and assistance with their freedom flights. His staunch views kept him in the middle of the abolitionist fray and brought him in contact with such people as John Brown, with whom he became friends. On the night of March 11, 1859, Brown stopped at Pinkerton's home, where he received $500 and tickets to get him and his band to Detroit, their next stop on the way east from Kansas to the fateful confrontation at Harper's Ferry. ImagesClick on thumbnails to see larger images: 
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