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Lincoln and Prominent Figures - Salt Print Album

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Historical Memorabilia Start Price:1,000.00 USD Estimated At:4,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD
Lincoln and Prominent Figures - Salt Print Album
<B>Abraham Lincoln and other Prominent Figures Featured in Superb Album of Rare Salt Prints.</B></I> An interesting amalgam of famous personalities, this "autograph" book contains approximately one hundred individual, mostly identified salt print images. Many are family members, acquaintances, or more modest celebrities, but among the major figures represented are Lincoln, Millard Fillmore, Jenny Lind, John C. Fremont, Winfield Scott Hancock, Charles S. Stratton (Barnum's "General Tom Thumb"), Sam Houston, William H. Seward, Henry Ward Beecher, Fort Sumter Commander Major Robert Anderson, Albert, Prince of Wales, Civil War General John Ellis Wool (who served in three wars), and King Victor Emmanuel of Italy! <BR><BR>One of the images carries an 1861-dated inscription, which would be the correct era for these salt prints, which had almost disappeared from use by the mid-1860s. Most of the images are approximately 1" x 1.25", although some are larger. Condition is remarkable on all since they were stored protected from light, and so have not faded like most salt prints. All in all, they are the finest quality salt prints we have ever encountered. For accuracy we note moderate wear on the cover, and some of the pages are coming loose from the bindings. But otherwise the interior pages themselves are crisp and clear. <BR><BR>Almost certainly the "break value" of this book will lead at some point to its dismemberment, but we will leave that choice to the next owner. A marvelous opportunity.