Earliest Known Daguerreotype of Mathew Brady?

Mike Serpa

Major
Joined
Jan 24, 2013
Mathew Brady: Believed to Be Earliest Known Daguerreotype Portrait. A quarter plate daguerreotype of Mathew Brady, housed in an embossed leather frame (separated at spine). Outside of some faint scratches to the plate, concentrated towards the bottom, it is in excellent condition. The paper seals have been replaced. There is some very faint blue tinting to his vest. Brady appears relaxed and totally comfortable with the novelty of sitting for a photographic portrait. He is quite youthful, likely in his early twenties which, along with the format, would date this image to the mid 1840's. The image matches very closely a lithograph of the youthful Brady published in 1851 (illustration credit: Granger NYC - All Rights Reserved).

As always when a new image without provenance appears, the identification must be qualified. In this case, our own research and the opinions of experts we have consulted convince us "beyond a reasonable doubt" that this daguerreotype does indeed depict Brady. But in the absence of provenance or other ironclad evidence, this attribution cannot be absolutely guaranteed.

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Heritage Auctions text and photos. - https://historical.ha.com/itm/photo...6145-42369.s?ic4=GalleryView-Thumbnail-071515

What do you think?

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Charles Loring Elliott painting of Brady - 1857 - The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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Mathew Brady, about 1875 - LOC
 
I can definitely see it - same specs, same wide lips & smile, and the same nose shape, although the ears are hidden behind a similar haircut as he himself wore.

I'd give it a 7 out of 10 probability of being real, although that doesn't mean much :D
 
That's a crazy sum of money but I understand that rare photos are worth whatever someone is willing to pay. I think it could be Brady.
 
Pretty cool one was found, is real and then allowed to be real. We've seen all the phony Lincolns ( there will be more ) whose owners just will not bury their poor, anonymous guys. Seeing genuine treasures brought to light is wonderful, thanks for sharing!

Not that it means a ton after being authenticated- sure does look like him. Yes, and poor man. Didn't he die penniless after all his success? You wonder what he'd have said knowing what this sold for.
 
100% sure it is him!

Here is my thread on it, forgot to update it with the price it got: https://civilwartalk.com/threads/ea...dy-up-for-auction-c-1845.113021/#post-1111270
Wow! I missed that thread from May 2015.

Pretty cool one was found, is real and then allowed to be real. We've seen all the phony Lincolns ( there will be more ) whose owners just will not bury their poor, anonymous guys. Seeing genuine treasures brought to light is wonderful, thanks for sharing!

Not that it means a ton after being authenticated- sure does look like him. Yes, and poor man. Didn't he die penniless after all his success? You wonder what he'd have said knowing what this sold for.
Yep, he died penniless. He sold some his collection in 1875 for $25,000 to pay off debt.
 
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