Cased Image File
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Abstract
The Cased Image File at New-York Historical Society is predominantly made up of Daguerreotypes, Ambrotypes and Tintypes. Portraits constitute most of the file, and many items are still in the cases in which they were sold. The file also contains other non-paper photographic formats such as Opalotypes and framed transparencies.
Historical Note
Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre invented the daguerreotype process in France. The invention was announced to the public on August 19, 1839 at a meeting of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris. American photographers quickly capitalized on this new invention, which was capable of capturing a "truthful likeness." Daguerreotypists in major cities invited celebrities and political figures to their studios in the hopes of obtaining a likeness for display in their windows and reception areas. They encouraged the public to visit their galleries, which were like museums, in the hope that they would desire to be photographed as well. By 1850, there were over 70 daguerreotype studios in New York City alone. The popularity of the daguerreotype declined in the late 1850s when the ambrotype, a faster and less expensive photographic process, became available. A few contemporary photographers have revived the process.
Ambrotypes were made from the 1850s and up to the late eighties, the process having been invented by Frederick Scott Archer in collaboration with Peter Fry, a colleague. Ambrotypes are direct positives, made by under-exposing a collodion negative, bleaching it, and then placing a black background - usually black velvet - behind it. Though they slightly resemble Daguerreotypes, the method of production was very different, and Ambrotypes were much cheaper. Ambrotypes became very popular, particularly in America.
Another variant of the Ambrotype is the Tintype process. The tintype, also known as a ferrotype, is produced on metallic sheet (not, actually, tin) instead of glass. The plate was coated with collodion and sensitized just before use, as in the wet plate process. It was introduced by Adolphe Alexandre Martin in 1853, and became instantly popular, particularly in the United States. The most common size was about the same as the carte-de-visite, 2 1/4'' x 3 1/2'', but both larger and smaller ferrotypes were made. The smallest are called "gem" tintypes, about the size of a postage-stamp, made simultaneously on a single plate in a camera with 12 or 16 lenses. They were often made by unskilled photographers, and their quality was very variable. They do have some significance, however, in that they made photography available to working classes, not just to the more well-to-do. Whereas up till then the taking of a portrait had been more of a special "event" from the introduction of tintypes, we see more relaxed, spontaneous poses, as well as more outdoor scenes.
Arrangement
The Cased Images are organized by medium and size. There are six medium categories. Multiple Media inlcudes cases which hold both an Ambrotype and a Tintype, for example. Other Media include Transparency, Hallotype, Opalotype, and Autochrome. Cases refers to either a case missing an image or to a part of a case, such as a mat, edge preserver or lining. For the most part, everything is cataloged on an item level (except for groupings of unidentified Tintypes and in instances where several items are held in one case). Item-level descriptions are provided in the container list by number of image. To identify the box number for a particular image, consult the list below.
Series I: Ambrotypes
Box: 1 Ambrotypes, 1 - 49
Box: 2 Ambrotypes, 50 - 80
Box: 3 Ambrotypes, 81 - 108
Box: 4 Ambrotypes, 109-131
Box: 5 Ambrotypes, 132 - 173
Box: 6 Ambrotypes, 174 - 197
Box: 7 Ambrotypes, 198 - 221
Box: 8 Ambrotypes, 222 - 245
Box: 9 Ambrotypes, 246 - 267
Box: 10 Ambrotypes, 268 - 289
Box: 11 Ambrotypes, 290 - 311
Box: 12 Ambrotypes, 312 - 332
Box: 13 Ambrotypes, 333 - 352
Box: 14 Ambrotypes, 353 - 373
Box: 15 Ambrotypes, 374 - 390
Box: 16 Ambrotypes, 391 - 404
Box: 17 Ambrotypes, 405 - 414
Box: 18 Ambrotypes, 415 - 419
Box: 19 Ambrotypes, 420
Box: 47 (oversize) Ambrotypes, 421
Series II: Daguerrotypes
Box: 20 Daguerrotypes, 1 - 27
Box: 21 Daguerrotypes, 28 - 59
Box: 22 Daguerrotypes, 60 - 89
Box: 23 Daguerrotypes, 90 - 115
Box: 24 Daguerrotypes, 116 - 141
Box: 25 Daguerrotypes, 142 - 189
Box: 26 Daguerrotypes, 190 - 215
Box: 27 Daguerrotypes, 216 - 240
Box: 28 Daguerrotypes, 241 - 265
Box: 29 Daguerrotypes, 266 - 289
Box: 30 Daguerrotypes, 290 - 314
Box: 31 Daguerrotypes, 315 - 340
Box: 32 Daguerrotypes, 341 - 364
Box: 33 Daguerrotypes, 365 - 388
Box: 34 Daguerrotypes, 389 - 410
Box: 35 Daguerrotypes, 411 - 434
Box: 36 Daguerrotypes, 435 - 458
Box: 37 Daguerrotypes, 459 - 482
Box: 38 Daguerrotypes, 483 - 506
Box: 39 Daguerrotypes, 507 - 528
Box: 40 Daguerrotypes, 529 - 550
Box: 41 Daguerrotypes, 551 - 573
Box: 42 Daguerrotypes, 574 - 592
Box: 43 Daguerrotypes, 592.1 - 616
Box: 44 Daguerrotypes, 617 - 632
Box: 49 Daguerrotypes, 633 - 651
Box: 50 Daguerrotypes, 652 - 670
Box: 51 Daguerrotypes, 671 - 689
Box: 52 Daguerrotypes, 690 - 707
Box: 53 Daguerrotypes, 708 - 725
Box: 54 Daguerrotypes, 726 - 743
Box: 55 Daguerrotypes, 744 - 757
Box: 56 Daguerrotypes, 758 - 772
Box: 57 Daguerrotypes, 773 - 783
Box: 58 Daguerrotypes, 784 - 794.1
Box: 59 Daguerrotypes, 795 - 805
Box: 60 Daguerrotypes, 806 - 816
Box: 61 Daguerrotypes, 817 - 826
Box: 62 Daguerrotypes, 827 - 837
Box: 63 Daguerrotypes, 838 - 849
Box: 64 Daguerrotypes, 850 - 858
Box: 65 Daguerrotypes, 859 - 867
Box: 66 Daguerrotypes, 868 - 877
Box: 67 Daguerrotypes, 878 - 882
Box: 68 Daguerrotypes, 883
Box: 48 oversize Daguerrotypes, 884
Box: 68A Daguerrotypes, 885-894
Series III: Tintypes
Box: 69 Tintypes, 1 - 79
Box: 70 Tintypes, 80 - 134
Box: 71 Tintypes, 135 - 174
Box: 72 Tintypes, 175 - 249
Box: 73 Tintypes, 250 - 309
Box: 74 Tintypes, 310 - 324
Box: 75 Tintypes, 325 - 414
Box: 76 Tintypes, 415 - 484
Box: 77 Tintypes, 485 - 524
Box: 78 Tintypes, 525 - 559
Box: 79 Tintypes, 560 - 594
Box: 80 Tintypes, 595 - 607
Box: 81 Tintypes, 608 - 613
Box: 81A Tintypes, 614-653
Series IV: Multiple Media
Box: 82 Multiple Media, 1 - 12
Series V: Other Media
Box: 83 Other Media, 1 - 15
Box: 84 Other Media, 16 - 30
Box: 85 Other Media, 31 - 40
Box: 86 Other Media, 41 - 44
Box: 87 Other Media, 45 - 51
Box: 46 oversize Other Media, 52
Box: 45 oversize Other Media, 53
Series VI: Cases
Box: 88 Cases, 1 - 10
Box: 89 Cases, 11 - 12
Box: 90 Cases, 13 - 16
Scope and Contents
The Cased Image File consists of 2,301 items. 435 of these are Ambrotypes, 893 are Daguerreotypes, and 801 are Tintypes. Though most of these images are housed in their original leather cases, the collection also contains 87 Union Cases. The remaining 172 items are primarily mixed media, Opalotypes and empty cases or case remnants. The collection fills approximately 90 boxes (or approx. 42 linear feet).
The collection is predominantly made up of Daguerreotypes, Ambrotypes and Tintypes. Portraits constitute most of the file, and many items are still in the cases in which they were sold. The file also contains other non-paper photographic formats such as Opalotypes and framed transparencies. Heavily represented family groups include the Harper, Webb, Kellogg-Comstock, MacMartin-MacLaren, Eames, Ward, Hincken, Stuyvesant, Greenwood and Ellis families and associates. Such prominent persons as Henry Clay, Abraham Lincoln, Peter Cooper, Asher B. Durand, Millard Fillmore, Washington Irving, Jenny Lind, John McComb, William H. Seward and Daniel Webster appear in the Cased Images Collection. Other striking images include Caesar, a New York slave; the 1856 Rutgers Female Institute graduating class, and several stereographic daguerreotypes by J. F. Mascher of Philadelphia and Samuel F.B. Morse, as well occupational portraits of firemen, barbers and actors. Among the views are an interior of the New York Crystal Palace in the 1850s and a Niagara Falls landscape. Most of the photographers represented in the collection operated in New York City, for example: Rufus Anson, Abraham Bogardus, Mathew Brady, Charles D. Fredericks, Jeremiah Gurney, L. Cathan, Silas A. Holmes and John Plumbe. The collection also contains an image made by 20th Century daguerreotypist Robert Shlaer. Two images created by Jerry Spagnoli were removed in May 2002 and now comprise part of the Jerry Spagnoli Photograph Collection.
Although a few of the images are reproductions of paintings made at earlier dates, and a large number of the images are completely undated, it is clear from the labeled and identified items that the majority were taken between 1850 and 1870, with many images taken early as the 1850's.
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Access to Collection
Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.
Use Restrictions
Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff.
Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.
Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions
Preferred Citation
This collection should be cited as Cased Photograph File, PR 5507.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The collection's accession dates span from 1873 to the present, but the majority was accessioned between 1930 and 1960.