Lucius H. Cathan photograph collection
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Abstract
Collection of negatives and photographs taken by Lucius H. Cathan consisting of studio portraits of unidentified individuals, portraits of the Cathan family, and views of the Brattleboro & Whitehall Railroad in Vermont.
Biographical Note
Lucius H. Cathan was an early daguerreotypist, innovator, and photographer who worked in both Vermont and Massachusetts in the mid-19th century. Cathan is particularly known for developing a speculum that reversed daguerreotype images.
Cathan was born in the small town of Townshend, Vermont in 1817 to Emery and Mary Hall Cathan. He began creating daguerreotypes a few years after Louis Daguerre introduced the technology in 1839. Cathan first advertised himself as a daguerreotypist in Townshend in 1843; later the same year he advertised his studio in the Byers Building in Springfield, Massachusetts. In 1844 he moved to Boston, Massachusetts where he would work until 1851. From 1848-1849, he worked in partnership with photographer Joseph Petee in the firm Pettee & Cathan. In September of 1850 he exhibited in the Sixth Exhibition of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association at Faneuil and Quincy Halls in Boston. Cathan did not advertise again until 1854, this time in nearby Cambridge, Massachusetts. By 1860, he had moved back to Townshend where he would spend the remainder of his career as a photographer and peddler of photographic equipment. He died circa 1890.
Arrangement
The collection is organized in two series based on size:
Series I: Small Format
Series II: Large Format
Scope and Contents
The Lucius H. Cathan Photograph Collection primarily consists of glass negatives of views of the Brattleboro & Whitehall Railroad in Vermont and portraits of unidentified individuals. Included are views of landscapes, unidentified buildings, and the Cathan family. An ambrotype, a glass positive and a photographic print are also present. During processing, image descriptions were written on negative sleeves; those which have been provided by N-YHS staff have been written in brackets.
Subjects
Organizations
Families
Topics
Access Restrictions
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: Lucius H. Cathan Photograph Collection, PR 132, Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections, The New-York Historical Society.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Mrs. T. K. Boardman, Jr. on July 7, 1948.
About this Guide
Edition of this Guide
Repository
Series I: Small Format
Scope and Contents note
Series I consists of 109 small glass negatives, measuring 3 1/8 x 4 1/8 inches, a glass transparency and an ambrotype. All of the images in this series are portraits of individuals or small groups in a formal studio setting. The variety of individuals and the similarity in formal backgrounds indicate these were professional posed portraits; they are presumed to be Cathan's negatives from his studio work. No dates are available for these images. The images of soldiers numbered 50-52 have some form of identification scratched into the emulsion; these names, as written, are: Lieut. Holton, C.R. Mills, and Albert Mennifield. The remainder of the portraits are of unidentified men, women, children, and soldiers in uniform.
Glass Negatives
Children--Boys, undated
Children--Girls, undated
Groups, undated
Men--Portraits, standing, undated
Men--Portraits, seated, undated
Men--Photographs of daguerreotype portraits, undated
Soldiers in uniform--Lieut. Holton, undated
Albert Merrifield, undated
C.R. Mills, undated
Soldiers in Uniform--Unidentified soldiers, undated
Soldiers in Uniform--Unidentified soldiers, undated
Women--Portraits, stanading, undated
Women--Portraits, seated, undated
Women--Photographs of daguerreotype portraits, undated
Other--Copy negative of engraving of George Washington, undated
Photographic Positives
Group--2 men, 2 women (ambrotype), undated
Man, seated (glass transparency), undated
Series II: Large Format
Scope and Contents note
Series II consists of 33 glass negatives measuring either 4 x 7 or 5 x 8 inches, and one photographic print. Most images portray railroad tracks, stations, bridges and trains on the narrow gauge Brattleboro & Whitehall Rail Road which traveled through Cathan's hometown of Townshend, Vermont. The railroad, a 36 mile stretch of track, began in Brattleboro, Vermont and ended in South Londonderry, Vermont; the railroad's name reflects the original intent of extending the line to Whitehall, New York. Identified images include those of the Williamsville and Jamaica Railroad Stations as well as a railroad bridge at Salmon Hole.
The Cathan family photographs are mainly unidentified; there are two photographs of a Cathan child with his or her African-American nurse. Also included in this series are views of unidentified landscapes and buildings.