A stereoview showing a cluster of Union dead, members of the Irish Brigade, lying together in an open field at Antietam, photographed shortly after the battle of September 17, 1862. The bodies are grouped closely, some partially draped with blankets or coats, with a mown field and a faint tree line visible in the distance under a flat, overcast light typical of the wet-plate process. The composition is taken from a slightly elevated middle distance, characteristic of the battlefield documentation undertaken by Gardner's team in the immediate aftermath of the engagement.
The mount bears the printed copyright line for Gardner & Gibson, dated 1862, and the reverse carries a Brady's Album Gallery label identifying the image as No. 550, confirming its place among the widely circulated Antietam death studies issued under Mathew Brady's imprint though executed in the field by Alexander Gardner and James Gibson.
Photographer/publisher: Alexander Gardner and James Gibson, published under Brady's Album Gallery imprint
Period/date: 1862
Dimensions: 175 x 85 mm
Condition: Good; overall yellowing and toning of the mount consistent with age, moderate wear and bumping to the corners, light surface abrasion along the card edges, faint scattered foxing, image tonality faded with reduced contrast in the highlights but the composition remains legible and the mount structurally stable.
Reverse: Printed label: 'BRADY'S ALBUM GALLERY. No. 550. GROUP OF IRISH BRIGADE, As they lay on Battle-field of Antietam, 19th Sept., 1862. The Photographs of this series were taken directly from nature, at considerable cost. Warning is therefore given that legal proceedings will be at once instituted against any party infringing the copyright.'
Keywords: USA, Antietam battlefield, albumen stereoview, Civil War 1862, Alexander Gardner
Photographer Biography:
Alexander Gardner (1821-1882) was a Scottish-born photographer who worked for Mathew Brady's Washington studio before establishing his own gallery in 1863.
He led the photographic team that documented the Antietam battlefield in September 1862, one of the first instances of war dead being photographed before burial.
James F. Gibson served as his field assistant during the Antietam campaign.
Gardner later published his own retrospective, Gardner's Photographic Sketch Book of the War (1866), and became known for his documentation of the Eastern Theater of the Civil War, including Gettysburg.
Shipping Information: Shipping (worldwide): EUR 12 (registered). Shipping to the USA at risk of the buyer.