Beschreibung:

Single volume, oblong folio. Washington: Philp and Solomons, 1865-66, first edition. With pictorial title page after A.R. Ward, containing 50 albumen photographs by Gardner and others, each 8.75 x 6.75 in., mounted on larger sheets with pre-printed mounting blocks and printed captions. Each plate accompanied by a printed page describing the image. Published pebbled dark brown/black morocco, with gilt title on front and decorative border front and rear, gilt spine lettering, gilt decorative elements to match border on edges of boards and doublure; all edges gilt. Printed endpapers. Called the "first modern photo-essay" (Stapp 1991: 28), Gardner's "sketchbook" is recognized as the first published collection of Civil War photographs. Conceived by Gardner as a post-war memento, the photographs represent selections from the over 3,000 negatives taken during the Civil War by himself and associates. Unlike Brady, Gardner carefully credits each of the original photographers who took the negative: George Barnard Timothy O'Sullivan, William R. Pywell, W. Morris Smith, David Knox and D.B. Woodbury. As Stapp notes, Gardner viewed the text and photographs to function as an extended essay comprising images and explanatory text that worked together organically (ibid: 28). Volumes I and II of the Sketch Book are organized chronologically, covering the war in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Exhibited in New York shortly after the battle, these images dramatically brought home the carnage of the battle, and shocked American's who previously had an abstract view of the War. It has been estimated that no more than 200 copies of the Sketch Book were produced. Condition: Interior pages have undergone some staining/water damage, with almost every sheet (both pages with photos and pages with descriptive text) showing some light to moderate staining in the lower right corner. The staining covers the majority of lower right corner of mount and extends into the lower right corner of almost every photograph. Front board with corresponding water damage, but not rear board. Front board damage has been ameliorated, but destroyed the gilt on doublure and edges for about 6". Some of the pages also include scattered spotting within the stained lower right corner. Almost every sheet includes a light to moderate stain along the top edge, closer to the top right corner. This stain does not extend into any of the photographs. Several of the pages have been reinforced with archival tape along the bottom edge where the page meets the spine.Â