"Uncle Henry"

"Uncle Henry", originally uploaded by sprouseart.

I know that today is "Self-Portrait Tuesday" and that Tuesday is almost over, but I wanted to post something anyway - even if it isn't a self-portrait. I felt like posting a scan of a particular Cabinet Card that I've had for many years. I've always been taken with the look of it. All that is written on the back in pencil are the words "Uncle Henry".

I don't know exactly when it was made, but I do know, based upon on old article in the Photographic Journal of America that the founder of the Bachrach studios began to use the name "Bachrach & Bros" in 1875 and did so until 1910. That fellow was David Bachrach ( at the age of 18, he was hired by Harper's Bazaar to cover Lincoln's address at Gettysburg. Thusly, he took the only known and confirmed photograph of Lincoln at Gettysburg).

Cabinet Cards were at their most popular from the late 1860's until the 1890's. The sepia tone of this card would make it an albumen print, which the majority of Cabinets were until the 1890's when "neutral image tone" cabinet cards became the norm. Based upon all of that info, I'm dating "Uncle Henry" anywhere from between 1875 and 1890.

The possibility that this image that I hold inb my hand today may have been taken by the man who took the only known photo of Lincoln at Gettysburg really blows my mind.