Guide to the Pennsylvania Cartes-de-Visite Collection, circa 1860

Accession number: 2006-0072H

University Libraries
The Pennsylvania State University
Special Collections Library
Historical Collections and Labor Archives

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©2006 Pennsylvania State University. All rights reserved.

Descriptive Summary

Administrative Information

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in their order within the original album.

Scope and Content

The Pennsylvania Cartes-de-Visite Collection consists of 44 photographs dating approximately from the 1850s through the 1860s. These cartes-de-visite were produced primarily by central Pennsylvania photograph studios. The name of a photographer or studio appears on the back of some of the photographs. The bulk of the subjects are unidentified individuals of European ancestry. Included also are three photographs of non-European family members dressed in the costume of another culture. These three photographs are colored by hand. Other photographs depict well-known historical figures such as the Ulysses S. Grant family, Major General Banks, General Burnside, and General McClellan and his wife. The collection represents central Pennsylvania families at the middle of the nineteenth century.

Photographers listed on the back of the cartes-de-visite include: H. Rosenstock of Bloomsburg (four items); J.P. Leisenring of Danville; T.J. Stoffet, traveling photographer (two items), H.W. Hagenbuch of Turbutville (nine items); J.M. Snyder of Berwick; Spencer Gallery of Art in Mansfield; John Odenwelder of Easton; and Jno. F. Nice of Williamsport. The remainder had no studio identification. Four cartes-de-visite have small photograph insets in embossed mat board.

Index Terms

These materials are indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Pennsylvania State University. Researchers wishing to find related materials should search the catalog under these index terms.