Rare 1865 Large Format Civil War Albumen of Petersburg, Va.

Rare 1865 Large Format Civil War Albumen of Petersburg, Va. – This large format albumen by Lazelle & McMullin of Petersburg, is from their series “Views of Petersburg and environs, including Lines of Defense, Forts, etc., etc. for sale”; the back of the mount is marked – “Lazelle & McMullin  39 Sycamore Street   PETERSBURG, VA.” This image, not previously seen by us, shows a street scene in Petersburg, likely dating to just after the Union army entered the city. Storefronts and signs are clearly visible, as are wagons, horses, mules and townspeople. The man sitting on a wagon with a mule at the ready, to pull the wagon, appears to be wearing a military style slouch hat and shell jacket; he may have once been in the Confederate Army. This image was taken looking south, up the hill on Sycamore St. in Petersburg; today, several of the buildings seen in the image are still standing. Overall, the image proper is in good condition, with some minor areas of foxing and slight loss; the mount is somewhat dirty, but strong. The back of the mount exhibits the “art work” of a young child – pencil marks and the practice efforts of a young student scribbling his or her numbers. This image was found in an old house in Petersburg, along with a tinted CDV of the famous, 18^th century Blandford Church, a focal point during the Battle of the Crater, as well as two tintypes with backs labeled with advertisements for famed war period, Virginia photographers, C.R. Rees and George W. Minnis, who had studios in Petersburg. These additional images will accompany the large albumen of the Petersburg street scene.

All of the described images were archivally mounted and framed by the collector from whom we obtained these images.

The images measure as follows:

Lg. Albumen – Card: W – 8.5”; Ht. – 6.75”

Image: W – 7.75”; Ht. – 5.75”

Tintypes – each with G.W. Minnis and Rees labels; usual CDV size

for both images

Blandford Church image – Rockwell’s Gallery back mark; usual CDV

size