Sale 2455 - Printed & Manuscript Americana, September 28, 2017

215 215 c   (PHOTOGRAPHY.) McClees & Germon; photographers. Quarter-plate daguerreotype of an unidentified woman. 3 1 / 2 x 2 1 / 2 -inch portrait in imprinted mat and full leather case; light spotting, oxidation at edges, but generally clear and crisp, with minimal wear to case. Philadelphia, circa 1847-55 [600/900] The early American daguerreotype artist James Earle McClees (see lot 214 above) first went into business in partnership with Washington Lafayette Germon (1823-1878) in 1847. They were in business at the corner of Chestnut and 8th Streets in Philadelphia through about 1855. Unfortunately, we do not know as much about this rather intense sitter—or what she is pointing at. 216 c   (PHOTOGRAPHY.) The Popular Magazine, Volume I, #1-5. 4 plates. 80 pages. 8vo, original worn printed wrappers reading “The Plumbe Popular Magazine, an Illustrated Periodical for the Nation,” stitches removed; plates detached, moderate foxing; uncut and unopened. Philadelphia: National Publishing Company, 31 October to 28 November 1846 [500/750] An early reissue of the first 5 issues under one wrapper. Edited by Auguste Duganne, this weekly magazine featured “Plumbeotypes,” portraits produced through a new process.As explained on page 32, “the process by which they are taken is the result of a late discovery of Professor Plumbe, that enables him to transfer his Daguerrian portraits to paper, and multiply them to any extent, while it still preserves the astonishing likeness which the originals present.” Included here are General Sam Houston (from issue #1); murder victim Dudley Marvin Hoyt; Congressman Henry Hilliard of Alabama; and Senator Thomas Corwin of Ohio.The issues do not include plate lists, so the number of missing plates is uncertain. Not in Lomazow or his supplement—this was distinct from the magazine of the same title which began in 1903.The American Antiquarian Society and Brown University have one issue each, and the AAS also has the present early reissue. No other copies have been traced in institutions or at auction. 216