11 CARTES DE VISITE (CDVs) BY JOHN WHIPPLE. Whipple was one of the foremost photographers in America from the 1840s through the 1860s. Therefore, it's likely some of the people in this group are notables.
According to A Directory of Massachusetts Photographers 1839 - 1900, by Chris Steele and Ron Polito, Whipple was at 96 Washington Street from 1847 - 1855, then again at 96 Washington Street from 1860 - 1864. He was at 297 Washington Street from 1865 - 1874.
CDV #s 1 - 10 in the list below are from 1860s - 1870. #11 is later.
1) Handsome bearded man seated. Tax stamp on the back is ink signed by John Adams Whipple: ”JAW.” Approximately 3 15/16 x 2 3/8 inches.
2) Man in Napoleonic pose (hand inside his jacket) holding a large book on the table. Approximately 3 7/8 x 2 1/2 inches.
3) A seated man holding a book. Approximately 4 x 2 7/16 inches.
4) A standing man holding an open book. Approximately 3 13/16 x 2 1/2 inches.
5) Pencil handwriting on back: “Hon Saml A Elliott.” We believe this is Samuel Atkins Eliot and have provided biographical information below. However, please do your own research. Approximately 4 1/8 x 2 1/2 inches.
6) Beautiful girl posed with a hand on hip and crossed legs. Approximately 3 7/8 x 2 7/16 inches.
7) Vignette portrait of a boy. Tax stamp on the back is ink signed by John Adams Whipple: “JAW.” Approximately 4 1/4 x 2 7/16 inches.
8) Statesman with a cane. Approximately 3 3/4 x 2 3/8 inches.
9) 3/4 view of a man standing next to a column. Approximately 4 1/16 x 2 7/16 inches.
10) Vignette of a boy. Approximately 4 x 2 3/8 inches.
11) Woman and children with painted backdrop. Approximately 4 1/8 x 2 7/16 inches.
CONDITION AND APPEARANCE. 7 of these CDVs are trimmed (sizes are notated in the list above. Condition and appearance are as seen in the scans. We have shown the fronts and backs of each CDV. Please see and scrutinize the scans before bidding.
JOHN WHIPPLE. "John Adams Whipple (September 10, 1822 – April 10, 1891) was an American inventor and early photographer. He was the first in the United States to manufacture the chemicals used for daguerreotypes. He pioneered astronomical and night photography. He was a prize-winner for his extraordinary early photographs of the moon and he was the first to produce images of stars other than the sun... While a boy he was an ardent student of chemistry, and on the introduction of the daguerreotype process into the United States (1839–1840) he was the first to manufacture the necessary chemicals. His health having become impaired through this work, he devoted his attention to photography. He made his first daguerreotype in the winter of 1840, 'using a sun-glass for a lens, a candle box for a camera, and the handle of a silver spoon as a substitute for a plate.' Over time he became a prominent daguerreotype portraitist in Boston. In addition to making portraits for the Whipple and Black studio, Whipple photographed important buildings in and around Boston, including the house occupied by General George Washington in 1775 and 1776 (photographed circa 1855, now in the Smithsonian)... Between 1847 and 1852 Whipple and astronomer William Cranch Bond, director of the Harvard College Observatory, used Harvard's Great Refractor telescope to produce images of the moon that are remarkable in their clarity of detail and aesthetic power. This was the largest telescope in the world at that time, and their images of the moon took the prize for technical excellence in photography at the great 1851 Crystal Palace Exhibition in London. On the night of July 16–17, 1850, Whipple and Bond made the first daguerreotype of a star (Vega). In 1863, Whipple used electric lights to take night photographs of Boston Common. Whipple was as prolific as an inventor as a photographer. He invented crayon daguerreotypes and crystallotypes (daguerreotypes on glass). With his partner or assistant, William Breed Jones, he developed the process for making paper prints from glass albumen negatives (crystallotypes). His American patents include Patent Number 6,056, the 'Crayon Daguerreotype'; Patent Number 7,458, the 'Crystallotype' (Credit shared with William B. Jones). Whipple died suddenly, of pneumonia, on April 10, 1891, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was buried at Westborough, Worcester Co., Massachusetts." (source: Wikipedia)
SAMUEL ATKINS ELIOT. "Samuel Atkins Eliot (March 5, 1798 – January 29, 1862) was a member of the notable Eliot family of Boston, Massachusetts, who served in political positions at the local, state and national levels... His interest in music led him to become president of the Boston Academy of Music from 1834 to 1847. As an influential member of the Boston school committee, he was successful in placing music in the curriculum of all public schools. With his brother William he founded the Union Church in Nahant, Massachusetts, where he had earlier built a classical Greek revival summer home at 40 Steps Beach on Nahant Road. He served as the first president of the Boston Provident Association, one of the first organizations to aid the poor. He assisted developing the Prison Discipline Society, becoming its treasurer and president to reduce the miserable conditions found in the houses of correction. He was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1834 to 1837. Elected three consecutive terms between 1837 and 1840 as Mayor of Boston. During his administration a riot took place, caused by a collision between a volunteer fire company and an Irish funeral procession. The disturbance was suppressed by the promptness of Mayor Eliot, who was on the ground at the first alarm, and immediately took measures for calling out the militia. The result of this affair was the establishment of a paid fire department and a day police. Eliot served in the Massachusetts Senate in 1843–1844. He was elected as a Whig to the 31st United States Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Robert C. Winthrop, and served from August 22, 1850, to March 3, 1851; he declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1850. He was Treasurer of Harvard University from 1842 to 1853. He published a Sketch of the History of Harvard College and of its Present State (Boston, 1848), and additionally was editor for The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself and also edited selections from the sermons of Dr. Francis W. P. Greenwood, with a memoir (2 vols., Boston, 1844). He contributed writings to the North American Review and the Christian Examiner... Between 1829 and 1830 he built a lavish house at 31 Beacon Street, now the western edge of the Massachusetts Statehouse lawn. He died in Cambridge, Massachusetts on January 29, 1862, and his body was interred in Mount Auburn Cemetery." (source: Wikipedia)