(JAMES JESSE) Cabinet card photograph of Jesse James with an

Sale 1931 - Lot 51

Unsold

Estimate: $ 40,000 - $ 50,000

(JAMES, JESSE)<>
Cabinet card photograph of Jesse James, with an inscription and signature attributed to his brother, Frank James. Arch-topped albumen print, 5x3 1/2 inches, with the notations "With Compliments of Jesse James," in ink, on mount recto and the imprint of W. A. Johnston, Wytheville, Va. and handwritten notations "2341" on mount verso. Circa 1879

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Additional Details

The photograph was originally in the collection of Col. Robert E. Withers, a Major in the Confederate Army who was promoted to colonel of the Eighteenth Virginia Infantry, which he commanded until he retired. Withers went on to publish a newspaper in Lynchburg and serve as consul to Hong Kong, after which he returned to Wytheville. Oral histories apparently mention both Frank and Jesse James living in southwest Virginia at various times. Jesse was reported to have stayed near Hardy, Virginia, which was near Lynchburg-Danville, the area where the Withers family lived. The photograph is accompanied by a 2-page Typed Letter Signed by Charles Hamilton, the leading expert on the James and Younger Gang, who examined it during the time he was writing a book about them. Hamilton feels confident it is a portrait of Jesse signed by his brother. <