(SLAVERY AND ABOLITION) Signed carte de visite portrait of e

Sale 2471 - Lot 17

Price Realized: $ 1,500

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 500 - $ 750

(SLAVERY AND ABOLITION.) Signed carte-de-visite portrait of escaped slave and accused murderer John Anderson. Albumen photograph, 3 1/2 x 2 inches, on original plain mount, with signature in lower margin; minor toning, minimal wear. Np, circa 1863

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Additional Details

While escaping from slavery in 1853, John Anderson encountered a Missouri farmer who attempted to apprehend him. Anderson stabbed the farmer and continued north, making a life for himself in Canada. In April 1860, he was arrested on the earlier murder charges, which began a long struggle to extradite him to the United States for trial. He was ultimately released on a technicality. "The Story of the Life of John Anderson, the Fugitive Slave" was published in 1863, with an engraving of Anderson and a very tidy facsimile signature. The present seated photograph is previously unknown, but appears to be from the same sitting as one used for his 1863 engraved portrait. The signature here is less polished than the published signature, but closely resembles another sold by Swann in 2013.