February 2021 Catalogue

B a u m a n R a r e B o o k s B l a c k A m e r i c a n a 2 0 2 1 44 Rare Vintage 1864 Carte-De-Visite Photograph Of Sojourner Truth 59. TRUTH, Sojourner. Carte-de-visite photograph. Washington, 1864. Vintage albumen print mounted on ivory card stock, measuring approximately 2-1/2 by 4 inches with printed caption; floated, matted and framed, entire piece measures 7-by-8-3/4 inches. $12,000. C lick for M ore I nfo Rare vintage 1864 carte-de-visite photographic portrait of Sojourner Truth, her favorite and “most famous” portrait, the iconic image personally chosen by her as the engraving and cover image for the 1875 edition of her Narrative, beautifully window-matted and framed with her distinctive printed caption below the image and printed copyright on the card verso. “A legend in her own time, Truth’s indomitable will has won her a permanent place in American history” (Blockson 29). That crucial status notably includes her early embrace of photography as both assertion of identity and a political tool. As in so much of her life, Truth became “the strategic author of her public self and her photographic portrait” (Grigsby, 12, 59, 15). This rare CDV contains her “most famous portrait.” It was this image that she later chose for the engraving on the title page and cover of the 1875 edition of her Narrative (1850). Image clear and defined, only trace of edge-wear at the card’s corner. A fine photograph of one of America’s most inspiring and influential women.