EXCEEDINGLY RARE LARGE PHOTOGRAPHIC ALBUM, WITH NEARLY 100 FOLIO MOUNTED ALBUMEN PRINTS OF PRESIDENT GRANT’S FUNERAL PROCESSION, DISTINGUISHED IN PUBLISHER’S MOROCCO-GILT

(GRANT, Ulysses S.). Seven Mile Funeral Cortège of Genl. Grant in New York Aug. 8, 1885. Boston: The U.S. Instantaneous Photographic Co., [1886]. Large oblong folio (14 by 16 inches), publisher’s full brown morocco gilt, raised bands, all edges gilt; 49 mounts. Accompanied by original box.

Rare first edition of this beautiful large folio album of 97 mounted albumen prints (80 from photographs and 17 from paintings), in publisher’s morocco-gilt. A spectacular volume in fine condition.

“As Grant’s funeral procession made its way through New York City on August 8, 1885, it seemed everyone in the city was watching. Crowds packed every square inch of available viewing space on the ground, and buildings were draped in black in Grant’s honor. The column of mourners who accompanied Grant was seven miles long. Among those mourners were three United States presidents. If old enemies from the Civil War carried grudges, they set them aside. Grant’s pallbearers were Generals William Tecumseh Sherman and Philip Sheridan, who had fought for the Union, and Simon Bolivar Buckner and Joseph Johnston, who had fought for the Confederacy. Union and Confederate officers in the procession rode together in the same carriages. Placed in a ‘temporary’ tomb in Riverside Park, Grant’s body stayed there for nearly 12 years, while supporters raised money for the construction of a permanent resting place. In what was then the biggest public fundraising campaign in history, some 90,000 people from around the world donated over $600,000 to build Grant’s Tomb” (PBS). This album, composed of 97 mounted albumen prints, stands as a lavish testament to the national outpouring of grief at Grant’s death. Views include portraits of Grant and his family, Grant’s sick-room and death-bed room at Mount McGregor, and multiple depictions of the impressive funeral procession itself. An elaborate brass stand (not present here) accompanied the album when it was published, the better to display the monumental tribute. Exceedingly rare: only four copies listed with OCLC. Owner inscription to recto of first mount.

Accompanied by original box, worn and split; contemporary shipping labels affixed. With publisher’s ad tipped to recto of mount seven. Tiny closed tear to corner of one print (“Day of the Entombment…” on recto of mount 14). Original gilt bright. A fine volume. Most rare and desirable.