Three CDVs of Identified Navy Officers, Incl. James M. Forsyth Signed View

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American Historical Ephemera and Photography

By Cowan's Auctions

Nov 19, 2020

Set Reminder 2020-11-19 10:00:00 2020-11-19 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : American Historical Ephemera and Photography https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/cowans/american-historical-ephemera-and-photography-5894
Cowan’s Auctions, a Hindman Company, is pleased to present the November 19 Fall Auction, featuring over 400 lots of historically significant photography, manuscript material, artwork, and other ephemera dating from the 18th through the early 20th century, including the Civil War. Cowan's Auctions dawnie@cowans.com

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• Lot Description
  Lot of 3 CDVs of identified officers.
  
  CDV of James M. Forsyth. Richards' Photograph: Philadelphia, PA, n.d. Ink signed on verso, "James M Forsyth / U.S.N." James M. Forsyth (1842-1915) served as enlisted sailor 1851-61 and "Entered Volunteer Service" 9/15/61 as acting master's mate, acting ensign 9/5/62, acting master 8/1/64 followed by a lengthy post-war career: master 3/12/68, lieutenant 12/18/68, lieutenant commander 5/9/78, commander 2/12/89, captain 3/3/99, retired list 9/25/01 as rear admiral.  During the Civil War he was present during the capture of Fort Clarke and Fort Hatteras and later served under Flag Officer Farragut at the capture of New Orleans.  He took part in the engagement with CSS Arkansas at Vicksburg before returning east to join in Charleston operations including the attack on Forts Sumter and Moultrie.  Post-war he passed examination and was commissioned in the regular Navy in 1868 and was still in service during the Spanish-American War 30 years later in which he was Commandant of the Key West Naval Station and C/O of the battleship USS Indiana. He voluntarily retired in 1901 and died in 1915.
  
  Postwar vignetted portrait of Petty Officer John A. Dixon. Richardson: Lima, Peru, n.d. Ink signed on verso, "Your Friend / John A. Dixon." John A. Dixon: carpenter 3/27/57, retired list 6/30/85, died 2/27/88. 
  
  CDV portrait of Commander Joseph P Sanford. Uncredited, 1863. Identified in later pencil, "Capt. Sanford / US Navy" with date inked beneath portrait, "June 18th 1863." Joseph P Sanford: midshipman 2/11/32, passed midshipman 6/23/38, lieutenant 11/2/42, resigned 10/8/53. Appointed acting lieutenant 5/13/61, commander 6/6/61, captain 9/27/66, resigned 3/1/69. Commander Sanford was C/O of the USS Neptune, a steam vessel taken up from the civilian trade and converted to a gunboat. Neptune was employed on the West Indies Station from January 1864 until it was decommissioned in May 1865. 
  
  The Richard B. Cohen Civil War Collection 
  
  Lots 37, 69-98, 295 
  
  Cowan's enthusiastically presents the second installment of collector Richard B. Cohen's matchless archive of Civil War Brown Water Navy photography. Richard was known to many in the field - indeed some of these images may resonate from a bygone transaction or "show and tell' - but to those who knew him best he'll be remembered as a "disciplined collector who maintained a relatively narrow focus having built an important, perhaps unsurpassed collection in his area of specialization." This catalogued portion of the core collection is a seamless continuation of high quality photography highlighted by an array of Brown Water Navy warships in desirable carte-de-visite format. We counted no fewer than 22 different Mississippi River vessels, some battle-weary and familiar, others obscure, but all identified with many named in period ink. Research confirmed that several of these CDVs were signed by an officer who had served aboard the ship conveying the historic connection and spirit of "wooden ships and iron men." The last of the larger format albumen warships are also included - the USS Blackhawk, Eastport, and Louisville. A fine quartet of lots feature sought-after enlisted sailors. We proceed with eight additional lots of multiple identified officer cartes, the myriad of navy rank insignia during the Civil War both complex and instructive. We think it opportune to quote a comment from a previous buyer who emailed that, "...I draw inspiration from their BWN service when known, and when not offering (him) the opportunity to reconstruct an aspect of overlooked Civil War naval history." Now comes the time to further disperse Richard B. Cohen's collection and recycle the photography to the care of the next generation, and in so doing we salute a lifelong endeavor unlikely ever to be duplicated.
  
  Provenence: The Richard B. Cohen Civil War Collection

  Condition

  Forsyth carte very light due to overexposure with rounded corners, about G.  Dixon CDV with average clarity with strong corners, near EXC.  Sanford image with strong clarity showing chipped albumen at top and along left border, damaged corners, lower right bent, still G.
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