Lot of 2 CDVs of unidentified teenage tars - neither named nor with cap tally - having inked dedications on verso. The first carte inscribed,
"Accept with much love/from your brother/ Henry." Kimberly Bros.: Fortress Monroe, VA, n.d. The second young sailor had a cheeky nickname, writing,
"Your ever true friend/"Pink"/USN" on verso. H.A. Balch: Memphis, TN, n.d. Both sailors wear the typical navy jumper and silk neckerchief with ubiquitous flat cap, the uniform lacking specialty badges and ship's name on tally.
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
"Fortress Monroe" image in soft focus with soiling and soft corners, G+. The "Memphis"carte with strong clarity has been trimmed top and bottom with clipped corners, still near VG.