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Black, James Wallace (sold)


James Wallace Black (February 10, 1825 - January 5, 1896) was an American photographer based in Boston in the mid-19th century. Black was born in Francestown, New Hampshire. He made a name for himself as a photographer in partnership with John Adams Whipple (1822 - 1891), the first American to manufacture daguerreotype chemicals. He is most famous for his 1859 portrait of abolitionist John Brown and his 1860 photograph of Walt Whitman. Also in 1860, using a balloon over Boston, his took the first aerial photographs in the United States. Also in 1860, he established a daguerreotype business with Perez Mann Bachelder (1818 - 1873), 'Bachelder and Black'. Black later became known for his magic lantern slides, including important photographs of the Great Boston Fire of 1872.
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One of the first lithograph views produced from a photograph.

City of Worcester Mass.

1864 (dated)
20 x 33.5 in (50.80 x 85.09 cm)
Worcester-tarr-1864

sold

Item Details
  • Digital Map Information
  • Suitable for large format printing
  • File Size: 42.24 MB
  • File Type: ZIP / TIFF
  • ICC color profile embedded
  • Delivered instantly via download link
This is a rare, unusual, and significant 1864 chromolithograph bird's-eye view of Worcester, Massachusetts. The view is unique as being one of the first bird's-views produced from a photograph, as well as a pioneering example of balloon-based aerial photography - the image being taken by 'Black and Bachelder,' the photographers responsible for the first balloon photographs in the United States. It is worth noting that the 'Bachelder' attributed is not the more famous viewmaker John Badger Bachelder, but rather the important photographer Perez Mann Bachelder. (more details)

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