Butterfield, David William
David William Butterfield (July 12, 1844 - November 9, 1933) was a highly successful and prolific American photographer based in and around Boston, Massachusetts, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Butterfield was born in New Boston, Hillsborough, New Hampshire. He developed an early interest in photography and was well-established enough to be invited to photograph President Abraham Lincoln in 1864, when he was just 20. Butterfield was highly successful, with a career that captured some of American's most historic moments, ranging from the American Civil War (1861 - 1865), to the construction of the transcontinental railroad, to the Great Fire of Boston (1872). His work includes both landscape and portraiture, including an important 1864 photo of Abraham Lincoln in the East Room of the White House. His passion for photography did not wane in his elder years and he remained active until his late 80s. Among other things, Butterfield is famous for developing his own mammoth camera, with an extension of some 11 feet and plate size of 40 x 40 inches, used primarily for landscape photography. Butterfield died at his home in Roxbury, Massachusetts.
Largest photographic view of the Great Fire of Boston.
[Great Fire of Boston Burnt District.]
$3,000.00
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This is a mammoth plate 1872 D. W. Butterfield albumen photograph illustrating the devastation of the Great Boston Fire. It represents the largest known photograph of the Great Fire - an artifact of the photographer's unique custom-built large-format camera. (more details)