Description:
½ plate daguerreotype, in original case, covers separated, with Mayall's gilt logo for his Daguerreotype Institution at 433 Strand. Affixed to the verso of the plate is a "Portrait Check" from the "American Daguerreotype Institution, 433, West Strand" dated in manuscript October 11, 1848 and with the name of the subject, "J. R. Brodhead, Esq." The plate is in excellent condition, with rich tones.A splendid half-plate daguerreotype of Herman Melville's advisor and agent John Brodhead. John Romeyn Brodhead (1814-1873) was a historian and a member of the American diplomatic corps. Best remembered for his services as Herman Melville's agent in London, Brodhead had known Melville and his family since their youth. Gansevoort Melville, secretary of the American legation in London, served as his brother's literary agent for the publication of Typee. When Gansevoort died in May 1846, his boyhood friend John Brodhead was appointed to succeed him.
Brodhead's literary relationship with the young… Read More