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Description: (BRADY, MATHEW B.) (1822-1896)
Walking stick of Honduras rosewood and carved ivory handle with an image of a view camera and a rising sun, and Brady's name in gold letters; an embossed gold band is below. 1860

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Condition: All items are offered for sale subject to Swann Galleries' standard terms and conditions of sale, which are published in our catalogues.

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Notes: a handsome cane ornamented with brady's name, in gold letters, from brady's family. After Brady's death this walking stick descended to Levon Handy the photographer's nephew and employee, who subsequently operated the Washington, D.C. studio. After Handy's death his daughters inherited the cane as well as the studio, which they operated until the late 1940s. A reproduction of this cane is illustrated in Roy Meredith's mr. lincoln's camera man, mathew b. brady (New York, 1946), p. 63, where Meredith writes that "the cane was a gift of the Prince of Wales upon his visit to Brady's galleries."

Mathew Brady, portrait photographer extraordinaire, whose handsomely appointed New York galleries featured the largest inventory of prominent American personalities of the period, became even more renowned for his ambitious documentation of the Civil War. In the fall of 1860, however, Brady extended an invitation to the Prince of Wales and his retinue--knowing of their imminent visit to New York--and the royal party accepted. For Brady, the visit of Edward Albert was further recognition that it was his photographic attentions the powerful and distinguished sought. On the morning of October 13, 1860 the Royal retinue proceeded to Brady's Broadway studio impeded by large crowds and general fanfare.

According to Meredith, "After the sittings, Brady inquired of the Duke of Newcastle, one of the Prince's party, why he had been selected from all the photographers in New York. (An article in the press had alluded to the "tremendous struggle between Brady and [Jeremiah] Gurney as to who will have the honor of being photographer to Royalty.") The reply was, "Are you not THE Mr. Brady, who earned the prize nine years ago in London? You owe it to yourself. We had your place of business down in our notebooks before we started." The Prince and members of his party all signed the visitors' book.

with--A receipt for the burial of Mathew Brady, by J. William Lee, Undertaker, dated January 20, 1896. Notations in black ink detail the cost. Notations in pencil (possibly by L. Handy), read: "Died in N.Y./Sent to Wash in casket." and--A celluloid negative measuring 3 3/4x4 1/2 inches (9.8x11.5 cm.) depicting Brady's cane, beaver hat, and an iron head rest; in a paper sleeve with penciled notations on recto. Circa 1900.