This cabinet card portrait features a well dressed handsome older gentleman with a wonderful long white beard. The man has striking eyes. They are bright and soft and he projects a certain sweetness and friendliness. This photograph was produced by the Dabbs gallery in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Benjamin Lomax Horsley Dabbs was born in London in 1839. He immigrated into the United States while still in his childhood. His father was a pioneer in the American photographic supply trade. Dabbs learned the photography field from his father, George Dabbs. Benjamin came to Pittsburgh in 1861 and opened a business selling photography supplies. That same year he also bought a gallery from a Mr. Rorah. He grew the business dramatically and in 1869 he sold his supply business to concentrate on being a photographer. During his tenure as a photographer in Pennsylvania, he was considered by many to be the best photographer in the state. In 1868 Dabbs married Sadie Dickson and the couple ultimately had nine children. Dabbs was a close personal friend of Abraham Lincoln and steel magnate Andrew Carnegie. Dabbs drew some attention for his stance on free resittings for customers who were not satisfied with the portraits taken by his studio. Unlike many other photographers, he refused free resittings because “the public do not value what they can get for nothing”. In his later years, Dabbs was debilitated by rheumatism and other illness. He died at age sixty in 1899. His celebrated portrait of Andrew Carnegie can be viewed today at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Museum of Art. There is very light writing on the reverse of the cabinet card. The writing includes the name E. E. Headley. This cabinet card has minor edge and corner wear and is in overall good condition (see scans).
This Cabinet Card is available for purchase at my store, The History Peddler, for $36.00
Interested collectors may view the listing here:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/336204531912
This carte de visite portrait features a well-dressed and distinguished looking gentleman posing for his portrait at the Crosby studio in Lewiston, Maine. He has piercing eyes and a wiry beard and mustache. The photographer of this image is A B Crosby (1836-1879). Crosby worked alone during his career but he was also involved in two partnerships. He had a brief partnership with George W Barnes in Topsham, Maine. He also was in business in Lewiston with C W Curtis. Both of these business relationships occurred in the 1870’s. The earliest record I could find of Crosby working as a photographer was in an 1864 Lewiston business directory. Crosby’s life was cut short when he succumbed to brain disease at the age of 43. He was married at the time of his death. I have seen a number of Crosby’s photographs and it is clear that he was a talented lensman. SOLD
THE CABINET CARD GALLERY 