A
FINE WAR-DATE PHOTO OF LEE, SIGNED BY HIM,
AND INSCRIBED AND SIGNED BY HIS WIFE
TO A YOUNG RELATIVE WHOSE FATHER
HAD BEEN KILLED FIGHTING FOR THE CONFEDERACY
ROBERT
E. LEE and MARY CUSTIS LEE. Photograph of Robert E. Lee,
Signed by him on the front and Inscribed and Signed by his wife, Mary
Custis Lee, on the verso, no place, no date.
A fine, sepia, carte-de-visite photograph of Robert E. Lee, one of the
historic Vannerson “blockade” portraits. These photos were
taken early in 1864 by James Vannerson of Richmond, a prominent Southern
portrait photographer whose work has been ranked with that of Mathew
Brady. Lee agreed to the sitting as part of a plan to raise funds to
aid disabled Confederate veterans. Edward Valentine, a Virginia sculptor
then in Europe, was to make a statue of Lee based on Vannerson’s
photos, which were sent to him through the Union blockade. The statue
was to be sold at a Confederate fund-raising event in Liverpool.
Three images survive from Lee’s session with Vannerson –
a left profile, a standing view, and this three-quarters view bust portrait.
It shows Lee , in uniform, with his head turned slightly to the right,
a serious expression on his face. This image proved to be the most popular
and widely reproduced of the three Vannerson portraits.
This particular copy of the photo was probably printed after the war,
and presumably from the original negative, as the backmark reads, “Vannerson
& Levy, Photographers, No. 737 Main Street...Richmond, Va. Additional
copies can be had from this Negative.”
Lee has signed the photo on the front at the bottom center, “R.
E. Lee.” On the verso, it is inscribed and signed by his
wife, “For my dear Rebecca from her loving cousin Mary Custis
Lee.” This is written above the backmark.
“Rebecca” is known to be Rebecca Webster. She was
a great grand-daughter of Noah Webster, and was also related to Mary
Custis Lee, as Mrs. Lee and Rebecca’s father, William Eugene Webster,
were cousins. A soldier in the Confederate army, William Eugene Webster
was killed in the Civil War, in 1862, at the age of 31.
The photo is in fine condition, and both Lee’s signature and his
wife’s inscription are dark and clear.
For information on the Vannerson photos of Lee, see Roy Meredith, The
Face of Robert E. Lee in Life and Legend, pages 44-48. $9500.00
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