Mathew Brady was a pioneer in the field of photography.  Through his knowledge of the new medium and his high standards of excellence he helped bring recognition and respect to the profession of photography.  In addition, he perfected that art of portraiture with a camera to such an extent that he became America’s first celebrity photographer.

Collecting Photographic Images

In 1895, Brady began collecting images of important Americans.  He thought that, if he photographed former presidents, statesmen, writers, great actors and actresses, visiting royalty, and high ranking military officers, “his business would be self-perpetuating—one sitting at a time.”  Also, Brady felt he had a duty to act as a photographic historian.  “From the first,” he later commented, “I regarded myself as under obligation to my country to preserve the faces of its historic men and women.”

Andrew Jackson

The first subject for his gallery was Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States.  Jackson, who was nicknamed Old Hickory because of his toughness, was an invalid confined to his bed at his home, the Hermitage, in Nashville, Tennessee.  Brady later said he sent a photographer to Jackson’s home “barely in time to save” his likeness for future generations.

Jackson’s family and doctor did not want the photograph taken, but Jackson insisted it be done.  On the morning the photographer arrived, Jackson rose from is sick bed and paid special attention to the way he dressed.  Then he sat in a chair propped up by pillows and cushions.  When it was time for the photograph to be taken, Jackson “nerved himself up with the same energy that characterized his whole life, and his eye was stern and full of fire.”  After the photograph was taken Jackson returned to his bed.  A few days later he died.

Book of Illustrious Americans

By 1849, Brady had photographed twenty-four “Illustrious Americans” and their portraits where hanging on the walls of his gallery in New York City. After displaying the portraits, Brady decided he wanted to produce a book. He hired Francis D’Avignon, a noted French artist, to make lithographic copies of the photographs and paid D’Avignon one hundred dollars for each print.  He also hired a writer to compose biographical sketches of each person to include in the book.

At first Brady intended to include all twenty-four portraits but changed his mind.  When the book was published it included only twelve illustrious Americans:  Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, John Calhoun, Zachary Taylor, former President Millard Fillmore, explorer John C. Fremont, General Winfield Scott, statesman Lewis Cass, politician Silas Wright, historian William H. Prescott, naturalist John J. Audubon, and clergyman William E. Channing.

Published a year later, the book was bound in a leather cover with its title printed in gold.  It weighed five pounds and sold for thirty dollars, a high price for the times. It received excellent reviews from the New York newspapers but did not sell well.  Brady eventually cut the price in half in an effort to sell more copies. Although the book did not make a lot of money, it increased business in Brady’s studio.  People wanted to have their photographs taken in the same studio where so many famous American’s had been photographed.

Sources:

Dorthy Kunhardt, Mathew Brady and his World

William Davis, Civil War Journal: The Legacies

James Horan, Mathew Brady: Historian with a Camera

Roy Meredith, Mathew Brady’s Portrait of an Era

 

[Excerpt from Mathew Brady: Photographer of the Civil War by Lynda Pflueger]

 

Tags: Gallery of Illustrious Americans, Mathew Brady, Photography, Profile