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[Stephen Allen Benson, head-and-shoulders portrait, three-quarters to the right] – Vintage Photo Print

[Stephen Allen Benson, head-and-shoulders portrait, three-quarters to the right], [between 1851 and 1856] — historic photograph
[Stephen Allen Benson, head-and-shoulders portrait, three-quarters to the right], [between 1851 and 1856]. Historic photograph from the Daguerreotypes & Early Photography collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

[Stephen Allen Benson, head-and-shoulders portrait, three-quarters to the right] comes to life in this historic photograph, reproduced from the original with every detail intact. An authentic image from the Library of Congress, it carries the weight of the real historical record.

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[Stephen Allen Benson, head-and-shoulders portrait, three-quarters to the right]

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Few daguerreotypes from the 1850s show a man who would later lead a nation, but this small sixth-plate portrait captures Stephen Allen Benson in a head-and-shoulders view turned three-quarters to the right. Benson, born in the United States, emigrated to Liberia under the auspices of the American Colonization Society and later served as that republic's president. The sitter's identity rests on an engraving in the Society's 1856 annual report, and his name is also written on the inside of the case, a practical touch that helped keep such small plates tied to their subjects.

Created / published[between 1851 and 1856]
Medium1 photograph : sixth plate daguerreotype.
GenrePortrait photographs 1850-1860.Daguerreotypes 1850-1860.
NotesIdentification from engraving in the Twenty-fourth Annual Report of the Board of Managers of the New-York State Colonization Society. New-York : John A. Gray's Fire-proof Printing Office, 1856, p. 28. Label on inside of case: Stephen Benson. Case: diamond surrounded by geometrical design. Stamped on brass mat: Anson 589 Broadway. Transfer; Manuscript Division. Forms part of: American Colonization Society Records, 1792-1964 (Library of Congress). Forms part of: Daguerreotype collection (Library of Congress). The American Colonization Society was organized in 1817 to resettle Afro-Americans in Liberia.
SubjectsBenson, Stephen Allen,--1816-1865.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan1,331 × 1,536 px · prints to 4 × 5 in at 300 dpi
Reference43_Stephen_Allen_Benson_he_1851

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