Snapshots of the Past

White House, S. front – Historic Reproduction

White House, S. front, 1858 — historic photograph
White House, S. front, 1858. Historic photograph from the White House 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

White House, S. front comes to life in this historic photograph, reproduced from the original with every detail intact. The original is held by the Library of Congress, so what you hang is a true record of its time.

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White House, S. front

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This salted paper print shows the south front of the White House, the side that faces the Ellipse and the grounds toward the Potomac, as it looked in 1858. The photograph comes from an album kept by Benjamin Brown French, who served as Commissioner of Public Buildings in Washington and oversaw federal property, including the President's house, during the 1850s. Salted paper, an early photographic process that gives images a soft, matte tone, was still in use then, before wet collodion and albumen prints became standard. The building had been rebuilt after British troops burned it in 1814, so this view records a structure that was then only about four decades old.

Created / published1858
Medium1 photographic print : salted paper ; 28.5 x 40 cm.
NotesIn album: Benjamin Brown French Photographs
SubjectsWhite House (Washington, D.C.)--1850-1860.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan1,536 × 1,134 px · prints to 5 × 4 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-158127

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