Snapshots of the Past

[Emil Bessel, 1847-1888, bust portrait] – Vintage Photo Print

[Emil Bessel, 1847-1888, bust portrait] — antique engraving
[Emil Bessel, 1847-1888, bust portrait]. Antique engraving from the Historic Print Archive 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

This rare antique engraving captures [Emil Bessel, 1847-1888, bust portrait] in remarkable detail. An authentic image from the Library of Congress, it carries the weight of the real historical record.

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[Emil Bessel, 1847-1888, bust portrait]

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Bessel is shown in a bust-length portrait, and the 1873 date places it at the time he was back in public attention after the Polaris expedition. Bessel, a German-born scientist, served as the expedition's chief scientist when it sailed under Charles Francis Hall to explore the Arctic north of Smith Sound. After Hall's death in 1871, the ship was damaged and the crew split up, and the survivors spent months in the ice and at sea before their rescue in 1873. Wood engravings like this one were the main way newspapers and magazines brought faces of such figures to a broad readership, so the portrait reflects how Arctic news was consumed in that era.

Medium1 print : wood engraving.
Notes1873
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan1,219 × 1,536 px · prints to 4 × 5 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-119084

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