Gettysburg, Pa. Alfred R. Waud, Artist of Harper’s Weekly, Sketching on Battlefield

  • Creator: Timothy O'Sullivan (1840-1882)
  • Title: Gettysburg, Pa. Alfred R. Waud, Artist of Harper’s Weekly, Sketching on Battlefield
  • Date: 1863
  • Description: This is the left side of a stereograph. It shows a bearded man in dark jacket and light-colored trousers and boots. He is wearing a flat-topped hat with a wide brim, seated on a rock and balancing a sketchpad on his upraised right thigh and knee.
  • Historical Note: This photograph of British-born artist Alfred Rodolph Waud (1828-1891), a special artist for Harper's Weekly, was taken by Timothy H. O'Sullivan at Gettysburg. Waud studied at the Government School of Design in London, then emigrated to the US in 1850. He executed action sketches for the New York Illustrated News in 1860 and for Harper's Weekly from 1861 to 1865, covering a great deal of action in the eastern theater as he followed the Union Army of the Potomac. Since photographic reproduction was not yet possible for newspapers, battles were often covered by such sketches, which were quickly converted into wood engravings for publication. Waud continued to produce editorial artwork for Harper's and Century Magazine in the post-war decades. The Library of Congress owns an extensive collection of Waud drawings and sketches. Timothy O'Sullivan was working for photographer Mathew Brady when the war broke out. Brady took his staff to the battle to take photographs that were then sold through Brady's studios in Washington and New York and through E.H. & T Anthony. In 1862, O'Sullivan went to work for photographer Alexander Gardner; a number of his photographs were published in "Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War" in 1866.
  • Contributing Institution: Library of Congress
  • Rights: Images reproduced on this website are intended for individual, educational use only. For research inquiries about specific objects or requests for high resolution images, contact the Library of Congress.
  • Digital Publisher: Digital Initiatives, James E. Walker Library, Middle Tennessee State University
  • URL: http://cdm15838.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/shades
Detail