Original Photographs Taken on the Battlefields during the Civil War of the United States

This volume gathers rare battlefield photographs by early war photographers and pairs them with editorial commentary detailing how the images were made, preserved, and authenticated. It describes the wet-plate collodion method and the use of mobile darkrooms, the practical hazards and the logistical and financial strains of producing negatives under fire, and the provenance and decades of storage of thousands of original plates. The reproductions show commanders, troops, encampments, and scenes of combat aftermath, while the accompanying text explains technical processes, the photographers' fieldwork, and the effort to present long-hidden negatives as historical visual testimony.