[Mammoth plate albumen photograph of General Phil Sheridan portraying himself dressed in uniform mounted on a horse charging in an artful yet artificial backdrop].

New York: D.H. Anderson, 1893. One large original albumen photograph, sized 17.5 x 21 in. mounted on 21 x 25 in. board (minor chipping & damage to fore-edges of board, some very minor staining), still a VG image. First edition of this very scarce and early attempt at art photography of the patriotic sort, and often referred to as reenactment photography. While the image of Sheridan is indeed from a photographic negative, the backdrop of galloping horse, and battlefield, have all been supplied via lithography. This was an unusual and labor-intensive special effects process of which Anderson developed most of his skills during the Civil War in the Richmond, VA area. Anderson (1827-1905) began his career as a daguerreotype photographer in Paducah, KY in 1855, and moved throughout the South and Midwest before landing in Richmond during the Civil War. In 1879 he sold his business there to George Cook, and purchased and refitted Mathew Brady’s historic studio at 785 Broadway in New York, adorning the walls with life-sized crayon drawings and pastels a la Sarony, and was one of the first adopters of Charles Bennet’s gelatin dry plate process requiring very little exposure time for excellent photographic images. He would often engage the original participants to reenact their historical actions and events, which may have inspired the very popular Wild West shows at the time reenacting recent events in the Indian Wars using the actual participants in their performances. He specialized in mammoth and gargantuan photographic prints. No copies located in Worldcat: See: David H. Shields, David H. Anderson Time Period 1855-1905, Broadway Photographs (2013).