Very Rare Civil War Gardner 1863 Gettysburg Battle Gatehouse Earliest Photo SV

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Very Rare Civil War Gardner 1863 Gettysburg Battle Gatehouse Earliest Photo SV:
$208.49

A very rare and important stereo view by Alexander Gardner of the Gettysburg Cemetery gatehouse taken on July 7, 1863, shortly after the battle.A great close-up of the building with clear evidence of the battle raging around it: a number of the windows are shattered and there are mounds of dirt that were hastily erected to provide protection to Stewart\'s Battery, 4th U.S. forces (from Gettysburg Daily). From the series \"No. 232. Gateway of Cemetery. Photographic Incidents of the War. Gardner\'s Gallery. Negative by Alex. Gardner.\" Although this view is numbered 232 on the back of the mount, it is numbered 71 on the small label underneath the right image on the front. Small spot on the right image and a tiny mark on the left, mount with some age-wear and old center crease on the back that doesn\'t show on the front, o/w very good. Photos with nice contrast, detail and tonality. Fine three-dimensional effect in a viewer. Buyer pays shipping. Payment by PayPal. Shipping can be combined for items ending the same day. See all 3 scans.

This is a very rare view. The Library of Congress does not appear to have this view in any format in its comprehensive collection although they do have a single photo of the gatehouse that was taken at the same time showing a wagon and people in front of the building. This image with the wagon appears in Gardner\'s large-format Civil War album. Frassanito states that the view with the wagon was the earliest photograph of the gatehouse taken after the battle on July 7, 1863. Clearly, the stereo view being saleed was taken at the same time with the same mounds of dirt and puddles in both images. I could not find any example of this sale view online in collections. Mathew Brady photographed the building about a week after Gardner with the debris cleared away. That later view was published by Taylor & Huntington around 1880.

The cemetery gatehouse was built in 1855. At the time of the battle with Confederate troops under General Robert E. Lee, it was the house of Elizabeth and Peter Thorn who evacuated for the battle. There was combat around it and it was used as a field hospital. After the battle, the family returned but it was not habitable and the troops erected a tent for them.

An outstanding Gettysburg photograph with great historical content and