James E. Taylor Collection: Finding Aid
Finding aid prepared by Diann Benti and Stephen Robles.
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens
© 2014
Photo Archives
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2191
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
The Huntington Library. All rights reserved.
Title: James E. Taylor Collection
Dates (inclusive): approximately 1861-approximately 1900
Collection Number: photCL 300
Creator:
Taylor, James E., 1839-1901
Extent:
246 sheets in 7 boxes
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Photo Archives
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2191
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: Collection of 3 disbound scrapbooks of Civil War photographs, clippings, and some original artwork compiled by illustrator
and Civil War correspondent James E. Taylor (1839-1901), presumably in the mid 1880s.
The scrapbooks contain over 1,530 items including images from noted Civil War photographers Mathew Brady, Alexander Gardner,
Timothy O'Sullivan, George N. Barnard, Andrew J. Russell, and others, as well as handwritten annotations by
Taylor and supplementary ephemera and clippings from contemporary newspapers and magazines. Some of the photographic prints
are possibly one of a kind. The scrapbooks focus on the Eastern Theater of the war, primarily depicting locations
and events in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Included in the scrapbooks are views of battlefields, street views of
towns, buildings and ruins, military camps, field hospitals, portraits of Civil War generals and soldiers, and images
of casualties and battle scenes. There are several loose pencil and pen-and-ink sketches by Taylor located at the end of volume
2.
Language: English.
Note:
Finding aid last updated on August 13, 2014.
Digital surrogates exist for the scrapbooks in the Huntington Digital Library; advance arrangements for viewing the originals
must be made with the Curator of Photographs. The collection is open to qualified researchers by prior application through
the Reader Services Department. For more information,
please visit the Huntington's website:
www.huntington.org.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material,
nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and
obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
James E. Taylor Collection. The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Provenance unknown; in Library as of May 1928.
Illustrator and Civil War correspondent James Edward Taylor (1839-1901) was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on December 12, 1839.
Taylor studied drawing at Robert Connor's Academy of Design as a young man, and in 1860, moved to New York City to study art.
Following the start of the Civil War, Taylor served two years as a sergeant in the Tenth New York Volunteers (National Zouaves)
and began drawing illustrations of the war during his service. In 1863, Taylor was hired by
Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper
as a "special artist." He drew illustrations for General Philip Sheridan's Shenandoah Valley campaign in August 1864, and
later followed the armies of
Generals Benjamin Butler and William Tecumseh Sherman. Taylor compiled a manuscript of these war experiences, including hundreds
of illustrations, now
at the Western Reserve Historical Society. After the war, Taylor created large, heroic paintings for veterans and a public
eager to commemorate the historic events.
The scrapbooks contain photographs documenting Taylor’s paintings from the 1880s.
In 1867, Taylor accompanied United States delegations to Wyoming and later Kansas, to chronicle treaty negotiations with
Native Americans, including the
Medicine Lodge Treaty, and Taylor became known as the "The Indian Artist" for his drawings of Native Americans.
Taylor presumably started collecting Civil War photographs during, or soon after the end of the war. In the early 1880s,
Taylor also began searching for photographs to aid an effort by General Albert Ordway and Colonel Arnold Rand of the Massachusetts
Command Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States to preserve the photographic history of the war.
Taylor worked for Leslie's until 1883, and he died in New York City on June 22, 1901.
Sources:
- Markantes, Charles G. "James E. Taylor, Artist & Correspondent," The Journal of the Little Big Horn Associates (Winter 1998), vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 2-13.
- Taylor, James E. With Sheridan Up the Shenandoah Valley in 1864: Leaves From a Special Artist's Sketch Book and Diary (Cleveland, Ohio: The Western Reserve Historical Society, 1989).
- Zeller, Bob. The blue and gray in black and white: a history of Civil War photography (Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 2005).
This collection consists of 3 disbound scrapbooks of American Civil War photographs, clippings, and original artwork
compiled by illustrator James E. Taylor. The combined 246 pages of the three 15 x 12-inch scrapbooks hold over 1,530 items
including images (often uncredited) from noted Civil War photographers such as Mathew Brady, Alexander Gardner, Timothy O’Sullivan,
George N.
Barnard, Andrew J. Russell, J. D. Edwards, and others. Some of the photographic prints are possibly one of a kind. The scrapbooks
focus
on the Eastern Theater of the war, primarily depicting locations and events in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.
Included in the scrapbooks are views of battlefields, street views of towns, buildings and ruins, military camps,
field hospitals, portraits of Civil War generals and soldiers, and images of casualties and battle scenes. Along with photographs,
Taylor included handwritten annotations as well as supplementary ephemera material and clippings from newspapers and magazines.
Taylor compiled each page deliberately, and the photographs assembled on a page tend to relate to one another, specifically
or
loosely, though the pages themselves do not follow a strict chronological, geographical, or thematic progression. In some
cases,
Taylor grouped the images in terms of specific events, but also in categories like military prisons or feats of military engineering.
Additionally, there are several loose pencil and pen-and-ink sketches by Taylor located at the end of volume 2. A couple
of the
sketches appear to be in a finished state, while others are possibly preparatory sketches.
While most of the images are contemporary to the Civil War, the scrapbooks are undated. Annotations and clippings suggest
that Taylor began collecting materials after the Civil War, but primarily compiled and annotated the scrapbooks in the early
1880s, with additions being made through the end of the 19th century.
Alternative Form of Materials Available
Visit the
Huntington Digital Library: United States Civil War
to view digitized items from this collection.
Related materials in the Huntington Library
- Taylor, James E. Catalogue and Price List of Photographs of James E. Taylor's Paintings and India Ink Designs of Our Civil War and Frontier History, 188-? (Call number: 91918)
- Photograph by George Prince of "Grand Review of the Army, Washington, DC, 1865," 1881 painting by James E. Taylor (Call number: photOV 10419)
-
Papers of Horatio Nelson Rust (Call number: mssRU)
See RU 248-249 for two letters from Taylor to Rust, 1900-1901. -
Papers of Benson John Lossing (Call number: mssLS)
See LS 264 for undated letter from Taylor to Lossing.
The unbound scrapbook pages reside in 7 boxes as loose sheets in their original order.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
Huntington Library's Online Catalog.
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 -- Assassination -- Photographs.
Sheridan, Philip Henry, 1831-1888 -- Photographs.
Taylor, James E., 1839-1901 -- Notebooks, sketchbooks, etc.
United States -- Armed Forces -- Photographs.
United States. Navy -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865.
Confederate States of America -- Armed Forces -- Photographs.
Confederate States of America. Navy -- History.
Antietam, Battle of, Md., 1862 -- Photographs.
Battlefields -- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861 1865 -- Photographs.
Generals -- United States -- History -- 19th century -- Photographs.
Gettysburg, Battle of, Gettysburg, Pa., 1863 -- Photographs.
Hampton Roads, Battle of, Va., 1862 -- Photographs.
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Pictorial works.
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Photographs.
Maryland -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Photographs.
South Carolina -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Photographs.
Pennsylvania -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Photographs.
Virginia -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Photographs.
Washington (D.C.) -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Photographs.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Barnard, George N., 1819-1902, photographer.
Brady, Mathew B., approximately 1823-1896, photographer.
Edwards, J. D. (Jay Dearborn), 1831-1900, photographer.
Gardner, Alexander, 1821-1882, photographer.
O'Sullivan, Timothy H., 1840-1882, photographer.
Russell, Andrew J., photographer.
Drawings.
Photographs.
Scrapbooks.
Scrapbook One
Scope and Content Note
The first scrapbook of the Taylor collection is the largest of the three with 108 pages and some 730 images. This scrapbook
also
has the most diverse group of images, with no specific unifying theme running throughout. However, in general, the first scrapbook
focuses on battlefield sites, carnage and destruction of war, and the notable military personnel.
Taylor dedicated many pages to battles at Antietam and Gettysburg. The pages for both battles contain many images of dead
soldiers by Alexander Gardner, James Gibson, Timothy O’Sullivan, and others, as well as portraits of the Generals and their
staffs,
and views of the land and buildings of the battlefield.
Another important series in the first scrapbook are images and text related to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the
execution of the conspirators. These pages contain five of Alexander Gardner’s ten image series depicting the execution of
the
Lincoln conspirators in Washington, DC, on July 7, 1865.
Box 1
Volume 1 (Items 1-39)
Box 2
Volume 1 (Items 40-79)
Box 3
Volume 1 (Items 80-108)
Scrapbook Two
Scope and Content Note
The second scrapbook spans 78 pages and contains nearly 380 images. Taylor dedicated the second scrapbook primarily to Union
Generals,
officers, and their staffs. The most frequently reoccurring image in this volume is that of General Philip Sheridan, who Taylor
followed
for some time as a special artist for
Leslie’s Illustrated Magazine. There exists no particular order in which the officers are presented,
but Taylor tends to use about a page or two for each. Notably, this scrapbook also contains a set of views of Confederate
soldiers drilling and at rest near Pensacola, Florida, by photographer J. D. Edwards.
At the end of the volume is a folder containing several loose pencil and pen-and-ink
sketches by Taylor (eph. 1-10). A couple of the sketches appear to be in a finished state, while others are possibly preparatory
sketches.
Box 4
Volume 2 (Items 1-39 and Eph 1-10)
Box 5
Volume 2 (Items 40-78)
Scrapbook Three
Scope and Content Note
The third scrapbook contains around 410 images spread over 60 pages. Taylor used this scrapbook to catalog
images and other material relating to the Union and Confederate Navies. This volume holds many steel engraving and
woodblock prints of naval officers. Print material in this scrapbook also lists many of the sailors killed at sea
and includes an exhaustive descriptive list of Union vessels.
The most frequently covered event in this scrapbook is the Battle of Hampton Roads.
Box 6
Volume 3 (Items 1-39)
Box 7
Volume 3 (Items 40-60)