199
stated: “... the collection will be valuable to the student
and artist of the present generation; but how much more
valuable it will be to future generations.” Brady hoped
to market these images to the public, but after the war
there was little interest in purchasing views of a confl ict
that most were ready to forget.
Brady’s business began to suffer during the war. In
an effort to obtain a more complete set of Civil War
negatives for his use, Brady purchased or copied nega-
tives from other photographers, and assumed credit for
the images. This was a common practice at the time,
but it alienated Brady from some of his peers. While
Brady became famous, his talented operators remained
anonymous. In 1862 lack of credit prompted Alexan-
der Gardner to leave Brady’s studio and start his own
business. After the war, he published Gardner’s Photo-
graphic Sketchbook of the War, dutifully crediting each
photographer and printer on the photographic mounts.
In order to keep his photographers supplied during
the war, Brady entered a relationship with Edward and
Henry T. Anthony, a photographic supply and publish-
ing fi rm. Brady acquired photographic supplies from
the Anthonys, using his negatives as collateral. The
Anthonys published Brady’s Album Gallery, a series
of carte-de-visite from Brady’s negatives, making cop-
ies of Brady’s portraits widely available to the public.
Although Brady received royalties based on the sale of
the carte-de-visite, the Anthonys retained the negatives.
As Brady’s fi nancial situation deteriorated, the Antho-
nys acquired thousands of his negatives which they
continued to print for nearly twenty-fi ve years. Brady
was never able to regain ownership of these negatives.
Over the years, these negatives changed hands many
times, until 1940, when they were purchased by the
Library of Congress.
After the war, Brady’s studio was unable to maintain
its high standards, and it lost favor with the public. His
former employee, Alexander Gardner, was now one
of his main competitors. In debt and unable to pay his
creditors, in 1867, after operating for nearly ten years
in Washington, Brady was forced to sell a portion of the
studio to James F. Gibson, his studio manager. Brady
declared bankruptcy the following year, but was able
to repurchase his Washington studio with the proceeds
from the sale of his home in New York. By 1873, how-
ever, he had lost both his New York and Washington
studios, and the following year his stored property
was sold at auction. More than 2,000 of his glass plate
negatives were purchased by the War Department and
in 1875 Brady sold an additional group of material to
the War Department for $25,000. Even the poet Walt
Whitman supported Brady’s effort to sell his collection
to Congress. He wrote: “... these typical men gathered
together from opposing parties and convictions, rep-
resenting in their varieties and oppositions after all a
Common Country-seems to me peculiarly appropriate
to the Library of the Capital.” In 1940 this material was
transferred to the National Archives.
With the proceeds from his sales to the government,
Brady remodeled his Washington studio. A few promi-
nent political fi gures familiar with Brady’s reputation
visited the studio, but it never regained its earlier popu-
larity. His nephew, Levin Handy, carried on the day-
to-day business, but it was not long before Brady was
in fi nancial trouble again. In November 1881, Brady’s
National Photographic Art Gallery on Pennsylvania
Avenue closed its doors permanently.
In 1895 while crossing one of Washington’s busy
downtown streets, Brady was seriously injured in an ac-
cident with a horse-drawn carriage. After he recovered,
he moved back to New York City. Brady was scheduled
to present a magic lantern show on Civil War photog-
raphy at Carnegie Hall, but he became ill with a kidney
ailment. He died on 15 January 1896 and was buried at
Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C.
Brady’s career spanned the early history of pho-
tography. He utilized most of the nineteenth century
processes in vogue during this time period, including
daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, salt prints, and albumen
prints. Major holdings of Brady’s work are housed at the
Library of Congress, National Portrait Gallery, Harvard
University, Chicago Historical Society, and the National
Archives. Brady’s work is also held in numerous private
collections.
Carol JohnsonBiography
Mathew Brady was born circa 1823 in Warren County,
New York. In 1844 he opened a daguerreotype studio
in New York City. From the start of his career, Brady
realized the historical importance of photography and
concentrated his business on photographing society’s
elite. Beginning in 1844 and continuing throughout the
decade, his work was exhibited at the annual American
Institute fairs. Brady’s daguerreotypes of criminals were
used to illustrate Rationale of Crime by Marmaduke
Sampson. In 1850 The Gallery of Illustrious Americans,
a joint project between Brady, C. Edwards Lester, and
Francis D’Avignon, was published. The following
year, Brady’s work was exhibited at London’s Crystal
Palace exhibition. In 1853 Brady’s work was exhibited
at the New York Industrial Exhibition. In 1857 Brady’s
Imperial photographs were exhibited at the American
Institute. Brady’s staff photographed extensively during
the Civil War. In 1866 these photographs were exhibited
at the New York Historical Society. Brady published
a catalogue of his well-known personalities and Civil
War views in 1869 entitled, National Photographic
Collection of War Views and Portraits of Representative