Carte-de-Visite Portrait of Grace Greenwood (Sara Jane Clarke Lippincott), circa 1870.
New York City: Sarony, 680 Broadway, c. 1870. Albumen print on original mount with printed studio imprint. 2 ½ x 4 inches. Very good condition; strong tonal contrast. Item #List36104
Studio portrait of Grace Greenwood (1823–1904), the pen name of Sara Jane Clarke Lippincott: journalist, poet, lecturer, and one of the most widely read women writers of the nineteenth century. Greenwood was a committed abolitionist, contributing to antislavery newspapers including the National Anti-Slavery Standard and using her national platform to denounce slavery and support the Union cause. During the Civil War she reported from Washington, D.C., advocating emancipation and commenting directly on federal policy. Her writings and lectures frequently addressed women’s legal and political inequality, and she became an outspoken supporter of woman suffrage. Greenwood also traveled in Europe as a foreign correspondent, publishing travel narratives and political commentary. A popular public lecturer, she addressed audiences across the United States on reform, literature, and women’s advancement, becoming one of the era’s most visible female voices.
Offered here is a portrait of Greenwood taken by Broadway photographer Napoleon Sarony. The photograph shows Greenwood later in her career, posed thoughtfully with her head resting upon her hand, a book held in the other—a studio convention of the period used to convey authority. Sarony’s 680 Broadway studio was known for photographing leading literary and theatrical figures; this example situates Greenwood among the cultural elite of post–Civil War New York. We find no other examples of this portrait in commerce.
Price: $400.00