Christopher ("Kit") Carson. Photograph Signed, "Kit Carson,"

Lot description

Exceedingly uncommon photograph Christopher ("Kit") Carson Photograph Signed, "Kit Carson," half-length portrait by Hoeloke & Benecke, showing him seated in ¾ view wearing colonel's uniform. Signed on the mount below the image. 3¼x2 inches (image), 4x2½ inches overall; remnants of mounting at upper corners verso, faint scattered soiling to mount recto and verso, photographer's imprint on verso; in double-sided frame. Np, [1861-68]. This carte de visite was featured in autograph dealer Charles Hamilton's 1979 book, The Signature of America, on page 4. Hamilton's caption to the illustration incorrectly indicates that Carson's uniform is that of a brigadier general: close examination of the visible shoulder board reveals an eagle, indicative of a colonel's rank, rather than the single star of a brigadier general. With--Two items: Autograph Letter Signed by Kit Carson's nephew George H. Carson, to "Dear Uncle," introducing his friend Dr. J.F. Snyder, who intends to move to New Mexico, and expecting to visit there in the autumn. 1 page, 4to. Fayette, Missouri, 20 July 1864. With the original envelope, addressed in letter-writer's hand * De Witt C. Peters. The Life and Adventures of Kit Carson. New York: W.R.C. Clark & Meeker, 1859. 22 plates including 2 frontispiece plates, 2 facsimiles of letters. [12], iii-xii, 13-534, [2]. 8vo, publisher's pictorial cloth stamped in gilt, spine ends frayed, moderate rubbing to edges, moderate scattered soiling, some loss to gilt; all edges gilt, some dampstaining to subsidiaries. Later edition.