Scope and Contents Note
The Cased Image File consists of 2,301 items. 435 of these are Ambrotypes, 893 are Daguerreotypes, and 801 are Tintypes. Though most of these images are housed in their original leather cases, the collection also contains 87 Union Cases. The remaining 172 items are primarily mixed media, Opalotypes and empty cases or case remnants. The collection fills approximately 90 boxes (or approx. 42 linear feet).
The collection is predominantly made up of Daguerreotypes, Ambrotypes and Tintypes. Portraits constitute most of the file, and many items are still in the cases in which they were sold. The file also contains other non-paper photographic formats such as Opalotypes and framed transparencies. Heavily represented family groups include the Harper, Webb, Kellogg-Comstock, MacMartin-MacLaren, Eames, Ward, Hincken, Stuyvesant, Greenwood and Ellis families and associates. Such prominent persons as Henry Clay, Abraham Lincoln, Peter Cooper, Asher B. Durand, Millard Fillmore, Washington Irving, Jenny Lind, John McComb, William H. Seward and Daniel Webster appear in the Cased Images Collection. Other striking images include Caesar, a New York slave; the 1856 Rutgers Female Institute graduating class, and several stereographic daguerreotypes by J. F. Mascher of Philadelphia and Samuel F.B. Morse, as well occupational portraits of firemen, barbers and actors. Among the views are an interior of the New York Crystal Palace in the 1850s and a Niagara Falls landscape. Most of the photographers represented in the collection operated in New York City, for example: Rufus Anson, Abraham Bogardus, Mathew Brady, Charles D. Fredericks, Jeremiah Gurney, L. Cathan, Silas A. Holmes and John Plumbe. The collection also contains an image made by 20th Century daguerreotypist Robert Shlaer. Two images created by Jerry Spagnoli were removed in May 2002 and now comprise part of the Jerry Spagnoli Photograph Collection.
Although a few of the images are reproductions of paintings made at earlier dates, and a large number of the images are completely undated, it is clear from the labeled and identified items that the majority were taken between 1850 and 1870, with many images taken early as the 1850's.
Arrangement note
The Cased Images are organized by medium and size. There are six medium categories. Multiple Media inlcudes cases which hold both an Ambrotype and a Tintype, for example. Other Media include Transparency, Hallotype, Opalotype, and Autochrome. Cases refers to either a case missing an image or to a part of a case, such as a mat, edge preserver or lining. For the most part, everything is cataloged on an item level (except for groupings of unidentified Tintypes and in instances where several items are held in one case). Item-level descriptions are provided in the container list by number of image. To identify the box number for a particular image, consult the list below.
Series I: Ambrotypes
Box: 1 Ambrotypes, 1 - 49
Box: 2 Ambrotypes, 50 - 80
Box: 3 Ambrotypes, 81 - 108
Box: 4 Ambrotypes, 109-131
Box: 5 Ambrotypes, 132 - 173
Box: 6 Ambrotypes, 174 - 197
Box: 7 Ambrotypes, 198 - 221
Box: 8 Ambrotypes, 222 - 245
Box: 9 Ambrotypes, 246 - 267
Box: 10 Ambrotypes, 268 - 289
Box: 11 Ambrotypes, 290 - 311
Box: 12 Ambrotypes, 312 - 332
Box: 13 Ambrotypes, 333 - 352
Box: 14 Ambrotypes, 353 - 373
Box: 15 Ambrotypes, 374 - 390
Box: 16 Ambrotypes, 391 - 404
Box: 17 Ambrotypes, 405 - 414
Box: 18 Ambrotypes, 415 - 419
Box: 19 Ambrotypes, 420
Box: 47 (oversize) Ambrotypes, 421
Series II: Daguerrotypes
Box: 20 Daguerrotypes, 1 - 27
Box: 21 Daguerrotypes, 28 - 59
Box: 22 Daguerrotypes, 60 - 89
Box: 23 Daguerrotypes, 90 - 115
Box: 24 Daguerrotypes, 116 - 141
Box: 25 Daguerrotypes, 142 - 189
Box: 26 Daguerrotypes, 190 - 215
Box: 27 Daguerrotypes, 216 - 240
Box: 28 Daguerrotypes, 241 - 265
Box: 29 Daguerrotypes, 266 - 289
Box: 30 Daguerrotypes, 290 - 314
Box: 31 Daguerrotypes, 315 - 340
Box: 32 Daguerrotypes, 341 - 364
Box: 33 Daguerrotypes, 365 - 388
Box: 34 Daguerrotypes, 389 - 410
Box: 35 Daguerrotypes, 411 - 434
Box: 36 Daguerrotypes, 435 - 458
Box: 37 Daguerrotypes, 459 - 482
Box: 38 Daguerrotypes, 483 - 506
Box: 39 Daguerrotypes, 507 - 528
Box: 40 Daguerrotypes, 529 - 550
Box: 41 Daguerrotypes, 551 - 573
Box: 42 Daguerrotypes, 574 - 592
Box: 43 Daguerrotypes, 592.1 - 616
Box: 44 Daguerrotypes, 617 - 632
Box: 49 Daguerrotypes, 633 - 651
Box: 50 Daguerrotypes, 652 - 670
Box: 51 Daguerrotypes, 671 - 689
Box: 52 Daguerrotypes, 690 - 707
Box: 53 Daguerrotypes, 708 - 725
Box: 54 Daguerrotypes, 726 - 743
Box: 55 Daguerrotypes, 744 - 757
Box: 56 Daguerrotypes, 758 - 772
Box: 57 Daguerrotypes, 773 - 783
Box: 58 Daguerrotypes, 784 - 794.1
Box: 59 Daguerrotypes, 795 - 805
Box: 60 Daguerrotypes, 806 - 816
Box: 61 Daguerrotypes, 817 - 826
Box: 62 Daguerrotypes, 827 - 837
Box: 63 Daguerrotypes, 838 - 849
Box: 64 Daguerrotypes, 850 - 858
Box: 65 Daguerrotypes, 859 - 867
Box: 66 Daguerrotypes, 868 - 877
Box: 67 Daguerrotypes, 878 - 882
Box: 68 Daguerrotypes, 883
Box: 48 oversize Daguerrotypes, 884
Box: 68A Daguerrotypes, 885-894
Series III: Tintypes
Box: 69 Tintypes, 1 - 79
Box: 70 Tintypes, 80 - 134
Box: 71 Tintypes, 135 - 174
Box: 72 Tintypes, 175 - 249
Box: 73 Tintypes, 250 - 309
Box: 74 Tintypes, 310 - 324
Box: 75 Tintypes, 325 - 414
Box: 76 Tintypes, 415 - 484
Box: 77 Tintypes, 485 - 524
Box: 78 Tintypes, 525 - 559
Box: 79 Tintypes, 560 - 594
Box: 80 Tintypes, 595 - 607
Box: 81 Tintypes, 608 - 613
Box: 81A Tintypes, 614-653
Series IV: Multiple Media
Box: 82 Multiple Media, 1 - 12
Series V: Other Media
Box: 83 Other Media, 1 - 15
Box: 84 Other Media, 16 - 30
Box: 85 Other Media, 31 - 40
Box: 86 Other Media, 41 - 44
Box: 87 Other Media, 45 - 51
Box: 46 oversize Other Media, 52
Box: 45 oversize Other Media, 53
Series VI: Cases
Box: 88 Cases, 1 - 10
Box: 89 Cases, 11 - 12
Box: 90 Cases, 13 - 16