Jefferson Davis War-Date Albumen Photograph with

Jefferson Davis War-Date Albumen Photograph with Autograph, Also Signed by CSA General William Preston

Albumen photograph, 9.25 x 12 in. (sight), framed to 15.5 x 19 in., presenting Confederate States of American President Jefferson Davis (1808-1889) seated in a chair. Wartime photograph taken from life by C.R. Rees of Richmond, Virginia, 1863. Davis wears a dark jacket and white shirt, with his tie loosely knotted. Clipped signature affixed to mat below image, 5.25 x 1.25 in., "Yours / Jefferson Davis," with additional inscription by Confederate General William Preston III (1816-1887): "To W.J. Almon M.D. Halifax, Nova Scotia. / with the kind remembrances of his friend / W. Preston / Hamilton, Bermuda 5 Jan 1865."

In 1864, Preston was appointed Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary from the Confederacy to Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico. He traveled on diplomatic assignments during the final year of the Civil War to the Bahamas, Cuba, England, France, Canada, and Bermuda, which was an important Confederate blockade-runner port. While in Bermuda in January of 1865, Preston presented this photograph of Davis to Dr. William Johnston Almon (1816-1901), purportedly a Confederate secret agent in Canada. Johnston, a physician famous for his pioneering use of chloroform in anesthesia, was decidedly outspoken in his support of the Confederacy and assisted in the escape of George Wade, a nefarious Confederate pirate who was involved in the capture of the Union steamer Chesapeake.
Condition Report: Scattered spotting to photograph, with darker blemishes at left edge and Davis's right knee. Two vertical lines through signature. Not examined outside frame.