(SLAVERY & ABOLITION.) McPherson & Oliver; photographers. [The Scourged Back.]

(SLAVERY & ABOLITION.) McPherson & Oliver; photographers. [The Scourged Back.] Albumen photograph, 3½ x 2 inches, on original mount with photographer's backmark; minimal foxing, minor wear, inked period inscription on verso. Baton Rouge, LA, circa 1863 One of the most iconic images of slavery. After repeated beating and whippings at a Louisiana plantation, Gordon escaped from slavery and made his way to a Union camp at Baton Rouge, where he joined the army as a private. A camp photographer took a series of photographs which graphically demonstrated the brutality he had endured. Three were engraved for the 4 July 1863 issue of Harper's Weekly, where a variant of this image ran over the caption "Gordon Under Medical Inspection." This example is on the original photographers' mount. It is the less commonly seen of three very similar poses, distinguishable by the visible chair back and by Gordon's chin slightly hidden behind his shoulder. The original owner of this carte-de-visite inscribed it on verso: "Actual results of slavery in Louisiana (from the life)."