Two rare cartes de visite by an American photographer working in Guatemala, 1863-64.

A$500 · Offered by Douglas Stewart Fine Books

Two cartes de visite with uniform 101 x 61 mm mounts, each with four small head-and-shoulder portraits one of men, the other of women; these all appear to be salt prints (not albumen prints), cut into oval format and mounted in an identical configuration on each carte; the versos have the same lithographed back mark in black which reads: G. A. Hawley, successor to W. S. Buchanan / Guatemala, C.A. [Central America] ; the male portraits carte has some staining caused by the glue used in the mounting process, otherwise the pair is in good condition. Gideon Anson Hawley (aka Gedeon Andrés Hawley) was born in Charlton, New York in 1829. After qualifying as a medical doctor he entered the US army and served with the rank of lieutenant during the so-called Filibuster War of 1855-57 in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. After resigning from the army he was appointed American consul in Tabasco. He then appears to have settled in Guatemala in order to commence a career as a coffee planter. Hawley was also a proficient photographer serious enough to have his own carte de visite back mark stating that he was the successor to W. S. Buchanan (1817-1875). Buchanan had only resided in Guatemala for a brief time, having previously lived in Nicaragua where he had worked on the Nicaraguense newspaper since the early 1850s. Like Hawley, Buchanan was a United States consul: he was posted to Guatemala in 1861 by Abraham Lincoln himself. During his appointment he also worked as Guatemala s first professiona

• Binding: Hardcover

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